A week in NYC!

Back in the middle of April we took a very spontaneous and amazing trip to NYC all thanks to a work project suddenly assigned to my husband. Everything really worked out great! I was in my 2nd trimester so my energy level hadn't quite taken a nose dive yet, so Ali and I took advantage of this opportunity and joined him. We spent an entire week like tourists discovering the city I had lived near for SO many years but never took the chance to explore. Wajih left after his work ended, but Ali and I hung around at my mom's place for an extra week and got some much needed time with Nana, Nani and Unga (what Ali calls my little sister, a word he created all his own).

Weather wise mid April was nice to be out and about in the city. We wore jackets or layered on light sweaters and even had two days of beautiful 75 degrees and sunshine; perfect for a day at Central Park!

I had created a basic list of things I wanted to do with Ali so I had sort of a game plan for our trip while keeping in mind alternate options in case it rained. I also Googled reviews for some of the best parks and playgrounds for kids.

Places we went or hoped to go
Dylan's Candy Bar
FAO Schwarz
Times Square: Toys R Us, M&M's and Hershey's store
Central park: sailboats, Umpire rocks, playgrounds, hike in North Woods (12pm free tour Tuesday), zoo ($19 for both)
Metropolitan Museum of Art (Alice's Teacup nearby for lunch)
Thursday- pay as you wish at Children's Museum of Art 4-6pm
Washington Square Park - Greenwich (PB&J company nearby for lunch)
Pier 25 playground - Tribeca (whole foods nearby for lunch)
Brooklyn waterfront park pier 6 (dumbo park)
Hippo park - upper west side

Now I'll let the pictures do the talking about how great our trip was:

A beautiful shot of Tampa Bay as we took off, surprising my parents when we showed up at their door!

Oh Wawa how I miss thee!
 Closest one to us in FL is 20 mins away :(

So happy to be back home with my Jersey Girls, little impromptu family BBQ to enjoy the sunshine!

First night my parents joined us and we did the Times Sqr thing

Obligatory Time Sqr picture

Next morning outside Rockefeller Center

St Patrick's Cathedral

Easter display outside Rockefeller Center

playing with sailboats in Central Park

my favorite painting at the Met

So I'm officially obsessed with tea and scones.
A trip to NYC is no longer complete without Alice's Teacup!

Ali learned how to take pictures that day.
this one actually came out artsy!

I have never before had scones that tasted this good.
Every single one was just divine!

View from our room at the Hilton on 52nd St

This kid was in Toy Store heaven.

 

The next day was rainy so we did another toy store
We both loooved FAO Schwarz, you can easily spend hours here!

Dinner at an Italian restaurant near the theater district.
Really wasn't as good as it looked.

Molcajete Taqueria in Greenwich. Delishh!

I did not find riding the subway to be kid or stroller friendly! 

Gotta love NYC street art!

the most heavenly creme brulee I ever did eat!

Hubs took me out to a fancy dinner at Aquagrill in SoHo

Mango Mousse!

Selfie with subway! #totallydangerous

View outside the Waldorf 

This chandelier was in the women's bathroom!

I'm realizing I have a selfie problem

We totally sneaked around the hotel to check out the snazzy ballrooms

while my poor husband worked late, I sent him pictures like this

Second trip to Alice's, this time with my bestie Aisha!

We get off the subway and before I know it
 Ali runs into Mickey's arms like he's a long lost relative! #Disneykid

Beautiful displays all over Dylan's Candy Bar

 

Cookie Monstah milkshake!

Oh how I wish those giant swedish fish were real

Central Park playground fun

Ali makes a friend!

Our last day there I finally dragged the hubby to Alice's for yet another lunch of tea and scones!

Even though I've been to NYC many times in the past, I had never spent an entire week there walking around the towering buildings or navigating my way through the subway. Honestly, I loved every bit of it, there's just something so magnetic about this city it fills you with hope and potential just being around all that energy. My husband is not a city guy, he loves the country life but there's a part of me that has always wanted to experience city life. I was so thankful to have the opportunity to do that now. I was happy to find that there is so much you can do with young children too! Can't wait for Hubs to have another work assignment so we can do it all over again ;)