If you followed my Instagram page at all this past weekend, I apologize for the ridiculous amounts of videos in my Insta and Snap stories. Kinda.
Spending the weekend in NYC with Katia and Beto for Katia’s 9th birthday was an absolute dream. I had been twice before… but this time it felt different; and I think it had a lot to do with the fact that the three of us immediately felt at home the moment we landed. Of course, being their first time there, we hit a few of the normal tourist sight seeing stops; but we left with a list full of items we didn’t get to tackle.
We did get to:
Walk around Times Square and fall a little bit more in love with each other as we all fell in love with the city that doesn’t sleep.
We stayed in a local Airbnb opposed to a Hotel which we LOVED. It really gave us a better local experience, as opposed to feeling like the tourists we were.
I got to experience both Katia’s and Beto’s first time in the subway, which involved getting lost a few times and a bellyful of laughs and good memories to share about it:
We made it to Canal Street and had a lot of fun bartering in Little Italy and Little China for souvenirs we didn’t really want to buy. I think part of the fun of going down there is just to play the barter game. Is that horrible of me to say?
We also enjoyed a delicious few treats at Ferrara bakery in Little Italy:
A lovely bakery filled with all the Christmas cheer you need when it comes to decor and music.
Then stopped at ChaCha Matcha for a pick me up:
… and of course made stops to as many diners as we could:
…and I finally made my long awaited stop at Laduree. I’ve wanted macaroons from Laduree since before bloggers made them hip:
Which by the way did not fail to satisfy.
As I’m writing this I realize a lot of our trip consisted of eating. Which I’m happy we didn’t document with photos. However, do know that there are at least 4 restaurant stops not documented as I’m embarrassed now that I realize how much our life revolves around food. However, I don’t think we gained any weight as the amount of walking and getting around there really makes up for all the food stops. Plus calories don’t count on vacation, everybody knows that.…
We got to experience the thrill of The Lion King on Broadway (COMPLETELY RECOMMEND, and Orchestra seats are a must! Spoiler alert -stop reading if you don’t want to know! A parade walks down the aisles… and its the best experience!)
My personal favorite was Central Park. I had been twice to New York and this was my first time experiencing the magic of Central Park. I wanted to stay forever:
I don’t think any place does Fall/Winter quite as wonderful as Central Park does. The photos we captured can’t quite do it justice.
Before we made it to New York, I had mapped out all the places I wanted to see and capture in photos, but once we got there my list went right out the window. We just soaked in the little bit of time we had there. When Sunday rolled in, one thing was clear to all of us: 2 DAYS IN NYC IS NOT ENOUGH. I am genuinely surprise at how much we all felt right “at home” there, and have talked about a possibility of living in NYC in a not too distant future. For sure we will be going back to finish our list of things we didn’t get to do this time around. For now…. We will forever keep the memories we made in our hearts.
Have you been to NYC? What’s your favorite thing to do there? Restaurants? Museums? shoot me a comment or message to let me know!
I loved this post! I have always wanted to go to NYC. Your post made it … come alive somehow. Some of the spots you mentioned will definitely be going on my “must see” list!
I am loving your site and I look forward to seeing more content from you!
~ Ray
P.S.- Delicious food is LIFE, especially on vacation!