I Heart New York

I have been talking about going to New York for almost a year. So Josh, being the romantic guy he is, surprised me by booking a hotel and flights. Of course, it ended it up that he couldn't go because of work. I completely didn't mind going alone, but Josh, being the protective guy he is, insisted I couldn't go alone. So I called up my friend Kara. She had never been to New York, so I knew it would be a great experience. 

Reasons why Kara is a good travel friend: She is a picture-taking-aholic and I never take pictures, and she blogs in real time, so I am going to be lazy and just cut and paste pretty much everything from her blog. 

First Day in Kara's words straight from her blog: "Here I sit in the Marriott Marquis overlooking Time Square. So far our experience of New York has been a super scary cab ride where we literally thought 'Singh Surinder' the cab driver from India...was going to kill us after numerous close calls and lots of laying on the horn.  (pictured here) 

We finally got to the hotel where Josh had got us a corner suite...We then dined at the top of the hotel in the rotating restaurant, 'The View,' and came back to unpack our things..."

Second Day Highlights: Having a cabbie tell us with a NY accent: 'This is 2 blocks from here, you can walk. Don't waste my time.' Me: 'But we have really cute shoes and don't want to walk. I'll tip you really well.' Cabbie: 'It's only 2 blocks up and then 2 blocks over!!' Kara: 'You know what, that's okay. If you don't want to take us we can find another cab.' Cabbie: 'Yes, do. It's a waste of my time.' We decided to walk...  

We also got to practice lots of hailing taxis, see Xanadu on Broadway, 

eat at The Four Seasons Restaurant (supposedly one of the finest restaurants in the world, which I would agree with - Yummy!), 

take a death defying limo ride, 

watch Legally Blonde on Broadway, 

get room service, and let our poor feet relax.

Day Three in Kara's words: "Woke up, got ready for our date with the 'Sex and the City Tour.' (Rachel wore very special gear just for the occasion, namely a very large flower broach and a large feathery flower headband that gathered many glances, smirks and giggles. She says it was her tribute to Carrie 'circa season 4!") We grabbed some fruit and took a cab to the Pulitzer 

fountain...

We met up with our tour guide and loaded on the bus. The tour was so much fun!!! It really personalized the city. We went to several of the movie and show spots and learned lots of trivia, ate cupcakes, 

drank virgin cosmos from Aidan & Steve's bar, 

and walked through West Village, where lots of the stars live and where Carrie's "stoop" is. 

The neighborhood was amazing...The tour finished at the HBO store where I lost my battle for fabulousness giving in to aching feet, the headband that hurt, and the jacket that was too hot. I quickly changed into a Sex and the City T-shirt and some Sopranos flip-flops (hey, desperate times call for desperate measures!)...

We shopped and walked all down 5th Avenue - including Tiffany's! (So Audrey!) It was not quite the experience I had imagined because I was dressed like a complete slob and my credit card actually got denied!!!! Apparently, purchases at Tiffany's in New York looked like credit card fraud to my credit card company. It could have been horrifying, but, as Audrey said, nobody has a bad experience at Tiffany's.

Then we took a pedicab back to the hotel as our feet were now killing us. 

Once we got back to the hotel to get ready for Chicago, we both very begrudgingly (and thankfully) changed into tennis shoes. 

We very comfortably headed off to Chicago, and ended at the Olive Garden overlooking Times Square.

Unfortunately, I have the pictures from Day Four on my camera, so Kara hasn't been able to blog about it. I GUESS I will have to write it myself..... We started out with our reservations at Tavern on the Green. It is a very fantastical restaurant in Central Park that was both beautiful and fun.

The decorations were super over the top, and this picture doesn't do justice.

We followed with a carriage ride through Central Park, which was amazing and beautiful. I have been to New York five times before and had never been through the park. I am so glad we spent the day there.

We finished our vacation street shopping down 5th Avenue again (parents can never come back from a trip without gifts for the kiddies!), where Kara impressed me with her street savviness.

And lit a candle for Evan at the Cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York. It was a very beautiful building!

We had a super "fabulous" trip (especially once we changed to tennis shoes!) I would highly recommend everything we did and everywhere we ate.

For more fun details and pictures, check out Kara's blog: www.showbows.blogspot.com