I Heart NY

For my birthday this year, my Mom took me to New York for a long weekend. It was the best weekend of my life! Mom and I had so much fun. The only way I can accurately document it is to describe each day. It is lengthy but full of fun information about our trip. Enjoy!!

Saturday
We had an early morning flight but we were both so excited that we did not mind.

When we landed, we took a cab to the hotel to drop off our bags (my first cab ride).

A view out my window from the cab into the City

We were earlier than expected so we asked the Concierge where to get a quick bite of lunch. We ended up at Europa Cafe. It was a great lunch place where we just happened to be dining with Kevin Nealon, his wife and son. I was shocked but no one else seemed to notice so I played it cool. I am mad at myself for not taking a picture with him before they sat down for lunch. Speaking of sitting down. It was a small place and the tables were bunched up against each other. The funny thing about this was Mom and her tourist map that unfolded, took up more than half of the table next to us! There were a few rain sprinkles on the walk after lunch but that was it and the weather was BEAUTIFUL for the rest of the day and the rest of our stay for that matter!

The name of this street just seemed random to me "Cousin Brucie Way" We wandered to Broadway to The Late Show to submit for tickets for Monday's show. It was at this point that Jeff called to tell me Avery's scored a goal (her first) in the soccer game I was missing! Saturday evening we dined at La Greunille, a beautiful french inspired restaurant for a "pre-theatre" fare. The food was divine and the atmosphere was exquisite. There was a rose color to the light in there and there were beautiful cherry blossoms everywhere. We walked to Broadway and at the Broadway Theatre was "Promises, Promises", starring Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes (his broadway debut).

We were standing outside and I saw Rita Wilson just standing there on her cell phone. I of course freaked out again (I love random celeb sitings and this was my second of the day). I was going to say something to her but her friend showed up and they went around the corner. Oh, well. Mom and I went into the theatre and as we were walking upstairs, there was Rita Wilson AGAIN and not on her phone. I walked up to her and said hello and asked if she would mind if I took a picture with her. She was very nice and introduced me to her friend, the PRODUCER of the play we were about to see.

Mom took this and I guess she was excited for me so she shook the camera when she took it!!We sat down in VERY close seats and saw the best show I have ever seen. It was funny and had great music. After that, we walked back to our hotel to rest after a great day. It was funny because it had already felt like a vacation and yet the next day we had more fun things planned. On the way back, we saw this guy with a hand truck and blanket covered boxes (my friend had told me that there are people selling purses on the street) so we glanced at him and he said, "you want purses" and of course we said YES! We ended up getting a purse for me, one for Mom, a wallet and a pair of sunglasses, all designer and better yet, THEY WERE ALL REAL!!! It was awesome and one of the main reasons I came to NY!!

Sunday
We were headed to brunch at Sara Beth's overlooking Central Park at 10am. We walked down 5th avenue to get there and were sidelined by a table full of jewelry. Needless to say, for any of you that know Mom and I, we were once again heading to brunch but now it was 12 noon!! We walked around Central Park for a little bit and took some pictures.

"Two pictures $5" is what the "statue" told us; Mom gave her 2 bucks We had another amazing meal at Sara Beth's. While we were waiting for a table we noticed Mickey Mantle's restaurant was right next door and Dad is a huge fan so we walked over there after brunch. Mom got Dad a hat and we were once again on our way. We walked into the Plaza Hotel and took some pictures......it is really beautiful. We then passed the official New York Yankees shop and I got Jeff a hat and Grafton a shirt. Then we went to F.A.O Schwartz so I could get the kids something. I ended up on the top floor playing on the BIG Piano (like Tom Hanks did in the movie Big). It was so cool. Then they did a show where they played music by jumping around on the piano. Too fun. As we were walking home, there was a huge spread of yellow tulips in the middle of the City. Beautiful. We then took a cab (which I hailed.....something on my bucket list of stuff I have always wanted to do) to the Empire State Building. It was truly amazing. There was also NO line so it was great!! The views are breathtaking and it is really a special place to see all of New York.

This is as close as I got to the Statue of Liberty

I took this because Mom and I spend like 20 minutes trying to figure out from the brochure what direction we were looking. Neither one of us is good with directions anyway and we looked at the picture in the brochure, looked at the view and still could not decide, then I looked up and on each side of the building in metal letters it tells you the direction you are looking!After we left there, we walked by Trump Tower and I had to take a picture in front of it "Apprentice Style" with my trench coat! On the walk back, I went into the famous St. Patrick's Cathedral. It was truly breathtaking (I know people always say that but I mean it...stunning). It was something great to see that I would not have thought about unless Dad mentioned it. Thanks ROG!! We had called to find out a fun place for dinner and Mom's cousin's daughter in-law (who lives in NY) suggested a place called Minetta Grill in the West Village. It was a VERY trendy place and again had amazing food. We walked around in the West Village for a little while and of course did some more shopping on the street (is this starting to be a theme...) We took a cab back and decided to be dropped off near where we found the purse guy the night before. Mom thought I was crazy and we would never find him again, but low and behold, we found him. We followed him and he was down a few steps and he kept dissapearing below a planter. I thought maybe he was hiding so when he came up and I caught his eye, I pointed to the purse I was carrying (that I got from him the night before) and he motioned for me to wait a minute. I was getting annoyed because he kept "hiding" but when he stood up for the final time, he rolled up a mat......HE WAS PRAYING!!!!! I laughed so hard I cried that night. Well we ended up getting another two real designer purses for an even better price. I knew that I only had a certain amount of money and I walked away and he chased me three times until I paid what I wanted. I was in heaven.
Monday
We decided to go to Canal Street so we took the subway. Actually in NY speak, we took the "6 Downtown". We wanted to get a bite to eat prior to that so we went to a true NY Deli and had a bagel with a schmear and Mom had some coffee. The subway was AWESOME. I thought it might be scary but it was totally not. We got to Canal street and immediately were greeted by little Chineese ladies whispering "gucci, prada, chanel". We followed one lady to a shop where we were lead behind a "wall" to the purses. After looking for a while, I decided they did not have good stuff and I told they guy I would only pay $10 and he was mad. We walked out and he followed and kept complaining. I took my cell phone and flipped it open with attitude (pretending I was going to call the police) and he left us alone. We wondered around a little while longer and the only real bright point was that The Late Show called and we had won the ticket lottery for Monday's show! We had to be there at 5pm so NO CIRCLE LINE CRUISE!! Oh well, I got a picture of the Statue of Liberty from the Empire State building! We had lunch reservations at Mesa Grill (Bobby Flay's restaurant) so we stopped by there a little early (not before doing more street vendor shopping though). Another fantastic meal. I had a GREAT burger and Mom kept her fish theme alive and had another fish dish. We went back to the hotel and changed for The Late Show. We got in line and they took us in the building. We got our tickets and they told us to be back at 5pm. We walked around the corner and I noticed that there were baracades and tons of Paparazzo......there had to be SOMEONE coming out of the Late Show back doors. There ended up being two Americal Idol castoffs so I took their picture (really just for Aunt O). Then I heard "whispers on the street" that Jennifer Lopez (JLo) was on the first taping for that night's show (we were going to the taping of Friday's show). There was lots of action with security and what I can only assume was her body guards. They came out first and were followed by none other than JLo herself. I yelled "Jennifer" (not to be out done by the Paparazzi of course) and I got a great picture of her. Her beautiful grey Bentley was parked near the exit door so that is how they knew she was coming out. She was very gracious and waved at all of the fans lined up to see her. After that, we went across the street to Europa Cafe (again) for a quick bite before heading to the Late Show taping at 5pm. Well it got to be 4:45 and I had to use the restroom (the Letterman people told us that their bathroom was broken and be sure to go before we came to the taping) so I got in line to go, Mom saw that the line for Letterman was moving so she went across the street to get in line. I came out at 5:05 and went across the street. I told the employees that I had a number for the 5pm line and they said, "oh you are late", no Mom in sight so I figured she already went in. When I went in I told anyone who would listen to me that my Mom was already in there and could I look for her (they made us turn off our cell phones before we came in the theatre). They said they would try to let me find her. When I got to the "how many in your party?" section, I again told them that my Mom was already inside the theatre and could I just look for her to tell her I was there. That was answered by a VERY bitchy woman saying, "well you are NOT going to sit with her, go UPSTAIRS". I walked upstairs and was sat in a folding chair behind some big stage lights (the seat was the worst in the house and totally sucked). Moral of the story, DO NOT BE LATE TO GET IN LINE FOR THE LATE SHOW AND WEAR A DIAPER SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO PEE!!!. The show was really cool to witness in person though. To make matters worse, when the show was over, Mom said she had saved me a seat until the last minute and when we watched the show on TV once we got home, there was Mom in the 4th row center and she was ON TV!!! Oh well, it was still cool. After The Late Show, we wondered into Times Square to see the awesome billboards and lights that you see in tons of movies and shows. It is as cool in person. After that, we walked back to the hotel and got a Crumbs cupcake to have in our hotel. They are really good and worth the hype that they have.

Tuesday
We got up extra early and took a cab to Chelsea where they tape the Martha Stewart show. We ducked into Dunkin Donuts for a bagel and coffee for Mom. After that, Mom and I in our white long sleeved shirts (the Martha Stewart show had called the week prior and requested that all auidence members wear a white long sleeved shirt because we would be getting a shirt there) got in line to go in. It was a ton of fun and Joey "C" was a hoot as the warm up guy. He alluded to the fact that there were going to be a LOT of giveaways at this show. We went into the studio and it was amazing. I am glad they let you take pictures (they would not at the Ed Sullivan Theatre). The "color show" started with Martha's introduction of her new paint colors at Home Depot. They have a really cool idea on the color swatch card, they have suggestions for the ceiling and trim colors that you simply fold over the main color to see how it would look. Brillant!! Well, Home Depot gave us 5 sample cans of paint, a paint brush and a booklet of tips. Then they went to the craft area and Martha showed us how to make colorful wooden bead necklaces. She used Rit dye and dunked them in for a cool color effect.........we got 100 wooden beads and a jar of Rit dye too. Then they moved to the kitchen where they showed us how to make a rainbow cake. It was too cool! Of course, we got gel food coloring to help us make that. Finally, Martha gave us a copy of Martha Stewart Living magazine and a bottle of her hand and dish soap. Mom and I looked at each other and wondered how we were going to get all of this home on the plane (times two!!). We grabbed a free hot dog and smoothie at a food van outside for Martha's auidence and jumped in a cab to race back to 5th & Madison where our hotel was located. There was traffic and we were heading to the airport so Mom and I (in our fancy Martha appropriate shoes carrying both of our full home depot giveaway bags) hoped out and walked a few block to the hotel to save time. I raced upstairs to get us packed and Mom checked us out. We got ourselves together and came downstairs to catch a cab to the airport.

It was a WONDERFUL weekend and one that I will NEVER forget. Thanks so much Mom and Dad for making one of my dreams come true. It was awesome!!