Manhattan

It's been a little while. Time to sum up the last four months...First up, Manhattan.

That city is simply incredible. I now understand the draw and the desire to be there. Truly a one of a kind place.

We flew out on a Friday morning with our friends Baley and Ryan and made it to the city by lunchtime. Took a taxi from the airport to our hotel. Oh the hotel... It was a great location for our nonstop trip but it was tiny and old and hot and literally at the back door of the Ritz. We can all laugh about it now, but at the time it wasn't the funniest. Anyway, we dropped off our bags and headed out to explore Times Square.

I'll be honest - my first impression was "It's so dirty and it smells like cigarettes and garbage!" Hahaha but I got over that quickly and the city eventually stole my heart. And I stopped looking down at the ground and started looking up. Up to not run into people and up to look at all of the amazing buildings! It's shocking how massive they are!

So anyway, Times Square. Our first stop was Hard Rock Cafe because we were starving. I know Hard Rock is not just in NY, but this was my first time eating there, and it was delicious. I soon found out that everything just tasted better in NY. Then we just wandered around all of the stores. There is so much to see. And I am awful at remembering to take pictures. I may get around to posting some but Baley is the photographer and you should wander over to her blog to see pics. That night was all about Wicked at the Gershwin theater. Oh my goodness!!! It is worth all of the hype because it is an amazing show! Still my favorite show we saw and the highlight of the trip for me.

Saturday was spent on 5th avenue. And this was Wes' favorite day because he bought his briefcase. From Tiffany's. Very fancy :) It was fun to window shop and guess the prices of sometimes hideous articles of clothing. I kept thinking how much my sister Rachel would love to be in the fashion district! She lives and breathes this stuff. We saw Aladdin on Broadway that night.  Another fantastic show!

Sunday was spent in Central Park at the Metropolitan. A single afternoon is not nearly enough time to explore this place. Seeing the history and the art was incredible. We took a breather and then had reservations at Tavern on the Green. What a beautiful restaurant. And delicious food! And a very pleasant way to spend Mother's Day.

Monday was our very touristy day at the Statue of Liberty, Elis Island, and Ground Zero. I am very grateful for each of these sites and what these monuments mean. It's fitting that today is 9/11.

We went to the Top of the Rockefeller that night and saw the incredible view. The city is something else at night. When I think Manhattan, that is the first picture that comes to mind.

Our final two days were a blur of more site seeing - a carriage ride through Central Park thanks to Baley's cousin, another broadway show, Matilda, more shopping, more food, Wall Street for Wes, Chinatown, Little Italy, Grand Central Station, Junior's Cheesecake, and a boat cruise around the island, not all in that order. I came away with an I heart NY shirt, two scarves and a fake Luis Vuitton from Chinatown, the cutest wedges from Macy's and two adorable Dooney and Burke handbags, and a love for the city that will never go away.

Everything about the trip was perfect, and we loved having our friends with us! I also loved watching Wes in his element. This was his third trip and he was an excellent tour guide. I know that if he wasn't married and didn't want to have a family he would most definitely be working his way to a large firm in the city. But I'm glad that I am married to him and he doesn't have to work the ridiculous hours and we can just visit this place we both love often.

The week long adventure made my feet and ankles swell up like a grandmas and Wes' heels were literally bruised from all of the nonstop walking.  This made for a welcome drive across the country where we got to sit down for a whole day.  But really. This drive from Indiana to Utah was one of the easiest and quickest things ever. But I'll save the rest of that for part two: Utah!