Taxis and Fairytales

Some of our best memories from Provo involve these two girls and their husbands.

{my first time in a cab needed a moment}

So we decided to reunite in NYC for the weekend! We each had some recommendations from different friends and combined them all into a schedule that Heather made for us before. It was kinda nice to have things mapped out each day!

Momofuku Milk Bar treats after our Shake Shack lunch

Rockerfeller Center. They were preparing to open to ice skating rink the next day. Oh how I wished it was already open and we could have been the only ones there!

The New York Public Library made my library look like a center for ants.

{"What is this?! A center for ants?!" Name that movie}

We popped into Grand Central Terminal, and it was also beautiful. The architecture on all of these buildings was absolutely fascinating. How these people crafted everything without the technology we have today, I'll never understand.

Heather and Mekelle got in a little earlier than I did and stood in line for discount tickets for Cinderella. We saw it that night, and it was amazing! The first Broadway show I've seen, and it certainly did not disappoint. We all know the story, but I felt like it conveyed so many other messages than the typical romance. It made me miss my prince charming and I teared up a few times thinking about how lucky I am to have him. The singing was incredible; some of the harmonies between Cinderella and Prince Charming sent shivers down my spine. The costume changes as she transforms into the girl ready for the ball kinda blew our minds a bit, and we sat there trying to figure out how they did it. I highly recommend the show for anyone visiting!

After the show we finagled our way through Times Square, stopped by the M&M store on our way back to the hotel for some treats, then collapsed onto our beds. A shower hadn't felt that good in a long time. We chatted with our husbands, debated waking up at 5am for cronuts, and passed out.

The next morning we nixed the 5 am wakeup call and gave ourselves a couple more hours. We showed up around 9 am at the bakery to get in line for the legendary cronuts: a cross between a croissant and a doughnut. I love me some baked goods (prefer them to ice cream or candy any day), and I'd seen everyone raving about these things everywhere, so we were all super stoked to try these babies out. People pay to have others stand in line for them for hours after all, they must be worth it right?

We only waited 1 1/2 hours, Heather worked her magic with the girl managing the flow of traffic, and our moment had finally come...

Meh.

None of us were impressed, and couldn't have been happier we slept in that morning.

Now for some real breakfast. We went over to Clinton Street Baking Company, found out the wait was 2 1/2 hours, so we got on the list, gave them our number, and headed to the 9/11 memorial while we awaited the text saying our table was ready.

It was crazy to think about the events of that day, what it must have been like (I still vividly remember that day: Jess and I had skipped school while my parents were in Hawaii that day my junior year of high school, completely unaware of the magnitude of events happening, getting back to school in time for my AP history class' discussion/news viewing. I was shaken, but still didn't fully grasp what was going on. As time went on and events were reviewed, I realized what a scary, evil place the world we live in can be). We of course discussed conspiracy theories we had all heard (none of us had an opinion one way or the other), but regardless of how it happened, people still died that day and deserve to be remembered. It was especially heartbreaking seeing the names of everyone, including rescue workers and firemen and their stations, women and their unborn children, etc. Unfortunately the museum wasn't open yet, but it was still enough to make you reflect. We also saw the Survivor Tree, which was really cool. It was found mostly burned with only one surviving branch, taken to a nursery to be cared for, blossomed, and replanted amongst the site. 

We went back to Clinton Street and had an amazing brunch while we sat 1 foot away from the next table. Who cares, the food was delicious.

Brooklyn Bridge was next, and super crowded! Like shoulder to shoulder people walking both directions, not to mention the crazies that bike 20mph through everyone. Why, people? Why?

Wafels and Dinges. 

These hot, dense, caramelized waffles with tasty toppings, and some amazing hot chocolate. 

Paid our dues at the Manhattan temple, lusted after everything in Lululemon, Mekelle picked up a few things at Trader Joe's to take back to the Trader Joe-less land of Alabama, and again, collapsed in our beds.

Luckily not much was on the agenda for day three. We went to Levain Bakery for breakfast, stopped in at Starbucks because it was chilly and we were headed to Central Park and it just seemed like a chilly, Sunday morning at Central Park thing to do--try the chai steamer next time you go!

People singing and strumming their guitars under the bridge. Why not?

Alice in Wonderland statue

(I decided it's pretty impossible to get the exact shots you want in NYC: too many people, so little time)

Sheep's Meadow, where in the summer people are soaking up the suburban life blanket-to-blanket

We finished the day by oohing and aaahing at The Plaza hotel, the shops on 5th Avenue, and sitting down to lunch at Grimaldi's pizza before we all went our separate ways.
It was a whirlwind of a trip, but amongst the craziness we all got to catch up, have some great conversation about the crazy turn of events our lives have taken, and reminisce about some of our fondest memories. Love you girls!