N-Y-C

I spent the first week of the month in my beloved NYC with a girlfriend and had a blast. The weather had just made a turn for the cold when we'd arrived so I wasn't completely prepared for the weather. Good thing NYC is known for their shopping...I didn't go cold for long! ☺

We spent a few hours downtown where we took the Tribute WTC Walking Tour. It was really amazing. All the tour guides are volunteers that were involved in or are relatives of someone lost in the attacks. We got to see a little of the behind the scenes rebuilding and there was a great museum there too. Quite interesting; glad we decided to do it.

We made our way down to Battery Park, but it was too close to the last ferry time to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island so we skipped it. I'd been before so I didn't mind too much, but I wish we could have gone so my friend could have experienced it.

One afternoon we had tea at The Plaza. Very good. Very girlie. Very Eloise.

We strolled through Central Park and saw all the set up for the NYC Marathon that was being held the next day. I was really looking forward to seeing all the beautiful leaves in the park, but it was a tad disappointing. Either the trees were bare or the the ones with leaves were still green. Weird.

St. Patrick's Cathedral. I love this place; it's so beautiful. While there were lots of other people taking pictures inside, didn't feel quite right about it, so you'll just have to take my word for how amazing it is. Or Google it.

FAO Schwartz was another stop. This soldier was made entirely out of jelly beans, or some candy like that. We picked up a few treats at their sweet shop to sneak into our show that night

We saw a couple shows while out there, Memphis and In the Heights. Both great!

I snapped a few shots of the set of In the Heights.

We shopped and lunched at the Chelsea Market

My friend is much more adventurous when it comes to food than I am so I ended up eating at places I normally wouldn't and eating some things that I was a little iffy about. I think it was good for me though, although I'll probably still stick to my same boring food in the future!

We got VIP tickets to see a live Martha Stewart show...we're cool like that. I was really hoping that there would be some famous guests on and that we'd get some fabulous giveaways, but I was wrong. Still had fun nonetheless.

I also might have snuck my camera out to take a picture or two...or ten.

The skating rink was up at Rockefeller Center, but we were a few weeks to early to see the tree. Bummer.

We got to the Top of the Rock just in time to see the sun going down. It looked amazing. My camera is too crappy to really capture the great view, but you get the idea!

And that is where the pictures stop. I wasn't great about documenting this trip with pictures. We did manage to fit in a lot of other amazing things...ate a bunch, shopped even more, bumped into a Kardashian or two...you know, the usual.

I'm ready for a trip back, just wish the Robster would come with me. I'm working on him.

Another season down

Last weekend we headed down to Emerald Downs again to close out the racing season. There was rain, mud and luck in the air.

My fav jockey held up his end of things a won me a pretty little pile of money...that will now fund my flight to NYC next month. See, gambling does pay off. Sometimes.

I'm trying to get Rob to go in on a horse. He says no. I'll keep working on him. ☺

We're Cruisin'

Our annual Spring trip is upon us and I really thought Rob was going to let me sneak New York in again, but alas, I was wrong. Apparently our agenda is taking us South...way South.

Rob's been begging for hinting towards a Florida vacation for years and I figured it's about time for me to give in. Yes, that's right...we just booked ourselves two hot, humid, sun filled weeks in Miami and the Caribbean. And in our true nature, we booked last minute, meaning we leave next week.

I've got just a handful of days to get our wardrobe looking cruise-ready (sarongs and floral shirts, anyone??), build up my base tan burn and snag Rob some sunscreen for his head.

So put in your souvenir requests now...or you just may not get anything. ☺

Aloha, or whatever.

NYC, DC and Philly

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I have finally gotten around to posting some vacation pictures! We started the trip out by staying Friday, Saturday and Sunday in NYC. We had a great hotel in Rockefeller Center! The location was really amazing. On Sunday morning I walked outside and heard bagpipes playing at St. Patrick's Cathedral. I was SO ready to move there!


We had so many things that we wanted to do, but kept getting sidetracked by other places we saw along the way. We hit the normal touristy places: Museum of Natural History, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Top of the Rock, NBC Studios, Empire State Building, Times Square, Ground Zero and Central Park.


Monday morning we grabbed a car and headed down to Washington DC. Our trip was a little delayed in mid-Jersey when we had to detour a few hours to find a dentist. Overnight I developed a crazy infection which resulted in a golf ball sized abscess in my cheek. Gross, I know!! A few hours and a few pharmacies later, we were back on our way to DC. We ended up staying in Arlington which is about 5 minutes out of the heart of DC.


Once again, we hit the traditional spots: Arlington Cemetery (so cool!), the White House, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Capitol Building, WWII Memorial and the Aquarium (lame!). We didn't get a chance to make it to any of the Smithsonian museums, which we were pretty bummed about. Somebody (I'm not naming any names...*cough* Rob *cough*) couldn't get their self out of bed early enough. :) The cemetery was so much more than expected...there was tons to see! We were lucky enough to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It was a really neat thing to watch. The White House was such a let down!! That place is SO small...it isn't anything near the size you expect it to be when you see it on TV. I was really surprised.

Next we were on our way back up to Philadelphia. Thanks to all of the rain, we didn't get to see as much in Philly as we would have liked. Most of it was seen from the car, hence the lack of pictures. We did take a 90 minute walking tour where I managed to snap a few shots. Forgive the lack of info on them though...I was literally soaked through my clothes from the rain. We got some raincoats back in NYC just to be prepared for all the rain that had been forecasted, only Rob's turned out to be water proof while my was only water resistant. Big difference! After changing out of my sopping clothes in the parking garage, we headed back up to NYC.


For NYC part duex we stayed in Chelsea. It was a bit further from things, but the neighborhood was fun. I found a great little salon around the corner that did eyebrow threading and had to try it out. It was so painful though! I would rather have bushy brows than go back...I am such a baby! It seems like all we did was shop, walk and eat. We are not big foodie people so we didn't fully take advantage of all the cuisines NYC had to offer, but we did hit some simple yummies: The Shake Shack, Tasti D-Lite, Magnolia Cupcakes and Rob's new favorite, The Cracker Barrel - yuck if you ask me, but the man loves his breakfast foods! We didn't hit nearly all the sites we wanted to, but this just means we need to go back!



In our hopes of hailing down the Cash Cab (and to avoid anything that skitters around with a long tail) we skipped the subway and stuck to the Yellows, but sadly none of their ceilings lit up. Oh, we could hope though, right!? All in all, it was a great trip, that I cannot wait to do again...if I can ever talk Rob into it!

What are we up to?

We I have been so bad at keeping up with blogging lately. Here's a little rundown of what has been going on with us lately...

Rob just finished up with his MBA program - yay! He will now have a lot of extra time on his hands. He is contemplating getting into another Masters program next quarter...just not sure which program he will choose.

My Biology program was just changed to pre-med, which kicks everything up a notch. The Anatomy and Physiology class is killing me! We have to do gross stuff like dissect cow bones and sheep brains. It's interesting, but oh-so-gross at the same time. Plus, I am a wuss. I have pictures, but thought it a little tasteless to post them. They really are gross!

With our schedules we don't get to see too much of each other during the week, so we are really looking forward to taking our long vacation together. We haven't really planned out what were are going to do...I just know I want to see a show - Rob, not so much. I am still working on getting him to go with it. I am also planning on taking lots of pictures. We are SO bad a doing that and are trying to work on it...we'll see.

Booked!

I finally did it. I just booked us 9 days back East for the first week of May. Three days in New York City, down to Washington DC for two, up to Philadelphia for two more and then back to NYC for another two.

We are really looking forward to getting away for such a long vacation. We haven't really decided what we will do while we are there, but we have a few weeks to plan. Anyone have any must see/do's for us?

There was never any doubt in my mind!

I have always had a special place in my heart for The Big Apple. Ever since I was young I was intrigued by it. As soon as my friend sent me this quiz, I knew what the answer was, but wondered if the quiz would know it too. And of course, I was matched up perfectly! If I could only convince Rob of it. Someday (hopefully soon)!

You Belong in New York City

What City Do You Belong In?