New York, New York!

Last Monday morning I headed off to New York for four days of fun with my sister Kristin. Our husbands, and other family, were nice enough to watch the babies so we could have uninterrupted girl time! I arrived in New York a few hours before Kristin, but I wasted no time and got to shopping. Once Kristin arrived, we got all dolled up and headed to dinner. We ate at Juniors. The food was okay, but the cheesecake was the best I've ever tasted...no joke! After dinner came Times Square. I was amazed at how big the city was. I knew it was going to be big, but street after street were buildings. Here are a few pictures of us in the middle of all the action.

Next we walked over to Rockefeller Center and walked by all the nice stores on 5th Avenue. It was almost midnight when we got back to the hotel.

Tuesday morning we got up and out the door to do some shopping. We took the subway almost everywhere. It was surprisingly not confusing. We went to my new favorite store H&M, Chinatown (where I bargained my tail off on a bag and perfume!), and to see the Empire State Building.

That night we went to the famous Serendipity. (Amy, I thought of you the whole time! I stood where John Cusack stood!)

On Wednesday morning, my sister had to work to do, so I headed off to see the Statue of Liberty. I was proud of myself, I didn't get lost once! In fact, in the four days I was there, I had two people ask me for directions. And even more amazing, I was able to tell them where to go! Back to Liberty Island, the Statue of Liberty was bigger than I was expecting and more deserving of respect than I had thought. Check out the amazing skyline! One thing I loved about New York, were the random groups of break dancers or saxophonists that would stop on the street, under a bridge, or in the subway and dance or play. I had to take a picture of it solely for the outfit!

That night, we met up with my cousin Emily who lives in New York. We went to a cozy little restaurant and to Rice to Riches (a super good pudding place). Of course I had to get the cheesecake flavored pudding.

Thursday morning I walked over to Emily's work, Sotheby's. She works in the jewelry department. Let's just say I tried on some AMAZING pieces of jewelry. You can see how minuscule my diamond seems in comparison. The last ring I tried on was valued at 2 million bucks! Even the 'cheapest' piece I tried on (the necklace) was worth over $300,000.

On Thursday night we went to Union Square for a little more shopping. I issued some restraint by not buying anything at a shoe store that had 41 rows of shoes! We ate at this Indian place that was sooooo good. Then we went home to crash.
Since our flights didn't leave until five that afternoon, we went to see a few more sights on Friday morning. We went to Lincoln Square, the Manhattan Temple, got an authentic piece of New York pizza, to super good bakery (where I saw the actress Frances McDormand), and to Central Park. The park was stunning in the fall. It was such a relief to have some quiet in the middle of the city.

While I would never want to live in New York, it was strange that it sort of felt like home. It is like the city is a part of you, because it is so American...if that makes sense. And yet, I heard more languages in that four days than anywhere ever before. It was a wonderful trip, but made me realize that I'm content with my life as a wife and mom in Provo, Utah.