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Posts Tagged ‘New York’

Saturday morning found us all looking a little better and brighter than the night before. We got up around 6:00am because we wanted to soak in as much NYC as we possibly could. Here I am looking a touch too chipper for 6:30am!

We also woke up to a freezing cold room. After calling the front desk our heater was promptly repaired and the four of us were compensated with free breakfast at our hotel. You’ve got to love free in NY so we headed up for some orange juice, scrambled eggs, fruit and toast. I also indulged with a scone every morning. YUM! Other than a passive aggressive wait staff breakfast was simple and filling. We were out on the streets of NY in less than 30 minutes.


Our first stop was a 7:30am stop at what I lovingly now refer to as “the only Macys that matters”. This was a very smart move on our part as it was reasonably un-crowded at this hour.


The four of us split up since there was a lot of ground to cover. This Macy’s is massive. You could literally spend an entire day in there and not cover everything. However, with only 3 ½ hours allotted for Macys I had to do some serious speed shopping. This Macys was full of amazing sales and deals. My favorite find was this Dooney and Bourke bag.

A few hours later the four of us, multiple overstuffed bags in tow headed back to the hotel to drop off our purchases. Our room was starting to look a little bit disastrous but that was ok. At this point we went out searching for some NY style pizza. After a bit of a smart phone snafu we found exactly what we were looking for. I went with the somewhat unconventional choice of ham and pineapple.

This pizza was good but all of the grease immediately made me sick. It left me more than a little grossed out. While I was down, I was not out! We decided to head up toward Union Square to do some more shopping.  After some subway confusion (we went down the exact same set of steps, wrong steps I might add, TWICE) we hailed a cab and headed on our way.

There seems to be shopping at every turn in the city so after hitting a few stores we took another cab uptown. We wanted to look at the beautiful store windows at Bergdorf Goodman, Barney’s, etc and they did not disappoint.

However, our final destination uptown was Tiffany and Co. (~cue angels singing~). It is no secret that I love anything shiny and fabulous so I was pretty much beyond excited to get into Tiffany’s. I had visited a Tiffany’s with my blog pal Andrea on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago over the summer but had not purchased anything. However, during this trip the group of us were giddy from all of the shopping/giggling/fun and several of us rode up to the sterling silver floor (floor 3) and made purchases. I loved getting that famous little blue bag in my hands. It made me all warm inside!

We made our way back to the hotel, stopping to shop along the way. We were four totally worn out girls by the time we made it to dinner.

We chose a little place called Jack Dempsey’s since it was just a block or so from our hotel. I had an amazing lean bison burger (not pictured) and we spent the night talking, laughing, and winding down.

Even though we were pretty worn out, we could not resist the appeal of a late night trip to the top of the Empire State Building. We walked the two blocks from dinner to the Empire State Building and since it was around 11:00pm we were able to go right up with no waiting!! We were shocked. Even though this is a very touristy thing to do, I highly recommend it. The photos were beautiful, the view amazing, and the experience with my girlfriends is one I won’t ever forget.

We literally could not cram another ounce of fun into our day so we headed back to our hotel. We had a big day of site seeing and musicals to rest up for!

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After a little break for the holidays (and a killer cold) I am finally functional and ready to recap my fun winter vacation to New York. January 1 will be a kick off for new diet and fitness content so check back for that too!! But back to the task at hand, my trip recap.

On Thursday night a winter storm blew in which we were afraid might spoil our travel plans. The roads were pretty gross so all of the girls decided to stay over just in case. We had a full house but made the best of it. I think it is safe to say there was enough excitement in the house to last for days!

The next morning was snowy, icy, and yucky but thanks to the hubs all four girls plus luggage were safely packed up in our SUV and taken to the train station.

After a smooth check in we were all set with our tickets and ready for the SEVEN hour train ride to New York!

We settled in on the train and did our best to amuse ourselves for seven hours. There was napping, magazine reading, talking/giggling, and coffee drinking to pass the time. For what it is worth the train food and coffee was not at all bad! Plus because of the snow we passed some really beautiful scenery.

Kristen and Nikki napping

Me and my traveling partner Tiff

A long, yet bearable, 7 hours later we arrived in New York. We came up out of the train station and…..BAM! It was New York!

Three of the four of us had never ever been to New York so I am sure we were embarrassing to be around. We were snapping tons of photos and had to ask directions to our hotel around 5 times. 😉 After walking a couple of blocks we checked into our hotel (which was right around the corner from Macys) and started to make plans for the night.

After some deliberation we decided to catch a cab (easier said than done on this particular night) and head up to Serendipity for dinner.  Yes, I only knew about it because of the movie but I didn’t care. I was stoked! My girlfriends were nice enough to indulge me and our dinner turned out to be a lot of fun!

I had an amazing BLT with some black bean soup for dinner and then had the huge task of choosing a desert. I decided to go with the famous frozen hot chocolate. Even though I only had a few sips it was phenomenal! I definitely recommend sharing it with a pal or three though.

After dinner the crew headed over to Bloomingdale’s for some shopping. It took us around two hours to just browse the entire store. We had a lot of fun picking out cute clothes and Christmas ornaments.

Even though we were all tired (and looking tired I might add) we decided to head over to Times Square. We were all so glad we did. We shopped for cheesy souvenirs (I heart NY t-shirts anyone??), went to the Disney Store and MAC, and took tons of photos! It was the perfect end to our first day in the city.

We got another cab (much easier this time around!) and headed back to our hotel. We all pretty much collapsed for the night and rested up for the full day of shopping and fun to come!!

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It snowed today in beautiful central Virginia which caused the oh so rare occurrence of my office being closed for the day. So what have I been up to on this unexpected snow day?

Snuggling in my favorite spot trying to stay warm

 

Baking Brownies

 

Looking at the Snow

 

Catching up on blogs

Packing for New York

Yup-the girls and I are leaving at 5:15 am to catch a train to New York City for some shopping and holiday fun.  Since the weather is so crazy today they are all heading to my house tonight so there is no chance of anyone getting snowed/iced in. It’s going to be close quarters but we are looking at it as an impromptu slumber party to get the weekend started!! I don’t know how much time I will have to blog while on my little winter vacation but rest assured I will be back Tuesday with all of the fun details!!! Have a Great Weekend!!

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Life is full of plans, some days more than others. Today was one of those days where plans were just popping up all over the place. 🙂

Plan 1: Food

The July challenge is going well and I spent another day completely on plan. The pre-planning of menus and food shopping over the weekend has really helped with this.

Breakfast was a Light Whole Grain English Muffin with Egg Whites (Not Pictured)

Lunch was left over Mediterranian Chicken Pasta from last night. There were plenty of veggies (Spinach, Tomatos, and Onions) to go along with the Whole Grains (pasta) and Protien (Chicken and Pine Nuts). The popped tomoatoes and melted feta were even better today than when it was fresh last night. Yum!

A little later in the day I was feeling hungry so I had some green grapes and sliced strawberries. It was filling and super low calorie. (It was also pretty). 😉

I had a final late afternoon snack of a Cliff bar. These are one of my most fave snacks and they can really kill a craving for sweet foods. (Ok not kill so much as suppress but it still works!).

Tonight I got to use some more veggies that we bought over the weekend. Fresh carrots, celery, peas, onions, and potatoes went into my chicken mug “pie”. You can find the recipe under my recipe link at the top of the page. It was a touch too hot for soup but it was tasty anyway! I am also excited that I have managed to plan 2 other recipes this week that use celery and carrots so nothing goes to waste. We often by organic so I can’t stand to waste food (ie: money).

I came in right on target with my WW points and good health guidelines.

Plan 2: Water

I have been making sure to drink at least 1.5 liters of water per day.  I am pretty sure I go to the ladies room a thousand times a day but I feel a lot better with the cleaner eating and increased water intake.

Plan 3: 1/2 Marathon Training

I am currently getting my training plan together for the Disney Wine and Dine 1/2 Marathon. I start Monday! This is my second 1/2 marathon and I chose a plan this time to incorporate cross training along with the gradual increase in mileage.  I can’t wait to share my training experience with you! I also can’t wait to get back to Disney to run another race!!

Plan4: New York

Maybe the most fun and exciting plan happening right now is a winter trip that is coming together for some girlfriends and I. We are planning to take a train up and visit New York for the first time. I am so ridiculously excited. What are some must visit shopping spots and restaurants my girlfriends and I should try out while in the big apple?

Have a Happy and Healthy Wednesday!

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