New York In More Than a Minute

A couple of months ago, Heidi came by my office at work and asked about going to NYC. Would I want to head out on an adventure with her, her sister Heather (also the brilliance behind why my hair looks amazing these days) and 5 of their friends?

Obviously, my answer was YES!

I mean I loved the city when I was there four years ago. Might as well head back and see what I didn't get to see!

We gathered around 10pm at the SLC airport. We had our pillows and our blankets and our comfortable clothes. Red eye flights are not my favorite. But they're the cheaper flight. And I was prepared this time. I fell right asleep and pretty much slept the whole flight. It was delightful. Made me that much more pleasant.

Upon arrival and obtaining our bags, Heather announced that our driver was coming in a white car(we all assumed that she had arranged for our 2 cabs per the itinerary that she had sent out). 

That's when this beauty showed up:

A limo. It apparently was just a couple of dollars more per person for us to rent a limo instead of taking cabs so Heather got us a limo. And we rode into the city at 6 AM in style.

(I have no make up on... please be understanding of that fact...)

Upon arrival at our hotel, we took over the lobby bathroom to fix ourselves for the day. Once we were feeling refreshed, we put our luggage in storage (since it was too early to check in) and headed off to the Staten Island Ferry.

The Statue of Liberty is closed but we wanted to take it in, anyway. Plus, it's free and kind of relaxing.

After, we wandered into the Financial District and took in the sites of the City in springtime. Flowers bloomed. Birds danced around. It was heaven.

Heidi and I went into the Federal Hall Building where George Washington gave his inaugural address. Heidi knows what a history geek I am so I was pleased to be able to snap a few pictures.

We did a little shopping, got some lunch, and then went to Ground Zero. After that, the hotel called and said that our rooms were ready for us. Heidi and I elected to head to the hotel and get some shut-eye.

After getting up and showering, we headed off to Jon's Pizzeria for some delicious authentic pizza.

Afterwards, we hit up the Met and I saw a Monet, again. It was amazing. I could have spent hours in there wandering and people watching. There were plenty of awkward first dates happening.

We decided that we had time so we went to Serendipity to get some frozen hot chocolate. We made friends with the host, a short cute little guy from Wisconsin who is trying to make it on Broadway. He was delightful and gave us some tidbits about the theater life and happenings around town.

Of course, by that time, we had pretty much eaten our way through NYC so we couldn't finish our three desserts, but it was worth it.

We headed back to the hotel.

Saturday found us on our way to Brooklyn. I had discovered that the botanic gardens were having a cherry blossom festival. So I convinced the crew that it was essential for us to enjoy it. So we did. 

It was beautiful weather and the cherry blossoms were fantastic. The only trouble was finding a restroom that didn't have an hour long wait.

And sadly, I forgot the card for my nice camera at the hotel so all of my pictures had to be on my phone. But I did find my namesake plant:

Once we had enough of the blossoms we headed to Canal Street where we wheeled and dealed and got some good stuff. I made off with a Coach bag and a Michael Kors watch. I'm still trying to figure out if the Coach bag is real or fake.

Once we finished there, I went back to the hotel to get some more sleep and then, we got ready and headed out to Topaz Thai for dinner.

We then took cabs to see Newsies. 

Cute boys singing and dancing and acting. Yes, it was wonderful. The lead, of course, is married, but still I enjoyed my view of him. Our seats were fourth row up in the balcony so we could see everything.

We stuck around to get some signatures from the actors and then walked from there through Times Square to Ellen's Stardust Diner to enjoy some dessert and fantastic singing by the waiters and waitresses.

This fine fella played Davy in the cast we saw. 

Sunday we woke up early to go to Church. The City was having a young adult conference where they were reorganizing the YSA wards. So we attended. I'm glad we did. There was some good things said there. Such as the stake president admonished the members to "fill the gaps." He talked about not just waiting for assignments but seeing where there were needs and filling them without waiting for instructions. I wrote that one down.

Afterwards, we went to Sarabeth's for brunch. There was kind of a long wait so we went to a bakery that apparently has the best chocolate chip cookies in NYC. It was alright. Definitely nothing compared to Disneyland.

Because it was still Sunday, we decided to be a little more low-key and just went to Central Park to relax until the afternoon. So we did.

Friends and family, I need a park in my life.

I took a spin over to Grey's Papaya to get a hot dog as a promise to a friend. It was decent. I appreciated it.

And then, we all met back at the hotel and packed up. But Heather decided that since we arrived in style, we should probably go out in about as much style. So our ride to the airport was another limo.

So, what did I learn? 

I've been a suburb type of girl most of my life... but maybe I'm a big city girl after all. 

Also, why am I so much more attractive to guys in New York City (and these are reputable guys, not sketchy guys...) than the ones in Utah? Evidently, I'm living in the wrong city. And maybe that means it's time to move...