"Leaving New York"

Our flight didn't leave until 7:30 Monday night so we had the whole day to do the few things that we hadn't had the chance to do over the past few days.

We went down to Midtown and played around there.

Where John took some awkward photos.

We took a picture we knew our mother would love.

The plan had been to get up early and go down to watch Hoda and Kathy booze it up on national television, but they taped the show the day before.  Sad clowns.

It was so good to see you again, old friend.

We made a point to walk by the flat iron building as it was on Drew's list of must-sees.  Apparently back in the day, men used to stand at this corner and watch the wind blow the women's skirts up as they walked by.  Dirty, dirty men.

We stopped in Washington Square Park where we envied the lives of the NYU students who were hanging out there in the middle of the day.

We had to have one last drink before we left the city.

We caught a cab up to John and Abby's apartment and picked up our things to head back down south.  None of us wanted to leave.  We had such a great time and had such great hosts.  I truly love that city and I hope to visit again really soon. 

Hope everyone has a good rest of this Hump Day!  Holla!

"Hotel Chelsea Nights"

I could have seriously kicked myself on Sunday after we left the apartment for the day because I forgot my camera and we did so many cool things that I wish I had a good picture of.  My phone is a pretty pitiful excuse for a camera.

To start the day, we took a walk down to the West Side.  It felt incredible for February in New York so we took a stroll down the High Line.  It was so cool and such an awesome way for residents to preserve a piece of the City's history.  The rail yard was built in the 1930's and had its last run in 1980.  With real estate on the up rise, there were developers lobbying to blast the railway.  A few residents recognized the potential of the High Line to be used as an open public space and decided to form a group to save it from demolition.  It's now funded through donations made to the Friends of the High Line.  Here are some pics from their website since I'm such a genius.

Our next stop was The Standard Hotel.  This is where I really missed my camera.  It's located at the end of The High Line.  The rooms have floor to ceiling windows so the entire hotel is pretty much glass.

So apparently it is a popular thrill among guests to do the "dance with no pants" up against the windows of the rooms.  Abby said they've witnessed people doin' the deed from a rooftop bar that sits along the High Line.  The bathrooms in the bar at the top of the hotel is also a popular place because there are floor to ceiling windows in them as well.  I took this while I was in there not fornicating.

The bar at the top of the hotel is rightfully called The Boom Boom Room and where we planted ourselves and tried to feel rich for a couple of hours.  It was amazing.  I could go on and on about it, but I'll just give you a couple of pics.

The views were amazing.  We sat and had a couple of drinks and John showed us how to look rich in The Boom Boom Room.

After being slapped in the face by reality in the form of a ginormous bill, we bought a few bottles of wine and a couple of pizzas and took it to the house.

Pretty.

"I'll Take New York"

On to day 2...

Saturday

This was the craziest, most active day of the trip.  There were a few things that I had on my list to do, and one of them was to go to Barney's New York. 

I have no idea why I torture myself so.  Everything was beautiful, obvs.  I'm holding onto that dream of becoming independently wealthy without all the work.  That happens on the reg, right?

We continued working our way through Manhattan's restaurants and bars.  We brunched at a place called Barbounia where they offer non-stop bellinis, mimosas, and champagne for $17.95.  Yes, please!

We attempted to go in the oldest bar in New York, but it was packed so we just took a picture...

We then made our way to Emily's apartment, where she and Erica had made gumbo and king cake for a Mardi Gras party.  I was super impressed.  The thought of trying to make the dough for that cake makes me start sweating.

I found the bay bay.  Go me.

Creeper John snuck up behind Britt.  She looks a scared.

After recruiting everyone at the party to join us for dinner, we headed to Koreatown to Mad for Chicken.  Apparently their wings were rated as some of the best in the country.  They were pretty good!  The hot flavor was PAIN. FUL., however.  It tasted good, but by the time you swallowed your mouth and lips felt like they had been attacked by a blowtorch.  While I guzzled down beer and felt for my toungue to make sure it was still there, I enjoyed reading the drink menu.  Those Koreans are pretty creative.

Nick shared his modeling skills during a small photo shoot before we moved on to the next spot.

In keeping with the same Asian theme, we to partake in some Korean karaoke.  I can't even explain to you how much fun this was.  Each group has their own room with couches and a flat screen at the front.  You choose from 100's of familiar songs just like any other karaoke bar, but each song has its own dramatic Korean music video playing on the tv as you sing.  Hilarious.  I wish I would have snapped a pic of the Korean host that I'm guessing was the manager.  On a few occasions he would walk in to see if all was OK with our group and grab the mic from whoever was up at the time and belt out a few of the lyrics.  It was pretty entertaining.  It's apparently a pretty popular hang out for the Asian population because as the night went on, we definitely became the minority. 

Here's a little of Toto's "Africa" for your viewing and listening pleasure...

Not able to post the video right now, but check back soon!

Part of the deal we struck with Mr. Asian Karaoke Man was a ride home in a stretch Escalade.  Looking back, it seems like a pretty strange offer for a karaoke bar, but of course at the time we were in no way worried about being potential murder victims.  All we cared about was feeling fancy for about 15 blocks.

I guess I forgot how short my dress was.  Woops.  I decided to spare you and cover myself up.  You're welcome.

  



We made it home safely and crashed hard.  Day 3 was spent keeping it classy in a hotel known for its guests having sex up against the windows so stay tuned.  Ta-tas for now!

"Bright Lights, Big City"

I've gone back and forth about how I should document this trip on here.  Should I document each day individually?  Or would it be best to dedicate different posts to different parts of the city in which we visited?  It wasn't your usual trip to NYC being that my sister and I have been a few times, but Drew, her boyfriend, had not so we had to do some sightseeing, but it was just a fun trip for the most part.  If I was honest with you and myself, I would say this trip pretty much consisted of us eating and drinking our way through Manhattan.  Seriously.  Our friends Abby and John have lived in the city for about 5 years and we have never been to visit so we figured it was about time.  Or John had finally bugged my sister to the point where she was tired of hearing about it, either way.  John's twin sisters live in the city with their husbands as well so there was no shortage of people to hang out with at any point during the weekend.  There was so much going on and we visited so many different places in no particular order so I have decided to simply document what we did each day.  I'll start from the beginning.  This was the first and probably not the only instance that we screamed we're from Alabama.

Friday

I drove to the airport with my sister and her boyfriend, Drew, on Friday morning at 5:30 in the AM.  I have no pictures of this because we were ill and tired.  We had a straight flight to NYC so we got to bypass ATL.  I had mixed feelings about this because I do love airports.  I love them mainly for the people watching, and there is no better place than Hartsfield-Jackson.

We landed around 10AM, got our bags, and began the journey to Manhattan.  Just before we made it outside to the sea of yellow cabs and foreign people, a man walked up to the three of us and asked if we needed a ride.  With me busy answering work emails on my phone, Drew staring off into space I assume, my sister was left to make the decision.  This is not something she enjoys doing.  She told him yes and agreed to a price of $55.  When she finally got my attention, she asked for my thoughts.  I thought it was a little high, but what do I have to compare it to?  We were just ready to get out of there.  We followed this man out into the parking lot all the while praying he wasn't going to shank us and take all of our money.  I didn't feel like dying that day, especially not in Queens.

As we turned the corner, I noticed the front end of a Lincoln Towncar poking out from behind an SUV.  He was headed straight for it.  He continued to walk toward the white car, and as we got closer I realized that what I was thinking was in fact true.  We had just been scammed into renting a sketchy, white stretch limo.  I think we all uttered "sh*t" in unison.  It was classy y'all.  Thank God for tinted windows.  I HATE myself for not getting more pictures.  For example, the empty decanter on the "wet bar" had apparently been shattered since the bottom of it was rigged up with duct tape.  There was also something that was stuck in the frame of the car because you could hear it roll back and forth along the side as we drove.  This was all hilarious in and of itself, but the real laughs came from watching the faces of other tourists lean over on the street corners trying to get a glimpse of whatever famous person they thought would actually ride in this thing.

Even though we felt like complete morons for being duped by this Shaft wanna be limo driver, it definitely gave us a lot of laughs and was a great story to start the trip off with.  We had to hear it several times throughout the weekend seeing as how John made sure that each and every person we came in contact with heard the story. 

 

After dumping our bags at Abby and John's apartment, the three of us and Abby made our way down to the West Village for some lunch at a small restaurant called The Little Owl.  It was so delicious.  I had the surf (cod) and turf (filet) tacos and an El Levante to drink, which was freshly squeezed pom juice, pom seeds, and champagne.  It was a tiny place, but it had a lot of character.  It was also located in the bottom of the building that is shown on "Friends."  I would have never known looking at it in person.  It's more recognizable in pictures.

After lunch, we took the train down to see the One World Trade Center.  I had no idea they had made this much progress on this building.  I was amazed!  I was a little sad that we didn't get to see the memorial, but apparently you have to either purchase tickets before hand or wait in a very long line. 

One World Trade Center

We walked through St. Paul's Chapel, which is located directly across the street from where the twin towers once stood.  The church is over 250 years old and was where George Washington and other members of Congress once worshiped.  The pew where George Washington sat the day of his inauguration is on display for visitors to see.

St. Paul's Chapel

St. Paul's was left untouched after the 911 attacks.  Some believe this is due to a miracle sycamore that shielded the church by taking the brunt of the debris.  I got chills when I heard that.  It really makes you wonder.  After the attacks the church served as a place of rest for the recovery workers of the WTC site.

This was my favorite display/memorial.  It is dedicated to all of the rescue and recovery workers after 911.  There is a badge from every police force and fire station that came to help.

Seeing all of this reminded me of how united our country was after the attacks.  There were American flags everywhere you turned.  Everyone was proud to be a part of this country.  People would do anything for their neighbor regardless of their differences.  During that time, there were no issues with race.  It didn't matter if you were a democrat or a republican.  The fact that we were all Americans and we were all in this together was the mindset.  How did we get so far away from this?  It upset me tremendously.

Next, we made our way over to the Financial District where we saw the last 4 or 5 Occupy Wall Street protesters.  I wanted so badly to get a picture of them because they were quite the characters, but I would have been directly in front of them on the sidewalk and I probably would've gotten slapped by a pretty filthy hand.  I'm pretty positive they hadn't seen a bar of soap for quite some time.

We attempted to find the big bull, but he was hiding somewhere so we moved on to Battery Park.  Statue of Liberty, Smatue of Liberty.  I was much more interested in the urban farm they have going on there!  It was so cool!  The Batter Urban Farm serves as an outdoor classroom for children in the area.  Teachers hold their regular, everyday lessons as well as lessons centered around farm-based learning experiences.  Such a great idea!  I can't wait to have a yard so that I can grow fresh produce.  

It's made out of bamboo and the architect designed the farm in the shape of a wild turkey in honor of an actual wild turkey that has called the park home for the past few years. 

The rest of the day was spent wandering Bond Street and Bowery.  We stopped here and had some wine.  We stopped in the Billy Reid store.  It was painful.  I'm obsessed with his clothing and the inside of this store.  It's decorated beautifully.  It's exactly the style I want for my house someday.

Billy Reid - I love the chandelier and mounted deer surrounded by the china

Billy Reid - The color contrast with the old, dark wood and white walls is probably my favorite part

Billy Reid - So beautiful and so southern

Restaurant where Edgar Allen Poe was known to frequent

View from Emily's terrace

After a great first day, we grabbed John and went to dinner at BondSt.  Everything was delicious.  The drinks, the food.  All of it.  I highly recommend.  I wanted to take pictures of the food because it was all so pretty, but I felt like it would have mortified John and probably everyone else at the table.  So you will just have to be ok with this one from the bar.

This was incredibly long.  I apologize.  I could have gone into much more detail so be glad.  Next up, bottomless bellinis, mardis gras, and Korean karaoke...