NYC girls trip

Yes, I got away for a NYC girls trip with my sister Helen (in-law...I don't see her as that!) and my nieces! We stayed with one of Helen's high school best friends in Cold Spring Harbor on Long Island. Danette was SO sweet to hook us up with a free place to stay! We only had 2 full days in the city, so we made sure we did them right. Luckily we all had been 2 previous times and were not into doing too many touristy things.

Sunday (day 1) was freezing, but so awesome! We headed to the MET (Metropolitan Museum of Art). It was HUGE, so we only saw the few things we wanted...European sculptures and art, Modern photography, and ALL of the Rembrandt's they had! It would take a full day to go through the whole museum, so we will save the rest for another trip. Then we shopped while waiting to meet another of Helen's friends, Bavani. I've met her before and she's so awesome! She lives right outside the city and came in on her only day off to hang out. Once we met up with her we headed to the East Village for some Mac-n-cheese. Yep, I came to NY for just that. There's a small hole in the wall near NYU called S'Mac. It ONLY has mac-n-cheese and you can get it any way you like. Go here for their menu. Afterward we went to Macy's to see their displays and shop. Then we went to Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas tree....and it was GORGEOUS! It was more beautiful in person than I imagined! We got some coffee and walked around the (freezing!) city until time to catch our train home.

Waiting for the LIRR

The MET

Anna and I at S'Mac

My Cajun Mac-n-cheese. It was the best EVER!

My Sissy and I :)

Mia, Me and Anna

Monday (day 2) we dressed for the freezing weather, but were pleasantly surprised when it was warm! Good thing we all had giant purses to store our extra clothes! We started the day at the World Trade Center. The first tower is HUGE and beautiful. We didn't get to see the memorial b/c you have to buy tickets way in advance, but we walked around and saw other smaller memorials family members set up. Then we hit Century 21 and hit it was! Anna found the boots she was looking for and I finally found C his Christmas sweater. And everything was crazy CHEAP! We stopped at Washington Square Park for few pictures and it was beautiful! FAO Schwartz was next on our list. I wanted to get B a smurf from the NY store b/c that's where the smurfs go in the movie. I scored a bear for C and a train for both boys to share and they were on sale! I took pictures just for B and wished SO badly he could've been there (just for that part of the trip ha!). Little Italy was next. We walked through and noted a few places we wanted to eat for dinner, then hit Chinatown (Canal st!) for some shopping (on the cheap!). We got lots of cute stuff and headed to pick our restaurant. We had so many Italians trying to reel us in, but it was the very attractive, young guy outside Umberto's Clam House that won us over. There was only one other family in the restaurant (it was 3:30) so it was nice and cozy. Our waiter was excellent and the food was awesome! We all got something different so we could share. Most of the way through our meal the cute host shoved our waiter down and they started fighting. The waiter got up and then the host swung and missed, then they were both choking each other...it was CRAZY! The owner broke it up and the whole time we're looking around like, "Where are the camera's? Are we on the Jersey Shore?" HAHA! After the craziness we shopped a little more, then headed uptown to the Lincloln Center for The Nutcracker performed by the NYC Ballet!!
It was the most magical, beautiful show I've ever been to. Our seats were fantastic and we were all brought to tears during the second act. This was by far the highlight of our trip. It was our Christmas present from Helen and there is no way I could thank her enough. The talent was incredible and what got me was there were 5 and 6 yr olds out there dancing! I've got chills again just thinking about it! Afterward we walked around some more to soak in every last ounce of NYC before we had to jump on our train back to LI.

The World Trade Center!!

Washington Square Park

Super cool windnow display at SAKS

The Smurfs at FAO!

Anna and I at The Nutcracker :)

I can't wait to go back again. It's my favorite place in the whole world and if it were possible I would be living there right now. Maybe one day when the boys are out of college ha!