NYC 2010

A few weeks ago, Matt and I took a little vacation for New York City for 5 days. Matt had 1 day of meetings, so we decided to extend our time out there and make a trip out of it. My parents were here with the kids over the weekend and then my mom stayed a few more days on her own while my Dad headed back home. We couldn't be more thankful for the time they were willing to give us away. Truly, they are helping to build a stronger marriage for us by watching our kids and letting us take some time away--just the two of us. Of course, the kids also love it and were so excited Nani and Pops were coming. And what a great weekend they had--they all went on a bike ride, played at the park, went out to eat, church, and played lots. We are so thankful for the relationships our kids have with their grandparents and the influence they are on our kids. It is so great for the kids to be able to spend time with them, knowing that Nani and Pops just want to have fun with them and do whatever they enjoy doing the most! And to top it all off, it was my mom's birthday while they were here! So we tried to make it extra special. Thanks again Mom and Dad!

Now on to our trip......what would a trip to NYC be without a picture from Central Park? We rented an apartment on the Upper West Side that was just 3 blocks from the Park, so we went for several runs through here and spent a good amount of time relaxing. No matter how many times we've been there, it never gets old!

The day Matt had meetings, my friend Annie took the train down from Connecticut and met me for the day. While I was waiting at Grand Central Station, I took a few pictures (common theme from this trip!). I didn't even notice until I got home that the ceiling has all the constellations on it!

We walked the "High Line" together--an old railroad track that was built in the early 1900's to elevate dangerous freight trains above the busy Meatpacking district to try and improve safety for this area. The last train ran on these tracks in 1980 and when the tracks were going to be torn down in the late 90's, a group formed to preserve this piece of history and turned it into a public park. It just opened in June 2009 and you can read more about it here.

We saw these steps at a restaurant located just below the HighLine and I loved the artistry in it!

How cool are these chairs?

LOVED seeing all the amazing architecture from a different perspective.

It was a perfect day to spend outside....65 degrees and sunny! After we walked along the High Line, we headed in to Chelsea and then towards the West Village.

I couldn't stop taking pictures! So many beautiful things to see

And what would a trip to NYC be without a celebrity sighting or two?

(For those of you who don't know, this is Bethenny Frankel from The Real Housewives of NYC and also from Bethenny Getting Married.)

I was mildly obsessed with the amazing doors all over the city...

Each time we've gone to NYC, we've done a few 'touristy' things and then mostly relax. It's great because we know we'll be back, so we don't feel like we have to cram everything in. We had never seen the Statue of Liberty, so we took the Staten Is. Ferry to get a closer look. (Someday when the kids are older, we'll take them and actually go to Ellis Island. But this was good for now.)

View of lower Manhattan from Staten Island.....still so weird not to see the Twin Towers despite it being 9 years ago.

I found it ironic and had never before noticed that at the 'end' of Wall Street is a church.

Kind of sad, kind of telling.

More cool architecture

It was a great trip. We slept in, went to a few shows, ate out lots, and read lots! Perfect place for a short getaway or a full week and we'll definitely be back!