New York

We took this trip back in June and wrote it when I came home, but Im just getting around to posting it!!

Kyle and I took a trip to New York a few weeks ago for a wedding Kyle was shooting. I remember when he got the call to see if we would even be interested in traveling out that way, of course we were all in! We flew out on a Thursday and stayed with former clients who live in Manhattan. We were so amazed at the location of their apartment, it was like we were living a pretend life for a week. On our first night we went out to eat with Frank and Hailey (the couple who let us stay with them), they showed us around their neighborhood, then we went to Magnolias for dessert. Since they had to get up early the next morning for work they called it a night while Kyle and I walked to Time Square. Let me just say I have never felt so energized in all my life.... it was seriously amazing! I cant explain the feeling without sounding ridiculous so I will stop there but really.... it was AMAZING! :) We were able to  face-time Connie and my sister so they could see, but looking through that screen probably did no justice whatsoever, still I am glad they were able to be apart. After taking everything in we took what seemed like the longest walk home... little did we know, we were going to be doing much more walking... our walk home was a piece of cake. Even though it was hard to retreat to bed, we knew we needed to rest up for the busy day we had planned for the next day.

Friday we went to the Today show, I was so looking forward to seeing all the news anchors! Unfortunately they had started the summer concert series and the crowds were crazy! We thought we would stay and see Chris Brown preform, but it was taking to long and since we aren't fans anyway we moved on. On our way to breakfast we saw another concert going on at Fox studios, we stayed there for a bit to listen then went on our way. We stopped and grabbed a bagel and coffee for breakfast and ate it out on their patio. After we finished we thought we would go check out the Today show one more time before moving along, but it was still so crowded and they were not letting anyone through... bummer. :(
We jumped on a subway and headed to Soho, Little Italy, and China Town. When we got to Soho it was still a little early and some of the stores were closed so we didn't walk around as much in this area, a few days later I realized that Dash (the Kardashians store) was located in Soho and was so bummed out that we didn't walk around more. We loved looking at all three of those areas and it wasn't at all how I imagined it to be.
Next we wanted to walk on the Brooklyn Bridge to get pictures. When I planned out the day in my head I thought we would walk all the way across into Brooklyn, but our feet and the heat had different plans for us. :) There was NO way we were about to go any further then we did, next time I will remember to bring more comfortable shoes that go with cute outfits... I only had sandals and I wasn't about to wear my tennis shoes.
We took a subway back to the upper west side and got lunch... we were starving! Afterwards our feet were still sore, but we wanted to see Central Park so we decided to do a rickshaw tour. Our guide did a great job showing us all the cool sites and where certain films were shot. Later that evening we had dinner at a place with the best view. We were able to see the Statue of Liberty from our seats which was amazing to me. The restaurant also had an open lawn for kids to play, every Friday night they bring out mats and other toys to keep them entertained... loved the vibe in this area! On our way to the Staten Island Ferry a storm passed through, it came and then left no longer then 5 minutes.... CRAZY. We got lucky and hopped right on the Ferry, on the way back the sun was going down...I am so thankful we got to see Lady Liberty at sunset!
Next we wanted to check out the financial district, believe it or not it was like a ghost town at night. As we were walking around to find a cool place to eat dessert we finally found all the people. It was the weirdest thing... there were people packed from wall to wall all the way down the alley. It was not our scene so we decided to take the subway back to the west side. We ended up finding a great place to get hot tea and dessert called Coco Bollo. Kyle and I had the best time, we were so delirious by this point there were LOTS of laughing until we were crying. :)

Saturday was wedding day! We went to breakfast with our roommates and then they walked us to the train station. Our ride was a little over an hour long, while Kyle caught some shut eye, I looked out the window watching all the little towns pass by. The day was gorgeous and so was the bride! The reception was probably the best one I have ever been to, the music was awesome! We had such a good day, but by the end of it I thought I was literally going to fall over. We appreciate Dan and Luisa so much for giving us such an amazing opportunity! 

Sunday we stuck with our roots and went to Starbucks for breakfast which was on the corner of where we stayed. Afterwards we headed to the 911 memorial  and looked around at where the trade towers once stood. Its hard to believe it happened so long ago, I remember watching it on TV in school... all the classes were cancelled and kids were being picked up. Probably the most sad thing for me (if that is even fair to say) is the names on the walls. All the innocent people that died were going about their day like normal, never saw it coming. Some of the women names that were written down had "and their unborn child" how unfair? After we left we met up with our roommates for lunch at Johns pizza, it was delicious... thin slice but the pieces were huge! They took us to the West village to see Washington Square Park, we loved it there. So many cute shops and a huge fountain where you can soak your feet or let the kids swim. Next we took a subway to the meat packing district. I LOVED Chelsea Market, it is definitely a place I would go to shop if I lived in that area. Close to Chelsea Market was an old railroad that hadn't been used in years so the city remodeled it and made it into the Highline. There were gardens, music, and a huge open glass window over looking a street. By this time we were pooped and needed to go back and get ready for dinner. After resting for a bit we caught a taxi and headed to eat Mexican.... we sat on the side walk and got to see people walking by which is always a favorite thing to do! The food was out of this world amazing, we were rolling when we left! We walked around that area then went to get dessert at Serendipity.... we were still so full neither of us could order anything to eat. They brought us out these HUGE frozen hot chocolate drinks.... next time we will know to share! Although we couldn't finish we loved it!


Monday was our last day and we wanted to be able to see all of Central Park so we decided to take a bike ride. First we got breakfast, it was good and hearty... just what we needed for a full day of riding!  Most of our ride was great, but towards the end my legs would not push me any further especially when going up hill! The park is amazing, when we go back I would love to walk through it again and look at everything on the "inside". Since we were on bikes we had to stay on the trail, but we could get off and push if we wanted to see something. When we finished riding we headed back to the room for showers and to get ready for our afternoon. The DJ's at the wedding told us we had to eat Halal food so we stopped at a food truck and got some for lunch. I don't know if it was really that good or if we were just that hungry.... either way it filled us up! Next stop was the Empire State Building, my brother in laws client has a friend that works in the building and she was able to give us the gold pass. Kyle and I felt so special, they would see our pass and take us a different route, we would skip lines, and was able to go up extra floors... it was so fun! The view was amazing, I loved being able to see all of New York from up above! When leaving we passed by the famous actor... Tom Cruise! I had a feeling someone special was about to get out of the car, thankfully I stalled so I could see who it was but I wasn't quick enough to get a picture! :( We had time to walk around for a bit before dinner so we went to H&M, I had already bought a few things from a previous visit to the store but Kyle was able to find him some cute things! :) Afterwards we went to dinner at Carmines, a Italian place that serves family style... yeah family style, we had to take half of it home to our roomies! It was delicious.... actually it is making me want pasta right now! When we left we wanted to walk around the area before heading back and came across Ritas, I was still really full from dinner but Kyle went ahead and got some frozen custard. I took a few bites and it was so good! Our last night we wanted to keep really low key so we walked around just to see what we would run into, we found a really cool park that is located right behind the public library. There was a cafe and a big open lawn where they hold all kinds of events. We went to St. Patrick's Cathedral which was amazing! The details were out of this world. Our night ended with Magnolias for dessert one last time and coffee, then we went to Columbus Circle laid on the bench with the waterfalls behind us and looked up into the sky.... it was the perfect ending to a GREAT vacation!

Tuesday we headed to Starbucks to pick up coffee and off we went to the airport. Thankfully we arrived in Nashville early in the afternoon and was able to rest and unpack before work the next day!

We had a WONDERFUL time and would LOVE to plan a trip in the future!