It's A Manhattan Christmas

Photo Source of Macy's: Adventures Only

Manhattan in December is magical. If you can't fit a Christmas tree into your tiny apartment just step outside, the entire city with lights and sparkle becomes your Christmas decor!

The 1st two photos are of Macy's holiday windows at Herald Square, my favorite New York City department store. You'll find everything you need at Macy's but unlike Bergdorf Goodman, Saks, or Bloomingdales, Macy's carries a wide range of price points coupled with the best sales so you'll find exactly what you're looking for to suit your budget. I've never shopped at Macy's for a necessity or splurge and returned home either empty-handed or broke. From upscale to budget-friendly, there's something for everyone.

Photo Source of Macy's: Macy's, Inc.

Frankly, I'd be in big trouble if Macy's were in my own neighborhood and I could float in to browse anytime I wish. It's better for my wallet that I must take the subway to Herald Square because Macy's vast inventory is tempting every time I step into the store.

Photos of Bergdorf Goodman: Ricky Zehavi Photography

Sitting at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street, Bergdorf Goodman creates fashion-forward, avant-garde holiday windows.

Photo Source of Cartier: Shutterstock

Cartier Fifth Avenue (at 52nd Street) always wraps its flagship store up as a Christmas package. I look for it every year and sometimes shamelessly steal the upmarket retailer's festive motif for my own front door.

Video Source of Saks Fifth Avenue: Saks Fifth Avenue

Saks Fifth Avenue has the best video show every single year, and crowds are not wild or crazy when you attend the night of its unavailing usually accompanied by live celebrity entertainment. I like to stand directly across the street on Fifth Avenue (between 49th and 50th Streets) to watch the outdoor music, dance, and light show. Then you might as well walk over to see the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree because you're only a stone's throw away from Rockefeller Plaza. I have featured the beautiful tree on the blog in past years linked here. Next to Saks is St. Patrick's Cathedral with a large Nativity Scene near the altar. 

Photo Source: Debra Turner

Merry Christmas to all my lovely readers. Peace, Love, and Joy to everyone of every faith tradition on the globe who sees the blog! May the spirit of Christmas find you today and always!🐪🎄🐑 xoxo💋

You may also enjoy:

Peace, Love & Joy

The Magic Of Christmas

The Twelve Days Of Christmas

It's Nearly Christmas: Come Travel With Me

Peace, Love & Joy!

The Adoration of the Shepherds, c.1650, Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain - Images 1 and 2 by Bartolome Esteban Murillo

Some people get upset if the historical accuracy of Jesus' birth is questioned, but when the Gospels were written, the people they were written for had a different sensibility and way of reading texts than we do today. Gospel writers crafted their stories to make points about who they thought Jesus was [to paraphrase Matt Baker, Ph.D. in theology]. Modern scholars tell us that fact-for-fact-accuracy or historical record was secondary, which was accepted by the audience, who didn't expect factual reliability. This can rattle some contemporary believers who do.

Bartolome Esteban Murillo (1618 - 1682) was a Baroque Spanish painter. Orphaned at 11 years old, the artist became a ward of his older sister and brother-in-law, in a close-net family, and lived with them until he married in 1647. The painter, famous for his religious work, also painted everyday life giving us an insight into the 17th century. He was the father of 10 children. 

The Holy Family, c.1660-70, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

Murillo created warm images of Mary and Joseph playing with their happy baby, the man Catholics proclaim as fully human and fully Devine (a hypostatic union in the incarnation). The painter left us with depictions of the Holy Family as a close-net loving unit. St. Joseph is an appealing devoted father.😍

Here's a Victorian drawing of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and 5 of their 9 children surrounding their Christmas tree at Windsor Castle where the royal family celebrated Christmas. Prince Albert was also known to be a loving, involved father, adored by his children. The Prince Consort popularized Christmas trees in Great Britain, a tradition he brought from his native Germany. Unlike Prince Albert, Queen Victoria was not a natural parent, but she was a mother who loved her children and they loved her. She put a ton of time into raising them, and they grew into 9 decent adults. Let's look at one of the royal couple's homes ...

The 2022 Christmas trees are up at Osborne on the Isle of Wight which Queen Victoria and Prince Albert bought as a private home in 1845 to get away with their brood from court life. Queen Victoria used Osborne House for 50 years to entertain family, foreign royals (many were also family), as well as, government ministers. After Prince Albert's early death in 1861, it became her favorite home. Her son, King Edward VII, wasn't as fond of it (as it was far from London) and after his mother's death, donated the Osborne estate to the British people. It is open to the public for tours, giving us a glimpse into the private lives of Queen Victoria and her family.

Another longtime Christmas tradition is (of course!) baking cookies. My family bakes the same cookies every year and I posted some of the recipes previously. Pictured above you see (in order): Pecan cookies👇, Russian Tea Cakes, Coconut Macrarooms, and Scottish Short Bread. Other varieties of cookies are scattered throughout THE SAVVY SHOPPER. My mother always requests that I make Mini Pecan Tassies and she always makes butter cookies at Christmas and Easter. Golly, decorating cookies after pulling them from the oven is not my thing! Starting over is a hassle!! Eating is my next step (which now you know is the reason I bake Scottish Short Bread instead of butter/sugar cookies.:) 

(Here is our recipe for) Pecan Cookies 🐫

Ingredients:

20 ounces ground pecans
4 large egg yolks
1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar (you decide how sweet)
a sprinkle of cinnamon

Optional: A little flour for your hands to help form the cookies.

Directions:

1) Using a fork mix the ingredients in a bowl.

2) Dip your hands in all-purpose flour to help form the cookies and drop in a parchment paper lined, or greased cookie sheet. If your cookie dough is too wet to handle, just add additional ground nuts (a tad more sugar for the addition) until you can handle the cookie dough.

3) Bake for 10 - 12 minutes in a preheated 350-degree F oven and remove to cool.

We always make pecan cookies and coconut macaroons at the same time since the former requires egg yolks while the latter, egg whites.

Photo: Macy's

My Dear Readers ... thank you for spending another year with me, and I welcome you who joined us recently. Here we're one global human family sharing our collective knowledge, humor, interests, tips, and holidays with acceptance of all cultures. I can't do it alone, so bring your uniqueness! Everybody is valued on THE SAVVY SHOPPER, and I love hearing from you!🌍🌎🌏 

May the Spirit of Christmas find you!🎄

xoxo💋

The Magic Of Christmas

The Twelve Days Of Christmas

Christmas 2020 In New York City

It's Nearly Christmas: Come Travel With Me

It's Christmas Once Again

St. Peter's Square, The Vatican, Rome Italy

Can you imagine attending midnight mass at St. Peter's Basilica on Christmas Eve? Who must you know to get tickets ... His Holiness, the Pope? (I'd love to come, P. Francis, if you're reading this!)🎄

It has been a difficult year for our little ole world ... embroiled in war, terrorism, the rise of (blind?) nationalism, and all kinds of other undesirable "isms" around the globe. There are deep fears and insecurity affecting how people vote these days. Some folks are worried about the rise of isolationism and tyranny similar to that of the 1930s. Countries are turning to conservative leaders and dicey ideologies out of worry, and I hope we don't pay a heavy price for such leanings in our future. Democracy needs to prevail; and at the end of the day, truth and compassion must win out.

After a turbulent 2016, we probably need a little Christmas more than ever!

Christmas Tree and Neapolitan Baroque crèche at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

If you visit New York City, you can stop at the Met to see the 17th-century Christmas tree and Nativity figures above. The huge centuries-old exhibit goes up every (late) November.

A "Christmas plant" in the corner of my Manhattan apartment.

Meanwhile, at home, I put up some of my decorations. Just like Egyptian hieroglyphics, my "Christmas pothos" only requires vertical space. It is green and festive, and guests seem to appreciate it.

My apartment-size crèche on top of my entertainment center.

Lest we forget, Christmas celebrates a humble, holy child who brought hope, peace, joy, and a new beginning to the faithful in an uncertain world.

I borrowed this soothing hymn from my friend, Patricia of The Red Cardinal, who sings it in her choir. It is a beautiful rendering and so apropos for our holiday season.

Merry Christmas & Peace to Everyone all over the world!


You may also enjoy:
Have A Merry Christmas
The Twelve Days Of Christmas
This Is My Wish - Jordin Sparks
Wishing You A Merry Christmas

Wishing You A Merry Christmas

Photo: Joseph's Studio by Roman Nativity

My friend, Margareta, said, "It's been hard getting into the Christmas spirit this year." I can understand the feeling. Likely, it's due to the solemn events that have occurred in the world so recently, as well as, losing people we care about at home. Several of my mother's longtime neighbors have died, which makes visiting home bittersweet. Every year there are one, or two fewer familiar faces to see.

We hope there is more to the world then the here and now. An ultimate good, a God who cares about us, a holy child who was born to return us to grace. Philosophers and theologians have argued for millenniums that there is more than just the physical world. Life has a meaning, a greater purpose.

We live on a globe. There are many paths to answer life's Ultimate Questions. Each person must find his or her own responses. In the end, how you live life and treat people matter.

St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York City [Photo: Wikepedia Commons]

Soon many families will gather to take a leap of faith that life goes on beyond what we can now see. Somehow remembering a humble, Holy Family, who slept in a stable helps believers deal with life's ups and downs. Worshipers are reminded to dig a little deeper; try a little harder; don't give up; and focus on what's truly important.

Cathedral of the Assumption, Louisville, Kentucky [Photo: Wikepedia]

Life is change. Children grow into adults. One generation passes onto the next. 

St. Cecilia Church before closing

St. Cecilia Church was a neighborhood parish for 175 years before shutting its doors. Modest and tidy, the parish ran a fish fry and bingo on Fridays, as well as, a yearly festival to support its school, and of course, held midnight Mass on Christmas Eve like local parishes elsewhere.🐑

Sometimes when I step inside an old church, or hear of one's closing, I think about its bygone generations of parishioners who attended. You don't need the Ghost of Christmas Past to know that on Christmas Eve, every seat in this little neighborhood church was filled.

Where on Earth does the time go? Missing are souls, with us for only a dash of time. Which brings us back to a humble holy child, whose birth we celebrate.

Wishing you lots of love, peace and joy, dear readers. Merry Christmas!🎄

You may also enjoy:
The Twelve Days of Christmas
This Is My Wish - Jordin Sparks
There'll Always Be A Christmas: An Album Review
The Savvy Shopper Wishes You A Merry Christmas