Everyday Life: May 2013

Beautiful! Overwhelming! Everything I hoped it would be! I would move there tomorrow.
I joke with Erick and tell him that even if I could convince him to move, we could never afford it because I want to live on the upper east side and he's never gonna make that much. ;)
I've wanted to come here all my life and now my dream was finally coming true.

My best friend, Koren.

We had been planning this trip for over a year. Koren and I were in desperate need of a girls' trip and her sister Keri needed a place to celebrate her turning 21. So NYC it was!
I have to give many thanks to Koren and her mom, Patsy. They were generous enough to pay for our hotel and Koren paid for my dinners. She is the best! Super sweet and thoughtful, this trip couldn't have been possible without them. So THANK YOU, again!! :)

I packed my heavy coat as I looked at the forecast and saw that a lot of my weekend would be in the upper 30's. Even in the cold, I had the most amazing time - and would gladly go back. We took cabs and rode the subway, even getting on the wrong one that took us to Brooklyn, but we quickly returned to our correct stop. We walked a lot, more than I did in Vegas, and saw a lot of interesting people. Our favorite moment was while we were walking back to the hotel and some guy on the sidewalk told Koren that she looked, "Like a sexy bottle of Pepto-Bismal." LOL!!

But of course no trip comes without some kind of dilemma..I did the most boneheaded thing I have ever done in my life! We had been staying in Waco with family just days before my trip, to make the drive to Houston easier. We awoke at 2am to get in the car and drive the 3 hours to Houston from Waco so I could make my flight on Thursday. I had everything ready and together so as I could grab it all in the morning without having to worry about missing anything.
We drove the 3 hours to the airport and as I was grabbing my carry-on, I realized I had forgotten my purse!! No cards, no cash, no license!! I, of course immediately began to panic and almost burst into tears. I just could not believe I had done that. Erick of course, being the calm person he is, helped me to relax and told me just to try and get through worse case, I would board a later flight. He called my brother-in-law and had him take photos of my license and passport and send them to my phone.
So as nervous as I could possibly be, I checked-in and headed to security. When my turn came, I walked up to the TSA and said, "You're gonna hate me for this but I just drove 3 hours from Waco to make my 7am flight and I completely forgot my purse. I have no identification with me."
The agent was super helpful....and nice!!!
He told me not to worry, that they couldn't use the pictures but he just had to call a number to verify who I was and my information. He made a quick call and after just a few minutes of questions he signed a sheet to let me go forward, but I would need a pat-down.
I told him I didn't care. As long as he let me get on the flight, it was okay.
The woman that handled the extra security check was also extremely nice.
I was so thankful that I was able to get such understanding TSA agents, most of them won't even smile or talk to you. They even held conversations with me the entire time and assured me not to worry, that I would make my flight.

I flew into Newark Airport on Wednesday morning. Leaving at 7am to arrive just before 3pm in NYC.When I arrived in New Jersey, I took the Newark Airport Express to the city. I got to see the Lincoln Tunnel and was immediately surprised at its' size. It is tremendously tiny! I thought the cars were going to run each other off the road. I guess camera's and television really do make things look bigger than what they truly are.

Paramount Hotel

After I was dropped off at the Port Authority, I walked the seven blocks to the Paramount Hotel on
46th. The hotel is literally right off of Times Square and is such a beautiful hotel. The lobby was incredibly romantic, (not that any of us were interested as we were 4 ladies.) But there were comfortable couches, dimmed lighting, and a quaint fireplace towards the back.
Our room was on the 15th floor, right out of the elevators. The hotel had these really cool mirrors that were located next to the wall of our room. They displayed the weather for the day. Needless to say, they did not change our
entire weekend. ;) The room was quite quant and actually reminded me a lot of the European hotel rooms. We had two beds and a bathroom which in all honestly is all we needed. We spent majority of our time walking around New York, we were only in the room to shower and sleep.

After we checked in and dropped off our baggage we headed out and visited Times Square. We basically just walked around and took a couple of photos. Of all the places we visited and walked
around New York, Times Square was definitely the most crowded - ALL THE TIME! There was always hundreds of people. This is definitely a tourist location.

We were all pretty much starving so we hit up a small diner for a little snack. One thing I really loved about any of the places we went to eat were that the portion sizes were huge! Everything was of course pricier, but the serving size really did make the difference. I ordered some fried macaroni & cheese potatoes, Koren and Keri both ordered the fried chicken tenders and Kristi ordered the popcorn chicken. All of our "snacks" turned out to be full course meals - and we had all ordered off of the appetizer menu! It was all delicious but definitely more than we had expected.

We walked around a little more after that just taking in the city and then decided to do some shopping too. We had dinner that night at an Italian restaurant named, Sophia's. Then went out for drinks with a friend, Amy, to celebrate Keri's birthday. (Amy went to school with Keri and is currently an intern at The David Letterman Show.) We hit up a quiet bar had some wine and just chatted away.

Thursday was mostly spent walking around Manhattan. We saw the Rockefeller Center and I got see St. Patrick's Cathedral from across the street. They were in the middle of renovating and had scaffolds all around the church. We also visited many shops, where the girls and I got a few souvenirs and clothing. We grabbed coffee and then headed for lunch at a restaurant named, Lindy's that was definitely not worth the wait. The service was absolutely horrible! And the food was terribly overpriced. This was definitely our least favorite place in all of NYC.

That afternoon we had the SATC Tour, which Koren had totally scheduled and planned herself. We had to make a quick walk to the other side of town to the Plaza Hotel where the tour bus would be waiting. Only a true SATC fan can understand my excitement. The tour included information from all 6 seasons and the 2 motion pictures.

Koren had been on it once a couple of years back and raved so much about it, I knew I had to do it too. :) It was definitely a ton of fun! Our guide was witty and got everyone involved in the tour. We had little show quizzes where she handed out little paddles for anyone who guessed the questions correctly. We also saw clips from different episodes and they took us all around NYC pointing out places seen on the show. We stopped at a sex toy shop where unless you've watched the show, they sell something specific that was shown. Then we stopped in Greenwich Village at Magnolia's bakery where our tour guide got us all a delicious cupcake.

We also made a stop at Buddakan where Big and Carrie's rehearsal dinner was held.

Our last stop was at Steve & Aidan's Bar "Scout" that is really named, Onieal's, where we enjoyed, you guessed it, a Cosmopolitan. The bar is absolutely
gorgeous - the design and decor is absolutely exquisite. I have never seen a place like that before.
Our tour ended at the HBO studios.

After that we walked around lower Manhattan and walked towards ChinaTown and Little Italy. Very interesting to see. It really reminded me of downtown Brownsville the way the shops are set up down the street. We took a cab back to Union Square and picked the first pizza place we found to sit down and have dinner. We were not disappointed. It was a tiny restaurant that sat about 20 people so it was a little crowded but the pizza was great.
When we got back to the hotel, we were kind of tired and decided on staying close instead of heading out walking again and just went downstairs to the bar in our hotel for more drinks. We ordered a bottle of sparkling wine and shared between the four of us. It was something mellow that we all needed from that day.

On Friday we visited more places we took the 6 and headed towards the South Ferry and walked to the
9/11 Memorial. It was actually kind of surreal standing there. I just kind of stood there and took it all in. Where the towers once stood is completely fenced in and covered with black tarp - no one is allowed to look inside. You pay or can order tickets online, to enter the museum - we did neither. Just being there was enough. I also didn't realize how much of a tourist attraction it is. I thought there was way too many people but what can you do.

After that we had lunch at a lovely diner called, George's. Food was delicious! I would gladly return to this restaurant. Even with the crowding, it was certainly worth it.
We then took a short train ride to the South Ferry where we walked a short distance to the Statue of Liberty. I admired her from afar as there was too long of a wait to get to and from the island. Ferry's take a while to load and cruise over and then it takes about another 2 hours or so to get back. So we just took a couple of photos and admired the scenery.
Next we walked towards the subway again to head uptown to see

The Empire State Building. Another tourist attraction that was full! It literally
reminded me of airport security and I overheard an employee say that it would take about 2 hours to get trough security alone. So I sighed and headed back out. Our time was scheduled and we really did not have 2 hours to wait in line. At least I can say that I've seen them. :)
Once again we headed for coffee and then went out shopping. Koren was insistent on finding a Kate Spade store which we were all for. We did a lot more walking and subway riding that afternoon - there is just so much to see and we had nowhere near all the time we wished we had.

That night we met up with a cousin of Keri's, Natalie, at a macaroni and cheese diner in the east Village known as S'MAC - Sarita's Macaroni & Cheese. It was the best mac & cheese I have ever had! I ordered the Garden Lite that had a variety of vegetables mixed in. They are all made to order in iron skillets and this small place gets packed so come early or be prepared to wait. After dinner, Natalie took Otto's Shrunken Head where they make specialty drinks in fun, weird, and cute mugs that you get to keep. They had great drinks and while the girls were catching up I was able to watch an episode of Ghost Adventures I had missed, on the tv. hahaha We all had a really good time.

Our last few hours: Saturday morning we got up and finished packing. We headed downstairs and
walked a block to have brunch at the Blue Fin. I had the french toast - it was divine! This restaurant was definitely upscale. The decorum was fabulous! The walls had paintings that almost gave a sense of "pop-up" art. It was really beautiful.

Once we got our baggage and checked out, we all headed to the port authority and said our goodbyes. Our buses were heading in different directions at different times.
It was very difficult. I tried not to cry but that didn't happen. Not only would I miss the city but I would miss my friend more than anything. It had been at least a year and a half since the last time. She is someone who means so much to me, she is someone I can always rely on and confide in. I hope and pray that I get to see her soon, again.
And one day, go back to the city.

Everyday Life

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Had Enough

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

The Big Apple