weekend getaway with the girls

i am finally getting around to blogging about some of the fun i had in november. i headed back east for a girls weekend and got to see some friends i hadn't seen in a year (or more).

my trip started off with a quick stop in virginia to visit gina and her cute family. they live in a darling town and we had so much fun just hanging out and talking. right before we left we realized that we never took a picture, so we did our best and took this awesome self portrait in the mini van! doesn’t gina have beautiful blue eyes?!

then it was off to nyc for a girls weekend with liz and andrea (the purpose for the whole trip). ryan and lynda were out of town, which meant their apartment was empty…the perfect opportunity to score a free place to stay in an expensive city. we arrived via the megabus late friday night and hit the town the next morning.

the events of the day included:

a stop at a local bakery for breakfast. who knew a bagel could taste sooo much better in nyc. trust me, it did.

then we headed to the tkts booth in time square to get tickets to a show. you may not be able to tell from the picture but it was FREEZING! seriously. frigid.

we got tickets to the rockette’s christmas spectacular and it was a great kick-off (haha) to the holiday season. we had stellar seats…2nd row orchestra. they were practically kicking us!

paying tribute to the rockettes by doing our own kick line in front of radio city music hall. yes, the guy who took the picture for us thought we were pretty crazy. we offered to take a picture of him and his friends doing their own kick line, but they passed. whatever!

one of our highlights was attending a wedding at st. patrick’s cathedral. no, we weren’t technically invited but we, along with many other tourists, joined in just the same. it was really interesting to see the catholic ceremony.

the happy couple. can you imagine tons of stranger “attending” your wedding? i guess you know what you are getting into if you book it at st. patrick’s.

we cruised 5th avenue to look at the decorated store windows and tried not to turn into icicles. seriously i’m not joking about how cold it was. this was in front of bloomingdales (which had a cute holiday window, not a wierd one).

and no trip to nyc is complete without pizza. we went to a place in little italy (i can't remember the name) which claims to be the first pizzeria in america. it was really good. and it was there that i think i had my first celebrity sighting: penn badgley. no, I don’t watch gossip girl, but i know who he is (thanks to my people magazine addiction) and i swear it was him trying to get into the single-stall bathroom that liz was already occupying. pretty exciting!


things are just bigger in nyc…like this huge wreath (and the mixer in the picture above). andrea couldn’t resist…mainly because we told her to stand in front of it and let the ribbons drape around her!

we wrapped up the evening by getting cupcakes and banana pudding at magnolia’s.

the next day we were lucky to hear elder holland speak at a special conference of the ny ny stake. how incredible to be in the presence of an apostle. he spoke with such optimism and hope, a good reminder of how the gospel can bring happiness and peace even during troubled times.

can't wait to go back to nyc...hopefully when it's warmer!