Big Apple Weekend

Sigh.  I♥NY.

Some gal pals and I got to go to NYC this weekend for a little vacation.  It. Was. Awesome.

Friday - Marissa, Ashley, Jessica, and I arrived at the Newark airport at about 4pm.  We rented a car and drove to Scarsdale (about a 45-minute drive that took us three hours in Friday night traffic.  No big deal).  Ashley's aunt/uncle live there and were letting us stay with them.  Ashley's sweet aunt made us dinner and we headed out to the city on the train, getting there around 8:45pm.  We went straight to Rockefeller Square to get in line for ice skating.  We waited in line until about 10:40pm, then skated until almost midnight.  It was gorgeous and awesome!  There was one guy who I can only describe as the skinniest/tallest black guy in leggings I have ever seen.  He was an awesome figure skater, and that's all I will say.  I included the video I tried to get of him.  Sadly, I didn't catch him doing his fully extended leg lift.

We walked around 5th Avenue and down to Times Square, and we enjoyed the lights and Christmas feel of everything.  It was so beautiful!  The red ribbon made entirely out of lights was stunning around the Cartier store.

Saturday - We took the train to town and got in line in Times Square for discount theater tickets.  Since the weather report I checked three different times before traveling said it would be in the 50s the whole time we were there, I was smart enough to not bring a coat.  Hello, I needed the suitcase space for the Chinatown haul I was expecting!  It was 33 degrees on Saturday.  Just FYI.  We stood in line for 90 minutes.

Got 1/2 price tickets to Phantom of the Opera!  We then walked to Central Park.  I have never really explored the park before, so that was pretty cool.  Starbucks hot cocoa does wonders when you're frozen, too.   We also stopped for a tunnel performance by a woman in some sort of Lady-Gaga-inspired lighted tutu outfit and her male counterpart with lighted boots.  They did some sort of ritual where they touched each other at different places on their arms, screamed nonsense words, sang operatic notes, burned incense, waved a wind tunnel instrument over a candle, and played the violin. We left when we figured satan would come out of the ground any second.

 I made sure to give the girls a tour of the Carnegie Deli (my fave) on our way back to Times Square.  We also saw Carnegie Hall and Radio City Music Hall.

The Church has recently put up all these ads in Times Square.  It was really awesome!

We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe (remind me to post the pic here) for dinner.  NYC on a Saturday in December is second only to London's Harrods on a Saturday in December.  You can barely walk down the street because it is SO crowded!  We waited for an hour for our table... at 3:30pm (pretty good, actually - though still weird for mid-afternoon), but the wait was 45 minutes at McDonalds anyway.

Ashley wanted to grab some earrings from Kate Spade on 5th before we left for Boston in the morning.  We had 1/2 hour before we had to be at the play.  We were 1.5 miles away from the store, but right by the theater, so we decided to take a taxi.  Hahahaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

As if we could get a taxi in that crowd!  We hailed every one we saw as we made our way up to 5th Avenue, and then arrived there before a single taxi stopped.  We tried Saks to no avail, then had 10 minutes to get back to the theater a mile away.  We were shoulder-to-shoulder with the crowds and couldn't move.  No taxis available.  A Pedi-Cab Rickshaw driver spotted us.  Eeeeeek.

"You girls need a ride?"  "NO, absolutely not."  "You sure?"  We thought for a moment and decided he might be our only hope.  "How fast can you get us to Times Square?"  "Five minutes.  This is the fastest way to go."  Ummmm fine.  We hopped in and had no idea what was going to happen next.

You can't see the tears streaming down my face or the hands clenched in terror.  Anyone ever taken one of these?  No, you're probably all too sensible for that.  We were screaming and laughing and lizzing.  At one point, there was a taxi bumper basically under my leg.  We almost killed a 90-yr-old who screamed "Oh!  You startled me!" and we watched her life pass before her eyes.  We were yelled at in entirely F-words from pedestrians we ran over or cut off.  We were honked at.  We were bracing for imminent death.

We got there in five minutes.

Still shaking, we recognized the two women behind us in line for the theater looked LDS.  We were right.  They were the second group we spotted that day and talked to.  The first group was in Central Park.  The next group was also at the play with us and had us take their picture afterward.  It was pretty funny.  Sometimes you just can tell.

The play was awesome, of course.  I was sitting on the edge of my seat!  I actually mean that figuratively and literally, since my long legs did not fit in that crammed theater, and I had to put the seat cushion up and lean on it while basically standing for the entire second half.  Good thing we were on the back row of the orchestra seats so I could do that.

Sunday - Jessica and Marissa stayed in NYC to see more sites (Jess had never been before).  Ashley and I took a day trip to Boston to see friends and family.  Ryan was leaving for a business trip right after Sacrament Meeting, so if I wanted to see him and make it to church, we had to get there by 10:30am to drop off Ashley and make my way to Belmont.  We left Scarsdale late at 8am.  The distance is about 200 miles and is supposed to take 3.5 hours.

We made it in 2.5.

I got to see Ryan and go to Sacrament Meeting with them!  I then took a nap and played with the kids once they got home.  Marissa was kind enough to let me eat dinner with them and hang out for a while.  Those kids are so stinkin' cute!

Monday - We drove into town and literally onto Canal Street in Chinatown, marking my second time driving in Manhattan.  We parked about 100 feet from the stores where I have been craving a shopping trip for years (since my last one... see here).  We paid $24 to park for two hours, but saved about $60 overall for not taking the train and subway!  I bargained.  I got offended when they said they wanted $150 for my LV bag.  What do they think I am, an amateur?  I laughed in their face.  I got it for $50.  I got one for Kylie at work.  A watch, two other bags, and my perfume.  We even ran into our fourth LDS-looking people.  The Stewart family I grew up with!  Christian won a bowl game that day in Syracuse.  Diane was my YW Leader and I taught Stephanie piano.  The loot:

I was pretty stinking happy.  They all fit in my suitcase.  I was surprised that I didn't go into a single back room this time.  They just open hidden drawers now right in the main part of the store, or have you wait on the street while they bring you the bag you point out in the photo to decide if you want it.  It was super.  

I found myself suppressing the urge to bargain for anything else I bought that day, whether at the airport, Dunkin' Donuts, a vending machine, whatever.  Love.

We drove straight to the airport afterward and made it in like 15 minutes.  It was awesome.  

Thanks, girls, for an awesome vacation!  I will miss our Toyota Yaris, our non-curse-words, and our giggling fits at 2am.