NYC: Part two.

Are you ready for another round? I'll just pick up where I left off. After a semi-exhausting first couple of days, on day 3 we had a very leisure/lazy day planned. We slept in late and then went to lunch at Harry's Burritos. It was good, nothing that we wouldn't be able to find here in Arizona. I almost died laughing though when I read this on the menu:

"Deep-fried like a giant egg roll!" Um, seriously? I think in Mesa you are born knowing what a chimichanga is. I'd like to believe that it was my first word. Those silly East-Coasters, they need a Filiberto's.

Anyhoo, Harry's Burrito is on the Upper West Side, which is the more family friendly NYC, and I fell in love with the houses and the neighborhoods. Have you seen "You've Got Mail"? It was filmed there, and it is as lovely as can be. So we walked along the streets and got ourselves some more treats from another Magnolia's bakery, then walked to Central Park to hang out and eat.

Central Park was AMAZING. We spent over two hours just walking around and sitting and watching people then walking some more and taking pictures...then I kinda got us lost, but it was truly lovely.

The castle was fun to go to, and super pretty.

The view from the castle, which I LOVE. Also, fun fact #1, Central Park is where everybody that owns a bikini lays out on Saturdays. I could not stop laughing at how it seriously looked like a beach because everybody was just chillin' on beach towels. Fun fact #2, the castle is where the weather in Manhattan is taken from every day. I know, intriguing right? I kind of want to marry this picture. I clearly couldn't get enough of how pretty it was. I'm really mature/my mom is shaking her head at me while she reads this. We then walked out on the East side of the park and walked down and saw all of the 5th Avenue shops. My favorite was FAO Schwartz. I should have taken more pictures, it was seriously the most amazing store I've ever been in! The whole time I was there I kept thinking, "Yes, of course I need a 4-foot giraffe for my future babies!" or "These baby dolls are obviously special since the nurses are taking such good care of them...I need one." Yes, they have a nursery for the baby dolls and workers dressed as nurses taking care of them! I seriously wanted to die it was all so cute. And Philip with Chewy was very adorable as well. And if you click on the Chewy picture you can see above the Clifford dogs that Harry, Hermione, Ron and Hagrid area also made of Legos! They were, however, in the middle of the escalators so it was hard to get a picture of them.

.

. That night we went to Ray's Pizza (like on Elf) and it was poo. Don't go there. But later Philip wanted to try the Seinfeld cookie. "Look to the cookie!" Yeah, we're like ten years too late for this one. However, the cookie was surprisingly delicious.

Oh, and this is one of the two pictures we got in Times Square. I wasn't super impressed with it. Like there were lots of lights and billboards and whatnot, but not a ton of cool stores or anything.

. . Okay, now we are on to day #4, which might have been my favorite day. I don't know, they were all amazing, but this one was super amazing. We slept in once again and then went to lunch. After lunch, we went to this AMAZING place called Max Brenner's Chocolate Factory. Honestly, if you are a chocolate lover, this is how you will envision heaven. They have chocolate running through pipes (Philip said they just look like brown pipes) and like a 12 page menu of just chocolate options.

. Philip got:

. The Euphoria Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge Brownie Sundae.

The description from the menu reads: Deep chocolate peanut butter ice cream, Dulce de Leche ice cream, caramelized toffee bananas, pure chocolate chunks, milk chocolate sauce, warm peanut butter sauce and chunks of chocolate fudge brownie. Garnished with whipped cream and crunchy hazelnut bits. Served with extra peanut butter sauce, and very pure milk chocolate ganache.

And I got:

The Spectacular Melting Chocolate S'mores Sundae.

(and an awkward hand)

The description of mine is:

Decadent dark chocolate gelato, pure vanilla ice cream, dark chocolate fondue, pure chocolate chunks, mini-marshmallows, chocolate wafer balls & whipped cream. Garnished with toasted marshmallow fluff, and chocolate covered graham cracker cookies. Served with white chocolate cream and silky whipped cream.

We both got:

probably 12,000 calories,

clogged arteries,

type 2 diabetes,

and very full and happy bellies.

They were, to put it mildly, heaven-sent.

After our delightful desserts, we headed over to the Gershwin Theater to see Wicked! I was debating whether or not to see this while we were in New York, since all of the tickets were so stinkin' expensive, but figured that we may as well see the real deal. So after spending too much on tickets, I tried to not think about it because I didn't want to get my hopes up or set myself up for disappointment.

Um, disappointment did not exist. I loved it. A lot. So did Philip. A lot.

We even had like the worst seats in the theater, and this is how close we were to the stage! And yes is bothers me that the picture is blurry.

It was so small and intimate, and at the end when they came and took their final bow, and everyone was giving them a standing ovation, I was almost in tears! I wanted to go hang out with them and thank them for putting on such a fantastic show. If you haven't seen it, you need to. If you go to New York, see it there. I'd like to believe that it was extra special there. Seriously, it is in my top three New York moments.

We then just walked around thinking about Wicked, and I wanted to see the Rockefeller center in it's fullness, and of course, was hoping to bump into Tina Fey/Liz Lemon.

That night we went to the Empire State Building, and it was so so dreamy. It almost seemed fake how pretty it was! I said to Philip, "Doesn't it just kind of look like the tiny town on the Peter Pan ride at Disneyland?" Seriously, it looks that perfectly beautiful. Philip might have been tired of the pictures by this time. Our last day was kind of a bust. We tried to go to Regis and Kelly and that didn't work. We tried to go to this store that Sara told me about, and it no longer exists. Then we tried to go to the Met, and it was closed. So we sat in the park again for a while and people watched, went to lunch at Shake Shack (good burgers, fries taste exactly like Ore-Ida), then went to the airport. All in all though, fantastic trip. I've said it before and I'll say it again, EVERYBODY needs to take this trip, and when you do, let me plan it for you!

NYC: Part one.

New York...sigh. It was so amazing. Like honestly, trip of a lifetime, better than expected, worth every penny, would do it all over again, downright AMAZING.

So, without further adieu, I'll go over every last detail of the trip...or at least the first part of the trip. That way, when you plan your trip to New York, you'll have LOTS of insight.

We decided to take the red-eye flight, because Phoenix to New York is a five hour flight, plus the three hour time difference, it made sense to take advantage of sleeping on the plane. Sounds like a good plan right? Theoretically it is. However, the reality of leaving at 11:46 pm, trying to sleep on a plane, then taking the subway to your hotel where you arrive at 9 am, to drop off your luggage but can't check in for another three hours (which is still four hours earlier than normal check-in) then walking around in a big city and not really knowing where things are or what you're doing makes for kind of a cranky start. We first walked to a breakfast place recommended by friends, only to find it didn't exist anymore. So as we are walking, trying to figure out what to do, and getting more angry and frustrated with every step, we found a place called PrimeBurger, and it said it served breakfast. Hallelujah!

We then walked in to find these awesome seats:

and were pleasantly surprised by the yummy and very cheap french toast. And yes, that is Sarah Jessica Parker on the paper between us. Apparently SJP likes PrimeBurger too, something they are VERY happy to advertise.

Later that day we took the NBC Studio Tour, which was super fun for TV junkies like us. We were led by an NBC page (much like Kenneth), and at one point Philip asked her how similar her job was to Kenneth's, which I'm sure she liked.

We then stopped by Magnolia Bakery to treat ourselves to something delicious. Philip got white cupcakes. His assessment: They're alright, nothing I'd have to have again." But later got a caramel cupcake that he wanted to marry...not joking.

I, on the other hand, tried the cheesecake. I got the pumpkin, since I'm a slave to any and all things pumpkin flavored, and I didn't think it was pumpkin-y enough. Of course, that didn't stop me from eating the entire thing.

I also got the caramel cheesecake another day, which I liked quite a bit more.

For dinner that night, we went to a place called The Burger Joint. It is this ghetto little place, but it's actually inside a fancy hotel. It has been there longer than the hotel so they just built around it, and it is just covered by a big red curtain, and a neon burger sign leads the way down a long hallway.

It is super popular and busy, and since it is tiny inside, we shared a booth with another couple. However, it isn't like they were an actual couple yet, so the guy was totally trying to flirt and crap which was kind of hilarious since we were less than two feet away staring directly at them.

Bright and early the next morning, we headed off to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island ferry. This was for sure a highlight of the trip. The Statue of Liberty was way cooler than I expected it to be.

I'm maybe in love with this picture and the city in the background.

However, did you know that you walk up like a million stairs to the top of the pedestal that she's standing on? I kept thinking that the people that were going to the crown were suckers for having to walk up that many stairs, only to find that I was a very out of shape sucker myself. See that little ledge that is sticking out right underneath where her feet start? That's how high we climbed.

And this is the picture you get when you ask someone to take a picture and get Lady Liberty in the background. Good thing I wanted lots of ferry window in the picture and not so much of the statue. Lame.

We then went over to Ellis Island, which was a bit of a disappointment. It was cool and everything, but we really wanted to see the registry book, like on Hitch, and it doesn't really exist, or at least, not on the day we were there.

I promise we were actually there, despite the fact that we, especially Philip, totally look like we were Photo shopped into this picture.

Old school graffiti that is now considered historic. I liked the little man they drew.

We thought this was cool because we are kind of nerdy. It's just all different kinds of old money from people that were coming to Ellis Island from all different countries.

Happy Ellis Island day!

As we got off the ferry in Battery Park, we came upon The Positive Brothers (that's seriously their name), who put on quite a good show.

This is how they support their families.

Be seriously impressed. He totally did a flip over the other one.

And then...

he totally did a flip over all five of those people! Unfortunately, I didn't quite catch that, due to my awesome timing, but it was amazing.

That night we went to Grimaldi's in Brooklyn for dinner. We waited AN HOUR AND TWENTY MINUTES! Not joking, I thought I was going to die in that line. However, the pizza was fantastic, and Philip, who is kind of a pizza snob, LOVED it and said it was worth the wait.

We then walked back across the Brooklyn Bridge, which was so amazing! Seriously, the skyline at night was so pretty.

Pictures clearly don't do it justice.

After the guy we asked to take this picture took it, he looked at it and said, "Ehh."

Um, thanks? Or try again? Whatever.

And more because I loved it.

After the bridge we wandered around until we found a subway which we took back to our hotel. I loved taking the subway places. Seriously, so convenient, super fast, not scary, just really smelly. All in all though, fantastic.

Part two soon to come.

A little preview...

I bet our weekend was funner than yours...

More details to come.

In fact, loads and loads of details to come.

Be excited to vicariously visit the Big Apple through my next post or two...or three, let's see how long I can stretch this out!

My life...

This morning I took my car in to Gunnell's to get a new tire. I took my book:

which I have to admit is finally becoming interesting. You see, I've heard great things about this book, but that it starts a little slow. A LITTLE SLOW? Seriously, the first four pages of the book are about three-toed sloths. It has taken me two full weeks to get through like 80 pages, because every time I try to read it, I fall asleep. But anyways, now it is getting interesting, and I am finally enjoying it.

So, I sat down and got out my book and then an old man came and sat by me. He looked kind of like this:

but with shorter hair on his head, and a larger and longer amount coming out of his shirt. He then proceeds to tell me that I look really familiar, but that this isn't a pick up because he's an old man, and asked me if I worked at Walmart. I told him no, that I worked at a dental office. Ohhhhh, that's where he recognized me from.

"Right over here on University?"

No, it's in Gilbert.

"Oh yeah, I remember now."

No he doesn't. I've never seen him before.

He then talked to me for the next twenty minutes, asking all sorts of questions (if I have kids, if I was married in the temple, if Diabetes runs in my family, what about arthritis? do I know anyone who would want these pills for these things, do I want to become a seller for this company that sells the pills, you know, the usual) and whatnot, all while assuring me that he wasn't picking up on me because he was old and I was married, and all while I was trying to read my book.

Now don't get me wrong, I was polite and everything, but for crying out loud, I just wanted to read!

His car was finally done, and he gives me a hug and kisses me on the cheek, then instructs his wife, who was sitting on the other side of him the whole time, to give me a hug. What the weird?

And they smelled weird too.

Yeah, that's not very sweet of me, but seriously? A kiss on the cheek after just meeting at Gunnell's? Weird.

That's all. Good thing Philip isn't the jealous type.

Happy holiday weekend! And happy fireworks!