Your Guide to Living Like Kevin McCallister

It's natural for most of us to get a little tired of the Christmas songs played incessantly from Thanksgiving until December 25. However, it takes a real Scrooge to not revel in the merriment that is Christmas movies. From Elf to A Christmas Story, to Christmas Vacation to Love Actually (oh, don't roll your eyes, we've all seen it) and back again, the genre really has a knack for giving you the warm fuzzies just as winter really gets, well, freezing. If any Christmas movie franchise has the ability to whisk me into the Magical Land of Childhood Nostalgia right on Santa's sleigh, it has to be Home Alone. Though the original holds a special place in my heart as the very best holiday movie of all time, the sequel holds up. As a 100 percent city-person, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York feeds my every desire to live it up in the Big Apple, Kevin McCallister style.

As Christmas and New Years come barreling toward us like an avalanche of uncomfortable family gatherings, depleted bank accounts, and hangovers, we all deserve our own chance to break free like our favorite mischievous traveler. If you're looking for a way to break from the norm or simply get in the holiday spirit, here's how you can get Lost in New York:

Step 1: See the Sights from the Movie

Rockefeller Center is perhaps the most iconic New York City Christmas location. It's also the very last shot of Home Alone 2.

Whether it's your first trip to NYC or your hundredth, there's still something pretty magical about Radio City. You know that look Kevin gets, that, "I can't believe I'm in New York" look? That's right here.

In Home Alone 2, there's a shot of Macaulay Culkin atop the World Trade Center. Now stands the stunning One World Trade Center, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and home to the 9/11 Memorial.

In case you were wondering what you can see from the view finders at Battery Park...

That would be Lady Liberty.

Step 2: Fuel Up

Matzoh Ball Marrow Soup. The Empire Diner on 22nd St. and 10th Ave. is really speaking my language here.

Step 3: Take in Some Culture

See a show at Carnegie Hall. If ticket prices are too steep, find the Pigeon Lady and have her sneak you into the secret loft.

Step 4: Rest Up

Book a room at the famous Plaza Hotel and hope Tim Curry is there to let you get by on a credit card that's not yours. Just to be safe, make sure to pack inflatable dolls and cardboard cutouts of your closest friends for decoys. Leave the swimsuit at home; unfortunately, there's not actually a pool in the hotel. That scene was shot in Chicago.

Step 5: Explore Central Park

You're gonna need the whole afternoon.

Step 6: BALL SO HARD

THIS IS MY LIFE'S ONLY DREAM.

Images: Getty Images, Twentieth Century Fox (2), itzarb/Tumblr