New York, New York.

So obviously I tried to be good and stay updated on our whereabouts while we were away on our road trip, but once we got to New York... all bets were off. We flipped our normal schedule completely and stayed up til 2am every night, not waking up until around 10 or 11. For as much fun as we had... it felt pretty darn awesome to go to bed last night at 10:30 haha we're so happy being old married people. So where did I leave off?

Last I updated we were in Philadelphia spending time with Dan and Aly Saturday, Sunday and Monday. So then Tuesday morning bright and early we packed everything up in the car and drove north to New York City. Usually when we go to the city we take the bus because traffic is the worst, but that plan didn't make sense this time around, and I had a very fussy husband by the time we made it to Robert and Andi's apartment haha. NYC traffic doesn't mess around. Once we got to town I don't think Andi and I stopped talking for like the next 5 hours, Keith was so patience with our chattiness. We brought our stuff into their place and then hopped on the subway to Manhattan to visit our friend Peter who works at Serendipity. I had never been there before, so of course we had to have their famous frozen hot chocolate. Verdict? It's pretty awesome, even though that restaurant is a total tourist hot spot. Regardless it was awesome to see Peter for a bit, and it gave Andi and I a chance to talk and talk some more :) Afterwards we walked over to Magnolia Bakery (where Andi works) and we picked out all kinds of tasty treats to be enjoyed later. We then headed back to their apartment and waited for my brother, Robert and Paul to get off work and come by with beers. Once we were all together we hung out and caught up a bit before heading to one of their favorite local sushi restaurants and meeting up with Sara B and Peter. Dinner was fabulous and followed up by two for one drinks at a bar down the street. The best part of the night though was when we got back to Robert and Andi's to go to bed and remembered that we had tons of tasty desserts to indulge in before sleeping :) so terrible, yet so amazing!

Leaving Philadelphia.

Driving through New Jersey... not our fav.

Serendipity.

Frrrrozen hot chocolate. Mmm.

Hanging at Magnolia.

Tastiest treats!

Bros embracing.

Bert and Andi

Dinner crowd.

Candlelight Jake.

Subway riders.

Wednesday we slept in and spent the morning relaxing with Andi after getting some bagels from around the corner. Later, we met up with my brother at the MoMA to check out the Cindy Sherman Retrospective... SO RIDICULOUS. I've never been one for Contemporary Art, but she's absolutely amazing. If you're in the area before June 11th I recommend it. After quickly walking through the exhibit the 3 of us wandered down to Chelsea to get lunch at The Grey Dog (delicious) and when Jake had to get back to work Keith and I made our way to the Highline for a beautiful afternoon stroll. Oddly neither of us had ever been over there before on our various recent trips to the city and we couldn't have been more grateful that the weather took a turn for the better during our visit. What a beautiful and lush place in the city! Again, I highly recommend. After our little touch of exercise for the day Keith and I were able to visit one of the management companies he works with and got a chance to introduce ourselves to the artist Bearcat whose tour Keith is currently booking. It was pretty funny that Keith happened to end up doing work on vacation, but we were way too close not to stop by. When we were done it was time for Keith to head north to the Bronx to meet Peter for his first Yankees game! He had some issues getting there and finding Peter, but once that was all settled they had a really great time together. While they were at the baseball game I trekked over to Brooklyn to meet up with Nickie and her boyfriend Andy (who we hadn't seen since our WEDDING! too stinking long). We had an awesome mexican dinner and caught up on life and then walked down to a bar in the area and waited for the baseball fans to leave the game. Once Peter and Keith found us it was mentioned that the bar across the street (the same one we went to the night before) had karaoke and there were no questions about where we were going next. Metal karaoke night meant that anyone who sang a metal song got a free shot of whisky... I'm sure you can use your imagination but it was a pretty ridiculous night. So much love for all those friends.

Underground

Lunch

Matching... awkward.

Highline.

City love.

Baseball!

Andy/Keith. Karaoke champions.

Nickie clearly earned her shot.

Peter and the Beastie Boys.

Thursday we woke up late once again and had coffee and breakfast on the couch with Andi.  We packed up our stuff and drove to downtown Brooklyn to meet up with Robert for lunch at Shake Shack (favorite) and to say goodbye to them since we were spending the rest of the evening with Jake and Peter at their place. We certainly got our fill of Shack sauce, and I even got my first shake thanks to Andi (the coffee is deeeeeelicious!) Our original plan for the day was to drive down to Coney Island and check out the classic New York beach, but with the torrential downpour we decided to change our plans a bit. I won't write too much about it because I'm planning a separate post for tomorrow... but we ended up meeting with Amanda for a trip to the American Museum of Natural History. Such a good idea! After we had our fill of taxidermy and old bones we took the train back to Amanda's to get our car and drove to Queens for a home cooked meal thanks to Peter and his girlfriend Emily. Jake had to go to band practice, but we had plenty of great hangouts in his absence, before driving over to the bar duck duck to meet back up with Jake and Nathan and Sara. GREAT last night in town! Lots of great cheap drinks, many games of darts and some amazing people watching.

Andi/Bruiser the Bruin.

Robert and Andi at Shake Shack.

Bros at the bar.

New York was SUCH a crazy whirlwind of a three day trip, but when isn't it? We always have such a great time visiting my brother and all of our friends up there but as soon as we leave, it always feels like such a nice relief. City life really isn't for us longterm. Regardless of our readiness to get back to our quiet and sleepy life, I'm SO happy we were able to visit and get to see so many of our favorite people.

Next up... a recap of our day at the Museum, then photos and stories from our weekend in DC!