Well, for starters we went to New York City!!!
That's right...we went again, and it was fantastic!
About a month ago, JetBlue was having a killer 24-hour sale on flights from SLC to NYC, and I took advantage of the fact that Richard was at work and couldn't really talk about it to surprise him with a Christmas trip to the Big Apple.
Yes, this was our Christmas gift to each other. We went out with a bang on the whole present scene last year, and decided from then on we'd make vacations our Christmas gift to each other. So far, no complaints here.
Don't worry, that doesn't mean that we're skimping on gifts to our loved ones, though...
So, Merry Christmas! Here is picture overload in the longest Christmas post ever.
Started out the trip with some public transit drama (thanks to my good old UTA), but that didn't last long.
Made it to JFK bright and early (we're pro's at the red-eye flight), and stuck with the public transportation for the remainder of our adventure.
Made it to our awesome "Bed & Breakfast!"
Everyone needs to check out www.airbnb.com. We love it.
First stop: Brooklyn Discount Tkts booth...we scored big with tickets to a sweet show you'll see later.
Another Brooklyn classic:
This place is seriously stuffed to the seams with people! You can see behind me that people (strangers!) are sitting shoulder to shoulder. Kinda awkward, but totally worth it.
Richard's first New York slice...but definitely not his last!
We walked back into Manhattan across the Brooklyn Bridge, which was under a bit of construction, but still as beautiful as ever.
Everyone else had tagged the bridge, and I wasn't about to miss out on all the fun!
My masterpiece. Don't hate. All I had was a pen in my bag.
Nope, I didn't try to stop him. I just documented the whole thing.
The Little Italians were the most festive, with Chinatown right on their heels. Weird right?
Cannoli's!!!
My very favorite NYC treat!
He has a thing for Nutcrackers.
The most expensive and delicious tiny cup of cocoa ever! At Marie Belle
Red Beard and his Bearded Lady friend.
This time we made it to NYU and Washington Square Park. This monument is in a list of movies that we had fun reenacting while we played around.
Stinky sewers...Richard was convinced that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were on their way up.
That building you can barely see (if you look past my head instead of up my nostrils) behind me is the Flatiron Building. Saweet!
Poor little guy fell asleep while we were giving out feet a break.
Oh, Macey's. How I love your window displays!
And although the picture wouldn't load to prove it, we saw a FLASH MOB of skateboarding Santa's right in front of Macy's!!!
I've been a bit obsessed with flash mobs lately, so I consider this to be my very own Miracle of 34th Street!
Back to Little Italy to eat at our absolute favorite restaurant in the world, Sal's.
Richard just couldn't being himself to pick between two delicious entrees, so he got them both.
I also enjoyed the cheesiest manicotti ever (seen on the left).
We even made friends with the owner, Enzo!
Told him we were back from Utah because we couldn't stop dreaming about the cheesy goodness of the manicotti. He told Richard to email this picture to him...I'm pretty sure we'll go right between Sarah Jessica Parker and Paul McCartney on the wall haha!
Made a quick stop for more cannoli's...this time I got all miniature ones so I could try more flavors and feel less guilty. It was a win-win situation all the way.
Day one, done and done.
Breakfast in my apartment in Chelsea.
Seriously, check it out! www.airbnb.com
On our way through the subway, we saw the Santa's from the night before!!! They were awesome, and on their way to Santacon 2010 - look it up on YouTube and you'll find a million people dressed as Santa all throughout Manhattan. We saw them all throughout the city all day long. So fun!
Pizza for breakfast, anyone?
Holiday Market in Union Square Park. Lots of unique booths...
Including this one, dedicated to a million different spices that made the place smell amazing!
Making our way Uptown...
To the restaurant from Seinfeld!!!
Seinfeld is probably Richard's all-time favorite show, so we made the pilgrimage to Seinfeld Mecca. It was pretty fun!
We even went inside for a milkshake...the cast was never filmed here, but it was still great!
Just down the street we got to explore this HUGE cathedral: Saint John the Divine (John the Baptist).
It was the most amazing thing I've every seen - I seriously think the SLC temple could fit in there a couple of times!
Beautiful and very very large.
On to Central Park, where we went nuts for these roasted nuts!
Walked past the Cheese & Crackers House (according to Richard)
And then went ice skating at Wollman Rink, right in the park!!!
Kind of a dream come true!
I love this guy - he makes all my dreams come true.
And he's naturally gifted at everything, so of course he schooled me on the ice.
Toe pick! Cutting Edge, anyone?
It ain't June, and it ain't the Plaza.
Well, actually that is the Plaza Hotel behind us.
Ding Dang Dong!
This giant nutcracker made Richard's eyes roll into the back of his head.
The huge tree at Rockefeller Center.
It was super cool, but such a zoo that I didn't love it as much as I thought I would.
Made a little pit stop in Times Square, per Richard's request.
Then booked it back Uptown to eat at the Shake Shack - this time I got a chicken sausage hot dog so I didn't have to break my no-beef streak. I loved the shake more than anything. Clearly.
Don't worry, we were running crazy late, as usual...
Our show was Downtown, and started at 10:00...we weren't even on the subway at this time!!!
The train finally came, and we sprinted half a mile, and we barely made it by the hair of our chinny-chin-chins!
I'm sure the people around us were wondering why we were sweating, but we were just happy they didn't close the doors before we got there!
We saw the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall...phenomenal!
Little did we know that our seats would be on the 12th row!!! We seriously scored so big at the Discount Tkts booth.
We also had our video camera confiscated haha, but we got it back at the end of the show - with awesome footage of the Rockettes!!! I want to be one when I grow up.
I could not stop laughing at this creeper with his hair slicked back in the middle - he thought he was Christina Aguilera.
Streamers shot out of the guns of the awesome Rockettes.
This was the highlight of the trip, for me!
And a night cap.
Day two, in the bag.
This car was stuffed to the brim with old newspapers! So weird.
Inside the Chelsea Market...so cool!
Delicious crepes for brunch...
And a Nutella crepe for dessert!
Do you hear what I hear?
Chelsea Market is the home to the Food Network's headquarters!!!
Our host, Dave, told us to visit the Highline, and boy are we glad we did!
Its an old Elevated Railway that's been converted into a walkway - awesome views of Chelsea Piers and the Empire State Building.
Dont' worry, it never touched my anything. Just playing around.
New York Public Library.
Checking out of our favorite apartment/hotel.
Richard, stealing the arm rest from me. I totally had it first.
Trying to ignore Chatty Kathy next to me for 5 hours on the plane...
Richard saw some old neighbors (from Idaho!) on our flight home...small world!
Home again, home again jiggity jig.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
