Tuesday, May 24, 2011

I < 3 NY

A couple of weeks ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to travel to NYC to visit my friend, Stephanie. She is working as a nanny a little outside of the city and met me in Manhattan for the weekend. It was a short weekend, but so so so worth it!


I flew into LaGuardia airport on a Friday night and took a cab (all by myself!) to the hotel which was located only a couple blocks away from Times Square. Stephanie met me at the hotel and we talked the night away! It totally made me miss having roommates to just chat with, no matter the time. Anyway, we woke up on Saturday and spent the day just walking the streets. We stopped at street vendors along the way (we all know how I loooove to shop!) and saw so many famous buildings. The New York Times building, Trump Tower, Radio City music hall, Rockefeller Center, Carnegie Hall, the Chrysler tower (from afar...) are just a few that we were able to walk past and see. We didn't really have much time to specifically go to each and every building, but it was cool enough to just be there and see them!

We walked, and walked, and walked and we eventually made it to 5th Avenue. My Mecca! Not that I could afford to shop at most of the stores, but it was amazing to see them in real life. And I even decided to get myself a little souvenir at Tiffany & Co. I just HAD to! I was at THE Tiffany's in New York! So I bought a little necklace that I fell in love with :) Isn't it beautiful?!

Then after much walking and much shopping, we went back to the hotel to drop off our loot and rest up for a bit before walking to the Gershwin Theater to see WICKED!!! It was absolutely amazing and breathtaking! It was even
better than I imagined it would be! I had heard it was a great show and didn't really have an intense desire to go see it until it was almost done playing in San Francisco. At that point, it was pretty much hopeless so I didn't even try. But to see it on Broadway was a dream! I still can't believe that I went. Words cannot even describe to you how amazing it was. Just go see it for yourself! You will not regret it!




After the show, we went again to Times Square so we could see it at night. It was stunning! Even though it was almost midnight, it didn't even feel like it was night because of all the lights and people everywhere. It was so incredible. I loved it! It truly is such a magnificent city.

On Sunday, we went to church at a Singles ward that met in the same building as the Manhattan temple. The doors on the right lead to the
meetinghouse and the doors on the left lead to the temple. The Manhattan temple is absolutely beautiful! It is in a great location in the city too. It is pretty much sandwiched between Central Park and The Juilliard School. I was a little obsessed with taking pictures of the temple. I just couldn't stop! Even in a big city, amid tall buildings, you can tell that you are standing on holy ground and it is the House of the Lord. So beautiful!

After church, Stephanie and I walked around Central Park for a little bit. It was beautiful and a great place to spend the rest of our Sunday. We sat and ate lunch and talked some more. I love that girl! I had such a great time with her!

I am so grateful for the chance that I had to go on this trip. It gave me the opportunity to do and see things that I have only dreamed about. I also learned some valuable lessons about myself in the process. It opened my eyes to the world that we live in and has made me realize that I want to experience so much more in this life. I went expecting a fun weekend and I left inspired.