As many of you know, I have an obsession. Yes, braiding hair, but now I get paid for that. I’m talking about the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. This obsession goes WAY back. Even way back on the blog. The first time I talked about the Parade on the blog was in 2017. In fact, I wrote about the parade THREE times that year. First, a history of my love. Then, an ULTIMATE Parade Viewing Guide, then of course my Thanksgiving recap, which ALWAYS includes the Parade.

In 2018, when I was actually IN the parade for the first time, I also wrote about it twice.

You may think, she did it already a couple times, there’s no reason to be so excited anymore. Right? WRONG. It’s just as amazing as ever, every single year.

You may also think, wasn’t Thanksgiving 2 months ago? Isn’t she over it? Yes, it was, and No, she isn’t.

This year was different, because I set a goal to be in it with my sister, and I did everything in my power to try and achieve that goal.

Here’s the thing about the Parade, it’s amazing because it’s exclusive, and it’s exclusive because it is NOT easy to get in. You need to know someone who can sponsor you, and that person needs to be a Macy’s employee. The problem is… I’m not a Macy’s employee, and I don’t know any either.

However, I am a career counselor by trade and that means your girl can NETWORK. And network, I did. Last year when I was in the parade, I spoke to everyone I saw. I got phone numbers, Facebook and Instagram requests, and I followed every single fan account that existed. I also went to every training I could attend, which is not an easy feat with a baby. At one of the trainings last year, I brought my portable pumps because I was still breastfeeding. That is dedication. At every training, I again chatted with every person there, and swapped numbers.

It paid off. This year, in August, I DMed my captain from last year, and I asked if he could possibly sponsor me again, and then I said, “I doubt you’ll have the opportunity to add anyone additional (I’m already so thankful for you trying to sponsor me!!) but in the case where you have any possible additional spots, my sister is also a HUGE parade fan and it would be so special to do balloon handling together. She did it once 10 years ago for the Diary of a Wimpy Kid balloon and we always said we’d try to do it together someday.”

Unfortunately, my captain didn’t have any spots available for either of us, but I didn’t even know that until two months later when we got our email applications and the sponsor’s name on there was someone I didn’t recognize. It turns out, my captain didn’t have spots but wanted us to be in so badly that he asked his coworker to sponsor us, and she did! We were SO thankful. At the next balloon training (where more networking was done), we brought thank you cards and Starbucks cards to show our appreciation (and maybe to grease the wheels for a future parade LOL).

I know I have now spent a whole page talking about how I got in the parade and haven’t even told you how the day went, and that’s because you already know… it was amazing.

Our call time was LATE by parade standards. We didn’t need to be at the costuming area until 7 am! We tried to be early, but it is a well-oiled machine there, and your call time is your call time. As soon as we arrived, we were already chatting with everyone in line, and discovered most of the people were on our balloon… the most classic big balloon of all time, the Pillsbury Doughboy!!

The Doughboy first debuted in 2009 (16 years prior). It has even been recreated as a replica because it wore out! In 2020 when there were no balloons flown because of Covid, it was one of the five balloons that was shown through pre-recorded footage of past appearances. We were obviously elated to be on such an ICON.

After we got our jumpsuits and pinnies on (no ponchos this year, thank god), we headed to the busses and went uptown to the balloons staging area. Our call time was super late because we were near the end of the parade, only about 10 minutes ahead of the big man himself, Santa Claus!

My sister and I decided before the parade that we would try to share a bone (the term for the string holder that is attached to the balloon). We wanted to do this so we could switch off and have some time to walk and wave. I had been a clown a few times, and waving to the crowds was my favorite, so I thought that would be a good plan. It turned out to be the perfect plan, and the woman next to us also took advantage of some time off, and swapped with us a few times. It was a VERY windy day, so our captains were pretty strict about having both hands on the bone while we were holding the balloon to avoid any windy-related mishaps. This meant it was both hands on while walking, and then we had breaks for waving and screaming, “HAPPY THANKSGIVING!” until our voices were hoarse.

The vibes on Parade day are IMMACULATE. Balloon handlers, clowns, spectators, everyone is just having the time of their lives. Since we were on the doughboy balloon, we were right ahead of a float that played sweets-related songs over and over. At one point, we were stalled for 20 minutes, and the same song played 4 times in a row. No one cared, we danced the whole time. And waved. And led cheers (DOUGH! BOY! DOUGH! BOY!)

One of the coolest things happened at the very end. When you are a balloon handler, you are responsible for walking with the balloon, and then deflating it at the end of the parade and assisting in rolling it for storage. This is all done on massive tarps so the balloons are not damaged on the asphalt roads. There are three huge tarps so that three balloons can be deflated simultaneously. We were almost finished deflating and were about to roll up the Doughboy when Minnie Mouse, the massive balloon directly behind us, came through. The problem was, we were on the center tarp. The captains said, “everyone tuck in! Minnie is going to fly over us.” I thought they were kidding but they were not. We all put our heads down so we weren’t hit by Minnie’s shoe, and watched as a terrifyingly large mouse flew over our heads to the first tarp for deflation. It. Was. Awesome.

Then, I ran home (literally ran from the subway) to pack and catch a 3 pm train to my parents for Thanksgiving weekend. It was stressful, but we made it!

You may be wondering… would I do it again? If you’re wondering that, you clearly didn’t read this. The answer is always, YES.