The Great New York City Adventure!

Something pretty spectacular happened to me almost 2 months ago...I went to New York City!

Let me begin by saying, it really is everything you dream it to be...and MORE. 

Skyscrapers, taxi cabs, cool shops, delicious food, rats (just kidding, I didn't see one single rat!), rude people, hip people, homeless people, touristy-people, fancy people, smart people, rude people (I'm talking to you rude lady that cut in front of us at FAO Shwarz!) and so much more. 

I went with a close acquaintance Jenny, who turned into a friend, who turned into someone that listened to some of my deepest secrets one night, who also turned out to be one of the funniest people I know! 

We went to visit another friend, Amanda, who lives in Brooklyn and is a Starbucks store manager in Brooklyn Heights. We both know Amanda from Starbucks, and we have both worked with her in separate stores at different points in our lives. So the connecting factor here is...STARBUCKS! Crazy, huh? 

I worked with Amanda at Harbor + Chapman in Downtown Fullerton back in 2007-2008, she was my assistant store manager back then. I was so bummed when she told me she was transferring stores, and then later moving to NYC for school. But as it turns out, NYC has been great to her! She has her own store now, and a super cool BF named Topher that loves comic books, coffee (go figure) and has a great tattoo with the same name as my great grandpa Cecil. (He's a keeper Amanda!)

We also got to spend time with Amanda's sister, Alicia, another bux partner extraordinaire! Alicia is super cool and even faced the cold (what was cold to Jenny + I) to get us some delish donuts from DOUGH. Thanks Alicia! She also took us to Central Park where we saw a really scary guy that tried to put a hex on her (she made eye contact with him! Agggghhh!) and then to a tasty dinner in the back of a tiny Italian bistro where we sat under the stars and gas-lit heaters and talked and sang Christmas music and ate bomb food and soaked up each other's awesomeness (you're so jealous right now, huh?).

So here's some i-phone photos of my adventure in NYC for you to enjoy!

A really lame start to my trip: a 12 hour stop/go/flight-delay to JFK

 (but actually not JFK/ I landed in La Guardia) 

On the G train with Jenny, Topher + Amanda

5th ave, you guys. And Jenny photo bombing my sweet pic. Doesn't this building look like Gimbel's?!

 

Walking around the big apple during Christmas time is A MUST!

 

 

Times Square!

Starbucks in Times Square! (seriously HUGE!)

 

Rock Center ice skating rink and my "ohmahgaw" face. Where's LIZ LEMON!?

 

Extremely fancy chocolates at THIS PLACE on 5th ave.

Completely geeked out over this building when I saw the plaque.

DUMBO! Check out this pic of the carousel under water after Hurricane Sandy hit= super creepy!

One Girl Cookies: Seriously had one of the best whoopie pies in my life from here. Don't believe me? Look at the pie in the photo below. BOOM!

Pumpkin whoopie + "You've Got Mail". Perfection.

Some delicious coffee.

Dinner at that little Italian bistro I mentioned...

We saw GRACE on Broadway with an amazing cast featuring Ed Asner, Paul Rudd, Michael Shannon, and Kate Arrington. The play was deep and a lot to process, but so good! After the play, we stood outside to get some autographs on our Playbill's, and that's when this happened...

"Hey Paul, can you say 'Slappa da bass?!"-me

"Huh? Oh. 'Slappa da bass!"-Paul Rudd

"YAAAAY! MERRY CHRISTMAS NYC!"-me

And that was one of my favorite life moments.

9/11 memorial. It was an incredibly heavy feeling seeing those names and knowing the tragedy that occurred on that soil.

The Freedom Tower

The big Apple kahuna. 

The Ritz Carlton across from the Apple Store + Central Park.

Had to get the boy a teddy bear!

ZOLTAR is in FAO Schwarz just in case you want to be BIG :)

 

Strawberry Fields in Central Park on the anniversary of John Lennon's death (video coming soon!)

Central Park and a suspicious Elmo character...

Canal Street! "handbag? perfume? you like watch? I give it to you for 15 dolla!" ALL the live long day. Of course I bought a bag for my mom, a hat for my nephew, and a few I LOVE NY clothes! It's Canal Street! It's what you do!

A super chilly night walking in the rain after the 9/11 memorial. We were trying to find a bathroom. We finally found a PRET and stopped to have hot chocolate and warm up. 

delish.

Ready to head out again, post hot cocoa!

Union Square Market! So much fun! See that blue light in the sky? That's the Empire State Building!

Jenny: a connoisseur of all things TEA.

 

Crumbs! All I have to say is, there's a few shops near LA! GOOOOO!

My extremely fatigued self saying g'bye to NYC while we waited for our cab to JFK.

Kissing Brooklyn g'bye.

Special shout out to Mitchell for booking the flight for me and saying, "You need a vacation." It was so great to feel like Ana again, not just Ana the wife and mama, but Ana the adventurer. So thanks hubs! And thank you Jenny for venturing with me, and of course Amanda, Topher + Alicia for your hospitality! You guys are the bees knees! Brooklyn is lucky to have ya! New York City...I got 3 words for ya...I'll BE BACK!