As a little girl the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was THE parade I absolutely couldn’t miss. I loved the balloons and the performances right outside Macy’s. It seemed to glamorize the city a bit more for me. Since living here, I’ve tried to make it to the parade the past two years,  but I unfortunately always seem to manage to join the crowds at the end just as Santa’s sleigh passes. This year my friend Janey and I were on a mission to actually see the parade and we did that in one of the best ways possible - crowd-free! We watched from above on the roof of her office building in the Fashion District by charming NYPD officers who very nicely allowed us to cross into police barricaded territory, so we could enter the building. Once the parade got going, we noticed that Spider Man and Kermit were being deflated literally right below us, so we went downstairs and got up close with Snoopy, Buzz Lightyear, Dora the Explorer, Horton and many more. It was a really cool experience to be among the few on the block seeing all these balloons so close in person. It makes me smile when I reflect back to my longstanding family room tradition in Vancouver, WA to now, standing on W. 38th St. in Manhattan watching with my friend and just a few other parade officials. It was a very happy Thanksgiving and one I wish I could have shared with my family back home, but I’m very thankful to have such close friends who recognize and embrace the moments, like this one, that makes the city magical.
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As a little girl the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was THE parade I absolutely couldn’t miss. I loved the balloons and the performances right outside Macy’s. It seemed to glamorize the city a bit more for me.

Since living here, I’ve tried to make it to the parade the past two years,  but I unfortunately always seem to manage to join the crowds at the end just as Santa’s sleigh passes. This year my friend Janey and I were on a mission to actually see the parade and we did that in one of the best ways possible - crowd-free!

We watched from above on the roof of her office building in the Fashion District by charming NYPD officers who very nicely allowed us to cross into police barricaded territory, so we could enter the building. Once the parade got going, we noticed that Spider Man and Kermit were being deflated literally right below us, so we went downstairs and got up close with Snoopy, Buzz Lightyear, Dora the Explorer, Horton and many more. It was a really cool experience to be among the few on the block seeing all these balloons so close in person.

It makes me smile when I reflect back to my longstanding family room tradition in Vancouver, WA to now, standing on W. 38th St. in Manhattan watching with my friend and just a few other parade officials. It was a very happy Thanksgiving and one I wish I could have shared with my family back home, but I’m very thankful to have such close friends who recognize and embrace the moments, like this one, that makes the city magical.