MY PARENTS CAME TO NYC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Best weekend ever. I love living on the East Coast, but being so far away from family is definitely a huge downside. So when my parents told me they were going to come visit me for a weekend (to celebrate their birthdays- both are fall babies) I was thrilled!!! Especially cause my Dad had never been to New York. So we had to pack in as much NY fun as possible in the few days they could be here.
After weeks and weeks of waiting, I got a call that they were in my building lobby and ready to explore my new home. So after a quick apartment tour, I took them to Grand Central Station. We grabbed dinner at Shake Shack, and then walked through the world's most famous train station.
Selfie with the constellation ceiling!
My parents loved pointing out how many movies/TV shows had been filmed at each place we visited. We all started watching this new show called Forever, that takes place in NYC - and of course they had a few scenes filmed in Grand Central!
From Grand Central we walked west along 42nd street to see the NYPL/Bryant Park and to visit Times Square! Here we are on the red steps!
From TS we hopped on the subway down to Clark's office! My parents loved seeing his beautiful office building. I mean just check out that lobby!
Saturday morning the boys woke up early to stand in line for rush tickets to A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder. After getting tickets (yay!) we went to brunch at Sarabeth's! From what I've sampled, I think Sarabeth's has the best brunch in the city. Our favorite brunch items are their toasted coconut waffle, almond crusted french toast, and their short rib hash. And as if breakfast wasn't fantastic enough, on our way up to Central Park we stopped by Laduree for some macaroons - pistachio is still my favorite flavor!
We took a tour of all my favorite parts of Central Park - starting with a stop at the Conservatory Water. I love the mini sailboats you can rent and there's always musicians playing around this pool.
Hans Christian Andersen! I love this statue - especially because it features one of my favorite Andersen fairy-tales, The Ugly Duckling.
Then it was time for one of our all time favorite NY activities - row boating on the Central Park Lake. These two handsome gentlemen took turns rowing us around the lake. It was a great way to see the changing fall leaves and we had absolutely perfect weather!
With the Loeb Boathouse in the background.
Gorgeous Bow Bridge!
Look at how green that water is!! Crazy.
Aren't my parents just adorable?!
After boating, we walked to the Bethesda Fountain/Terrace, and along the Lake to see Strawberry Fields. From Central Park we walked around the UWS, and of course stopped by Magnolia Bakery for their incredible banana pudding. YUM!! Since the boys woke up so early (especially my poor Dad on California time) we went back to our place for a quick nap before dinner and our Broadway show. Once we had some more energy we were off to Hell's Kitchen for dinner at El Centro. If you like mexican food, go get their chilaquiles. SO delicious and such a neat dish!
We were so happy about our rush seats. We got front row box seats - rush seats are typically a partial view, but we were actually able to see everything really well. And it was so fun to be so close to the characters/hear their voices without the mike.
We LOVED the show. A basic plot synopsis: Poor Monty Navarro finds out that he is 8th in line to become the wealthy Earl of Highhearst. So he decides to off his relatives so he can inherit! It really is such a clever play. There were so many times when I laughed so hard I almost cried. And I cannot believe how talented the actors are! Especially one guy - he plays all 8 of the relatives. If you are in the mood for a funny musical, please give A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder a try! And of course, after seeing any show on Broadway, you should stop by Junior's for cheesecake - our favorites are the raspberry swirl and the devil's food cheesecake.
Sunday was wonderful. We got to go to stake conference at the Lincoln Center building! I love my ward on the UES, but I definitely miss going to church in the same building as the temple. There's just a special spirit there. And stake conference was amazing - such powerful testimonies were shared. And we all had an emotional moment when the 80+ missionaries serving in our stake sang Called to Serve... made us all miss our Hermana Hull!
Following conference we walked over to see the Lincoln Center and Met Opera House. Such gorgeous buildings. Then we got brunch at The Smith - super tasty! I got the vanilla bean french toast, and I have to admit Sarabeth's waffle is way better. But my dad got the Sicilian baked eggs- they were the best!
Following conference we walked over to see the Lincoln Center and Met Opera House. Such gorgeous buildings. Then we got brunch at The Smith - super tasty! I got the vanilla bean french toast, and I have to admit Sarabeth's waffle is way better. But my dad got the Sicilian baked eggs- they were the best!
The Met Opera House!
Following brunch, we went over to the Met Museum! It really is such an incredible museum. We spent a lot of time in the impressionist galleries. We also saw the Roman sculptures, the American wing, the Armor exhibit, the Met rooftop, and the Egyptian exhibit. And we were able to see all of that in just over 2 hours!
Monet's waterlilies = perfection.
After our trip to the Met we went to my apartment for dinner/dessert and to rest up for another full day of exploring NYC!
Monday morning we got up bright an early to grab bagels at Ess-a-Bagel by Stuyvesant Town. Then we walked through Gramercy to see Union Square park. Aren't these town homes just darling? Gramercy is such a lovely area. And of course I took my parents to the best bookstore ever - Strand. 18 miles of books... Such a glorious place! They loved it too!
From the highline we walked east to Herald and Greenley Square for some shopping. Dad opted out and got some yummy hot chocolate while Mom and I took a peek at some of the neat jewelry stores in that area. If you like statement necklaces, you've got to 32nd and broadway - lots of great shops! Then we went down to Chinatown to get some gifts for my siblings. Although it's a great place to get some shopping, it's so busy, and we were happy to leave for lunch. We met up with Clark at Eataly, near Madison Square Park, for a prime rib sandwich (yum). From there we traveled up to the UWS to grab Levain's cookies for the kids! Haha we really were all over the place on Monday. Once we got all our shopping done with, we rested for a bit at my place, and then went to the Brooklyn Bridge.
Sunset on the Brooklyn Bridge is a MUST. It's so pretty to see the colorful sky and the buildings slowly light up. Manhattan sure has a gorgeous skyline. And seeing it always makes me so happy I live in such an incredible city.
See that teeny tiny green line, with a reddish dot on it, at the very far left? That's lady liberty! I promise the view of her is much better from what the picture lets on :)
Haha we're all red because a cop motorcycle was parked right next to us! But check out the Freedom Tower and the downtown skyline! So lovely!
And of course we had to grab Juliana's Pizza for dinner! You could say
it was our pot of gold after walking to the end of the rainbow (bridge).
Clark would say Grimaldi's is NY's best pizza, but I have to disagree.
If you like a more crunchy thin crust then go to Grimaldi's - it's
definitely a fantastic pizza. But in my book, Juliana's softer crust
can't be beat!
I am so glad my parents got to come see me! And was so sad they had to leave. They were such great sports for letting me drag them all over my new hometown. Luckily they had so much fun and we're already trying to plan another visit for them!! :) I sure love you Mom & Dad!
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