NYC!

The past few weeks have been the most marvelous whirlwind. I will probably post several blogs over the next week to devote the appropriate amount of attention to each adventure. Trying to be patient with myself as I play catch-up!

First up: NYC.

Mike's Christmas present to me was a trip to New York City: a place I have never been before. He had planned for us to see a Broadway show and to experience the city in the two days following the finish of his exams and preceding our trip to celebrate Christmas with his family in North Carolina. 

We left DC Saturday morning on a bus. There were some good and bad things about this bus trip to NYC. We were blessed to be able to sit by (I really don't think I'm exaggerating) the absolute cutest baby in the world. A 5-month old baby boy and his parents sat in the seat across from us for the entire trip and whenever he was alert and not nestled passed out in a blanket he would stare at us making faces and smiling, trying to figure us out. He was the most well-behaved little boy and we didn't have the easiest trip! Our bus had two issues (one mechanical and one switching drivers) which led us to being 2 hours late into the city!

When we finally made it, we had just enough time eat and stop by our hotel (which Mike found on Priceline and looked like something you might see in a movie about Christmas in NYC) before heading to the Broadway show. I was so excited to see "Newsies!" because Kelly loves it and that's a pretty good indicator of things I will like. I still had no idea how much I would love it! My favorite parts were the lead actor and the choreography and just the energy of the show and audience. My least favorite parts were the way some supporting roles were acted. Overall, I swear I could see the show over and over and still come away with a huge smile! This is where Mike was introduced to Post-Broadway Kels, a lot like Post-Running Kels.

Spinach Roll and Hawaiian Pizza for first NYC dinner

Newsies!!!

After the show, we walked to Times Square and went into Sephora where I bought makeup (it was open until 1am!!) and Toys R' Us where we played for like an hour. Then we went to Papaya Dog where we got hot dogs and a mango slushie that Mike insisted he liked and bought some framboise lambic, a favorite raspberry beer. 

Times Square! Where the ball drops.

Me next to the T-Rex in the Jurassic Park section of Toys R' Us. 

Mike being a better Hulk than the Lego Hulk.

The next morning Mike and I went for a run in Central Park early. We had a bus out of the city at 7pm so we wanted to take as much of it in as possible. Well, running 6 miles will help with that (also it was in my half marathon training). We found the place where runners run in the park and didn't feel so weird as when we were running down the streets. Mike seemed to find every hill in the park and I made up a motto for him "Mike Johnson: Ne'er was there a hill he wouldn't assay". I think he liked it.

Getting back to the hotel, Mike told me he was going to take a shower and that he had ordered room service. I had never had room service before so I asked him what I was supposed to do and he said just answer the door. I thought it was funny because the night before we had been talking about how expensive room service was, but I just assumed he was really wanted to order room service. When the door rang and someone said "room service", I opened the door to find my sister Courtney (who lives in the city) standing in the doorway. After getting some information out of her, I found out that Mike had contacted her to meet up with us on our brief stay. Courtney had told me she was going to be home in VA for Christmas by that weekend, but apparently by entire family had been in on the surprise.

Courtney was actually leaving the city that afternoon to go home and so we had a brief brunch with her in the city at this place called The Pig, an Irish bar we'd stumbled upon. They actually had an awesome brunch with homefries galore and each brunch order came with a free brunch drink. The bloody mary was memorable. Courtney and Mike bonded over making fun of me for the same things and I was just in awe of how well Courtney knew the city and how much she has grown up there. 

A happy brunch!

Saying goodbye to Court. It was very windy.

After Courtney left, Mike and I went to the Top of Rockefeller Center so I could see the WHOLE city! Then we went to the bottom(?) of the Rock where Mike introduced me to Brookstone: a store with lots of cool and innovative things. We also saw the ice rink and Christmas tree and we witnessed a guy proposing to his girlfriend on the ice with everyone watching. So cute! Then we went to a market for a couple of hours to do some Christmas shopping and into a mall where Mike found ANOTHER Brookstone. :)

View of Central Park from the top of the Rock.

A nice lady offered to take a picture of us.

Just enough time for a nice Chinese food dinner of pan-fried noodles before getting on our bus back to DC thoroughly exhausted. What a wonderful introduction to The City That Never Sleeps:) I can't wait to go back! However, I do appreciate DC in a new way now:)

Last view of the Rockefeller tree before getting our bags from the hotel.