Exploring NYC on Thanksgiving Day

After watching the Macy's Day Parade on Thanksgiving morning, I explored some of the city on my own. Here's what I saw:

Does anything scream NYC more than a good ol' corner food cart?

I got to sit through part of a mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral, which is currently under renovation.

And I walked past the gorgeous NYC Public Library and Bryant Park.

I kept walking up 5th Avenue past some holiday windows,

NYC's finest,

the Empire State Building and Marble Collegiate Church,

and a few other New York City sights.

Clockwise from top left: Sample sales make me think of NYC, the Flat Iron building, and.. yep, you read that right.

I was invited to have Thanksgiving dinner (or "Friendsgiving") with my friend Rachel at her boyfriend Danny's place on the Lower East Side. Rachel and I first met as Hinckley interns in Washington, DC, and she's basically the next Julia Childs.

Rachel cooked nearly ALL of this!

Turkey before, Turkey after -- featuring Danny's first turkey carving ever.

After dinner, we went up on the roof and enjoyed a scenic view of the city.

Freedom tower on the left, NYC skyline on the right.

Williamsburg Bridge

I felt really blessed to be able to share Thanksgiving with such great people. Rachel's and Danny's friends were all so nice and made me feel right at home.

After dinner, we gorged on Rachel's amazing pie (holy crap, that thing was good!).

And THEN, I went back to Lee's place in Brooklyn, where there was further gorging on pies and cheesecake. The highlights were A- Lee's suuuuuper yummy chocolate-chip cookie dough pie (so. good.) and Sara's cheesecake (yum!). And of course, as is customary when you gather more than 5 Mormons in one room, there was definitely some game playing. :) Sadly, I have no photos of any of it! But I really enjoyed getting to know Lee and Sara's Brooklyn YSA friends better (and even a few folks from the Harlem YSA ward and *gasp* some married Mormons!). Everyone was so welcoming and friendly, and it was fun to see a more intimate glimpse of Lee's beloved Brooklyn life.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! May the holiday spirit stay with us even after the holidays are over. :)