NYC for ME!

I'm sorry I have not been a fan of blogging for the past several weeks...I'm finding it hard to get motivated. BUT I am excited to write this blog...the blog about my time in NYC! This is not a grandparent post as I was in the city by myself - no children...so grandma's, you've been warned! However, mom's of small children who have little to no time to themselves and love New York City...read on!

Corey got to go to the dental convention in NYC this year which partly spurred on our big trip to NY last month. He was in the city from Saturday to Thursday and I was lucky enough to be able to join him from Monday to Thursday. I left Monday at 11am and got to the city via the train by 1:30. I was by myself for the rest of Monday, all of Tuesday and all of Wednesday. Corey was done working Wednesday evening, so we were able to spend Thursday together and then headed back to Wendy's house at 8pm. And yes, Wendy was the brave soul that added my 2 kids to her 3 and took care of all of them by herself while I was allowed to enjoy myself in the city. THAT is love my friends and I am so thankful for her!

So...on with the trip! This is when I arrived in Penn Station.

The rest of the day I spent shopping and wandering the streets. Here was a store on 5th Ave that was decked out for Christmas already. Christmas time in NY...a-mazing!

I walked to Central Park and found the ice skating rink...

...and to FAO Schwarz to buy for my kids and see The Big Piano!

I then met Corey for dinner and we called it a night after that. I unfortunately got no pictures of our room (which was awesome, thank you A-dec!), but I did manage to get a picture of the view from our room. We stayed at the Marriott Marquis in Time Square...right smack dab in the center of Time Square...it was so cool!

Tuesday I woke up bright and early and rode the subway to Brooklyn after getting my daily coffee and bagel. Here is a terrible self portrait, but that is the Manhattan Bridge behind me.

This is the Brooklyn Bridge, the one I walked across. If you haven't done this and are ever in the city, absolutely do it...it was awesome! It was a nice walk and it had a lot of history displays on how the bridge was built and who built it. Very interesting, very scenic and just an incredible experience!

This picture was taken right when I got on the pedestrian part of the bridge. You are basically walking above the cars.

Here is a view of the cars...

And amazing architecture!

I don't have anymore pictures of the rest of my day (my camera gave me major problems) but I spent the entire day shopping and wandering the streets which was time well spent in my opinion! I ate a panini for lunch in SoHo, shopped in SoHo, walked Canal St, shopped in Herald Square, etc, etc, etc. I also went to St. Paul's chapel (the church that George Washington prayed in after he was elected president AND where lots of volunteers slept after the 9/11 attack). I am sadly kind of forgetting everywhere I went, but I was on my feet all day making the most of my time! In the evening I met up with Corey and some of the people he was working with for dinner in Hell's Kitchen. Very fulfilling day!

The next morning I got a free breakfast at Wendy's from a guy on the street passing out coupons. I didn't have my day planned out, so I started wandering around and ended up finding the Today Show studio. I saw Matt Lauer and Natalie Morales filming a segment which was way cool!
From there I headed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I didn't have time to go through it, but I spent some time in the massive gift shop and called it good. I then had to get back to midtown where I met an old acquaintance, Whitney Sterling, who lives and works in NYC. I met her during my 1 semester at OC and had a bunch of classes with her. I didn't get a picture, but I had a wonderful time with her. She took me to a cute little french cuisine where we ate soup, salad and bread! She then pointed me in the right direction for more shopping and I spent the rest of the day shopping! I know what you are thinking...I spent a LOT of time shopping. The sad part is, it never got old! That night we again went out with Corey's work people for dinner. We went out for sushi where we all ordered sushi (duh) except for my dear husband...who ordered a filet mignon and rice! Gotta love that picky picky man! He did try a California roll, but of course didn't like it.

Then Thursday came...YAY the one day I got to spend with my husband! We got up early and took the subway to South Ferry, walked to Battery Park and got on the ferry to go to Ellis Island. Of course this is the ONE stinking picture I got before my camera battery died on me. Sooo so upset about that one! Ellis Island was aaaaaaaa-mazing. I mean I honestly cannot put it into words how real the history was there. We did the audio tour and spent 2 hours in there and for sure could have spent 2 more hours in there. When Corey talks about our experience there, he tells you that we both took a test very similar to the one the people took back then to see if they could pass through or not and I failed...twice. They basically told me I had mental problems and would be deported back to my country. Whatever!

After we were done there, we headed to the new 9/11 memorial which was also very touching and quite amazing. It is the 2 fountains that take the place of where the 2 towers were. All the names of the people who died are etched in the fountain and at night all the names light up. I feel so lucky to be able to say that I went there. After that, Corey and I ate the best pizza I've ever had right next to David Letterman's studio, did some more shopping for souvenirs, went and saw the tree in Rockefeller Center (that was lit the day prior with Obama and Neil Diamond there to celebrate) and then finally got our stuff and walked to the train station.

I felt good about leaving the city and heading back to my kids and am so thankful for the opportunity, but a few days later and I already had that achy feeling where I just wanted to go back for a few more days! My heart still longs to be back there and I seriously was hoping I could stop feeling that way! It's an amazing place. I had an amazing time. I'm sorry this post was so long!