NYC Time

Our trip to NYC was "a long" time in the works. Way back on September 21, 2000 a skinny college boy picked up a student teacher for their first date! After dinner and the driving range the date was going so well that they continued on to the Hyatt for drinks by the pool. And sitting outside under the AZ stars the conversation led to all the places we had been or wanted to visit. This California beach girl told this traveled boy that one day I wanted to go to NYC - right around Christmas time. Then just for fun said for my 30th birthday I would love to go to NYC and see Rockefeller Center, 5th Avenue and Times Square. So twelve years and 2+ months after that special night, Tim and I were on an airplane bound for NYC to celebrate not my 30th (had just had a baby and soon Carter would join) but my 35th. What a way to see the city - it was beautifully decorated for Christmas and completely different than I expected. The tight quarters at restaurants threw Tim and I for a loop and we definitely found out that your first time in the city you discover what it is you want to see and do on your own. We had tons of recommendations but we realized the places we would go back and ones we would skip over the next time.  

Always hard to leave this crew though - but knew they were in good hands with Nonie!

The view from our room - overlooking Central Park

We checked out Lombardi's our first night - oldest pizza place in NYC. It was delish!! They had the best caesar salad and it was the perfect way to start off our eating through the city.

On our way to the restaurant we saw the crowds of people gathering for the Tree Lighting that actually happened our first night there. How cool, I was excited - until we were told that people started lining up at noon earlier that day and by the time we would get done with dinner the only place to see the tree would get us a big view on the screens they had set up around the area. No thanks, so we laughed as we sat in our hotel bed watching the Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting in NYC on TV.

2nd Day...

1st stop breakfast - where else but Brooklyn Diner. Good food but again first experience with practically sitting in the lap of the people next to us.

St Patrick's Cathedral - a favorite sight, absolutely incredible inside and the architecture is amazing. I could have spent longer inside than we did. 

We each lit a candle and said a prayer...

Off to see the Tree - it was pretty crowded from this point on each time we went by and anytime we were in the vicinity I would look at Tim and say, "oh let's go by and see the tree just one more time." I swear I think by the last day he gave me those are you serious eyes. I think I was the equivalent to a kid at Disneyland with the freaking tree :-)

American Girl Window - not the same being in there without my girls!!!

One of the many Starbucks we would pop into throughout the day to get some caffeine and to warm up.

The stores are beautiful I am sure as is but going at Christmastime when they were decorated was amazing. The storefronts were fun to look at all the way down 5th avenue. I felt like I was walking in to a whole different world at some of the stores.


We went to Del Frisco for dinner that 2nd night and had a great steak. It was one of our favorite night meals out and the sides were delish too. Tim was laughing at me because of how many pictures we could take of just the two of us so he grabbed my camera and started snapping. Our waiter was laughing at us so he jumped in a picture too. 

After dinner we had some time to kill before our first show started so we headed to Times Square - surreal and way bigger than I imagined - and crazier. Never realized they had "characters" there and got a kick out of that. We thought we were early for our show only to realize we were 15 minutes late...so we squeezed our way into our seats and caught up. 

We weren't crazy about the show - but after the show we headed to Little Italy to the best pastry place ever called Ferraras - best cappuccino and dessert ever!

3rd Day...

My favorite morning by far - my first run in Central Park! Check that off the bucket list. Way bigger that I imagined and I ran a little bit farther than I meant to but it was a great run and a great way to start the day. 

The Plaza Hotel to start the day - Little Miss Eloise for our girls-even Carter loves that movie!

The Plaza Hotel Lobby 

Honestly I thought FAO Schwarz would be overrated and we would just run in and out and Tim and I spent a ton of time in there getting lost in the store. Got a little Christmas shopping done too. Totally us to be in NYC and spend the most time in a toy store

Dylan's Candy Bar where these two sweet toothaholics definitely left with a bag each of candy. 

So wanted to try their Frozen Hot Chocolate - but when Tim saw the line he made a mad dash to the car :-) where we had fresh pastries waiting for us

Off the check out Brooklyn and the Brooklyn Bridge of course. We enjoyed looking around Brooklyn it was nice to be out of the hub bub of the city for a chunk of the afternoon.

Pretty view of Manhattan from Brooklyn even on this cloudy day.

 We ended up eating a late lunch at an Italian Place in Little Italy that afternoon and than going to check out Macy's and of course writing my own letter to Santa. The store was beautiful from the outside and a total classic, but a little crowded and claustrophobic on the inside. 

We had late night dinner reservations at the French Restaurant in our hotel - we should have known ourselves better but were told by a few different people that it was so good. Considering we are simple food people that don't go for the fancy and that one of our favorite meals that trip was sitting at a bar at PJ Clarke's sharing sliders and beer we should have run. But we gave it a chance and laughed and left starving and wishing we could head to an In N Out or a nearby deli!

4th Day...

The 911 Memorial was our 1st stop of the day. It was the coldest day yet and a quiet morning. Having never been to NY before I always think of the day and where I was when I first heard the news and everything I saw on TV afterwards. For Tim, he had been to NY before and had visited the 2nd Tower before so that was surreal to see for him. The names went on and on and seeing them after the years makes me not even begin to imagine what everything was like that day and still is for their families. The pools were vast and beautifully done and there is so much more to The Memorial that they plan to do.

The new Freedom Tower that isn't finished yet. 

This historic church - Trinity Church - completely captivated my history side. The original church was built in  1696 and has been rebuilt three times, once from fires. George Washington attended church here the day before he was inaugurated as President. This building survived the attacks on 911 while everything else crumbled and became temporary resting/housing for the first responders the days after the attack. Way more history attached to this church and you could feel it just walking around.

We headed to a lookout point to see the Statue - it was closed still from Hurricane Sandy and we chose not to take the ferry around the Statue. If was a pretty foggy cold day so we opted for a long view of it :-)

We spend the rest of the day walking around, checked out a few more stores and made our way to the massive Whole Foods Market underneath the Time Warner Center - incredible and I loved the flowers!! The whole fact that there are restaurants and a transportation center under the city is so intriguing to this AZ/Texas girl.

Our last night in the city we headed over to an early show of The Rockettes - Holiday Spectacular. 

It was cute, something the girls would have loved. 

Walking to our restaurant for dinner from Radio City Music Hall was crazy. There were so many people in the city that night that it was hard to walk around Rockefeller Center. But not too many to see the tree and snap one more picture!

The Last Morning...

Before getting ready and heading to the airport I squeezed in one more run in Central Park - so worth it. The runs were some of my favorite parts, it was awesome to run in such a beautiful well worn place. And there was a marathon that was starting right as I was finishing up. How these guys wear shorts and sleeveless was beyond me and that's saying a lot for me. 

After showering and leisurely getting ready and drying my hair one last time we grabbed one last NY bagel and headed off to the airport to head home to see the kids. It was a fun week and great to see all of the sights that I had only pictured or seen on TV for so long. And as always spending the time alone with my husband is the best part of it. And our kids were so happy and so well taken care of I am not sure if they were even ready for us to come home...don't worry we are already planning the next trip!