NYC...the wish, the dream, the reality...Part I

What self loving fashionista doesn't have a dream of visiting the fabulous city of New York? I sure did. Ever since my teen years, it has been very high on my 'to do' list. Unfortunately, it was never very high on anyone else's. Don't get me wrong, I have thoroughly enjoyed every single state, lake, beach, and country I have visited. But always in the back of my thoughts was this diamond in the sky, this unreachable destination, this unrealized trip that I thought would never come. Until god gave me an all grown up sister with the same dream. My Lynsey was my new partner in crime. Fears of being lost or mobbed in the streets be damned... we were taking the plunge and making this dream a reality!

We took flight from our prospective cities and met at JFK. A nauseating cab ride through congested traffic and an easy check in at a hotel dropped us in the center of Times Square.

No time to waste, the theater awaits! A quick freshening up, change in the sparklies and we were off! To say that we were a bit wide eyed upon hitting the streets is a huge understatement. I think we stood in the center of Times Square with a freshman-greenie-doe eyed-dopey look on our faces for several minutes. Ahhhhh newbies!

With no culinary goal in mind except for a drink & snack, we started walking towards the theater. We stopped at an Oyster Bar with full glass windows facing the lights of Times Square. We were in a word, blissful.

$90 later (not kidding) and an agreement made that we would only do that splurge once a day, we were off to the Theater! 

Now I realize posting this photo is going to bring me a lot of scrutiny from some. Bring it. I can take it. This musical was pee your pants funny for a girl raised in Utah. Yes it was crass. Yes it bordered on crossing the line several times. If you can't laugh at things in this life, then what do you have? I inherited my sailor-like sense of humor from my Dad and I thank him for it every day. After the show we had a great burger at 'Juniors' which included onion rings wrapped in so much breading they first appeared to be unglazed doughnuts! Glutony...

Next morning dawned bright and warm! Wait a second. It's fall in NYC. I packed for the 50's! After a wardrobe re-working we were off to find a subway stop and take a bite out of that city. Maneuvering the city of New York was the numero uno stress for Lynsey. We did it like locals. We probably rode the subway 6 times a day. We never got on the wrong train, and we only went in the wrong direction once. Quickly realized it & flipped around at the next stop. Not bad for a couple of small town girls!

First stop was China town for some $5 Pashmina scarves, then Little Italy for cannoli's!

Satiated with Italian sugar we were ready for the walk across the Brooklyn Bridge..

And a tiny glimpse of this great lady... (some day I'll take my boys to meet her)

And a courtesy photo by a very kind stranger who witnessed me trying to set the self timer on my camera.

Look out for the bikes, they don't slow down for anyone! Well we made it across the bridge and GPS'd our way to Grimaldi's, the greates of the New York style pizza. The hour long wait was totally worth it. What's more New York than waiting in line for food, right?

That's my 'I adore you' face I have on there.
We hopped the subway to SoHo for a visit to the 9-11 Memorial Site, only to find out that you need a ticket and the next opening was the following afternoon. Strike 1. Fortunately across the street was a great little unheard of gem called Century 21! Half price designer goods! That's where I bought these pretty little ladies. They will be making their social debut next week.

Another Subway trip into SoHo for exploring of all the great stores, boutiques, and Department Stores. Now my previously mentioned wardrobe re-working required the wearing of flip flops all day by me. Dur da Dur. Half way through SoHo I sat in a window sill and informed Lynsey I could not take another step due to the triple layered blister that had formed on the top of my foot. In true city girl fashion, she found a pharmacy on her phone, and returned 15 minutes later with bandages and ibuprofen. Crisis averted and the shopping continued! I love my Sista!
That night we had dinner at a Brewery, stumbled in to several New York hot spots such as this..

The Naked Cowboy..

The Late Show with David Letterman

And any city that sells flowers on the corner at midnight is OK with me!

And then ended up at the 'W Lounge' for Lynsey's wish to spend a little time in a Club. Thank god for very friendly Canadians who will humor an old woman and chat with her while her sister is getting her groove on!

I knew this wound be a lengthy post so I'm going to split it into 2 parts (because I don't trust blogger and know that it is about to freeze up on me at any moment)

Stay tuned...