The lions wore a bow tie just in case. While the lighting of the Christmas tree celebration in Bryant Park last week was not a formal affair, there was a lot of competition to shine. The crowd was glowing with garlands of battery fueled snowflakes, cool jazz musicians from the Lincoln Center gave the grooviest rendition I ever heard of ‘Let it snow’, and the skaters were Olympic medalists, legends, fashion designers, divas, or straight out of Dancers with the Stars.

First on the ice was Nancy Kerrigan, known as much for her skating ability as for the drama it inspired. Twenty years ago the ex-husband of Tonya Harding, Nancy’s main rival for gold, tried to break her legs before the big event. Nancy survived and went on to win silver, the ex-husband went to jail, and Tonya became persona non grata. The conversation about the incident remains controversial – a bit like the following skater, Johnny Weir. He was spectacular, making waves of shaved ice as he spun into a blur. It was hard to get a good shot – even his shadow found it hard to focus. No wonder he co-performs with Lady Gaga, wearing his own outfits, and singing his own songs. The mist of gentle rain added romance as the program skated along, to begin with anyway, but as the U.S. most successful synchronized skating team finished their routine, umbrellas rose to complete the movement.

My oversized snowflake blinked red and white all the way home. I was determined to give it to the first child who asked but no-one seemed to notice another neon necklace. This is New York after all! Maybe I’ll go back to the lions and see if they want to trade…