I love NYC!

So I am finally getting around to posting about my most amazing birthday trip ever to NYC! It took forever to get all the pictures together from all of the cameras and we have over 300 of them, so it took me a while to narrow this down and it still going to be the longest post I've ever written. We had such a fun time walking all over New York and seeing everything there is to see. It was my mom's first time there, so that made it extra fun to see her reaction to everything. Our hotel was right in the middle of Broadway and Times Square so we had easy access to everything we wanted to see, and believe me, we squeezed as much into 4 days as I think is humanly possible. Here are some of my favorite highlights:

The biggest reason I wanted to go to NYC in the first place was to see WICKED on Broadway and it was AMAZING. We got to be up close and personal on about the 15th row and the voices, the music, the set decoration, the costumes, everything was worth every penny. I want to see it again so bad!

I loved this connecting flight we got to take from Cincinati (how do you spell that?). This plane was so small that we got to climb up the stairs like in the olden days and I've always wanted to do that. It was awesome!

We had a fun ride in a taxi from the airport into Manhattan. I can't imagine driving here. I swear we almost got into many, many accidents, but it was fun to see the city at night from the cab.

Our first night we saw The Little Mermaid. We almost missed it because our plane was so late, but we made it and they put on a great show. My girls were so jealous that I got the see the "real" Ariel.

After the show we walked Time Square - what a beautifully overwhelming place with all of the lights and huge posters. I loved it. Then we are dinner at Planet Hollywood where I had the BEST SALAD EVER!

The picture doesn't do it justice. There was spinach, peaches, strawberries, red onion, blue cheese, grilled chicken and crunchy chopstick things. It was to die for.

The next day we went to see the Manhattan Temple which is a lot smaller than I pictured it. It is in a beautiful part of town and it was fun to see it among all of the huge buildings around it.

After that we walked around Central Park in the pouring rain. It was only a drizzle at first, but then we got drenched. I love the park. It is gorgeous and there are so many fun bridges and things. We ate breakfast at a little vendor at the entrance and then we just walked all over. We visited the IMAGINE memorial for John Lennon, saw all the famous fountains and bridges, rode the carousel, and saw the boathouse from the movie 27 DRESSES.

After the park we ate lunch at Carnegie Deli and had their huge sandwiches with the famous cheesecake for dessert. The cheesecake was a dream come true.

That afternoon I got to meet Jennifer Aniston...

Rachel Ray...

and Michael Jordan - Madame Tussauds was SO fun.

WICKED was that night at the Gershwin theatre (1 block from our hotel) and it was so incredible. I wish we would've had tickets for every night we were there.

The Chrylster building is one of my favorites and I loved seeing it lite up at night.

Some of the highlights from day three were seeing my mom on her first subway ride, which was a blast. She was really excited. Can you tell?
Riding the Staten Island Ferry past the Statue of Liberty,

Walking down Wall Street,

Seeing Ground Zero,

(I loved this memorial near ground zero. It said, "Dedicated to those who fell and to those who carry on...

...may we never forget." I was really touching.),

seeing this beautiful graveyard and Trinity Church,

and standing where "Her Majesty" stood at another church that I can't remember the name of.

Then we hit Gray's Papaya for a quick hot dog on the go (I had to go here because on FOOL'S RUSH IN it says these are the best hot dogs in the world and they were right!)

Then it was on to Chinatown for shopping and Little Italy for eating. There is a story about this car, but I am tired of typing so you'll have to ask me about it late if you want to know...

The guy on the bench with the cigar is the car's owner and the people are dancing behind the car because it is BOOMING Frank Sinatra music out the windows. So FUNNY!

Yummy Food, just like in Big Italy. MMMMMM!

Dinner was on the sidewalk of one of the little Italian restaurants and I had the Gnocchi - also to die for! (Have you noticed that a lot of these pics are of food - just another thing that I love:))

That night we went to the Empire State Building and here is one of the many amazing views from the top.

Our last morning we walked all around uptown. We hit Rockefeller Center,

Peeked in the window of NBC studios to see if we could see any celebs. We just missed Kelly Pickler:(.

Next we powdered our noses and met a Rockette on our tour of Radio City Music Hall,

And just before we had to leave for the airport we had delicious frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity's. All in all it was such a fun trip and I can't wait to do it again! NYC Rocks!