NYC

Last month I had the amazing opportunity to go to NYC for a girls weekend. My mom, aunt Shauna and cousin Kylie flew to the big apple on Wednesday night and I took a bus down on Thursday night.

This was my second trip to NYC, the first having only spent 36 hours in the city. Our place was on West 51st - only a few blocks from Times Square. Maybe not the best place to stay if one was looking to steer clear of tourists. However, the location made it super easy to get around and access to different areas of the city. And really, Times Square is so cool to look at. Absolutely mesmerizing, in a overstimulating kind of way!

Friday was very rainy unfortunately and limited our sightseeing options. We got tickets for a hop-on hop-off Grey Line tour. Since it was raining we couldn't sit in the open top so we opted for the few seats they had below. Apparently, Grey Line must be strapped for cash because we realized that they had advertisements on the outside of the windows. So between the advertisements and the foggy rainy conditions it was almost impossible to see the sights. We got off in SoHo to do a little shopping. We had lunch in Little Italy at a cute little restaurant. We finished the afternoon with more shopping through SoHo and the Flat Iron district. We went to an Italian store called Eataly that was a grocery store/restaurant/cafe/wine bar/beer garden - are you getting the picture? Basically, anything Italian was there. They had artisan cheeses, breads, meat and the most delicious looking fresh produce. We actually went there all three days for coffee because as my Aunt said, "I almost wept the foam was so good." We finished the day by having a gluttonous dinner at a South African restaurant in Hell's Kitchen. We had so many different kinds of meats; ox-tail, venison, ostrich, octopus, and pork. It was delicious!

On Saturday we woke up to sunny skies and significantly warmer temperatures. We headed back to the Flat Iron district to Dream Dry to get blowouts! SO FUN! They wash your hair and style in any way you'd like. While they style they offer you a beverage (champagne, coffee, tea!) and give you an iPad so you can scroll through magazines - very glamorous. We proceeded to walk through Greenwich Village, Chelsea and then walked north on the highline, a walking trail on an old raised railroad. We took the infamous Grey Line north from there to the Upper West Side. We were fairly exhausted from all the walking and we knew just what we needed: tea and scones at Alice's Tea Cup! Two words: pumpkin scones! To finish off the afternoon we took a bike cab ride through Central Park before collapsing back at our place. After our naps we got gussied up to grab dinner and then to the evening's entertainment: WICKED! The show was fabulous and extremely entertaining. Glinda the good witch is hilarious and definitely the best part of the show.

Sunday morning we spent a few hours shopping in the Flat Iron district around Madison Square Park and Union Park. We also went to the big Macy's. Have you been there? It's the single most overwhelming shopping experience I've ever had. It's so crazy big in there. My mom was overwhelmed - that is saying something! We grabbed lunch outside in Bryant Park and enjoyed the beautiful New York afternoon. We soon parted ways; Mom left for the airport while I still had another two hours in the city before my bus left. I decided to walk to this Doughnut shop that my friend had told me about, called Doughnut Plant. About 30 seconds after I stepped in line I turn around and see my friend McCallan there. We aren't crazy close friends but we have a lot of mutual friends back in Seattle. We both just thought it was absurd to run into each other - what are the chances in the city the size of New York?! Then I walked back to my bus stop and said to good bye to the big city.

I love my Momma - she's the BEST!

 

Posted with Blogsy