Christmas Eve in the city

Since I can remember, this was the first year that I didn't spend Christmas Eve at my Uncle Chris and Aunt Joanne's house, which happens to be directly next door to my parents' house - the house that I grew up in.

My parents, brother, sister, and I would celebrate Christmas Eve by first going to mass at Regina Coeli Church, which is next to the elementary school where I have so many memories because I attended it for nine years.

There, I'd see old classmates, girls from my basketball team, my grade-school crush, and former teachers to chat up after the mass that included so many of those amazing Christmas carols.

Afterward, we'd go home, load up our arms with gifts and food, and head next door, being careful to stay in the path that my dad made earlier with the snowblower because the grass would always be covered with at least a few inches of snow.

Once we got inside, we'd celebrate the holiday with my dad's brothers and sisters (he has 10 of them!) and their families.

The evening always included me sticking to "my seat" in front of the fireplace until my brother would come find me to be his partner in a euchre game with my cousins. There was always too much food, too much chocolate, and songs and performances from my littlest cousins.

This year, it was a bit different.

My fiance works at a bank and had a lot of end-of-the-year stuff to do, so we didn't make it home for the holiday this year - much to my disappointment because my family means the world to me.

But that still didn't mean we didn't celebrate. Though I was sad, I was excited that we had an opportunity to make our own memories.

So I sat up late one night and made a list titled "To do on Christmas Eve or on Christmas with my family" (meaning Brent and our dog, Chloe).

And I am happy to report that we did most of the suggestions on the list.

Our Christmas Eve started around 5 p.m. - after Brent got home from work and I had a chance to get dressed up.

We then linked arms and headed over to Rockafeller Center to once again see the big Christmas tree. (We didn't have one of our own because there really is nowhere to put one in our apartment.)

And though it was crowded, we decided to try our luck eating at the Rockafeller Cafe, which is adjacent to the ice rink so you can watch the skaters through floor-to-ceiling windows. The line went around the corner of the restaurant, but since we only had two people for dinner, we were ushered right in. They sat us one table away from the windows and one table away from comedian Chris Rock, his wife, and his two adorable daughters.

Let me tell you that it was fascinating sitting next to a celebrity to see how he handled his fame in public. He was classy. Only a few people came up to him just to say they love his show or to say happy holidays, and he responded with "thanks" or "you too," which was fine. But the annoying people were the ones who spotted him while ice skating because they kept blocking his view of the rink to take photos of him with their cell phones. But he took it all in stride.

As for me, I would have loved to talk to him - I said a few words to one of his daughters about the Christmas show they went to see - but having people come up to me 24/7 would be annoying and I wanted to respect his privacy so he could have a nice holiday meal with his family.

On our way back to our apartment, Brent and I detoured down 5th Avenue to see what $1 million in pennies looks like, check out the holiday displays of the well-known 5th Avenue stores, and see the biggest sonwflake in the hisotry of the world, which is always suspended above 57th street. It was magnificant.

The last stop was Starbucks so we could grab some hot chocolate and cookies before heading home to watch Elf with Will Ferrell. Brent thought it was the dumbest movie ever while I laughed hysterically at such parts where Buddy answers the phone at his father's business by saying "What's your favorite color?"

And among my own festivities, I put in a call to my aunt and uncle's house and talked to a bunch of my relatives to let them know that, while I was having fun making up my own traditions, I did miss those of my childhood.