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.