Snow and holiday cheer and rock music

We had our first proper snowstorm here this weekend. Where "proper" is defined as "lasting longer than just the duration of my walk to and from the gym and then stopping the instant I'm warm and inside and just want to watch some snow, damnit!" As a bonus, it even stuck for a little bit, thus transforming my neighborhood into a winter wonderland for an hour or so before people messed it up. As such, I spent a nice portion of the weekend indoors, drinking tea, and contemplating how to write 2,000 words on the basics of using a thesaurus. Nevertheless, not to be defeated by temperatures in the 20s, I did do the following things:

1) On Friday, we went to see American Hustle (amazing acting, inconsistent script, ran a little long), and afterward, since it didn't really seem that cold, we thought it would be a good time to check out the Christmas hoopla on 5th Ave. I have a love/hate relationship with these timeless traditions. On the one hand, there has not been a year since I've lived here that I've missed seeing the tree at Rockefeller Center or the windows at Bergdorf's. That said, every year, I spend most of the time there complaining about the crowds. Turns out the (seemingly obvious) key is to go on a cold Friday night after all the stores on 5th Ave are closed. I mean sure it was still crowded, but not nearly as maddeningly so. 

Next to Rockefeller Center itself, the tree actually seems quite small. 

This year the theme of the Bergdorf Goodman holiday windows was, in fact, holidays themselves. I think they called it "Holidays on Ice." Anyway, they were predictably well done, but my favorite was the April Fool's one (see below).

It looks like the photo is upside down, right? Not so! they actually hung a bunch of glass animals from the ceiling. Well done, Bergdorfs. It almost makes me want to buy a $2,000 coat from you. Almost. 

 2) Saturday, aside from brunch with a friend, was a day best spend inside. However, on a venture out, I did get this stunning photo of Sam outside our apartment.

Sam. Outside our apartment. 

Saturday night, a friend of my parents had given us tickets to go see Queens of the Stone Age at Barclay's Center. I felt kind of bad because I had never actually heard of them, and a friend on facebook who was an actual fan was upset because the roads were too icy to get there. It hardly seemed fair, so we braved the storm and the delayed train times to head to Brooklyn, despite remarking that you'd really have to be a diehard fan to be willing to do such a thing. Nevertheless, it was fun! I don't know that I'm entirely a fan of the band, but they did have a cool sound. Also, the opening band, whose name I never actually heard, was pretty awesome.

I'd never been to Barclay's Center, but it was very nice. Tons of food and drink options from local Brooklyn businesses. It almost makes me want to go to a basketball game sometime.

Queens of the Stone Age in all their glory. 

 3) Okay, there is no third thing. I really did spend all of Sunday lounging and making bolognese sauce. But, hey, here's a picture from my walk to the gym this morning!

The beautiful ConEd power station at sunrise.