new york!

Can I just say I love New York? Last week I was able to go spend some time there with the fabulous Anne!

Last year when I went we packed a TON into a small amount of time. This year we kept up tradition and stayed busy and on our feet from the time we woke up until we fell exhausted into bed.

But I have to back up a little. My flight there was an eventful journey to say the least. Not only did I get asked out by a 15(!?!) year old who almost didn't believe me when I said I was 25 and married I was also approached by a woman in the ladies room at the Chicago airport about being in a movie she and her husband are producing, it's going to be called "Frisky's Bar" - I can only guess what that movie will be like. I was caught completely off guard by that because she was talking to me while we were waiting in line to use the facilities and it was super loud so I couldn't really hear her so was just doing my standard smile and nod routine. Suddenly she stopped talking, looked me in the eye and said in I'm not playing around voice, "No. I'm serious." I realized at this point that I had NO clue what we were talking about and was panicking wondering what the heck I'd been smiling and nodding along to. I tried to cover and scramble to figure it out. Then she presented me her card. Yikes! Fortunately it was my turn so I took her card and said I'd be in touch. It was nuts! (Oh and for the record, I have absolutely no intention of ever calling this woman or ever having anything to do with a movie titled "Frisky's Bar")

Anyway, now on to my actual trip.

The first day I was there we both completely forgot to take any pictures! But we had a lot of fun. We went to the wonderful Canal Street which was SO hot and crowded I thought I'd die. I didn't end up buying too much because we were both so uncomfortable. I did however, witness one of the vendors be taken down by police (like literally his face to cement) about 3 feet from where I was standing. It completely freaked me out. I wanted to run away. Anne, on the other hand, took it in a stride. I guess she's now an authentic New Yorker and stuff like that just doesn't phase her! We did purchase some DVD's which we later found out were filmed by someone in a theater so they are complete with random coughs, people walking in front of the camera, arms stretching up, you name it. I had no idea people actually did that!

While we were waiting for the subway on Canal Street we saw Spiderman! This guy was decked out head to toe! He even had some sort of sticky web thing that came shooting out of his wrist that he'd walk around shooting out onto walls. It was funny and a little creepy. He was dead serious about staying in character. I'm pretty sure he was the real deal.

We also went to SoHo and did a bunch more shopping. It was a little disappointing though because since we're in between seasons there wasn't a lot of selection. There was a lot of summer clothes on clearance to make way for new fall stuff. But looking on the bright side, I was able to get some killer deals on the things I did find.

And of course in between all that shopping we managed to find some fabulous places to eat.

Day two we decided would be a good day to take it easy since our feet were killing from all of the shopping and walking. So we got tickets to Mama Mia.

We started by going to brunch at a cute placed called Alice's Tea Cup. I loved it. The food was great and the place was adorable.

After brunch we went to the famous Dylan's Candy Bar to load up on treats for the show. That place is a candy lover's heaven. Fortunately I was still full from brunch or it could have been dangerous.


Then we went to see the show. I'd sort of seen the movie except I think I fell asleep while watching it because I don't really remember it. But I LOVED the show. The actors were great and the music was really fun.

After the show we met up with Anne's husband for dinner at a great little Mexican restaurant in Hell's Kitchen.

On my third and final day (not counting all of the dang travel time)we decided to do some more shopping and attempt to get ticktes to Jimmy Falon. Unfortunately we weren't able to get tickets which was a pretty big disappointment but we still had fun.

We went shopping and out to lunch. We were going to go to Serendipity again but the wait for lunch was over an hour and we were starving so instead we went to California Pizza Kitchen...really unique I know! We then went and got cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery. I can see what all the hype is about - they were delicious!


We then ventured out, on one of the hottest most humid days of the year, to the Brooklyn Bridge. The bridge was awesome and it was fun to look over and see the Statue of Liberty and Empire State building while crossing.

After our walk we went to dinner at Max Brenner's Chocolate Restaurant. That is such a fun restaurant with tons of good food and desserts!

It was such a fun trip and a much needed break.

While I was away Danny went fishing with his dad, brothers and uncles in Alaska. I think I'm going to have him write his first ever blog post to document it.