I Love New York City!

I discovered a few months ago that I had enough air miles for a free trip, so in April I went to see my friend Leah, who lives in NYC. In college we were inseparable (people referred to us as Leallison because we were ALWAYS together), but we hadn't seen each other in three years, so it was wonderful to spend four days together and do what we do best together: eating good food, shopping, and talking!

I was in New York 10 years ago with my family, so it was nice that I didn't feel the need to do all the touristy things because I had already done most of them. This time I just wanted to experience New York. Of course, since New York is made for walking, we walked the streets and just enjoyed the beautiful city. It was a good trip for me and I'm grateful that Mike allowed me to take a few days for myself since I don't get many days off in my career.

This is when I was leaving the airport in College Station. Sadly, Erin wasn't crying because it was so hard to see me go - it was because I made her pose for a picture when all she wanted to do was run around the airport. It's ok, the feeling was mutual. I love my children with all my heart, but I can't say that I missed them too much...I knew they'd be there when I got back. :)
I arrived after midnight on Wednesday night, and didn't get to Leah's house until 1:30 am. However, having not seen each other in such a long time, of course we stayed up talking. We had NO IDEA what time it was until Leah went out to look at a clock and it was 6am!!! It seemed pointless to go to sleep at all, so we just showered and got ready to go into the city. We left at 7am and stayed out until 11pm that night, having had zero sleep the night before. We mastered the art of all-nighters when we were roommates, but I haven't done it since then. It was for old time's sake I suppose :)

Day One: Hell's Kitchen, Theater District, Rockefeller Center, Makeovers at Bendels, Tiffany & Co, Guys and Dolls on Broadway

St. Patrick's Cathedral

Me & Leah

Ahhh, the lovely Tiffany's.

Unfortunately I did not walk out with a little turquoise box,
but I perhaps I'll return with Mike someday!

We went to see Guys and Dolls on Broadway that night

Day Two: West Village, Guggenheim Museum, Upper West Side, Upper East Side, Central Park

This is the view of Manhattan and the Hudson River from Hoboken.
Isn't that skyline just incredible?

Leah actually lives in Hoboken, NJ, which is just across the river from the city. It was a quick subway ride or bus ride to get into Manhattan, and of course we went into the city every day.

Me, and Manhattan's beautiful skyline

Wouldn't you feel just fabulous if you got to hop on the subway at this beautiful train station each morning and head into Manhattan for the day?? This is Leah's subway line into the city, from New Jersey.

And wouldn't you feel even more fabulous if this was your neighborhood park, right up along the pier & with that kind of view of Manhattan?

Getting a New York pizza at Joe's Pizza, one of New York's best pizza places (and not to mention, Ben Affleck's favorite too, not that it really matters...).

Me and Leah

We ate our pizza in this plaza, just in front of the pizza place. I just LOVED sitting there that day, watching people as we ate our lunch. This is in the West Village, a really charming area of the city. Winding streets, trendy boutiques, and great little cafes.

Buildings surrounding the plaza in the West Village

West Village neighborhood, and classic NYC cab picture

Patisserie Claude, a really quaint European patisserie in the West Village. It appears that we ate a lot. Well, we did :) There is just so much good food in NY, but shared everything so we got just a taste of it all! Plus we walked everywhere, so I can justify it.

A quiet street in the West Village. I LOVED this area of the city. I can see myself living a happy life here someday :)

The picture can't capture how absolutely beautiful it is, but I somehow chose the most perfect 4 days to be there - the day before I arrived and the day after I left were apparently very cold, but it was sunny and warm and absolutely perfect weather the entire four days I was there. It was April, and the first bit of warm weather they had had, so it meant that all trees and flowers around the whole city were in bloom and so everything was very picturesque. You can kind of see the trees blooming in this picture. It was gorgeous!

This was Aaron Burr's old carriage house in the eighteenth century,
and has now been converted into a nice restaurant.

Beautiful hydrangeas along the street

Magnolia Bakery!!
Of course we tried one of their famous cupcakes, and then sampled a few other things as well.

Magnolia Bakery box, filled with yummy goodies!

This is a neighborhood playground we found in the West Village. I took this picture to convince Mike that we could live in the heart of Manhattan and still raise a family.

Washington Square Arch

Guggenheim Museum. I have always wanted to see it!
They had an exhibit about the influences of Asian art in Impressionism, which we enjoyed.
I wish I had a good picture of the outside of the museum, but it was night time, so the picture didn't turn out great. It is a really cool looking building.

Museum Mile. Home of The Met, The Museum of Modern Art, The Guggenheim, and many others. I'll be back to see them all! (I did see The Met when I was there 10 years ago)

Me and Leah and the NYC skyline at night from Central Park

NYC skyline at night from Central Park

More of the beautiful city skyline

It was also fun that night to wander through the neighborhoods of the Upper East Side and the Upper West Side, although I don't have pictures since it was dark.

Cafe Lalo, which you might recognize from "You've Got Mail." This is where Tom Hanks was supposed to meet Meg Ryan, and he peers in on her reading a book in this quiet, quaint little European cafe & with the rose on the table. I pictured the atmosphere to be just like it is in the movie, but was caught off guard to find it loud and packed. Oh well, their desserts was fantastic, and I'm glad we saw it! The restaurant was adorable, I just expected a more cozy experience, like Meg Ryan's :)

Cab ride home that night (I hailed the cab, like a true New Yorker!)
I look terrible! We never did recover from that night of no sleep at the beginning of the trip, and it shows in this picture. Oh, well

Day Three: Lower East Side, China Town, Little Italy, SoHo, and back up to the Upper West Side to wander through the streets up there again

Eating breakfast at The Doughnut Plant. These were the most delicious donuts I've ever had. They used fresh fruit purees for the fruit filling and the glaze. We shared blackberry and strawberry. We also tried a creme brule donut, which of course was fantastic as well.

Lower East Side, where most of the immigrants settled once they arrived in New York. The architecture in this area of town was so unique.

Eating at the Dumpling House in China Town

Sharing Gelato in Little Italy

Shopping in SoHo. Love the architecture here too

Successful day of shopping!

Wouldn't you love to buy produce from a grocery store that displayed it like this? It's an upscale grocery store in SoHo called Dean and Deluca.

Leah and I trying to make tired faces after our long day of shopping

Great architecture. This is what I love about NYC. Every building looks different from the next. Everything is so diverse - the people, the buildings, the shops, the neighborhoods. New York just has it all! I absolutely love the diversity and the uniqueness about everything.

Chrysler Building

Leah brought me to this park called Gramercy Park. Only the residents living in the buildings that surround this park are allowed access to it. You can't tell in the picture, but it is gated, and very small (about one block by one block), and quiet. We came here right after SoHo and I loved the contrast between busy SoHo and then this quiet, peaceful park.
New York really does have it ALL!

Leah in front of Gramercy Park

The Flat Iron Building behind me

Empire State Building

We didn't go through the temple, but it was neat to see it from the outside since it looks so different from all other temples. It is located in the Upper East Side

Day Four: Financial District, Battery Park & A View of the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge

Ground Zero

St. Paul's Chapel

I just loved these old graveyards dating back to the seventeenth century with the flat gravestones. This is outside of St. Paul's Chapel

Trinity Chapel

Beautiful graveyard outside of Trinity Chapel

Loved the tulips! I can't believe how lucky I was to be there right when everything was blooming. The whole city was absolutely gorgeous at this time of year!

Cool shot of Trinity Chapel from Wall Street

New York Stock Exchange. We were there on Sunday, so that's why Wall Street looks unusually quiet

The Wall Street Bull

We were just walking through this plaza from Wall Street to get to Battery Park. The tulips were so pretty!

The pier at Battery Park, looking toward the Statue of Liberty.

There she is!

Brooklyn Bridge

NYC Subway

Leah: Audrey Hepburn style

Best Friends!
Thanks for a fabulous trip Leah!