The Shortest Vacation

How do I begin explaining our 3 and a half day vacation to New York, except by saying that it was FABULOUS.

Never, in my life, have I ever seen so many cabs in one place...or people, for that matter. Everyone driving is honking at one another, even if they're parked at red lights, and pedestrians literally walk like they're the only ones on the street. (They also have this funny habit of waiting for the walk sign to change from red to green in the middle of oncoming traffic....very very very odd.)

As you all know, I made a list of all the things I wanted to see and do while in New York. I'm happy to report that Allan and I completed almost all of those things and more. Here are a few pictures I'd like to share with you.

I was soooooo excited Thursday afternoon. Here I am sitting at the airport bar, drinking vodka sodas, waiting for our plane to board. This is my classic "excited" face. Allan says I looked this way the entire 5 hour plane ride.

Now, my classic "excited" face might be funny, but this is a classic Allan face. To me, he looks very pensive. Either way, he travels a lot for work, so airports are his second home.

Cab ride to the hotel in Weehawken, New Jersey. No, we didn't stay in Manhattan, as nice as that would have been BUT our hotel was at the base of the ferry terminal and for only $8.50 per ride, we got a direct pass across the water into the heart of downtown...not too shabby. Oh, I should also mention that the drivers in New York are CRAZY....our cab driver was driving at about 100 km AND taking corners at the same speesd....I was too excited to be scared but, come to think of it, he definitely freaked me out.

Our hotel room...

Our hotel room part 2...

Our hotel room bed and Allan. Yes, that is a free gift on the bed.

Our free gift turned out to be a doll bed as there was an American Girl Convention in New York at the same time as our trip. Lucky us....

Our hotel room bathroom...

YAY, our first morning in New York. I was way too excited to sleep so I was up by 8 am (5 am pacific time) and demanded that Allan get up too. First stop was the Bagel Smashery in Hoboken, a neighboring town to Weehawken.

I discovered the Bagel Smashery while doing a search for the "best breakfast in New Jersey". This little cafe popped up first. I actually told the owner this and she was super excited about it, in fact we had a very long conversation about the internet and what I typed in to find them. I'm sure you can tell by the name BUT they actually smash your bagel, like a panini sandwich, and you eat it all hot and gooey. Yummy....Allan and I both had egg, bacon/sausage, and cheese on our flat bagel. This place is definitely worth a stop in for sure....

After breakfast we went to the ferry terminal and caught our first boat to Manhattan. The ride was short, about 10 minutes, and then, once docked, we started our first long walk of the weekend. First stop was Times Square. This picture really doesn't do justice BUT the sole purpose of us being on this strip was for the MASSIVE Sephora store. So, in we went....

This Sephora was huge. I don't think I can explain it any other way. They had, at least, 20 people working the floor and even more behind the multiple tills. Prior to leaving Vancouver, I'd made the decision to buy the 2010 Sephora Blockbuster BUT after looking around, I purchased the Tarte Blockbuster instead. This jewelry box palette has:

16 full-sized metallic eye shadows

16 full-sized matte eye shadows

8 lip glosses

Full-sized mineral bronzer in Park Avenue Princess

Full-sized highlighting powder in Soft Pink

5 long-wearing eye liners

*Plus a cute black and gold necklace

This is, quite possibly, the most complete palette I've seen in a long time. Either way, I am soooo

happy with this purchase.

After Sephora, I was rather tired. (Shopping does get tiring.) So, Allan and I went for some lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe at Times Square. I proceed to start my weekend of binge drinking on a high note with an Absinthe Pina Colada. As tasty as it was, I felt my toes curling after one, so I finished our lunch with two double vodka sodas.....not too bad for it only being about noon.

After drinks, we went to the biggest Macy's I've ever seen. The crowds were outrageous and the store was frightfully hot, but I was determined to find a new handbag. We braved the people and pushed our way to the handbag section. Now, I've been on a metallic kick for the past few weeks and really wanted to find a metallic bag. I was looking high and low, and the, in a clearance bin I spotted a cute, cross-body bronze metallic bag on sale for $55. I grabbed the bag, tried it on in the mirror, and fell in love. I took my bag to the till and bought it for the very low price of $19.84 (I KNOW...can you believe it??? This Fossil bag was about $89 regularly but with all the additional discounts, I definitely lucked out.) As soon as we bought this, we left the store thinking someone might assume we stole it.

The rest of the day flew by in a blur. More drinks, more walking, lots of subway rides and a Central Park tour. Check these out...

Dilapidated subway....

Subway (Metro) train...

Central Park Fountain...

Belvedere Castle in Central Park and my leg attacking it....

About half way through our Central Park adventure I needed, quite desperately, to find a ladies' room. This is the absolute dirtiest, most creepy bathroom I have ever seen. I made Allan stand outside the door, talking to me, since I was squatting right below a ceiling that looking like it was caving in....

Dirtiest bathroom part 2...

Well, this pretty much sums up day 1 of the New York adventure. There will be more tales to come, my friends!!!

xo