New York, New York...

About two-and-a-half weeks ago, my sister-in-law called and asked if I wanted to take a girl's trip to New York. Of Course! The only catch...we were leaving in two-and-a-half-weeks! So, I hurried and booked my flight, arranged for an amazing babysitter (dad), and began packing my bags. I hadn't been to New York since I was in 8th grade, so I was really excited. It ended up being everything I could have imagined! We had a blast staying right in Times Square at the Marriott Marquee. We ate at all the famous/trendy places, shopped the bargains (and some not-so-bargains) and saw the city by bus and some really achy feet. It was such a blast, and I'm so lucky to have a mother-in-law and sister-in-laws that I enjoy being with and that I can laugh and have fun with for an entire weekend!
On day one we all met up in the Hotel and headed out to VIRGIL's BBQ for some steak fries and BBQ Pork sandwiches. Yum! We all ordered the same thing, and I think we all devoured them. Then we went to the three story Toy's R Us and spent over an hour checking out toys and gifts for our kiddos. We laughed about leaving our kids at home, but still spending so much time in a toy store thinking about them. Let's be honest, you can't really enjoy a toy store when you are hauling kids around and pulling them away from (and off of) every single toy. The next morning we woke up and hopped on the Big Red Bus and toured downtown. We hopped off at SoHo and I'm so glad we did! We all ended up leaving with one or two bags from Canal Street, a couple Pashmina scarves, and a renewed sense of bargaining skills! When we hopped back on the bus we passed Ground Zero, the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, and a few other hot spots. Our tour guide gave me and Diane the giggles with her tendency to say "ya" after everything she said. We ended up getting off at Rockefeller Square. We walked through the NBC store laughing at all the shirts and imagining them on our husbands. Then we walked home to get ready for Wicked! It was a great cast, and I loved seeing it again. We topped the night off with Cheesecake and Red Velvet cake at midnight from Juniors...yum!

Here I am modeling just a few of the bags we ended up buying on our trip. We all took home two or three bags - I guess that was the theme of our trip!

On day three, we all switched to one of our new bags and headed to the World's Largest Candy Store, Dylan's Candy Bar. When I told Mitch we were going there he said, "Wow, you must be in heaven!" I was, there's no doubt about that. We all filled our little $10/lb bags of bulk food, along with a few rare candy bars, Pez dispensers, and every flavor of licorice you could imagine. I decided that when I grow up (even more) I want to own a candy store just like this!

After shopping 5th Avenue and FAO Schwartz (yes, another Toy Store), we decided to take a carriage ride through Central Park. Our tour guide, Oliver, was a wealth of Movie knowledge telling us each and every movie that was filmed at the places we passed, as well as who lived in each of the buildings and 40 million dollar pent houses.

Day four we woke up, and headed out to Garret's Popcorn. This is Oprah's favorite popcorn place. She likes to mix the caramel with the cheese popcorn...I on the other hand liked them both separately. We then walked to the Met, stepped inside for about 15 minutes, and then grabbed a cab to the hotel, and then we all went home our separate ways. It was a really great trip, and I have to thank Diane (and Doug), Danielle, and Dayna for such a great time, and all their generosity! I hope we make this a yearly tradition!

MEANWHILE...
On the other side of the country, Damon decided to fly in for his birthday and keep Mitch and Finnley company. They stayed busy, busy by going to USC, LA, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Huntington, and of course our neck of the woods. Damon loves the douhgnut shop on the corner of our street, so Mitch got creative and made him a doughnut birthday cake. What do you think!?

After spending the morning at USC, they drove over to Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills and had fun peaking in all the high-end shops, and checking out all the expensive cars. I guess Finnley was the life of the party in Burberry, where all the workers thought she was the cutest thing. Finnley, on-the-other-hand, just wanted to hold her little baby while on the streets of Rodeo.They finished the night by heading over to Santa Monica for some dinner and dessert at Diddy Ries! Think cookies of your choice with the ice cream of your choice smooshed in between - Mitch's Favorite. Saturday, they spent the morning playing tennis and riding bikes. Then they jetted over to Disneyland for a few hours where Mitch was chosen for a skit. They rode all the rides they could before Finnley was pooped out. After they left, they headed over to Huntington to check it out and find some dinner. Man, can these boys pack it in! Mitch and Finnley were so worn out by the time I got home. Finnley took over a four hour nap yesterday, and still went to bed pretty early. Thanks Damon for coming and keeping Mitch and Finnley company over your Birthday! Hope it was GREAT!