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 ;)

2013 Recap

As the final days of 2013 approach I wanted to take a moment to recap just HOW much we did this year, it was packed with laughter tears and lots of love.

January- a month filled with lots of birthdays! This year Ali was old enough to enjoy them all!

Enjoying his friend Umer's first birthday party

Ayaan's adorable Choo Choo turning 2 party!

many faces of Ali in January

February: Lots went on this month

failed attempt at toilet training, at least he looks cute

Ali's first time playing in snow

My Stud of a date

I got super cheesy with Valentine plans this year, read about it here

 it up with his buddies, we call them Rugrats!

Wajih and Ali's first trip to Philly! Saw Constitution hall and the Liberty Bell. Finished off with authentic cheesesteaks

We took a trip of a lifetime to Istanbul, Turkey read about it

March: Enjoying the drastic weather changes of living in the northeast, snow one day, sunshine and 65F another

Still March but weather finally warms up

Celebrated my parent's 35th anniversary, details here

April: Ali and I did an impromptu photo shoot with matching attire, he will grow up and think I'm SO weird for this


May: Got this amazing 21st birthday cake for my baby sister, she'll always be the chubby wubby cutie in the family


June: Family time while Wajih headed out to Tampa

 Celebrated father's day with my dad and dada

Ali's toddler class graduation

visited Sesame Place with Ali's cousins, he loved it so much he still asks to go back

Wajih came back to NJ to visit and we went to our favorite brunch spot, Rat's

July: Wrapping up summer and time with family

watched local fireworks, Ali's first time so up close

my baby sister making my birthday super special

Surprise birthday party just for me!

Forced my family in the heat of July to Central park

being silly with my kiddies

Ali making summer memories

wrapped up our life

Ali did not want to say goodbye to his first home

the very first place Wajih and I called home

one last look at my office, where I started my career as an intern in college

my amazing friends threw me a farewell party

Ali spent some time with his great grandfather, who knows how many more chances we have to capture those moments.

my final goodbye to Nani

At a memorial for Nani my entire family got together, another goodbye

Last shot of all us cousins before I headed out of town

August - I adjusted to life in a new place 

/ 

September - Set up a new home, had adventures with Ali and made a mini trip to Miami and Key Largo 

October: Tried to find Autumn in Florida's heat, read more about it here

 November: A very busy month jam packed with activities

Ali's Nana Abu came to visit us in Tampa

Made a 16 hr road trip for Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' place

All of Ali's cousins

Couldn't stay away from the food table

reunited with all his old daycare buddies, it was adorable seeing them all squeal with excitement!

 December - We spent most of the start of the month being sick with upper respiratory infections brought back from NJ's cold weather, finally when all the illness went away we got into the holiday festivities and took Ali to a Christmas light show at the mall, he loved it and we loved seeing fake snow in 70 degrees.

Now I'm headed back to the tundra again, I'll be visiting home for the next month so my blogging will be even more slacking than it has been lately. 2013 was an emotional year to say the least. I said many goodbyes, but I also made some new discoveries about friendships, family, me, about my strength and about my capacity to love. Right now, in this very moment I would not change a single aspect of my life, I love every part of it to bits. I couldn't be more thankful for what I have and the memories I've been given over the past year.

I didn't speak much of it earlier as my grandmother had passed away literally the day before our anniversary, but this year was my husband and my 5th wedding anniversary. That's a big one. We spent a good chunk of the year apart, more than we ever had before. We also embarked on a big change together. All around me I've seen many people face tough moments regarding marriage or lack thereof this year and sometimes after you've been married so long you begin to get comfortable and stop appreciating what you've got. I got married fairly young, lots of other girls at the time even dubbed my type of girls 'the ones who settled' because we gave into the typical Pakistani mentality of marrying young and to whom our parents wanted. I honestly didn't love my husband when I married him, I hardly knew him. So I can't truly say if I "settled". The only thing I knew about him was that no one else I would meet would ever love my parents and family so sincerely. No one else could be a better fit for my own self. And five years later I can now wholeheartedly say I was absolutely right. Every day he pushes me to be a better but at the same time he loves me deeply for who I am so spending my life with someone like that, if it was settling, is the best decision I ever made.