The life of Mark and Katie: Twenty Ten

We rang in the new year in the craziness of Times Square, New York City. I have wanted to do this at least once in my lifetime, it was an item on my bucket list. Mark had no desire whatsoever to do this but somehow I talked him into to. We traveled to NYC on New Year's Eve and met our friends at their apartment. We then bundled up and made our way into the city from Queens. It was cold and rainy, not ideal for standing outside. We were fortunate enough to have an inside hookup from our comedian friend, Nate Bargatze, for Caroline's Comedy Club located on Broadway just down from the ball dropping. We go there around 6pm and the streets were already packed. We had dinner and chatted with the bar tenders at Caroline's until about 10pm. We then ventured out to find our spot. We met this cop who so nicely offered to take us up about 5 blocks closer than we were. So we followed his footsteps. We ended up being in front of Olive Garden (if you're familiar with the area). People had been there since 4pm - WHOA!! There are no restrooms and if you leave your spot you are not guaranteed that you will get back in. Each block had strict security. We nestled up with the group and enjoyed the music and sights of Times Square on New Year's Eve. If you were watching on TV we were very close to the stage where J. Lo performed as well as where CNN (Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin) were staged. It rained practically the entire time but we did have our umbrella. It was all that cold, or not that I remember, there was plenty of body heat. :) It was a great experience, I definitely recommend doing it at least once. It was not a crazy mess it was very organized chaos. And Mark had a GREAT time! I knew he would.

The infamous ball

Anderson and Kathy

We made it!

My view...because I'm short.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

For those of you that know me know that I am NOT a night person. I am in bed at 9pm or earlier on school nights and could very well have that bedtime on weekends as well. But on New Year's Eve I was a different person. Laura had gone to Times Square with us while Nate had a show to do elsewhere. After the ball dropped, we rode the subway to meet Nate. We spent some time at the Comedy Cellar and it was there that Laura and I decided we might as well just stay up and catch the Today's Show. So we ended up taking the boys home and by that time it was about 3:30am. We had to get materials for our signs, get back to the city and find parking. We also wanted a good spot so we thought we better get there around 6:30am. So we freshened up and made our way to buy poster board. We drove around for about 30 minutes trying to find parking. We ended up parking in this garage for like $14 even though we probably only be there for about 2, at the most. We made our signs in the car and walked to Rockefeller Center. We get there and there aren't many people at all but that was OK. So we took some pictures of the Christmas Tree and finally went over to talk to a couple of cops. They immediately asked if were there for the Today's Show because they weren't having a show, it was pre-recorded. UGH! Are you kidding me!?!?!? I stayed up for NOTHING! So we laughed and took pictures anyway. We got to bed about 7:30am and obviously slept all day! HAPPY NEW YEAR! This was definitely an experience I will never forget! Thank you Mark for agreeing to go with me. Thank you Nate and Laura for the Caroline's tickets, a warm bed, your hospitality and good cookin'.

Christmas Tree in Rockefeller Center, so much more beautiful in person vs. on TV.