In A New York Minute || Babymoon Recap
So much to catch up on on the blog! Starting with the past three weekends.
I'll start furthest back with our wonderful Babymoon to New York City. We debated where to go for this trip, and even if we should take one, mainly since I lost my job over the summer and money was tight. While I was still unemployed, we decided to ditch the beach vacation idea. After all, we just went to Puerto Rico in May. Plus, as I learned on that trip, beach vacations are made for cocktails and bikinis. Not mocktails and baby bumps. Just my opinion :).
Bryan found out he would have to go to NYC for an even for work the week after my birthday, so we thought, why not precede his trip with a weekend in NY to celebrate baby and my 31st birthday? DONE!
And I must say, it was perfect. It was food-focused, rather than drink focused. And since we'd been before, we weren't running around trying to squeeze in all the tourist stuff - we could do a nice mix of relaxing/new activities.
We flew in on Thursday night and after checking in to our hotel, we walked through Times Square and then stopped to get a drink and a bite to eat. Times Square amazes me every time we walk through...always packed with people and stores there are open until 2am! Who shops at H&M until 2am!?
On Friday, we slept in, then took our time walking around different neighborhoods until we found a lunch spot. After a leisurely meal, we took the Staten Island Ferry over to Staten Island so I could see Lady Liberty. I wasn't interested in going to the actual monument because there was no way I could climb the hundreds of stairs to the top. The ferry is free and gives you great views of the Lady and of the city!
We headed down to the High Line to walk around and catch the sunset before dinner. First, we stopped at the Standard Hotel for Bryan to get a drink while I rested my feet! Love how all the bars in Manhattan are so cute and classy. And oh, the garnishes!
Friday night, I was super excited because Bryan had a surprise dinner planned to celebrate my birthday. We got dressed up and headed out, destination unknown!
After another delicious dinner at the cutest restaurant called Freeman's, it was time to see Wicked! We've seen shows here in Chicago, but neither of us had seen a real Broadway show. I've been dying to see Wicked for years now, so we thought, what better time? Even Bryan enjoyed it. Highly recommend if you haven't seen it already!
I'll start furthest back with our wonderful Babymoon to New York City. We debated where to go for this trip, and even if we should take one, mainly since I lost my job over the summer and money was tight. While I was still unemployed, we decided to ditch the beach vacation idea. After all, we just went to Puerto Rico in May. Plus, as I learned on that trip, beach vacations are made for cocktails and bikinis. Not mocktails and baby bumps. Just my opinion :).
Bryan found out he would have to go to NYC for an even for work the week after my birthday, so we thought, why not precede his trip with a weekend in NY to celebrate baby and my 31st birthday? DONE!
And I must say, it was perfect. It was food-focused, rather than drink focused. And since we'd been before, we weren't running around trying to squeeze in all the tourist stuff - we could do a nice mix of relaxing/new activities.
We flew in on Thursday night and after checking in to our hotel, we walked through Times Square and then stopped to get a drink and a bite to eat. Times Square amazes me every time we walk through...always packed with people and stores there are open until 2am! Who shops at H&M until 2am!?
On Friday, we slept in, then took our time walking around different neighborhoods until we found a lunch spot. After a leisurely meal, we took the Staten Island Ferry over to Staten Island so I could see Lady Liberty. I wasn't interested in going to the actual monument because there was no way I could climb the hundreds of stairs to the top. The ferry is free and gives you great views of the Lady and of the city!
Next, we walked over to see the 9/11 memorial. When we were here about 5 years ago, the fountains hadn't been built yet, and the Freedom Tower wasn't finished. As you can imagine, it was neat to see but not when you thought about why they were both there.
The memorials are fountains where each tower stood, with the names of all deceased engraved around it. Freedom tower is on the right.
We headed down to the High Line to walk around and catch the sunset before dinner. First, we stopped at the Standard Hotel for Bryan to get a drink while I rested my feet! Love how all the bars in Manhattan are so cute and classy. And oh, the garnishes!
Friday night, I was super excited because Bryan had a surprise dinner planned to celebrate my birthday. We got dressed up and headed out, destination unknown!
The hotel gave me some cheesecake! Nice work.
We ended up at Colicchio & Sons. For all you foodies/Top Chef fans, that's Tom Colicchio's restaurant (one of many). Aside from a DELICIOUS dinner, all the details of it was perfect! I had a personalized "Happy Birthday" menu, and after I ordered dessert, the waiter informed me that one of my besties, Ashley, had dessert taken care of! Plus she sent a card and some ice cream. All this to go with the complimentary dessert I was already getting from the restaurant.
Saturday morning, we got up early to spend the first part of the day in Brooklyn, another place I'd never been. We walked the bridge in blinding sun and sweltering heat - we were not expecting that for end of September, but we weren't complaining!
After the bridget, we grabbed brunch at a yummy mexican restaurant and afterwards, walked along the water and explored the arts festival going on. It was so hot, I was downing water and seeking shade, so the rest of the day was spent making pit stops around the city so I could go to the bathroom and Bryan would just get a drink. Bless Bryan's heart - I legit had to pee about 25 times this day, I have no idea why. He didn't say a word, just made sure I was able to go when I had to and that we could stop when I needed to rest to my legs. Love him!
We ended the day with a walk through Central Park, where there was a line like you couldn't believe waiting to get in. We finally deduced that there was a free concert featuring JayZ, Beyonce, Carrie Underwood, Gwen Stefani and more going on in the park. We realized too late though, and opted to stick with our original plans.
After another delicious dinner at the cutest restaurant called Freeman's, it was time to see Wicked! We've seen shows here in Chicago, but neither of us had seen a real Broadway show. I've been dying to see Wicked for years now, so we thought, what better time? Even Bryan enjoyed it. Highly recommend if you haven't seen it already!
And just like that, it was Sunday! My 31st birthday. We slept in, had breakfast together and then I had to get to the airport, while Bryan stayed in NYC. It was slightly depressing heading home alone, especially on my birthday. I even shed tears saying goodbye, which I never do! Hormones, for sure. But once I got home, I spent the afternoon resting and then had dinner with friends at a delicious Italian restaurant. All in all, it was a wonderful birthday!
More than that, it was a wonderful weekend. It's becoming more and more real that we only have limited time left as "just the two of us," and I'm trying to soak it all in. It was just nice spending time together, talking about what the future holds and catching up on life. It's important to make time for that, bun in the oven or not.
Happy Monday!