New York New Yooooork

In New York you do not hesitate. New Yorkers are always on the move and if you don't move with them you just might get run over. So no dilly dallying here I am all ready to share my NYC photos and stories!

Once we got off the plane we got on a taxi and headed straight to the Greyline bus station. Most of the sites we saw during our visit were from the top of one of these double decker road whales. 

We saw time square, the Macy's that covers a whole city block, and the empire state building. We also spent a little time at Rockefeller plaza, and strolled around seeing sites like central park, Radio City, and the "30 rock" building. 

One of the highlights of my visit was for sure the Apple store on 5th avenue 

 and right behind it is FAO Schwartz, a 150 year old toy store and home of the piano from the famous scene in the movie Big. Despite the fact that I was a little big myself I couldn't pass up the opportunity to play it. 

I had a list of 11 things I wanted to do in NY and surprisingly I did almost all of them, but there were a few hiccups. My mother and I walked our little legs off trying to find a restaurant called Serendipity so that I could try some of their frozen hot chocolate, but the wait was too long and we had to keep moving because I was meeting a friend for dinner. 

I used to live extremely close to this friend before their son graduated and she and her husband decided to leave the small town life and relocate to the city that never sleeps. My friend had dreamed that one day when they were empty nesters (which was at a very young age) they would see the country and try living in different locations spread out from east to west and then pick where to settle down from there. Yes, they are that wild, and driven, and absolutely cool! Anyway, she's been living in Manhattan for 10 months now and we met up at a pub in time square then walked to Junior's to try some authentic New York cheesecake. It was such a great visit.

Afterwards we got back on the double decker for a night tour of the city including a trip over the Brooklyn bridge. By this time we had seen nearly all of NYC and any landmarks we missed we caught the next day on another guided tour.

I know this is lengthy, but are you ready for the grand finale? Back at Time Square we sat at a cafe and had coffee and waffles while waiting for midnight when it would officially become my 30th birthday. We went to where they do the annual new years eve ball drop, and right after getting to be on the jumbotron along with a bunch of other tourists. the countdown began from 10 down to 1. I guess they do it every night leading up to midnight and that was the moment I turned 30. 

New York City was a blast! I really thought that it couldn't get any better, but then when I arrived back in Kentucky and was reunited with my amazing husband and kiddos I heard another voice that I know so well. This was the voice of someone that I have laughed with, cried with, and shared some of the most memorable moments of my life with. I looked up to find my best friend had flown in from Texas to surprise me on my birthday! My husband set it all up and it's a one way ticket, no she isn't moving up here, although that would be cool, but we are all going to Illinois together next week. So it's been a wild ride and without a doubt the BEST birthday ever!