new york...

on july 19th, i turned 28 and got to ring in my birthday in new york city! i figured that if dylan got to turn 29 in italy, it was only fair i got a small getaway for my birthday! we decided to drive and started our morning around 5:30 to then get into the city around 4pm.

on the road again.

i love snapchat stickers.

woohoo!

we stayed at the eventi hotel and loved it.

view of the empire state building from our room.

love this city.

the best part of the hotel? every night from 5-6 they have a wine reception on the terrace, meaning free wine and sangria (unlimited) for that hour. awesome.

high line sunsets.

saturday morning started out rather gloomy, but turned right around by 10am.

beautiful soho.

we made sure to be back for another wine hour.

have you ever heard of those silent clubs? you wear headphones and that's where the music is played? we were walking by a park one a free one was happening and  figured we had to try it out for about 5 minutes.

 * please note * there were actually people older than the children that happen be in our shot! we didn't join a kids party. anyways, it was funny and totally weird.

when in new york, a comedy bar is a must.

 goodbye new york. you were fun.

on the long journey home.

we walked and walked and walked, just like we do every time we visit; from the west village all the way up to central park. we come back with sore feet, but it's always worth it.

in my dreams...

my birthday is just a month away (july 19th), so i thought i would just jot down my dream birthday weekend. of course, i've already checked out prices on our trusted megabus and they're too expensive. i know it can't happen this year, but maybe if i put it out there, the nyc gods will find a way ;) my ideal day in the city would consist of some of my favorite things, including, but not limited to:

breakfast and coffee at our favorite coffee shop; mud.

crème brûlée doughnuts from doughnut plant.

rowing in central park.

maybe a pizza at grimaldi's.

i would also like to try a cronut, just because. obviously this list shows that i love nyc food. i would add seeing the book of mormon, because i've wanted to since it came out 2 years ago, but umm a pair of tickets is like, $500. yeah, no.  that's about 1.5 months of groceries!

all that said, my number one reason for wanting to go is to see the rain room exhibit. it finishes on july 28, and who knows if it will ever make an appearance in nyc again. it's just so darn cool looking. and i kind of want a romantic kissing picture.

a girl can dream!

*updated to add: i recently found a place called sweet revenge on yelp. it serves cupcakes and wine. and they have red velvet waffles with whipped cream cheese. sold*

rain room...

i found out about the 'rain room' at moma yesterday (which goes until july 28th) from joanna's blog and i was mesmerized. i think it's just the neatest thing and such a cool concept. i would love to see it before it's gone. basically, you stand in a room that's raining, but it detects your movement and the water pauses, therefore keeping you dry, though if you move too quickly, apparently you may get wet. here's a little video that gives you a better idea. and here are some beautiful pictures that were taken. i was looking on instagram at all the pictures, using #rainroom, and spend way too long oohing and aahing.  (*i'm sure the lines will be insane for this, since they only let 10 people in at a time. i wonder if there's a time limit?*)

photos via

this april was the first year in many years we haven't gone to nyc. i think we've been 6 or 7 times together now (+ all the times i've gone with my mom or friends, i love the city, duh), but i suppose we had a good reason for not going last month; moving into a sweet place! however, i still get a little sad thinking we missed a year. maybe, just maybe, we'll get there before this exhibit is over?? ;) 

a rockefeller kiss...

i love nyc. how's that for obvious statement of the century? but while i've been 10 times, i've never been during christmastime, and that's pretty much been a lifelong goal for me. i've been trying for years, but due to things like work and exam schedules, it never worked out, including this year. but last friday (the 28th), i woke up and decided to check megabus tickets to see how much they were. i had just found out that my saturday shift was cancelled, and dylan hadn't had too many shifts over the holidays, so i thought just maybe, we could go. i saw the prices, and while still a pretty good deal, i decided i didn't want to pay that much.

2 hours later, we were on our way to costco, dylan had called into work and found out he didn't have any shifts and i had told him what i was thinking that morning. "well, how much? lets go. i'll turn the car around right now and we'll go get money exchanged, travel insurance and buy the tickets." and that's pretty much what we did at 12:30pm. after some errands, and dropping the dog off at my parents, we were on the 5pm bus to toronto, and then the 7:30pm megabus to nyc from toronto. my christmas dream was finally coming true!

on the bus to toronto; megabus.

lone taxi on the street early saturday morning.

i had heard of this place and when i found out we were right by it, we scooted over after breakfast. they opened at 8, we were there at 8:01 ;)

creme brulee doughnut. while it was smaller than my palm and $3.25, it was the most incredible thing i've ever eaten, i'm pretty sure.

quiet on the high line.

there was a storm advirsory, so we were prepped with our boots.

again, from the high line.

freedom tower.

the snow started.

we had to stop in at s'mac, like we did last time. i got the same one, it's just amazing. 

macy's magic.

there it is!

it was gloomy and rainy, but that didn`t stop us!

a rockefeller kiss.

we had our photo taken and 'splurged' to buy it along with the frame. (80th rockefeller tree lighting)

it was a quick, whirlwind of a trip, with 13 hours total spent in the city. we arrived at 6:30am and the only issues with that was that nothing was really open for breakfast that early on a saturday. lucky that there's starbucks everywhere, we stopped in there until about 7:30, then went around the corner to malibu diner. we walked everywhere in those 13 hours; from chelsea, to the freedom tower, to battery park, to the east village, to times square, and then to rockefeller center, in perfect weather, to rain, to snow. 

it may have been one of our shortest trips, but it was spontaneous, romantic, and memorable.