Thanksgiving In Manhattan

All photos except where noted: Dreamtime

I’ve spent all my adult life in Manhattan. My 1st Thanksgivng here I spent with my friend, Chris, a Julliard gratuate from New Orleans and met his lovely Louisiana Mama in his apartment. He lived in Hell’s Kitchen at the time, and after dusk, walked me back to Penn Station for safety. Other mutual friends attended his Thanksgiving dinner too, and we ate scrumptious food and exchanaged many amusing stories at the dinner table.

The next 8 Thanksgivings I walked across Central Park to spend Thanksgiving Day on the Upper West Side with the same friends, Don and LeAnn and their ballet friends. Don and LeAnn were together for 15 years before sadly divorcing. 

Then I accepted various Thanksgiving invitations ... 3 times spending it on the Upper East Side, once on the Lower East Side, once going to Princeton N.J. by train, once traveling by train to a N.J. town I no longer remember the name of, and a few times spending Thanksgiving with my friends, Sheila and Ken, who lived in Clifton Park, N.J. Sadly they are both deceased now. Sheila’s death was a shock! I’ve accepted her loss, but still think about it. A couple of years I also hosted Thanksgiving dinners in my apartment with different New York friends who have since moved away to other cities. We had wonderful times with none of us having to worry about long commutes home at night.

Truthfully, life is bittersweet and always influx. It never stands still, not for past, present, or future generations. Change is a certainty.

This year I’m again spending Thanksgiving Day in Manhattan. I’ll be with my senior Mom in my apartment. As a younger adult I always went to see my parents for Christmas, but thought I should establish my own Thanksgiving traditons. The two holidays are so close together also.

But life comes full circle, and now as my senior Mom’s caregiver this will be our 4th Thanksgiving spent together (not counting my childhood). I’m happy she’s healthy enough to walk indoors on a walker and can stay with me in my home. I’m grateful to be able to keep our dwindling family (we miss the ones who have passed) together. I learn new things about old people daily.

When I do have dinner guests to prepare for I enjoy having them over, and yet this year I’m thankful to have a more relaxing Thanksgiving without travel or the cleanup. Four days without any appointments of any kind sounds like bliss to me. We’ll likely order-in our turkey dinner and supplement it with more sides or desserts if we desire anything. We’ll watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on televison (I went to it twice) followed by the National Dog Show. This year, it’s exactly how I long to spend Thanksgiving Day. If we feel like it, we may bake the first batch of our Christmas cookies ... or not! We’ll let our Thanksgiving Day unfold and spend it exactly as we wish, in the moment; well-fed; and perhaps some of it horizontially.😁

Photo: Istock

Our friends and family will visit us one or two at a time from Advent to New Year's, and we’ll love seeing them as we’ll be fully rested. We love❤️ New York City where you’re never bored or truly alone!🗽🏙🎄

🍁Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

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Macy’s Perfume Samples

Regular readers of THE SAVVY SHOPPER know Macy’s is my favorite New York department store bar none. Once in a while Macy’s loves me back by sending me a small box of free perfume samples. The offer is open to anyone and everyone who sees it on Macy’s website and at times on Facebook. A small box of 6 samples arrived today! Below, I listed those 6 fragrances in the order of my most to least favorite scents:

1) John Varatos XX Elixir - Formulated for men, but both men and women can wear it, as it's not a musk, but just a fresh clean smell of bergamot, red ginger, davana and violet leaf essence mixed with rum, Damascus rose. black iris and geranim. There are notes of tonka bean, cistus labdanum, cedarwood, and latigo leather. It is my absolute favorite scent in the box!

2) Prada Paradidme - Ambery woods entwine with Bourbon, geranium, and Calabrian bergamot. I smell a hint of lemon, yet don’t see it listed as an ingredient. Lovely and clean smelling.

3) Dolce & Gabbana My Devotion - A pear blossom, blackcurrant, peony and vanilla blend.

4) Dolce & Gabbana Dovotion Pour Homme Parfum - A lavender, coffee, and woody-amber blend.

5) Gucci Flora Gorgeous Gardenia - Mandarin with gardenia, hedione, and sandalwood essence.

6) Narciso Rodriguez For Her Eau de Toilette spray - Notes of osmanthus, African orange flower, Bergamot, amber, musk, vanilla and vetiver. There is one note in this scent that I dislike but don’t know which ingredient it is. It reminds me of unpleasent much cheaper drugstore perfumes and it stands out.

My senior mom tested the perfume samples with me. She said she liked them. None of the 6 fragrances overwhelmed us, yet lingered for hours, and except for #6, lean towards clean scents over strong perfumes. #6 has that one unidentified note not to my liking. 

Perfumes can smell differently on different people. Before buying a fragrance, spray it on, walk around the store and wait to see how it will interact with your body’s chemistry.

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