Bright Lights, Big City…NYC Trip Rewind

I am slowly but surely recovering from this weekend’s non-stop funfilled madness of a whirlwind trip to NYC…but WOW, was it worth it! I can’t say enough about how much of an adventure it was from start to finish–lucky to have an incredible group of friends that Jeff and I love to travel with!
Here we are starting out bright and early on the plane Friday morning–keep in mind we all look exhausted because we got up around 3AM to catch our flight!

Upon arrival at the airport, we worked our magic and got a limo to shuttle us over to our hotel, The Crowne Plaza, located right in the middle of Times Square–perfection! After we got checked in, it was time to hit the city and take in all the sights. Our first stop was right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Broadway, Junior’s for lunch, and then to Toys R Us to see the giant indoor ferris wheel.

 Then we headed to hop on the  City Sights NY bus tour to take in everything uptown–Harlem, Central Park, Rockefeller Center, and loads of other landmarks. Here are some of my snapshots:

Now by this time, I am getting quite ancy as 2 of the group members had “disappeared” though Lauren had no idea what was about to take place…her boyfriend Andy had been scheming for weeks on when and how to propose and talked to Jeff and I about a few options. He ended up renting a car/driver to chaffeur them around town, while Lauren thought he was just taking her to Saks to do some Christmas shopping. Low and behold, they were dropped off in Central Park where he asked her to marry him–woo hoo!!
After our tour on the bus ended, we made plans to meet at FAO Schwartz and when we walked in, someone had a little announcement they wanted to make…can you tell Lauren is elated? They have been dating for 6 years so it’s about time they make it official!! It was just so exciting being able to share in this very special moment in their lives and I know we were all as giddy as could be to celebrate her brand new bling ;).

That evening, we went back to the hotel to get ready and I was able to surprise Lauren with her first engagement gift…an ornament I had packed away in my suitcase that says “Just Engaged” and her first bridal magazine–just a little something to commemorate such a special occasion! After we all got ready, we met in front of the hotel’s gorgeous Christmas tree to take some fun group pictures before dinner.

Fast forward to Angelo and Maxie’s and some VERY happy bellies after a wonderful dinner and champagne toast for our newly engaged friends.

Sunday marked our final day in the city so we started off early to get as much knocked out as possible. We had brunch at Pastis and then hopped on the subway to take in everything downtown–the World Trade Center site, Century 21,  Wall Street, and the Financial District. Then the boys headed to a pub to watch football while us girls did our last shopping at Macy’s to take home ornaments from the trip.

 The tasty brioche french toast 

 Jeff and Aaron in front of the bull

 The NYSE

This trip was fun from start to finish and I have our fantastic friends to thank for it…it was so special to see New York during Christmas time and I think we had a successful adventure for their first NYC experience! I know we’ll all be able to look back on this trip for years to come with really fond memories {and way too many laughs and inside jokes}–tremendous fun with my best friends–and of course feeling lucky to have had one last “adult trip” before someone makes their arrival next year, too 😉