On the 12th Day of Christmas...

christmas trees for sale on 9th ave.

Remember my "12 Days of Christmas (in New York)" project from 2007 in which I attempted to spread Christmas Magic by posting a photo-a-day of Magical Manhattan dressed up in her Christmas finery? Remember?

After spotting this beautiful & perfect Christmas-in-New-York scene (above) the other night along 9th Avenue as I journeyed home, I decided that *this* would be the year to pick it up again.

So my friends...be sure to check back in for more Christmas-in-New-York-magic coming your way over the next 12 days!

{I realized as I was typing this that I don't actually know what the 12 Days of Christmas signify. Do you? I've turned to my trusty friend, Wikipedia, for help. Apparently, the 12 Days of Christmas (aka "Christmastide") are not the 12 days leading up to Christmas, like I had mistakenly thought*, but actually start Christmas Day and end January 5, the day before the Feast of the Epiphany, which is the celebration of the manifestation of Jesus to the Wise Men. AND, many sources on the World Wide Web confirm that the carol, '12 Days of Christmas,' was actually a "code" song written for persecuted Christians during the 16th century religious wars of England. (see how we all just learned something there? thanks, internet!)}

*Given what we now know, I suppose the proper way to do this little photo project would be to start posting pics on Christmas Day and continue forward til the 5th -- the "proper" and "actual" 12 Days of Christmas. But...well, I'm going to go ahead and buck tradition and carry on with The Plan of posting one pic a day for the next 12 days leading up to Christmas. A sort of countdown to the Big Day, if you will.