I Love New York

So I am finally back and we had such a wonderful time. This is likely to be a long post since we had 3 days of fun and never seemed to stop moving. I flew out of Richmond on Thursday evening and made it into LaGuardia around 7:45ish. My friend, Nancy, from Houston was there and we shared a cab into the city. We stayed with my friend, Laura, and her husband, Dan, and their two sweet girls, Abby and Caroline. They have a phenomenal apartment at Columbus Circle and the southwest entrance of Central Park. It is right by the Time Warner building, new Trump building, and the Mandarin Oriental hotel. The views of everything were amazing and it was a great area to be in. On Thursday night Nancy, Laura, and I went to a little fondue tapas restaurant to grab a late dinner. We sat at the bar and had the swiss cheese fondue, a cold tapas plate, and Prosecco champagne.

On Friday morning we woke up to SNOW. (Check out the views from Laura's apartment window-the first one is of Columbus Circle and the Time Warner building and the second is the entrance to Central Park) For most of us southerners, it was a winter wonderland and a departure from our normal winter. I was really glad that I packed boots and a winter hat at the last minute. My packing had started with me trying to find some cool clothes and ended up with my packing a lot of more practical options. I am so glad that I did:) That morning Laura, Nancy, and I walked over to the Time Warner building to have breakfast. We got coffee and pastries (almond chocolate croissant and pain au raisin- yum!) at Bouchon Bakery. We sat at some small bistro tables and just watched it snow outside. This is Laura, Nancy, and I after breakfast.A little later Janet took the train in from Connecticut and we waited to see when everyone else would arrive. We ventured out for lunch and ate at Alice's Tea Cup. It was such a cute restaurant that served sandwiches, salads, soups, and all kinds of tea. We got a pot of apple cinnamon tea with our lunch which was perfect on a snowy day. After lunch we decided we were in need of some pampering that did not include eating. We stopped by a nail shop for a mani pedi and relaxed for awhile.

After having our nails done, it was time to head out to stand in line for theater tickets. We got some Starbucks hot chocolate while we waited and tried to keep warm. Once we found out what shows were available we decided on seeing Young Frankenstein. We had heard good reviews from two different sets of people so it seemed like a good choice. By this time Amy (from Indy) made it into the city from Hoboken. We got ready and had dinner at Becco. They had a great dinner that included an antipasto tray, Caesar salad, and three different pastas of the day that can be made to order. Here is a pic of all of us (Laura, Nancy, Janet, me, and Amy) at dinner.

Then it was onto the show. Young Frankenstein was amazing. It was a Mel Brooks production and had some great people in it. Meghan Mullally (Karen from Will and Grace) and a guy from Desperate Housewives (the creepy pharmacist that dated Bree) were two of the leads. It was very funny and the special effects were incredible. Everyone enjoyed it.

On Saturday morning we were excited because Julie and Alexis were also going to make it into town. Poor Julie got stuck in Atlanta and was unable to make it into the city by Friday night. So on Saturday we finally got everyone together. We all met up at Laura's apartment before we headed to lunch. We hit Dylan's Candy Bar to get some our sugar fix.
We ate lunch at a cute place called Serendipity that has all kinds of huge desserts. We kept passing tables with these huge ice cream sundaes that had twizzlers sticking out of the glass bowl. The desserts looked amazing, but we were too full to try any that day. I ordered a chili cheese hot dog and was a little surprised at what arrived at the table. Check this out:)

We did a little window shopping and picked up some fabulous cupcakes at Crumbs. Then it was back to the apartment to get ready for dinner. We had dinner in the meat packing district at a restaurant at Pastis. It was a fun place with French food. We got on the bus to find a good dessert place (because after all we needed to eat again:).

After dessert we said goodbye to Janet, Alexis, and Amy. Then Laura, Julie, Nancy, and I met two of Laura's friends for drinks. We met up with her friend, Stacy, who was in town from LA and Andrea for drinks at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel bar. What a great view of the city at night! We drank some champagne and just had a great time chatting. It was a nice way to end the night.

Sunday was beautiful but I was exhausted from the trip. We were out late every night- much later than my normal 10 PM bedtime (yes, I am lame). We never stopped moving. I thought I was going to fall asleep in the airport on Sunday. I split a cab with Nancy so I got there super early. After getting there with plenty of time, I almost managed to miss my flight. The announcements were not very loud from our gate. I kept getting up to check and they were never boarding. Then all of the sudden, I heard them calling my name to come and board immediately. I felt pretty stupid, but at least I made it home. The best part of my trip was my nice welcome from the boys. Griffin was jumping up and down and Gray's face lit up when he saw me in the airport. Of course, today they are back to normal...shouldn't this last longer?