new york city

This trip made me realize that sometimes crazy ideas are entirely possible, 

and maybe not even as crazy as they seem. 

Thankful for an incredible time in New York City, and a great friend who pushed me to go. 

I kinda sorta can't believe we just did this.

what we did and loved/didn't love
- we decided to drive the ten hours from North Carolina to New York: love! Traveling this way lets you see so much more of the country. After making it through ice, snow, and rain leaving home (scary), we stopped in DC on the way there, and Scranton, PA (home of The Office) on the way back. There are lots of pretty things to see. It was exhausting but I'm really glad we drove. For half of the week we stayed with family about an hour outside of the city and rode a train in to Grand Central, and adored that as well.
- biking: This was one of my favorite things we did. I enjoyed figuring out the city by bike, and it's much easier than you'd think. There are bike lanes all over the place! Biking the Brooklyn Bridge was wonderful, too. A little crowded, not bad, but I might try to go earlier in the morning if I ever do this again.
- renting an apartment: Best choice. We rented through airbnb. Much more personal than a hotel, I loved it.
- Hillsong Church: Awesome. I especially loved the music!
- Washington Square Park: A neat little place, but not as lively on a cold day as I expect it would be when it's warmer.
- SOHO: Go when you have time to wander for a while. Cute cute shops. A store full of yarn! Laduree macarons! 
- The High Line: A nice walk and neat views of the city in Chelsea.
- New York Public Library: Another thing to do when you have time to wander for a while. This place is gorgeous. When you're done, go outside and do some more wandering down 5th Ave.
- Top of the Rock: Amazing views of the city. It was crowded (we went at sunset) but worth it. We sat up here for two hours.
- Jimmy Fallon: This was the biggest bummer of our trip. We waited in the standby line because we couldn't get tickets ahead of time (they sold out sosofast). We went at 5am, in 20º degree weather, and were 9th and 10th in line, but they only let in 6 that day. Whomp whomp. It was still fun making friends in line.
- museums: I liked seeing Chuck Close and the room full of windows at the MET, but that was about it, I probably wouldn't go back to the Museum of Natural History, and I wish we would've had more than our half hour at the MOMA!
- tasty eats: 
The Butcher's Daughter our favorite meal. vegetarian for me and gluten free for Allison! 
Shake Shack, 
Smorgasburg (at the Brooklyn Flea), 
Gotham West Market more specifically the ramen place. yum, 
sweetgreen, 
Murray's Bagels, 
Stumptown Coffee Roasters,
Big Gay Ice Cream great ice cream and people. they made us feel better about not getting in to see Jimmy Fallon, and the owner took a selfie with me to send my mom from their twitter page (his idea) haha!,
Culture Espresso,
Momofuku Milk Bar cereal milk ice cream!
and Laduree.


I would do it all again tomorrow.