Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Empire State of Mind (Girls' Trip to NYC!)



"In New York,
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of,
There's nothing that you can't do.
Now you're in New York,
These streets will make you feel brand new,
The lights will inspire you.
Let's hear it for New York, New York, New York..."

The 4th annual I {Heart} New York girls' trip almost didn't happen this year, but perseverance, Tylenol, dedication, and maybe a small muscle relaxer came through.

I spent all of Friday in complete misery, locked in some cruel vortex of sickness. I naively assumed that the headache and nausea I experienced last weekend would be the end of my holiday viral experience, but I have never been more wrong. Whatever 24 hour crud T had last week, he unwittingly passed on to me. A fabulous early Christmas gift. His constant reminders to stay in bed are what let me rest enough to work up the strength for the big Saturday trip.

My friend Christy (who joined the trip last year) picked me up at 3:20 AM...yes, you read that correctly. We drove over to the local P and R center and boarded a bus with the other NYC hopefuls.

We were giddy, we were ready.

And then I started having muscle spasms in my back as the bus pulled out of the parking lot.

Seriously.

For about 30 seconds I thought that maybe I could tough it out, but the pain was reminiscent of when I used to have occassional gall bladder attacks, and those are bad. Like, "I wanna lay on the floor and I can't really breathe too good" bad. I assumed they were from spending all day Friday cooped up in bed. I spent a good 45 minutes or so standing up in the bathroom in the back of the bus, gripping the handicapped rail and laying my head on the freezing cold window, contemplating whether or not I should take one of Christy's muscle relaxers.

Common sense won out and I gratefully sank into sleep as the medicine took over.

That was the last real drama for the day. We had a Starbucks stop and careened through the Lincoln Tunnel to arrive in the Big Apple around 10 am or so.

We did a lot of shopping this year, not much sight-seeing. Sadly (read major sarcasm here), I have no pictures of me. The only one Christy shot was in front of the public library and my eyes are all squinty, although my hat was exquisite.

I'll let the pictures do most of the talking....

We always start with Macy's. I love their decor, inside and out. The classic "Miracle on 34th Street" window displays are always a crowd pleaser.

Canal Street is always a stop for us. We purchase the all day "Fun Pass" for the subway...makes traveling up and down Manhattan much easier.

Christy is the Queen of Haggling. I've never seen anything like it. We haggled and browsed and fought the crowds. We laughed our heads off at the swarm of girls fighting over the pile of "Uggs" on the sidewalk like a bunch of vultures.

Trudging about...








Outside the public library, we were treated to a street performance.

After a stop at the American Girl store for two small Christmas gifts (I swear to you that we saw more AG bags in the city than any other brand!!), we continued up Fifth Avenue to the Holy Grail of all NYC Girls' Trips:

Tiffany and Co., which rolled out their holiday finest. Christy and I wandered up from the sterling floor this year and were greeted with hot chocolate and treats on the floor where they do wedding registries.


Is it weird that I saved my napkin? It says "Tiffany and Co." on it.


The most difficult part of NYC at Christmastime is the crowds. They were the worst I've seen yet this year, and foot traffic on Fifth Avenue was at a standstill for awhile. I know how cattle must feel....

Before we knew it, our day was over and it was back to Macy's for pick-up.

Just 363 days until the next time!

I hope you'll join me for the December Dishing It! party tomorrow. We'll be sharing about our favorite Christmas traditions. You can find the details, questionnaire, and party button right here.

*Thanks to today's sponsor, Laura Jane Designs.

14 comments:

  1. Thank goodness that your friend had a muscle relaxer with her. What a terrible start to your day!

    I had no idea that NYC was so crowded on the streets. I just never imagined that.

    Seeing all of those big stores all decorated must have been a lot of fun!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Awww so fun! I miss New York, it's been a while since I've been. Looks like you had a great time though, so glad that you were able to fight through the ailments too! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the city! We were just there yesterday and I will agree, the crowds were insane and everyone had an AG bag. I missed Tiffany this year :( (I would have saved the napkin too). But I did get to go into Cartier. AMAZING!

    ReplyDelete
  4. That sounds like such an amazing trip! You are making me want to go back! We were there during the summer {and during the week} so the shopping crowds weren't that bad...man that is a TON of people! We went in Tiffany's too. It was so pretty!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh, Amanda, I can't believe you almost didn't make it! I'm so glad your friend had a muscle relaxer with her--what a gift from God!

    I've been to NYC a number of times, but never in December. I'd love to go sometime to see everything dressed up for Christmas!

    Are you feeling okay now??

    ReplyDelete
  6. So glad you were able to go! Sorry to hear about those back spasms though.

    Here in downtown Chicago the AG store bag out numbers all others too! Isn't it crazy!?! The girls love their dolls!

    Have a great day!
    Kim

    ReplyDelete
  7. sorry you had such a crazy start to your day and weren't feeling good beforehand-hate when you get sick before something you are really looking forward to! your pictures are beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I LOVE NYC!!(and the song :)Thank you for the beautiful pics (omg - Tiffany's!!!!!!!!!!!) thanks for this piece of home (I lived there for 3 years and miss it so)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh my goodness... the crowds. Amazing! Looks like you had a lovely time. Tiffiny was gorgeous.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh no! Hope you're feeling all better now!
    I LOVE those decorations! How amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  11. It looks magical! (Well, except for all the crowds and traffic.) What a fun trip! I totally would have saved my Tiffany napkin too... it would be the only Tiffany item I'd ever own! haha

    ReplyDelete
  12. Gorgeous pics! :) All the christmasy stuff is so pretty! :) Sounds like good fun! :)
    Mel

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm so glad you were still able to go. Yay for muscle relaxers. I personally have never had a gall bladder attack but my oldest daughter has and she seriously thought she was dying the first time it happened. I love NYC. My dad used to live in Greenwich Village. We were only lucky enough to visit twice though. While I loved Macy's, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, etc., I much preferred the small shops and the quaintness of The Village. I was in a serious depression when I had to come home. I would have moved there in a heartbeat. Some people I know are not city people. But I definitely am. Chicago and NYC are my two favorite places. Glad to hear you had a nice time.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I would DIE to go to NYC during the Holidays!! So lucky. Glad you're feeling better (:

    ReplyDelete

I love to hear your feedback! Please feel free to leave comments...just don't send me spam asking me to buy stuff off your website! I've got three kids and no money to purchase your magic weight-loss pill or bust enhancement, or whatever else you might be selling. Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you! :)

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.