NEW YORK, NEW YORK.
Cameron took me to New York City for my 26th birthday weekend and it was everything and MORE! I love this city (though I love Chicago more) and it was my first time sharing this amazingly eclectic city with my newly appointed husband, James. Here are some of the things we did…
On the first night we went over to my cousin, John Patrick’s Brooklyn apartment and hung out with his incredibly genuine girlfriend, Adi and their equally awesome friends. Pat made us Old Fashioneds, we spoke of future dreams and played with their cat, Bechamel (yes, named after the sauce). The next morning we got up and walked to Dumbo, got bagels to-go, and ate them on the bridge while people-watching all of the interesting pedestrians that passed us by. After exploring Brooklyn a little more, we packed up our bags and headed across the Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan.
No surprise…my favorite part of the whole trip (besides, well, everything) is THIS HOTEL. Merrion Row, you have stolen our hearts. We lucked out and found a great deal on Hotels.com. Turned out we were arriving on the hotel’s opening day. We were eagerly welcomed at the door by a dapper man with an adorable Irish accent. We were greeted with drinks, birthday macaroons, and a free upgrade to a suite. Every finish in this hotel is perfection. We almost felt like we stepped into Ireland with all of the perfectly-placed plaid and Irish accents from every staff member.
That afternoon we shopped at Bryant Park Christmas Market where we ran into an old friend from High School (shout-out to Grace and her sweet new husband). Later that night, we went to Black Ant (they ate ants and cockroaches…neither Hannah nor I partook) in the West Village with our dear friends Hannah, Tommaso, and Iacapo (pictured hogging the punch bowl). Cameron and I our so lucky to have such great friends in so many different cities.
On day 3 we navigated the train system and headed to Chelsea Market and strolled along the Highline trail. The Highline was nearly empty which was a drastic difference from when I was there over the summer. That night we got to get drinks with Sarah and Shelby, eat some yummy Mediterranean food at Shuka, then got our comedy fix at Comedy Cellar.
On my actual birthday, we indulged in one of my bucket list items of ice skating in Central Park. We followed that up with a wonderful stroll around the park on our way to the famous Tavern on the Green for a fantastic birthday lunch and rose. We roamed through the Plaza Hotel, admired at all of the Christmas decorations, and enjoyed some afternoon bubbly. That evening, we had tickets to a taping of “The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon” where Margot Robbie was the special guest and Hootie and the Blowfish performed. If you watch the episode closely, you can spot my fluorescent pink sweater in the audience! That was my plan after all…
Thank you James for following me around New York City for my birthday weekend and being as excited as I was to see all of the beautiful Christmas windows and the tree at Rockefeller Center.
