NYC Day 3: East Village, Chelsea, and Ramen

Ah my final NYC post! Day three started with meeting my friend Elise from elementary school for brunch in the East Village. We took the subway from near our hotel to the village and walked a little bit to Mud, a hip little coffee and brunch spot. The East Village was extremely cool to walk through, definitely a lot of young people. Mud was just as precious and quintessential New York, which is exactly why Elise said she had suggested it! It gave me very strong Friends vibes haha! Fun fact: Dylan and Cole Sprouse went to NYU around the same time Elise did and she told us that one of the twins used to work at Mud as the maitre 'd. The coffee was delicious, as was the huevos rancheros I ordered and my Mom loved her Avocado toast! 

Image source: latenightsnack.net via Pinterest

I hadn't seen Elise in years so it was so sweet getting to catch up! Elise and her family moved to Abu Dhabi in high school and she moved to New York after graduation to attend NYU so she had lot's of fun and worldly stories for us! Isn't it so nice seeing someone after many years and having the friendship pick up just where it left off? 

After brunch, we walked with Elise into Chelsea and split off as she went back to her apartment and we headed for Chelsea Market. Oh my lordy did I love Chelsea Market! We could have spent hours and hours in there but it was so busy since it was a Sunday. We purchased a few gifts for family and friends as well as vintage earrings and our favorite, kombucha! 

If I remember correctly, there's a direct walkway to the High Line from Chelsea Market so we headed up there. Again, the weather was gorgeous so we just relaxed for a bit on one of the benches enjoying the beautiful views from the High Line. The High Line is an elevated urban park/walkway built on top of an old railway that runs along the west side of Manhattan though Chelsea. We walked all the way to the north end of the line and it was so fun to see all the different buildings and old train tracks!

I couldn't believe how beautiful all the flowers were and how well maintained it was! 

{hoops: francesca's, top: tj maxx, sunglasses: urban outfitters}

After exiting the High Line, we walked to the Times Square area to hang out at a rooftop bar and grill named Beer Authority and relax our feet! They had a lovely pilsner for mom and a hefe for me so we were very happy gals after so much walking! In addition to our beers, we enjoyed some beer cheese nachos that were amazing. Beer Authority was right across the street from the New York Times building so that was also really neat to see. 

And then... more walking! We headed back in the direction of our hotel so we could rest before dinner. We spent a bit of time exploring Bryant Park and looking at the New York Public Library as well. I'm a HUGE Project Runway fan and fashion fan in general, so I loved getting to see Bryant Park and think of all the fashion week shows that had taken place there. It would have been lovely to pick up food somewhere close by or have packed a lunch and had a little picnic on the green as a lot of others were doing that afternoon!

Once back at our hotel, we rested a while because our feet were killing us after all that waking! Number one NYC tip: wear sneakers! I'm so happy I wore them everyday and saved my feet. For dinner, I wanted to try real ramen because I had never had any so I found a place on yelp just a block from our hotel: Momosan Ramen and Sake. It's actually owned by Iron Chef Morimoto and he occasionally stops by to actually cook for guests (he wasn't there when we were but still very cool)! It was shared seating which I don't mind at all but probably not the best situation for your first time eating ramen. I ordered the chicken ramen that was most popular on their yelp page and it was absolutely delicious but I couldn't for the life of me eat it with just the spoon and chopsticks provided!! I was so embarrassed and I even said to my mom that I was debating asking for it to go and eating it in the safety and comfort of our hotel room lol! I finally broke down and asked the waitress for a fork which I felt was kind of insulting to Japanese culture but I really wanted to enjoy the ramen. In the end, I'm happy I asked and would recommend this place to anyone because we both loved our meals! Maybe I just need a little chopstick practice haha. 

After dinner, we stopped at the hotel bar for our final NYC cocktail: the ever refreshing moscow mule! 

The next morning we picked up some starbucks from across the street and called an uber to LaGuardia! Such a sweet ending to an amazing trip! I can't wait to go back again with my sister Victoria since she missed this trip and hopefully during Christmas time one day too :)

If you've ever been to NYC, what was your favorite thing to see or do?