Back last year sometime Lindsay and I went to brunch together and started talking about travel and trips and came up with the idea to do a girl’s trip to NYC. It grew and evolved from there and kinda shifted and molded and changed over the course of planning. For awhile Robyn’s sister, Laura, was also going to come but in the end it ended up being Robyn, Katie and me who were able to fully commit to making the trip happen!
We decided to go in early November. In hopes of beating the holiday crowds, having the cooler weather but hopefully not freezing, and going during a time that worked well for us all. We all got American Express Cards and since we planned in advance had enough time to earn enough sky miles to pay for our flights!
When booking flights we had to adjust travel dates a bit in order to find flights that would be covered by our sky miles. We ended up flying out on Saturday morning and coming home on Tuesday evening. We had the earliest flight of the day out of Valdosta which, like I always say, is SO nice. It’s nice just arriving an hour before the flight and being able to be so relaxed in getting all checked in and through security.
Robyn picked me up (yay for living closer!) and we met Katie at the airport!
Robyn and Katie sat together on the flight from Valdosta and then the one from Atlanta to NYC. Since they fly less often it made the most sense for them to get to sit together and I didn’t mind sitting solo (although I have been spoiled with movies on flights haha it was SO BORING not having any screen time!)
Welcome to Atlanta! It’s a must-get situation whenever I fly into Atlanta in the morning…CFA has to happen!
I did have some good reading time! I read our book for November with book club: We Were Liars.
I really, really enjoyed it and liked it and recommend it! Had some twists that I didn’t anticipate!
We opted to fly into Newark over either of the NYC airports and that’s a decision I fully intend to make in the future. SO MUCH EASIER. When we landed I was super sick. It’s the second time I’ve had flight motion sickness. I need to do better preparing myself for flights. I was in the center seat with a stranger who had his laptop out the whole time watching a movie so I felt weird asking him to let me out and there was some rough air and by the time we landed and I got off I had to rush to the bathroom. I got a little sick and put water all over myself and it helped to feel better. I probably need to take a dramamine whenever I fly?
It was all of our first times in New Jersey! We decided to utilize Uber/Lyft on this trip and it wasn’t without it’s hiccups. The driver to pick us up took FOREVER and we weren’t dressed for the cold while we were outside waiting on him. He was also THE slowest driver EVER.
Whoop whoop here we come!
We purposefully planed our trip so we could maximize time spent in NYC. We flew in on the earliest flight and out on the latest! It was really so great because we were able to make full days out of both travel days!
When we arrived to our hotel we weren’t able to check in yet so we stored our luggage and planned to walk to Central Park. Here’s the thing we learned about New Yorkers…they walk SO MUCH that they kinda underestimate how far away places are. The guy at the hotel made it sound like Central Park was just a “few blocks” away but with the mobs of people, traffic lights, etc it took us 20 min to even reach Times Square and Central Park is even beyond that soooo we just decided to hang in Times Square and grab a bite to eat…soak in the culture then Uber the rest of the way to Central Park 😉
My first time ever seeing The Naked Cowboy in person! I mean who else remembers seeing him on TRL??! Dude has GOT to be Naked Cowboy Grandpa by now, right?!?!
It was a fun walk and good for us to feel out the weather. We were still in our travel clothes but added our heavy coats and really were comfortable! It was decently windy and it cracked me up that when the NYC wind blows…trash blows up everywhere with it!
We met some nice ladies who offered to get a group shot for us in Times Square!
Us South Georgia girls had a STRUGGLE packing for this trip. It’s a tricky time of year weather-wise to pack for. At home it was COLD one day and HOT the next. Like 40s to 80s so we were confused enough! But Robyn and Katie didn’t even OWN thick coats. It really is hard when you’re used to hot weather pretty much year round to then pack for a trip with COLD.
We didn’t do any shopping in NYC…but we did a whole lot of shopping leading up to it 😉
I am so thankful for my blog buddies who have tons of cold weather knowledge (Val, Kim, and Caitlin especially) and helped me in my packing stresses haha. I randomly own a TON of jackets. For a few Christmases in a row Zach bought me nice coats and I also got one from Amazon on a crazy good deal so I had a good bit to choose from and probably overpacked on the jacket situation but I wanted options!
I’ll be linking up to everything I bought for the trip but you can also always visit my Amazon Influencer Shop anytime, I even have a list of My Style with all my favorite items!
I was nervous about this jacket because I got such a good deal on it but it was AWESOME
And I’ve owned these Bear Claw boots for ages and they have held up great and are SO comfortable!
It was SO neat to see this group letting their light shine right there in Times Square!
There weren’t a ton of viable food options in the area and we ended up at this little food stand thing that had EPIC waffles! SO GOOD!
Our whole trip I was making mental notes of places to revisit next time Zach and I come and this was a def “must do again” meal!
We took an Uber from Times Square to Central Park and then caught one back to the hotel. It all worked out great. Truly we all couldn’t believe how FULL of a first day we ended up having! The weather was SO PERFECT to explore Central Park a bit and it was so beautiful with all the fall leaves and colors.
I mean we had to “live for the gram” a bit and get some perfectly posed rock pics, right? I had the #genius idea of tossing up some leaves on Robyn during her pics to really bring the fall alive In the photo. It was super funny and even funnier when we saw other people copying us later haha
Wait. What? Leaves change colors AND fall from trees? We ain’t in South Ga anymore!
Y’all know I have no issues asking random strangers to take pics for us. The great thing about visiting a place like New York is that everyone you see is pretty much a tourist too so I just always offer to take their pics too! I’d say this trip we had equal amounts of people asking us for photos as we did in asking others to take pics for us!
Taking in the sights on the way back!
When we planned the trip we struggled some with finding a hotel. It took us a bit to finalize who all was going to come on the trip for sure and once it was just the three of us it made hotel stay a tad tricky. Hotels in NYC are both expensive and TINY. We didn’t want to be crammed into a small room trying to share one bathroom for that long of a trip and have to spend tons of time taking turns at the sink, mirror, etc.
Katie and I did a good bit of hotel hunting (Robyn was in the middle of major life changes like a new job and new house so she was slightly overwhelmed at the time of planning haha) and decided to look into the Pod Hotel. Zach and I had stayed there on our honeymoon (we had a layover in NYC for 24 hours it was SO FUN) and had a good experience so we checked into it and found out they have a location in Times Square and they had SUITES for close to the same cost as the tiny standard rooms we’d been looking at!
We booked the room but didn’t really have any sort of expectations about it. I knew Pod Hotels are SMALL so I was just glad we’d have the two bathrooms. But when we walked in the room we were BLOWN AWAY. It really couldn’t have been more perfect for the type of trip we were taking. NOW I will say that I’ve had lots of people ask me about recommending it for their trips. If you’re going to NYC with your husband – don’t stay there. It’s not overly comfortable and not romantic at all. But going with friends? Kids? Then it’s PERFECT. We had SO much room and having the living room and full kitchen was great too!
If/when I’m ever able to go back with the kids I will for sure look into staying there again! (I say “I” because I am now dying to take the girls on a girls’ trip to New York City haha but maybe we’ll all come as a family too! Really there would be enough space in that suite to make it work with our whole crew!).
I took this video to show a tour of the room:
I will also add that the hotel is not super close to Times Square. That was a tad misleading. It wasn’t a terrible location but it ended up that where we wanted to go most of the time required an Uber. If we were to plan again we would be more cohesive in our planning. We kinda pieced things together that could have been arranged to result in less travel time/money back and forth. But live and learn! I usually am a TON more hardcore about planning stuff and just in this season I’ve been SWAMPED and couldn’t really give my best planning self to any of the trips we took this fall!
We did have a cool view from our room though of the Hudson River!
We all rested and even napped!
For night 1 we had tickets to see FROZEN on BROADWAY! I’ve been so, so excited to see it but felt a lot of guilt too because when Zach and I first saw the movie Frozen we both said it’d def be on broadway and that we were totally taking a trip to see it once it came out. He was FINE with me going and I’m sure there are tons of shows he’d rather see when we go back to NYC at some point but I still felt bad not seeing it with him!
I also felt like if I was going to see Frozen on Broadway that I had to dress in theme. I mean I doubt that comes as a surprise to anyone 😉 I just love a good theme! Huge thanks to Robyn for the braiding skills 😉
Uber is a new concept to me as I’ve only used it twice on trips and both times Zach handled it all. Katie and Robyn hadn’t ever experienced it so it was weird to be the “knowledgeable” one with so little knowledge haha.
We learned a LOT while on this trip about Uber. Lots of trial and error basically helped us learn that THE KEY to using Uber/Lyft/any other ride share situation is to book in advance. It’s New York City. On a Saturday night. We had NO LUCK getting an uber in the moment. We ended up walking a good bit to finally find a taxi stand to get us a taxi. It turns out that it’s impossible to even catch a cab when it’s that crazy out!
It was a frustrating part of the trip but it made me so thankful for who I was traveling with. Katie, Robyn and I have known each other for a LONG time (I’m 14 years in with Katie and this summer will be 10 for Robyn and I) and we gel very well together. I knew we’d figure it out together and it’d be funny to us all later on once we got through it. We’re all pretty go with the flow in the moment when stuff happens and none of us was going to let that hiccup ruin our night! We pushed through and figured it all out together and it all ended up working out really well in the end and was a big learning lesson for future uber experiences 😉 I think we all feel so cultured and pro now with our ride share skills 😉
Doing some sight seeing while scrambling to find transportation 😉
YAY FOR A CAB!!!
Katie did awesome in finding us some restaurants for our trip and we had reservations at Thalia before seeing Frozen. We assumed we would not be seated due to being SO LATE for our reservations AND that there was no way in the world we’d have time to eat before the show. We were dead wrong on both accounts.
They were SO SUPER SWEET about it all (which we all agreed, this sorta thing has to happen constantly in New York with the awful traffic situation). They assured us we had plenty of time to eat and make it to the show and they sat us right away. It couldn’t have worked out better and the food was FANTASTIC. We all ate pretty light but LOVED everything we got!
I’m a sucker for a crab cake and it was SO GOOD!
Katie loved her sushi
And Robyn said the sweet potato fries were the best of her LIFE.
I love this picture of Katie! She looks so pretty!
I have zero regrets over going for it with my outfit for the night. It was so fun at the show having people comment on my outfit and the top couldn’t have been more perfect for an Elsa look! Plus with us visiting Disney often I know I can wear it again! This is the top I bought, they have tons of colors and it is really fun to wear (Katie kept saying it was super fun to see me walk because the way it flowed in the back!). I also wore some navy velvet pants from Old Navy that were so comfortable! And I wore my new boots that I got for the trip. They are lined inside which not only make them warmer but also add extra cushion for my foot issues. I LOVE them and I like that they are a bit wider at the calf for a more slouchy look too!
Whoop Whoop SO PUMPED!
We walked from the restaurant to the show and were there soon after the doors open. So even our transportation struggles didn’t cause any changes in our evening!
I know I keep taking pics of anytime I see a gender equality bathroom and it’s probably the norm everywhere else by now but for us in the Deep South we just don’t see this! The hotel lobby had ONE bathroom. It was an all gender bathroom. Each stall was individual but you shared a sink when you finished going.
TMI but I used that bathroom on our departure day and my stomach was messed up. So ya know. Potty noises were made. When I finished and came out to wash my hands a guy was washing his hands. Y’all. It’s already awkward when potty noises happen in the bathroom. It just is. But then to know a DUDE was hearing it? Beyond awkward.
And I get that it’s only awkward because I’ve grown up in a society where potty noises were private noises and I’ve always only used bathrooms with women so men never heard my potty sounds. I know our kids aren’t going to think it’s as awkward and embarrassing because these gender neutral bathrooms are only going to become the norm. But for me? So. Mortifying.
Plus like bathrooms aren’t just about potty sounds. Girl talk also happens in the bathroom. Will that die to? The whole “let me powder my nose” thing so you can go call a friend and fill them in kinda doesn’t work anymore when the guy you’re on a date with says “Oh I gotta pee so I’ll just go with you!” Not. A. Fan.
Such a gorgeous theater and I loved having the opportunity to see the show during it’s early stages so we got to see the original cast! I’m sure it’ll be on broadway for a LONG TIME and it’s so cool to know we saw it when we did!
I didn’t even realize it until after the show started but it was my FIRST EVER Disney broadway production!!! I’ve never seen any other ones so I literally had no clue what to expect.
Honestly? I was anticipating it to be very similar to the stage show we saw of Frozen at the Hyperion at Disneyland. I was SO wrong. It was simply incredible. Amazing. Phenomenal. Not that I had any doubt…Disney does everything right 🙂 It had lots of that Disney magic and stuck pretty closely to the original story.
I will say we had an EARLY morning and were all SO TIRED that it was a bit of a struggle to keep my eyes open during segments of it. During the intermission I went on my own mission for candy. I still can’t believe it was $5 for a TINY bag of Sour Patch Kids but it was worth it to make it through!!! We all regretted not drinking caffeine prior and I don’t think any of us had really thought about how long the show would be either!
All of the cast was great! LOTS of small children were there and I just adored the little girls sitting in front of us. And it broke my heart too. These little girls kept interacting with me and throughout the show their mom was ON HER PHONE (I can’t even y’all) and something would happen during the show and rather than looking at her mama to share the moment one of the girls kept turning around to look at me and smile and share that moment with me. It made me both miss my babies and just feel so sad that the mom was missing out on a special moment with her daughter (during a show that she paid a buttload of money to see) to be on her phone.
If you do take your child to a Disney Broadway Show…be warned…no singing allowed! Which you could hear all the moans of disappointment when the announcement was made. But I also get it. We all know those people in our lives that sing along to every song they hear and sometimes it’s like “dude can I just listen to the person I paid money to hear sing this?” A concert…bolt it out. But a show? Listen and soak it in. Sing it in your head 😉 Harder with little kids and personally I didn’t mind hearing the sweet little voice of the three year old in front of me a couple times 😉
Seeing this made me want to come back ASAP to see ALL THE DISNEY PRODUCTIONS. Sign me UP. Aladdin? Yes Please. Beauty and the Beast? I’m THERE. Lion King? Bring it ON. I would love Zach and I to come (Zach randomly loves a good show) and bring Britt. Out of all of our kids I just know she’d LOVE the shows SO MUCH!
There is also a rule of no photos during the shows which I’m also hardcore about respecting. We did luck out that it was a fundraiser month for Broadway so at the end of each show we watched the full cast came out to do a talk about the cause they were raising funds for and it was a time where photos were fine! So I did get a couple of the cast!
We had SUCH a great first day! It really couldn’t have been more perfect!!!
While we waited for our Uber we missed a celebrity sighting. I didn’t see WHO the person was but saw security shuffling people out of the way and heard a man say “please I’m with my sister” in a way that sounded like he was being bothered. It was a whole family but I assume someone among them was either a celebrity or someone wealthy enough where the police on the streets helped them get to their private transport.
I had to get some swag 😉 I love our family tradition of getting a Christmas ornament when traveling and when I saw Sven I thought he was perfect! I also really loved the Anna and Elsa necklaces for the girls. When I gave them to them Britt LOVED it and Tess gave it back to me and said she didn’t want it and would not be changing her mind. So now Britt and I have matching necklaces 😉
Day 2 was our first full day in the city (crazy we crammed so much into just our arrival day!) and we kicked it off with a Food Tour in Greenwich Village. We did the Foods of Ny Tours Original Greenwich Village Edition. Out of all of our plans for the trip I was probably the least into the whole food tour thing. I mean I can’t smell. Food isn’t really my FAV thing in the world. But it was SO AWESOME. And the food was not super fancy or super weird (I guess I just assumed a food tour would be weird stuff haha) and 90% of it I LOVED!
We all agreed that this was one of our favorite parts of the trip. And it’s on my list as something I must do with Zach. It’s something we’d NEVER have planned on doing so I’m SO thankful we did the girl’s trip because Zach will LOVE this food tour. It’s the perfect mix of eating and knowledge and it never got boring and our guide, Bert, was SO great. He was super personal, super knowledgeable, and just made the day SO FUN!
We got there early (hello transportation knowledge paying off already!) and walked around a bit exploring the area. I’d been to Greenwich before but took the subway to get there and when you take the subway you do miss out on sights to see!
Checking out all the treats while we waited!
Things kicked off at Joe’s Pizza! We learned a lot and one of the most interesting things was that certain areas of the world are known for certain types of food due to the environment of that area. Like bagels in New York can’t be replicated in other states. Bert told us that it’s due to many factors but mostly WATER. The water in each area makes a huge impact on so many elements of cooking and baking and making food dishes! Which makes SO MUCH SENSE. He said that there are some pizza and bagel places in the US that have water shipped to them from NYC to be able to make New York style bagels and pizza and have them be more legit!
Joe’s is very famous and at one point the rent went up too high for his space and he quit the game for a bit and a chain pizza place went in at his spot. It didn’t take long for the chain to fail and for Joe’s to come back 😉 It’s also been featured in the Spiderman movie!
Another fun fact that you should never have grease coming off your pizza. When you fold it in half you should be able to eat it that way and have clean hands and no grease gathering in the middle. Joe’s slices passed that test for sure! And a delicious way to kick off the tour!
Our next stop was O and Co for some tasty olive oil and bread. We weren’t allowed to take pictures of this one person working there. Which I totally forgot about and when this person held up something I snapped a pic and this person FREAKED OUT. I was so embarrassed and felt so bad that I forgot the rule! But I also got super intrigued by the whole thing. I mean clearly this person is wanted or something or just really anti social media?! So strange!
We did a comparison testing of balsamic vinegar which I love but drinking it straight was WHOOO. Couldn’t quite handle that! If it wasn’t so heavy to take home I would have bought Zach a bottle of the olive oil because it was amazing and we learned a ton of facts about what to look for when buying olive oil and I wished I brought a notebook or something to take notes because, duh, I already totally forgot.
We also got to taste some yummy popcorn which is Katie’s fav treat!
The BEST was the Sicilian Rice Ball from Faicco’s. Legit it’s worth the trip to Greenwich just for the rice ball. It’s life changing. For reals. SO GOOD.
We walked into this little restaurant that was so precious and beautiful and so well hidden from the street view. There are so many little spots in NYC that require extra effort to find but pay off big time when you do! Howard Stern found this little spot and talked about it on his radio show years ago and it put it on the map and now it’s rented out regularly for events and such!
We learned a bit about the area and history and real estate. I couldn’t even begin to guess on the pricing of these locations. Taylor Swift rented this apartment for $40,000 a MONTH. Insane! Back in the day it was a home that stored horses. The horses would go in the front door and then go up a flight of stairs and actually lived on the second floor!
Meat from Faicco’s!
We got to sit down for a bit and enjoy a meatball from Pesce Pasta. Honestly by that point I was already pretty dang full but it was still tasty! Nothing can top that rice ball though.
As far as my outfit for the day I bought this fleece tunic AGES ago on Facebook like back when little boutiques were just popping up on Facebook and we thought they were trustworthy and before I learned that it’s all from China anyways so it’s better to buy from AliExpress 😉 I got the hat from Target!
That yellow tree – SO stunning!
We had a longer sit down at Rafele and it was mostly so people could order drinks but I never felt pressured at ALL to buy anything anywhere we stopped and Bert did a great job of letting us know we COULD purchase things but never pressured us TO purchase. We enjoyed warming up and resting a bit. Overall though I didn’t feel like it was an intense amount of walking. I typically avoid any sort of walking tour due to my foot but this tour made me rethink that because I wasn’t even wearing GOOD walking shoes and I was totally fine!
We had eggplant rollatini which was a first for me. It was just okay. I didn’t mind eating it but didn’t really LOVE it either. It was funny too b/c Bert encouraged us to take photos of the food and share it on social media. Y’all. I am not a food blogger. As we all know 😉
I knew Zach would be all about that oven!
Yay for a pic with Bert!
Bert has a HUGE appreciation for Greenwich. He was actually originally from Alabama so he connected with us on our southern roots 😉 He had so much knowledge about the area and it was neat hearing all the personal stories. I love little details that make a place special and I love when people have passion about doing what they love and Bert clearly loves this tour. I also admire people who love where they live. I don’t have a real connection to Valdosta. I’ve found ways to appreciate it. But I’d never want to give any sort of tour talking it up. I mean heck I still refuse to get a local area code cell phone number haha. I love when people have pride for their towns and am envious of that feeling as it’s just not something I have for where I live.
How neat is this little locksmith shop covered in keys?
Our next stop was some dessert at Milk and Cookies. (Side note. I googled “milk and cookies” in order to link to the shop and y’all. Don’t google it. Apparently “milk and cookies” has a pretty disgusting urban dictionary definition. I mean a) who DOES that kinda stuff and b) who decides to NAME it?!?!).
I am hardcore about not building things up to people. When you say “THIS IS THE BEST EVER” you’re setting them up to be disappointed. And that’s what happened for me at Milk and Cookies. We were sold on it being THE BEST COOKIE. And I was letdown. I think the lack of milk had a lot to do with it. I mean you can’t serve the “world’s best cookie” without MILK, am I right?Fresh Beginnings I will say I prefer cookies over these any day haha! Maybe I have more local pride than I thought 😉
It was SUPER good (I loved the oats in it) and I need to get the recipe from Katie as I think Bert sent it out to the people who bought the tickets!
We walked around the area a bit and it was just SO pretty and I loved all the trees and the relaxed vibe. We all agreed Greenwich was our favorite area that we visited! It would be a very romantic spot too!
We learned about the history of the area and the buildings and architecture. Bert talked about the culture of the city and how it’s always been kinda an area of change ahead of the country in many ways. I talked to him a bit about that because now it’s like the thing is to pretend to be cultured. The whole hipster vibe has totally taken over areas like this. He agreed and voiced the frustration of everyone being at Starbucks. I also think our society today is all about embracing the “non-norms” so much so that being “against the grain” has become THE norm. Like the whole idea of if everyone is so “special” than no one is kinda thing.
I also get a bit annoyed by rules not allowing any changes to structures. Don’t get me wrong, the buildings are BEAUTIFUL and it was neat seeing the different changes that took places as the times changed. Certain types of brick evolved into other types over time. Additions were made. Things were altered to reflect the current trends of that time.
And I’m all for protecting that! But at the same time who will walk the streets in 100 years and see anything from OUR time? Some additions keep the history going so the history of now can be reflected later!
This one little street was super cute and Robyn kept saying it looked like a movie and Bert talked about how it’s in TONS of movies due to the lack of traffic and the buildings and trees and how it can be made to look like it’s part of just about any time period with just a bit of tweaking. It was such a pretty spot!
Boot scrapers at the doorsteps!
Zach and I visited Greenwich Village to eat at The Little Owl which happens to be located at “Central Perk” which is the downstairs of the Friends apartment building. I assumed it’d also be part of the food tour because how can you be in the area and not check it out?
What I loved learning was the building across the street is one of the last wood houses in the city and at the top is a little owl facing the Friends apartment. This little owl is what the restaurant is named after 🙂
Annnnd we realized we should have totally planned for our 911 museum tour the same day as the food tour! We had no clue the two were located so close together. Another lesson learned 🙂
We got to chow down on cow, sheep and goat cheeses from Murray’s Cheese. And yes I tried them all. And randomly I enjoyed the apricots! Which surprised me!
I also want to comment on the flower the girl has on her jacket. I had NEVER seen these symbols before and thought they were really pretty so I randomly asked a lady in a bathroom on the trip what her flower represented and she was SO RUDE and acted like I was a straight idiot for not knowing that it’s the symbol of veterans. Well jokes on her because I googled it and the wearing of poppies is a symbol that is actually more commonly worn on Memorial Day NOT Veteran’s Day.
Our tour finished at Rocco’s and it couldn’t have been a better ending because it ended with CANNOLI! Which I LOVE!!!
We loved, loved LOVED the food tour and cannot recommend it enough! If you do the tour be sure to bring some cash to tip your guide too!
And if you wanna follow Bert you can check him out on Instagram 🙂
I mean Taylor Swift is kinda our group thing right? We saw her in concert together AND saw her apartment together? #meanttohappen
Bye Greenwich! I’ll be back!
Uber ride back to the room…more sights to see on the way!
We got ready and headed out for our show for the night. We wanted to make sure we had PLENTY of time this time! We got to the theater district and had time to do a bit of shopping. Robyn had the fun idea to all get a matching ornament of our trip so, duh, I was in for that!
I always think of my dad anytime I see a polar bear!
We just randomly stopped somewhere to eat and it worked out to be a win! Rosie O’Grady’s.
We went to see Mean Girls on Broadway so wearing pink HAD to happen (even if it wasn’t a Wednesday…). When we were all packing we were group messaging outfit ideas and I remembered I’d bought a bright pink shirt after seeing Katie wear one and loving it on her. Robyn has a similar hot pink so we thought we’d all be twins and be super matchy! Robyn forgot hers but Katie and I were twinning anyway!
Pink on Pink on Pink! (Shirley Temples are my jam!)
Food was great! We were pretty stuffed from the food tour but hey just make room for more 😉
We hit up a couple shops and I was SO SHOCKED to see a bunch of Trump merchandise. Just totally unexpected in NYC but then again maybe because so many non-Americans visit and they are excited to see stuff about our president? I was super tempted to buy it ALL for Zach haha! I held back and just got him a chocolate bar with Trump’s face on it!
I was literally purchasing the ornament but then I realized all of them had some issue where the stars weren’t right and I couldn’t drop money on something that wasn’t well done 😉
Got our twinning ornaments! Well. Katie got the pic but opted out of purchasing. Robyn actually lost hers for awhile at home but then did find it! So two out of three ain’t bad 😉
When planning the trip several people recommended Ellen’s Stardust to eat. They don’t take reservations and when we tried walking up the line was WRAPPED AROUND THE STREET. Um. Nope. I don’t wait long for rides at Disney…I def ain’t waiting in some long line to eat in the freezing cold. Again…thankful for my crew b/c we ALL agreed on that one 🙂
I am super thankful I watched Mean Girls on the night of my birthday. I have only ever seen it once. I know it’s a huge pop culture thing and it’s a cute movie but I just am not a big tv/movie watcher and especially not when I’ve already seen it. But I was excited to re-watch the movie knowing I was going to the show and I’m so glad I did so I was fresh on the storyline and characters and such and got all the funny moments 😉
Robyn was super hardcore about getting a “Fetch” hat and Katie and I def struggled in making the decision to get them. Because I mean when are you going to really wear it again? And they were $30. But YOLO right? And the theme of the trip was matching everything haha so it had to happen and we rolled with it.
I sent Zach a pic of me in the hat and he replied (and I quote): “The hat is so hot. I told you that you would look slamming in a flat bill hat and curly hair.” I about DIED. I couldn’t stop laughing and it def made the $30 well worth it for that sweet text and to know my husband was all about some Fetch hat! Maybe it will get more wear after all 😉
I felt like seeing Mean Girls was the perfect excuse to jump on the “leather” legging trend. I bought these and yes when I put them on I think about Ross in that episode of Friends EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. But they are shockingly super comfortable and come off easily ha!
Making Fetch Happen.
I struggled a bit with what shoes to wear with the leggings but these boots worked! They are from the same seller as the tan ones…and just as comfortable!
SO funny…b/c I’m BOTH Emily P and Emily S 😉
It’s hard to compare any of the shows we saw on this trip because they were all SO different. Mean Girls is what I’d consider “new Broadway.” It was fun, hilarious, and more casual than the fancy type shows. It followed pretty closely to the movie and the cast was awesome.
It was not kid-friendly and we did see a good bit of middle school aged girls there and even a few elementary schoolers and I was like “um how do y’all even know about Mean Girls?” Right?!?! But it wasn’t over the top inappropriate or anything either…just not kid appropriate. (And you know my Mama Radar always goes up in those type of situations!)
It was SO GREAT. Katie’s favorite show we saw hands down. And it’s tough for me to call it because Frozen was so amazing too but just amazing in a totally different way. Let’s say though that I wasn’t anywhere close to falling asleep in Mean Girls. It was the only show of the trip that I didn’t struggle one bit in keeping my eyes open 😉
Damian was the star of the show FOR SURE. Everyone was great…the girl who played Gretchen was phenomenal too. It was just awesome! The only really negative casting choice we felt was Aaron. He just wasn’t very “jock like” or “it boy-ish” but it’s probably a tricky role to cast!
If you’re able to see it…DO IT. You will not regret it! I FOR SURE think Zach would have loved it too. It was very similar in vibe to First Date that we saw together a few years ago and loved!
Got a cast pic at the end when they were talking about the fundraiser!
This time we had an Uber scheduled to pick us up at the end of the show which was much more relaxing and we had time to get some pics and even see some of the cast as they came out!
We got to see both “Karen” and “Damian” but my Damian pic didn’t turn out. It’s super cool how quickly the cast exits and how they meet and greet with fans! If we didn’t have an uber and it wasn’t freezing we would have totally waited and got autographs!
Our trip truly couldn’t have gone better and we’re only halfway through it!
I am just so thankful for my core friendship crew. I’m thankful for ALL of my sweet friends but Katie and Robyn are the ones who have been there through it all and stuck by me through so many phases of life. I love that we’re all investing more and more into our bonds and creating such special memories together!
Part 2 is coming up!
Shop All My NYC Looks:
The poppy is a symbol for Remembrance Day in the UK which is November 11th so the girl was wearing it on the correct day. We wear them as the fields where so many soldiers died were covered in poppies – google the poem In Flanders Field.
Author
Oh wow! Thank you for sharing that with me. I think it’s such a beautiful symbol to use to honor.
Emily, Could we take our kids on the Greenwich Food Tour? We are going in April and my son will be 10 and my daughter 8. Just curious what you thought. Didn’t sound like it was too much walking and the guide seemed really engaging.
Author
There weren’t any kids on our tour. My kids would not have enjoyed it because it was a lot of talking and info and not really anything interactive to keep them engaged at their level. I know many kids are more cultured than mine with experiences and foods and such though! I don’t know if they have any age requirements so def check into that. If it were me personally I wouldn’t do it with my kids but it wasn’t too much walking for them! Hope this helps…SO fun to be taking the kids! I’m envious!!!
Okay, good to know! I will let you know what we end up doing.