empire state of mind: part 2

"It couldn't have happened anywhere but in little old New York"

Tuesday:

I had booked a trip to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island the week before we left. We went to a Pret for breakfast (what's with all these cafeteria style places in NYC?) and then headed down to the ferry where we caught the ferry to New Jersey. It was the most beautiful day in NYC. The sun was out, there was a slight breeze, and it wasn't humid...well as much as it was the day before. Ellis Island was super informative (we did an audio tour) and the grounds were beautiful. We tried looking up our ancestors who came over but we didn't have enough information to be successful. Next we were off to the Statue of Liberty. We mostly sat outside and just relaxed and looked up at her while listening to the audio tour. It was neat seeing her up close.

After the tour we headed back to Manhattan where we took the subway back to Brooklyn to change into some jeans and head to dinner....at the infamous Grimaldi's pizza in Brooklyn. We waited in line for close to an hour and half. Worth it! I was like a kid in a candy store. The pizza was delicious. I really like thin crust...not to mention tomato, basil, and mozzarella is my new favorite combination! We met a few locals that were sitting by us and our tables were the loud obnoxious groups...singing to the music ( we are the champions by Queen!) and laughing! The best! After we hung out by the Bridge and looked at the city lights then went to a nice bar for a few drinks. Then walked across the Bridge. It was a long night...but so worth it!

Wednesday:

We were going to wake up early and go to the Today show... but with the late night the night before + drinks...it wasn't going to happen. We still wound up in Rockefeller center. Beautiful area! We walked around 5th Ave and checked out St.Patricks as well. What a iconic church..it's so beautiful. We made our way up to Columbus Circle and Central Park. We played in this around for awhile and then decided to get our butts to The Met. I was in awe of this building. It's amazing. We only had 2 and half hours in the Met before it closed...so we power walked through the thing! I saw so much...too much..my brain was in information overload. We sat outside on the steps for long while after to just soak it in and to let our feet rest. We took the bus back down 5th...and went to Grand Central Station. We ate dinner a the infamous Oyster Bar inside GCS. The wait staff was kind of rude but we were mostly immune to this by now. I had a the Manhattan clam chowder and an appetizer of the Crab Cakes. It was yummy! After we went down Lexington back to the Crumbs cupcake shop we spotted on the way to GCS. I have had Crumbs cupcakes before from a shop in LA. They are delicious! I had the Red Velvet. We had the perfect window seat and just enjoyed people watching while munching on our cupcakes. Sugar overload we walked back to Radio City music and decided to do the Top of the Rock at night. STUNNING! The city that never sleeps is gorgeous at night. I don't know why people would choose to go to the top of the Empire State Building instead of the Rock? You can see central park, the empire state building, times square....everything. We were up there for over an hour! After we took the F train home. The subway was extra crowed tonight with a lot of people around the same age. I guess Wednesday is a good night to go out in NYC?

More to come!

Just an FYI.. all pictures are taken by me... unless it's a picture of me. ha.

empire state of mind-part 1

I'm home! It was an incredible, long, fun, exciting, and exhausting journey!

New York was all I hoped it would be and more. I actually enjoyed riding the Subways. And with every rude person we encountered a nice person was there to make up for the rudeness. People watching was fabulous. There are so many different kinds of people in this city. It's amazing to watch. One of the most interesting things was watching the lack of human interaction on the subway. Everyone (the locals) had a book, i-pod, blackberry, or some other form of distraction to keep them occupied during the ride. You sit extremely close to random people yet there is no interaction with them. So interesting!

SUNDAY:

We spent the majority of the day traveling. We woke up at 5am to get to the airport by 8ish. We flew JetBlue from Sacramento to Long Beach where we had a little lay over. From Long Beach to NYC. The flight was smooth and went by fast since we had our individual TVs (what did we do before this?). When we finally landed we were delayed because there was an emergency landing due to a medical issue. Macky met us at the airport and we were off....to boot camp as we called it. Air Train to the Long Island Railroad, to the subway with a few transfers...all with luggage. I'm glad it was Sunday night and the trains weren't busy..since we were all newbies. We finally arrived in Brooklyn at Mackys place around midnight. What a long day!

MONDAY:

Monday was full of excitement but soon ended when we got off on the wrong side of town..Jay St-Borough Hall. I'm thankful we got to see this part of town though. Back on the subway we got off at the Brooklyn Bridge so we could walk across it. Awesome! :) Once across we walked around Wall Street, went into St.Pauls, Trinity Church, saw ground Zero, a few free museums, and Battery Park. Back on the Subway towards Madison Square we were on a mission to get some lunch...I had to eat at the Shake Shack while in NYC.. duh. The burger was hella good... I could have lived without the shake and fries though. The Flat Iron building was gorgeous! From there we walked toward Times Square...stopped in at Ruby Tuesdays for a late afternoon pick me up drink. After we sat on the big red stairs and people watched for a good hour. Next we were off to find dinner on Pier 17. Really cute area! We ended up at a little restaurant on the pier...I was wishing we would have picked a different one... this place just wasn't that great. Oh well.. I was in NYC with my friends. Finally back on Ditmas... it was bed time!

Stay tuned for part 2!

here i go.

I'm leaving for NYC in the morning. I couldn't be happier. :) Cheers and see ya when I get back.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

wow

I have completely abandoned my blog over the last month. I have been pretty busy.

With such things as:

-My mom and dads birthdays during the same week.

-Fundraiser Car Wash for the Relay for Life. We made about $350 at the car wash.

-Mothers Day

-the Penn Valley Rodeo (what a party weekend and so much fun!!)

-Amgen Tour of California Bike Race that started in my hometown!

-Relay for Life! What a long, tiring weekend that was! I raised about $630. Our team as a whole raised over $2,500! It was such a great event!

-Tim McGraw Concert with all my closest buddies! What a fun night. I'm not turning into a cowgirl...promise...but country concerts are truly some of the best.

-BBQ's galore!

-Way too much drinking... I need to cut back...

-Quick trip to Reno to visit cousins and party some more! yay!

-A prom themed birthday party and Latino night at a local bar=The best!

-This Saturday I will be watching my little brother get his highschool diploma! I can't believe that it has been 6 years since I graduated! Time flies by...

And finally getting ready for my departure to NYC! I leave for the big apple on Sunday! Couldn't be more excited! I need to update more.. just for the sake of being able to remember all the fun things I have done. Hopefully when I return I will get my butt into gear!

Hope everything is having a fabulous week!