Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting in NYC is TONIGHT!

   ZACHARYS & AURA
East Meadow Shopping Center
www.zacharyspartys.com   (516) 794-9770

Tonight, Wednesday November 30, 2011, is the annual Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting in New York City! 

Midtown Manhattan will be on lockdown as president Obama, Justin Bieber, Cee Lo Green, Carole King and several other artists arrive in town for the famous tree lighting program. 

Hundreds of thousands of people attend the lighting ceremony of the famed Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center each year, and millions tune in to NBC to view the live broadcast of performances and lighting on TV. The programming begins at 7:00pm, with the actual lighting to take place around 9:00pm. 

The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is a world-wide symbol of the holidays in NYC. The tree, traditionally a Norway Spruce, is illuminated by 30,000 environmentally friendly LED lights on five miles of wire, and crowned by a Swarovski crystal star. The star is 9.5 feet in diameter and weighs 550 pounds. The Swarovski star has topped the famous Rockefeller Center tree since 2004. 

This year the Norway Spruce is 74-feet tall and comes to the big city from Miffinville, Pennsylvania.

The tallest Christmas tree recorded at Rockefeller Center was a 100-foot Spruce in 1999. In 2006, A Norway Spruce from Ridgefield, Connecticut stood at 88-feet tall for the holiday season. Last season’s tree came from Mahopac, New York and reached 74-feet tall.

Black Friday Success in the US & Cyber Monday Expectations! What discounts is your business offering?

  ZACHARYS & AURA
East Meadow Shopping Center
www.zacharyspartys.com   (516) 794-9770

 

The anticipated craze of black Friday didn’t disappoint retailers this year! Internet sales totaled $816 million dollars, a 26% gain on last year, mostly in part from heavy online promotional activity (www.BBC.CO.uk). Around 50 million Americans visited online retail sites on black Friday 2011! 

Amazon.com was the post popular online destination Friday, with “50% more visitors than any other retailer,” (www.BBC.CO.uk). Following Amazon was Walmart, Best Buy, Target and Apple. 

 

In-store black Friday success was not too far behind, with a 7% sales increase from last year (www.BBC.CO.uk). Black Friday is viewed as the start of the Christmas shopping season for most retailers and consumers, which is why outrageous discounts and sales are offered as a one-time only, kickoff to the shopping season. 

 

Mobile shopping accounted for 9.8% of all online sales, compared to 3.2% last year (www.BBC.CO.uk). IBM said “Apple’s iPhone and iPad had generated the most mobile internet visits to online stores, accounting for more than double the traffic originating from devices running Google’s Android system,” (www.BBC.CO.uk).

Today, known as “cyber-Monday”, is expected to be America’s busiest online shopping day of the year. Close to 123 million American plan to make an online purchase, according to a survey commissioned by the US National Retail Federation, a 15% increase on last year’s numbers (www.BBC.CO.uk). 

“Retailers have invested heavily in mobile apps and retail content as the appetite for Cyber Monday shopping through smartphones and tablets continues to rise,” said Vicki Cantrell, executive director of the NRF’s website shop.org (www.BBC.CO.uk). 

What is your business doing to encourage purchasing on cyber Monday? Do you have a mobile application? Share your ideas, discounts, applications and links with other retailers on our Facebook wall linked HERE.

The 85th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!

 ZACHARYS & AURA
East Meadow Shopping Center
www.zacharyspartys.com   (516) 794-9770

This year Macy’s will celebrate its 85^th Annual Thanksgiving Day Parade!

The famous Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will kick off at 9:00am on Thursday, November 24, 2011. The parade sets the tone for the holiday season for all of New York and the rest of the country on Thanksgiving morning each year, for the last 84 years. 

More than 3.5 million people view the entertainment live along the parade route, which starts at 77^th Street and Central Park West and moves south to 59^th Street. From 59^th Street the parade turns south down 7^th to 42^nd Street. Then from 42^nd Street, the performers will turn east onto 6^th Avenue where the parade ends at Herald Square on 34^th Street and 7^th Avenue in New York City. 

More than 50 million viewers tune in to the live television broadcast while spectators watch in awe as 10,000 participants, including the nation’s best marching bands, performance groups, countless giant helium balloons, breathtaking floats with celebrity performances and Santa Claus, pass before their eyes. 

This year, 11 marching bands from around the country will perform in the 85^th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, including: Carmel High School Marching Band from Carmel, Indiana; Dobyns-Bennett Marching Indian Band from Kingsport, Tennessee; Hawaii All-State Marching Band from Kaneohe, Hawaii; Homestead High School Marching Band from Cupertino, California; Homewood Patriot Band from Homewood, Alabama; Legacy High School Lightning Marching Band from Broomfield, Colorado; Macy’s Great American Marching Band with musicians representing all 50 states; Miami University Marching Band from Oxford, Ohio; Nation Ford High School Marching Band from Fort Mill, South Carolina; the NYPD Marching Band from NY; and Plymouth-Canton Educational Park Marching Band from Canton, Michigan. 

If you are planning on attending the 85th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, click HERE for detailed information, including where to view the parade, what time to arrive, etc.

How to Cook a Perfect Thanksgiving Day Turkey!

ZACHARYS & AURA
East Meadow Shopping Center
www.zacharyspartys.com   (516) 794-9770

With Thanksgiving less than a week away, you’re most likely preparing your Thanksgiving Day fest menu. I bet somewhere on that menu is a turkey! Here are a few helpful tips on how to prepare a turkey, provided by AllRecipes.com.

To prepare the turkey for roasting, first remove the giblets (and save for gravy or stuffing). Next, rinse the bird inside and out and pat dry with paper towels.

• If you are stuffing the bird, stuff it loosely, allowing about ½ to ¾ cup stuffing per pound of turkey.

• Brush the skin with melted butter or oil. Tie drumsticks together with string (for stuffed birds only).

• Insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh. The thermometer should point towards the body, and should not touch the bone.

• Place the bird on a rack in a roasting pan, and into a preheated 350 degree F (175 degrees C) oven. Use the following chart to estimate the time required for baking.

• Bake until the skin is a light golden color, and then cover loosely with a foil tent. During the last 45 minutes of baking, remove the foil tent to brown the skin. Basting is not necessary, but helps promote even browning.


Weight of Bird	Roasting Time (Unstuffed)	Roasting Time (Stuffed)
10-18 lbs	3-3.5 hours	3.75-4.5 hours
18-22 lbs	3.5-4 hours	4.5-5 hours
22-24 lbs	4-4.5 hours	5-5.5 hours
24-29 lbs	4.5-5 hours	5.5-6.25 hours

The turkey is done when the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F at the thigh.

Enjoy your turkey!