Birthday Trip to New York City

I recently celebrated a big birthday, so I wanted to do something big for it. Which meant I had to plan to do something big for it 'cause ain't no one going to do it if I don't. (Which is fine because i love planning--you should see the short trip I planned to Cape May!) We dropped the boys off with our friends Thursday morning after a short run and opening presents. Then Chuck and I headed to the bus. We chose the bus over driving because (1) no gas, (2) no tolls, (3) no traffic, (4) no parking in NYC, and (5) we could hang out and watch stuff together. It was the right call. We chose to watch "Annie Hall" because it came out the year I was born and it was filmed in New York. So obviously.

Upon arrival, we checked into our hotel which had the worst view ever but we didn't care. We dropped the bag and headed out. We did a little shopping (see the picture below of Swatch, the dog of Mood, the fabric store for "Project Runway"). I picked out a cool carafe and serving platter with Charley Harper artwork on it (and I love Charley Harper). We grabbed a quick dinner (we ran out of time to go to where I really wanted, but that's okay). After dinner we headed to the Upright Citizens Brigade where we laughed for hours, or at least, 90 minutes. After that it was to the top of the Rockefeller Building to see the city at night. Then it was bed. Remember, I had turned old, I was tired.

Because I am physically incapable of sleeping in, I woke early to go running only to find it lightning and thundering...in the morning. Weird. But after a quick trip back to the room, it stopped. So I was able to enjoy a lovely run on the High Line trail. I love the High Line very much. I may have listened to Hamilton while running and I may have cried some because everything was just perfect. But that's just a maybe. After getting cleaned up, Chuck and I went to brunch, which was right near the High Line so we walked on it together for a bit. Breakfast was delicious, although I was disappointed their housemade pop tarts weren't ready. Then we went to Trinity Church to see where Alexander Hamilton (and his wife and son) was buried, but even more exciting than that was walking right by Mikey (from "The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt") on the sidewalk! WHAT!? Then we headed to the Tenement Museum. Depressing, but interesting. After that we slowly made our way to the bus stop, stopping to grab a small bite before the bus. This time we went to Chipotle. Before you say, "Um, Erin, you went all the way to New York to eat at...Chipotle," let me explain: this was Chipotle's test kitchen which means they have stuff there that exists nowhere else. So we tried the queso (good) and cinnamon bunuelos (good too). Then back on the bus where we watched a bunch of Unbreakable Kimmy's because you know, we were now bff's with Mikey.

Our babysitters were amazing in that they kept the boys that night too (we had planned on picking them up when we got back), so that we got to sleep in our house...alone. It meant for a nice, quiet Saturday morning. It really was a great trip.

For documentation here are the things we saw not on purpose:
The Flatiron Building
Wall Street
Times Square (I loathe Times Square)
Statue of Liberty (from my run)