I have had the pleasure of visiting New York City several times, but this last holiday season was the first time I have ever been there at Christmas.  And now that I have gone, I am hoping it won’t be my last.  Yes, it is more crowded, but everything is so festive and the city feels even more alive than usual.  Plus, there is so much to see that can only be seen once a year.  New York City is full of legendary Christmas and New Year’s traditions.

I was very excited to see the famous Christmas store windows.  And I was not disappointed!  Here is a picture blog of some of the amazing store windows from Manhattan, Christmas 2012!  It was tricky to get any pictures to work, since all of the scenes are behind glass.

The first set is from Macy’s, which involved moving machinery and exquisite puppets.

Up close marionette head

I loved this one!

We also managed to make it over to Lord and Taylor.  I think these windows were my favorite because they were so traditional in depicting family togetherness, winter, and Santa Claus.  Just made you feel warm and fuzzy all over.

So much detail!

I can see how viewing store windows is a tradition for so many.  Business owners put a lot of time, creativity, and money into these festive displays.  Most of the store fronts had music playing as well, which helped jack up the Christmas Spirit.  Many are quite elaborate, but many stores decorated their windows in a festive  but more simple way.  I loved the nostalgia of this one from H. Stern:

Merry belated Christmas!