I LOVE NY

So for over a year now, we've lived within driving distance of NYC...one of my most favorite cities in the world. We have definitely not taken advantage of living so close...so when we heard that our friends Kyle and Stephanie Simmons were planning a visit, we jumped at the chance to meet them for the weekend!

Here's my picture of us arriving at Grand Central Station. Every time we arrive, I feel the need to take a picture, even though it's the one place that we go each time we visit. We've found that the easiest and quickest way to get to Manhattan is taking a train into GCS. I think it's become one of my favorite buildings in the city...it is just so beautiful! This time, I also felt the need to try to do the Flash Mob Dance routine from the cell phone commercial...do you know the one? I laugh every. single. time.

Our hotel was basically across the street from Grand Central...which meant not very much walking with luggage. I was a big fan of that. I was an even bigger fan of this beautiful arrangement of lillies in the lobby of our hotel.

We wasted no time finding things to do with Kyle and Stephanie. Kyle figured out that the only way we could get tickets to get into the 9/11 Memorial (which opened 2 weeks ago) was to buy tickets on the New York Water Taxi. The boat ride was really enjoyable and it dropped us off right at Battery Park so we could walk to the memorial. We were able to see the city from the Hudson river and it was seriously one of the most beautiful days I've ever spent in the city.

(In case you're wondering, the Memorial is open and is free to the public, but you have to reserve a time to go inside. Those times are all booked up through December 5 at this point, so we were able to get a time that had already been reserved through the water taxi. It was done very well...it wasn't really crowded, and there was no pushing and shoving through security.)

Here's that beautiful view I was talking about.

I'm putting my 9/11 memorial pictures in another blog, but in short...it was incredible. I think every American that can go should see it...even the ones that live in NYC. :)

After an incredible lunch at Chipotle and some more walking around...my body told me that pregnancy and the city don't mix, so we headed back to our lilly lobby hotel and I took a 2 hour nap. I told Justin that it should be OBVIOUS that I was tired, because I really had no desire to go shopping.

Saturday night, we saw Spiderman on Broadway. Oh...it was amazing. It was really one of the best shows I've ever seen. The music, the costumes, the special effects...it was all incredible. I'm pretty certain Justin will dress our son as Spiderman for his first Halloween next year. Since I'm not a rule-follower, I took a picture inside the theatre of the set before the show. I was reprimanded immediately afterwards by my rule-following husband.

Here we are after the show.

By Justin's request, I'm posting this video of one of the songs from the Broadway show. I don't know if it's just me, but after I see a show, I am always obsessed with listening to the soundtrack for a few weeks afterwards. If you like U2, you will love the entire soundtrack. Enjoy!


After Spiderman, we all decided that getting cheesecake at Junior's would be a fantastic idea. It was...and the weather was the most perfect night to sit outisde and talk and laugh. It's the only time in the past 5 months that I can remember staying up past midnight. We even saw the Naked Cowboy walk into the parking garage next door to Junior's and drive out in his Maserati. We were all left to wonder...does his profession REALLY support that purchase? Really?


We finished the weekend on Sunday morning at Redeemer Presbyterian and by eating lunch at Carnegie Deli. We had such a fun weekend! Thanks Kyle and Stephanie for letting us come and enjoy it with you!