See Stars at the Bryant Park Tree Lighting

Bryant Park never does anything small, so why would they just light a tree at their tree lighting ceremony tonight? (The tree is a 50-foot Norway Spruce decorated in over 30,000 white and red LED lights and 3,500 starbursts, balls, snowflakes, and icicle ornaments, by the way).

Starting at 6pm, check out the festivities including performances and appearances by AINY favorite Ingrid Michaelson, indie Singer-Songwriter Catey Shaw, and 2010 Olympic Gold Medalist Evan Lysacek. You can also watch professional synchronized skating routines from The Haydenettes on the rink. All of it will be hosted by New York Live and LX TV’s Open House front woman, Sara Gore.

The entire event is supporting the humanitarian aid charity, (RED), and raising awareness and support for the fight towards an AIDS-free generation.

Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park’s Tree Lighting Ceremony is open to the public, free of admission. Skate rental fees are $19 for children and adults during public skate windows during the event. Locker usage is free with locks available to purchase for $9.

A Little Summerstage Awesomeness

Summer isn't complete to me without a little outdoor concert action, which is exactly why I bought my ticket to see Guster at Summerstage in Central Park back in April. Summerstage is the venue where the ABC morning show Good Morning America hosts their super early Friday morning concerts, but never convincing myself to get up early enough to check one out, I was excited to see one of my all-time favorite bands play on the venerated stage.

Summerstage roof lit up from below

For those of you who do not know Guster, I'd highly recommend you load up their Pandora channel or even better, pull up all of their albums on Spotify,  and begin your education. With their marvelous harmonies and use of the not-often-seen banjo, their music often inspires me to live a happier life. Some of my favorite songs include Demons, Two Points for Honesty and Center of Attention, to name a few.

Summerstage was actually a great venue to see Guster, because even if you didn't get there super early to grab a bleacher seat at the back, you could find a spot in the standing room section where the stage is mere yards away and you can bop one of the several beach balls floating over the crowd. The only complaint I'd have about the venue was that if you wanted to buy food or a beer, it was near impossible to not only squeeze through the crowds to get to the food carts, but then definitely impossible to get back to your friends. However, keep your eye out for Summerstage ticket sales next year and be sure to catch your favorite band so that you too can bask in the glory of watching a concert and a sunset at the same time.

Guster at Summerstage

The lead singer had a long-held desire to dress like a disco ball on-stage

Definitely the Summer's Classiest Evening

Concerts in the park just scream summer don't they? I've just been so busy this summer that it's gone by and I had yet to go to a single one! Thanks to the folks at Bryant Park, who hooked me and my friend Jana up with VIP seats to the last concert of the Bryant Park Fall Fest via a Twitter contest, I now feel my summer is closer to being complete.

We arrived at the lawn at about ten minutes until six, just in time to take our seats WAY in front of everyone else who had to get there an hour or so early to snag the best regular people seats, and we found a cute little paper bag full of goodies to satisfy us through the concert. You know it was classy because we got the cute little carrots you only find in fine French restaurants and a glass of red wine.

Our classy array of fruits, cheese and the fancy carrots.

I had fun with the fruit.

The food was courtesy of Bryant Park Grill, which bakes THE best chocolate chip cookies ever. Honestly, you think you've had a chocolate chip cookie, until you've had one of theirs. I'd highly recommend the experience.

Jana posing with the AWESOME cookies.

After the initial culinary excitement passed, the sun faded and the show began. We had the pleasure of listening to the Orchestra of St. Luke's: Baroque and Romantic chamber music by the Grammy-winning ensemble. Now, I've never been one for classical music. It could be that I never played an instrument (barring a huge effort at guitar) or that I just don't know that much about what there is to appreciate. But there was something about listening to the three pieces by this orchestra that tugged at me and made me really embrace the emotion in the music. I left feeling the same way as I do after a wonderful yoga class and I could not have been happier.

The Orchestra of St. Luke's

Behind us, the heads of the audience under a beautiful sliver of sunset