Christmas in the Big Apple

Life as a Gurley gurl is a lot of fun! My mother-in-law just took me and my sister-in-law {Crystal} to NYC for 3 days. We had such a blast! It was my 3rd trip to NYC, but Crystal's first time. Also, the other 2 times I have been, I've stayed with family, so staying in a hotel in Time Square was definitely a new experience.

Our flight out Sunday morning left at 6:15. I got up at 3:30. Ouch. 

Ready to hit the streets! {Cab ride from the airport}

We knew we definitely wanted to see a Broadway play, and my mother-in-law wanted to take us to see The Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. But we decided to wait until we got there to buy tickets to get them cheaper. So day of we bought tickets for Jersey Boys. I've seen about 10 Broadway plays - in NYC, Chicago, Vegas, and through Broadway Across America's national tour. Wicked is still my WAY favorite, but I LOVED Jersey Boys - it is probably my #2. It was so amazing! Before the show, we had lunch at The Brooklyn Diner near Times Square and just walked around a bit.

Our hotel room wasn't ready, so we had to go to the play in our travel clothes. 

#classy

You know I had my oils going to keep out the germs!

In between the show and dinner, I FaceTimed with the family. Drew was so happy to see me. She told Brent earlier in the day that when I was done with my airplane, I could come home. She immediately asked me to hold her and kept kissing the phone and asking to climb into the phone. So sweet. Trent was pretty much too busy playing Legos to do more than give me a cool hello.

We aren't happy at all, are we?

One of the weird things about my job is that I have only met 1 person {of 6} on my team. We live all over the country {Austin, Atlanta, Chicago, Stamford, San Francisco, and NYC}. Knowing that I was coming to town, my NYC co-worker came to dinner with us at Ellen's Stardust Diner. This is where the wait staff are all people who want to be on Broadway, so they sing throughout dinner. It was AWESOME! Risa and I talk every day, multiple times a day for work. So it was so neat to finally meet her in person.

Allena and Risa - love at first sip.

After dinner, Risa walked around with us to look at all the amazing Christmas lights and decorations.

We were able to go inside St. Patrick's Cathedral for just a few minutes before closing.

We attended mass here the first time I went to NYC when I was 15.

Neat Lego display of Radio City - had to take a pic for my Lego lover.

Amazing lights on Saks!

After that, we went home and it was lights out!

Since we were only in NYC for essentially 2 days we decided to do a Hop-on, Hop-off bus tour to see as much as we could quickly.

Our first tour guide was hilarious! He was flirting with Janet!

We got off the bus at Central Park to take a walk through the park.

Strawberry Fields - a tribute to John Lennon {by The Dakota}

So cool to have a giant park in the middle of that city!

We saw a 5:00 PM show of the Rockettes. One word can sum that up: WOW!

The Live Nativity was amazing!

That night we did a night Hop-on, Hop-off bus, but it didn't go where the map said it would {over the Manhattan Bridge into Brooklyn}, so it was more of the stuff we had seen the night before. After that, we had dinner at a restaurant my MIL found last year by our hotel, and Crystal and I miiiiiight have over-imbibed on Strong Island Iced Teas. We had so much fun!

Tuesday was another Hop-on, Hop-off bus - we took the Downtown bus to be able to see the 9/11 Memorial. We went through St. Paul's Cathedral that talked a lot about 9/11. So very moving to see it all. It makes me so confused as to why there is so much hate in this world. Why are there people out there who want to kill others just for being different? I love how America comes together in the face of tragedy - why can't we be that strong all the time?

After this, it was time to head home! We had some travel delays, so I didn't get home until about 12:30 Wednesday morning, so I'm beat. Totally worth it though for such an amazing trip!