NYC Day Two: 9/11 Memorial, Gossip Girl Sites, and Broadway

I wanna begin this post by saying this was most definitely our busiest day in the city. We saw so much and for that, I think it was probably one of my favorite days ever! So thankful to have a mom that doubles as a best friend and took me on such a fun trip "just because." Love you mom!

Saturday morning, we started our day by taking an uber to the TKTS stand at Seaport to buy tickets for that night's School of Rock show on Broadway. We decided to go to this one since we had been told that the stand closer to Broadway always has really long lines (understandably) and we were pleasantly surprised to find no line at this one and we got a great deal on orchestra seats. After grabbing our tickets, we had a lovely brunch complete with delicious bloody mary's at Fresh Salt in Seaport. We walked a little bit around the Seaport area after and both really loved it, it reminded me a lot of the Navy Yard area of DC in a weird way which is my fave!

 Next, we walked to the financial district to visit the 9/11 Memorial. My mother and father made an anniversary trip to NYC in September 2002 and were here to see the rubble left from the fallen towers, so it was really important to my mom that we get to see the memorial. It's even moving just writing this post and looking over these photos but the reflection fountains are breathtaking. Like literally take your breath away. I've seen photos so many times but I never expected them to be so large, they really are beautiful. 

I started tearing up when I learned that everyday, a single white rose is placed on the name of victims who would be celebrating birthdays. We also learned that even though many buildings next to the towers burned, St. Paul's Chapel across the street remained untouched even though it was built in 1766 (before the U.S. was even a country) and still stands today! 9/11 shaped our generation a lot and it's hard to realize since I was so young when it happened but visiting the memorial really had me thinking about it. 

Like mother...

Like daughter :)

After visiting the memorial, we took the subway (omg first New York subway experience!!) to the south end of Central Park. We spent the afternoon just wandering around the park because the weather was so beautiful and these two gals love walking haha. 

Angel fountain.

{denim jacket and leggings: old navy, sunglasses: urban outfitters}

The entire time we were in the city, I kept saying to my mom "omg a scene from Gossip Girl was filmed here" and she totally got annoyed by it because she doesn't really like that show but oh well. Of course, Blaire and Chuck are goals so I freaked when we came upon this building in the park where they (ficitionally) got married! Can I please have Blaire's wedding dress by the way?

My favorite thing about central park was how familiar everything looked. So many tv shows and movies came to mind and I loved seeing all the little iconic bridges and the Boathouse restaurant. The pond with the sailboats gave me total Stuart Little flashbacks!

And on to Gossip Girl site number two: the infamous met steps! I mean, not gunna not take a picture. For anyone wondering, the met is technically part of central park and is on the east edge of the park so it worked out really nicely to just walk north in the park and have this be our end point. We then walked through the Upper East Side (swoon) and took a subway back to Grand Central Station near our hotel.  

Gossip Girl site three: Grand Central Terminal steps from the opening scene! Grand Central is actually huge and I had no idea the subway ran through it as well so after we got off the subway, I made my mom walk to the famous terminal just to get a look and again, it was so cool to see something you've seen a million times before on TV. Sadly, did not spot Serena van der Woodsen or Lonely Boy. 

On the way back to our hotel, we were ready for a late lunch/early dinner and decided on poke burritos. I absolutely love all things Hawaii, poke included, and have been wanting to try a sushi or poke burrito for months so when I found this place (Pokeworks) just a block from our hotel I died! I got the tuna in spicy sauce and it was honestly one of the best things I've ever eaten in my life, well worth the wait (can't you tell how excited I was from that silly photo)! 

Once we got back to our hotel, we rested a bit then began to get ready for our 8pm show of School of Rock at the Winter Garden Theater. Once again, just want to add that the Renwick Hotel was awesome and we would 100% recommend it! Waiting for our uber we took some classic ootn pics, mom included!

{top: tj maxx, jeans: american eagle, bag: michael kors, hoops: francesca's}

We were almost late, but got into our seats at like 7:57 or something like that. Then it was show time! School of Rock was one of my favorite movies growing up because I thought Jack Black was so hilarious and it was one of the only movies my older brother enjoyed watching with my little sister and I too. This show did not disappoint! The kids were amazingly talented and play all their own instruments as good, if not better, than professionals and the actor that played Dewey was so funny and eccentric. I don't think I've mentioned it on here before, but I was in musical theater in high school so I was super excited to see another show on Broadway since I hadn't seen one since Wicked in 9th grade! 

After the show we were starving and wanted a really nice Italian dinner. We ended up at La Masseria which was perfect and probably the nicest dinner I've had in my life. If you love Italian, you have to come here the next time you're in the city and hopefully they will have the burrata as a special again because thanks to that dish, I am now burrata cheese's number one fan if that's a real title! I think I had pasta with mussels which was delicious as well, but I've been dreaming of that burrata for months now!

     

 Post dinner, we started to walk back in the direction of our hotel and passed by Rockefeller Center. We could see a line forming outside of the Raindow Room entrance and immediately remembered it was Saturday Night aka SNL was on! We got in the line and met some really nice college age girls that were die-hard SNL fans and they let us know they were waiting for the end of the show when some of the cast members come out to sign autographs and take pictures. We used to be really big into SNL, but haven't been watching as religiously recently. Still, we decided to stay and get our celebrity fix!

First, Andy Cohen hopped out of the doors who was apparently in the show's audience (huge Bravo fan so I loved that)! Then came the most embarrassing/exciting moment of my life. I absolutely LOVE Aziz Ansari and Parks and Rec and Master of None are two of my favorite shows, so when Aziz walked out I think I momentarily lost consciousness. I was just so caught off gaurd! No one else in line had noticed him yet and I proceeded to scream "OH MY GOD IT'S AZIZ ANSARI" in the worst voice imaginable. He looked up at me, awkwardly waved, and literally ran away. Womp, womp. What a shame one of the cutest and funniest men on tv is now afraid of me. Anyway, we stayed out a little longer and got to see some actual SNL stars including Cecily Strong, Leslie Jones, and...

Aidy Bryant! 

And Alex Moffat! 

After we got our excitement in, we walked around Rockefeller Center and called an uber back to the hotel to get a good night's rest! Seriously such a fun day with my mother, I wouldn't trade it for the world. Day three still to come!

NYC Day One: Dumbo + Financial District

Finally getting around to blogging our short mother daughter trip to New York City we took back in September! My mother travels for work and her company signed on a new client in New York back in September. Since she had never been to the city by herself, she asked me if I'd join her for the weekend to get the feel of how to ride the subway, little things like that, and obviously just to have fun! Of course I immediately said yes and began to plan what we should see. 

We flew into LaGuardia late Thursday night and stayed at a hotel in the financial district close to where my mom's meeting was the next day. I had Friday all to myself since my mom was in meetings all day so I decided to try and walk to as many places as I could from our hotel. First off, I haven't been to the city since 9th grade and I remember absolutely hating it then because it was so hot and all I saw was Times Square and the United Nations haha! So this time was a much different experience for me. The weather was absolutely perfect and I was obviously much more confident walking around on my own as an adult! After leaving the hotel, I was so amazed by how narrow the streets were in the financial district and how absolutely busy EVERYONE looked. I didn't want to look like a nerdy tourist and refused to keep my eyes glued to my phone for directions so I just headed northeast. By some miracle, I was able to make it to the Brooklyn Bridge (with some help from a friendly doorman who pointed me to the entrance of the pedestrian overpass)! I knew I wanted to see Brooklyn a bit so I started walking. 

The walk was lovely and felt so New York. If you've never walked the Brooklyn Bridge, you should try and factor in time to if you find yourself in the city. And come on, how funny are these signs #LoxNotLocks 

After making it over the bridge, I explored the Dumbo area of Brooklyn for a bit. Fun fact: Dumbo stands for down under the Manhattan Bridge overpass. 

Over course I had to stop by this street which you've probably seen pictures of a million times. I kid you not, pretty much everyone pictured in the photo was trying to get an instagram shot with this background, but who can blame them because this view is gorgeous! And if you're thinking that building on the left looks familiar...

You've probably watched too much Gossip Girl like me :)

       

Next I stopped into One Girl Cookies, a bakery and coffee shop I had heard about in a Youtube video about Dumbo. This was seriously the best iced vanilla late I've ever had in my life and the place is just so cute. 

After a while, I decided to head back over the bridge into the financial district. I walked around the shops on Broadway near St. Paul's Chapel, aka the prettiest Anthro I've ever been in, Zara, and Urban Outfitters. After a few hours, I started to walk back to our hotel and more around the Wall Street area. Like I said earlier, this part of the city is so weird because the streets are so small. Sometimes GPS doesn't even work, hence why I got lost trying to meet my mom at a coffee shop which I figured out after the fact I had passed like 5 times haha! Well anyway, I finally found my way to Joe and the Juice for another coffee. By this time in the day, it was probably 4:30. If you've been keeping track (you probably haven't lol), that means all I had to eat that day was 3 coffees and a muffin. I think this is what New York does to people! 

After our late afternoon coffee, my mother and I enjoyed happy hour at some really fancy hotel bar near Wall Street with her coworker. I was way under-dressed in leggings and a denim jacket (my uniform the entire weekend by the way) but we had such a nice time! 

We then headed back to pick up our luggage and switch to the hotel we'd be staying in for the rest of the weekend, the Renwick Hotel. The Renwick is on 40th and Lexington in Midtown, super close to Grand Central, so it was a great central location the entire weekend. I wish I had taken pictures of the room because it was so artsy and modern and much more roomy than we expected! We both agreed we'd stay there again in a heartbeat and the rates were really great! 

By that time we were starving and all we wanted was real New York pizza. The sweet concierge at the hotel recommended Patsy's Pizzeria which was only a block or two from our hotel and delicious! Highly, highly recommend the arugula salad, fried eggplant, and their pizza obviously! 

After our lovely dinner, my mom was itching to do something very quintessential New York and go to a rooftop bar so we found one at the Pod51 Hotel in Midtown. We had to wait to get in because there was a limit but we were able to have a beer at the bar in the lobby before and the wait was well worth it. We were both exhausted (hello I walked 11 miles total that day)  but it really was cool up there. You could even see the empire state building (excuse the terrible photo)! After only one drink, manhattans duh, we headed back to our hotel to rest up for our second full day! 

       

More on our trip to New York to come! Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving :)

My All-Time Favorite Nail Polishes

In high school, I was absolutely obsessed with nail polish (if you knew me back then, you know how true this is)! I used to paint my nails a different color like every three days and I had every color under the sun. I still have most of those and I desperately need to get rid of most of them because I'll never wear them again but I digress... A lot has changed over the years and now I pretty much rotate between the same 7 or so polishes. Sooo, I wanted to share with you my all-time favorites!

From left to right:

OPI Bubble Path: sheer pinky nude. This one is so subtle you almost can't tell it's even on but I kind of love that about it. Always looks very clean and polished!

Essie Bikini So Teeny: Light purple-blue. This one is probably my absolute favorite and I wear it year round but it's so fun for summer. Makes you look tan :)

OPI My Favorite Ornament: silver gold glitter. Probably unfair of me to include this one because it was limited edition a couple years ago but I love it for holiday. It's not chunky glitter at all and doesn't look cheesy either because the mix of gold and silver come off more like platinum.

Essie Penny Talk: true rose gold metallic. I always get compliments when I wear this one because it's just so pretty. Be warned it will look kinda streaky when applying, but that goes away with the top coat! 

OPI Cajun Shrimp: bright coral red. Ugh I really love this one, makes me feel so sassy! I think my my mom had a bottle when I was growing up and ever since it has been my favorite red because it looks so good with my skin tone. 

Bonus polish- Seche Vite Dry Fast: this is hands down the best topcoat ever. Go get you some for shiny and anti-chip nails!

Side note: I always paint my own nails and go to the salon to get gel on my toes, usually in a light purple, taupe, or Cajun Shrimp because I'm a creature of habit and they always last over a month! 

What's your favorite polish color? Also, I hope I didn't bore anyone with this post haha!

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Early Fall in North Carolina + Recent Fall Recipes

I apologize again for the month long unintentional hiatus but life has been crazy the last few weeks. I started a research internship as well as a part time position with the education department at the zoo so I haven't had that much blogging time, however I'm excited to recap a couple trips and have some holiday posts in the near future! 

Before life becomes taken over by all things Christmas, I wanted to share a few photos from our impromptu trip to North Carolina in early September. Remember that hurricane that barreled through all of Florida two months ago named Irma? Well she was the motivation for this "evacuation vacation." My town is on a barrier island on Florida's east coast which means almost every hurricane causes a mandatory evacuation due to storm surge. At the time, Irma was looking like a cat 5 with a possible track up Florida's east coast so we made the decision early to evacuate to my Grandpa's house in the Smoky Mountains. Let me tell you, worst drive ever. We left at about 11am to make the 10 hour drive to my Grandpa's and didn't make it into bed there until 4 the next morning. But......

After that, we made the best of our time and enjoyed a great week in beautiful mountain weather (which was 60s-70s all week, hello blessing to Floridians)! We are so thankful that Irma left pretty minimal damage to our house and we were able to evacuate to a safe place in time and stay until our power was back on. Others were not as lucky and my heart goes out to those in Houston, the Florida Keys, Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. 

     

My Grandpa's house is in Bakersville, NC, up high in the mountains. It's so beautiful up there and our Nyla girl absolutely loves being able to roam free looking for squirrels haha. 

My sister and her roommate who both go to USF in Tampa evacuated with us as well and ended up finding an orphaned baby chipmunk on the road in the middle of the woods our first day there. They we able to rescue it and we even got to take it to an wildlife rescue in Elizabethton, TN the next day. We named her Irma of course!

Baksersville is very close to Johnson City and Elizabethton, TN. If you'e ever in the area looking for something fun, you should check out the downtown area of Elizabethton. We walked around downtown that Saturday and did some antiquing as well as festive fall coffee drinking at the Coffee Company (which is an amazing coffee shop by the way). They had an old car show that day as well so it was really neat to see those next to little antique shops and old store fronts. They really seemed to fit in :)

 The next day was Sunday and we decided to make a trip to Grandfather Mountain. We used to go all the time as kids and it really is a cool place. We took the Blue Ridge Parkway to get there which is absolutely breathtaking and a must see if you're ever in that area and on our way up, I realized on my phone it was Grandparent's Day. My sister and I were taking our Grandpa (dad's side) and Grandma (mom's side) to Grandfather Mountain on Grandparent's Day! Quite serendipitous in the middle of a hurricane, don't you think? 

The peak of Grandfather Mountain is one of the highest points in Appalachia so it's home to more cold weathered plant and animal species, which sounds lame but to a couple biologists it's actually really cool and you can definitely tell the difference in ecosystems from those in lower elevations. They also have a mile high swinging bridge which is fun and a small zoo with local wildlife like bears and a mountain lion. The zoo is pretty unique since the enclosures are built into the natural landscape of the mountain, giving the ability to see the animals in their natural habitat which I loved. 

Of course we had to have a photo shoot on the mountain top. And Victoria and I can never be serious so here's a picture of me shoving her face down the mountain lol (don't worry, no sisters we harmed in the making of this post)!

The next few days we simply relaxed at the cabin as we waited for the all clear to come home and enjoyed big bowls of my Grandpa's yummy chili in our "cold" fall weather. 

I'm sure there are little mountain towns just like this one all over the area, but the one closest to the house called Burnsville is the cutest in my eyes. I took my grandma to Burnsville one day that week and let me tell you, it is very Stars Hallow-esque with lots of antique shops, a small theater, town square, book store, and delicious coffee shop. If you ever make it to Burnville, you must go to Appalachian Java. Bonus points if it's fall and you're lucky enough to get a pumpkin spice chai latte and big slice of pumpkin cheesecake! Thanks to them, I'm now addicted to pumpkin spice chai and will have extremely high standards for pumpkin cheesecake for the rest of my life haha. 

Despite the context in which we went on our forced vacation, we all really enjoyed that week of cool weather and little taste of fall :) Hopefully we will get the chance to go back to North Carolina after Christmas and see some snow this time, fingers crossed!

On another slightly disconnected note, I wanted to share a few recent fall-ish recipes I've tried in the last two months. I haven't been cooking/taking pictures of too many meals recently so I didn't have enough recipes to warrant their own post, but I hope to get back to that!

First off, this butternut squash soup. Just like every other basic fall-loving gal, I wait around all year for Autumn Squash Soup at Panera so I was super excited to have found a copycat recipe on Pinterest. It was much easier to make than I anticipated and was really delicious. It wasn't exactly as decadent as Panera's, but it was MUCH healthier so I'll take it! 

This one is a little more of a "what I ate" because my mom actually made this white chicken chili last weekend when the temps dropped below 60 (yay)! I had to share it though because it was soooo good and spicy. Warmed us right up! P.S. my mom made it a little healthier by not mixing in the sour cream and served it on the side instead. 

Random little simple recipe of mine, but I love roasted vegetables this time of year. I found these organic baby rainbow carrots at Aldi for super cheap and tossed them in a little olive oil with salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, and garlic before roasting them in the oven. So yum and hearty!

These peanut butter spider cookies I made on Halloween while watching Hocus Pocus were just too cute not to share :)

Lastly, I love this pumpkin sage and sausage pasta recipe a la Rachel Ray and used to make it every year around this time. Since I've been trying to eat healthier I haven't made it yet this year, but I hope to before fall is over because it is seriously so delicious. I think I found it while watching Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals in elementary school and begged my mom to let me make it that night for dinner. Don't judge me though, I know I was a weird little girl for watching food network and the 

Martha Stewart show instead of Disney channel.  

Ah, you made it to the end you little trooper you! I hope you had an awesome Halloween and are getting excited for Thanksgiving before going all out Christmas, because I know I am. Keep an eye out for a blog post soon on my September trip to NYC with my Mom :)