Girls Weekend in NYC

So first of all, I have to share my big screw up that took place before we left. Two of my closest friends from my performing arts high school were in Broadway shows, which was the main reason for this trip. We planned the trip pretty last minute so when all the decisions were made and booking were needed my mom was in Europe. I went over available seats for both shows, confirmed with both my sister and my mom and booked. Being the organized, over-achiever I am I created an itinerary and sent it to my mom and sister about a week before we left. My sister's boss happens to be a huge Broadway fan and was asking her about the shows she was planning to see. My sister said Something Rotten (Alek's show) and On the....something....with Kristin Chenoweth (she couldn't remember the name of it, but knew Kristin Chenoweth was in it because all my mom had been talking about was how she was so excited to see Kristin Chenoweth and that she wanted to meet her). Her boss, Stephanie, said Oh On the 20th Century. Sabrina said, I don't think so, I think it was On the Town. So Sabrina pulled up the itinerary and on it was listed On the Town with the address and everything. So, I got a call two nights before we were leaving from Sabrina asking me if I had booked the correct show. I knew immediately I had screwed up! After getting the kids to bed I frantically searched the internet and could not find any tickets. Nothing. I think there was one seat available, but it required a large donation to Broadway cares. I had already reached out to Aleks regarding tickets to his show and of course to spend time with him after and had messaged Phillip about meeting up for dinner too, but really didn't want to ask for tickets. I was desperate though. So I messaged Phillip and he had to do some checking/waiting, but he ended up coming through for us big time. We had amazing seats a few rows back in the center. He totally saved my butt from ruining our trip! (on a side note our original show tickets were for a Sunday matinee which is very rare, most shows are dark on Sunday so we were extremely lucky that On the 20th Century even had a show that fit into our schedule). I guess I am not perfect after all and the major sleep deprivation is really getting to me. 

We left on a red eye on April 16th and arrived really early on April 16th. Even though I had confirmed the hotel with my mom before booking because I wasn't sure which one was the one she usually stays at-it was the wrong one. We had paid for an extra night so we would have a room ready when we arrived in the morning so we could all get some sleep after our red eye and then make it to our noon lunch at Per Se, but they had screwed up our room and expected us to check out at noon, then check back in to our new room at 2 or 3.This trip was not starting off on the right foot. After arguing with them about it (I had to bring up the issue of the refrigerator I requested that already had pumped breastmilk in it and how they were going to keep my milk cold and move the fridge if we had to check out, keep our stuff in the lobby, then check back in after our lunch). They agreed to move our stuff for us while we were gone. We took a nap, got ready then off we went to lunch. The 7 course lunch was AMAZING! One of the best meals I have ever had. We had Oysters and Pearls, Slow Poached Elevages Perigord Moulard Foie Gras (Crystal had the Endive Farcie Au Pain D'epice instead), Pave of Mediterranean Rubina, Butter Poached Nova Scotia Lobster, "Fricassee" of Pork Belly, Charcoal Grilled Miyazaki Wagyu, Jasper Hill Farm's Winnimere, and a seemingly endless supply of desserts to top it all off. Each course was showstopping! It was incredible!

At the end of the lunch, I was in so much pain that I had to hand express in the bathroom. Then we headed off to buy some macarons from Bouchon then we went to meet up with Sabrina's friend Brooke. Brooke's place was beautiful and it gave me some time to do a bot more hand expressing while they caught up.

From there, we went back to our hotel, where to our surprise, we had been given a closet size room on a very low floor that was super noisy as it was right on the street. I honestly didn't care, but my mom was less than impressed and insisted we be moved. They ended up moving us up much higher to a still small room, but one with a view of the Empire State building (it was much quieter being higher up I will admit).

I pumped, we all changed, then we went to dinner at Tao. We have always gone to the same one, but thought it would be fun to try a different location this time. It was really cool and a lot of fun. Afterwards we walked across the street to Chelsea Market. Unfortunately, most of the stores were already closed, but it was still fun to walk around.

Then we went  meet Sabrina's co-workers for a few drinks at the Standard. I had learned my lesson earlier in the day and brought my pump stuff with me in my giant purse this time so as soon as we got to the bar I snuck off to the bathroom to pump. We went to XES for a while too, but I was so exhausted, I didn't last long. 

We had a bit of a crazy start to our next day. We got into the hotel elevator on April 19th, just the 3 of us, on the 28th floor and about one second into the ride the elevator fell than slammed to a stop-some of the roof particles and dust fell on us. We were obviously pretty scared, not knowing if we were done falling or if we were going to be plummeting down to the ground. I tried to remain calm and told everyone to grab the railing and sit down while Sabrina scooted over to the panel to press the call button. It was disconnected! Thankfully we had cell service so I called the lobby to inform them. It took forever to even get through to someone, then they nonchalantly said they would call someone to fix it and hung up! After waiting for what felt like forever (it was maybe 15 minutes) I called again and they still brushed us off, but assured us that someone would be there soon. I was not feeling very confident in them at that point, so I called the fire department. They said they would send someone right away. After waiting a total of 25 minutes, we finally heard someone outside the door. It was an elevator repair man and some other guy. They had to pry the doors open and were having trouble holding them so they shouted for us to hurry and get out. My mom, who was in the back corner rushed out first, haha. The elevator was on the 27th floor, but as you can see it was sort of in between floors. We were all pretty shaken up, but in a bit of a daze just started walking down the 27 flights of stairs. When we got to the bottom the entire lobby was filled with hotel guests and luggage and the fire department was there. Apparently, we just missed the fire department rescue, they must have been heading up the other elevator as we walked down the stairs. Talk about a disappointment-all that fear and stress and we didn't even get to be rescued my firemen. We did talk to the fire chief and got a few photos. The firemen were all really nice. The hotel staff on the other hand were not. They didn't really check if we were ok or apologize for the slow response time, lack of communication with us or for the fact that none of the emergency buttons in the elevator worked!

After that fun little morning, we grabbed a cab and raced to our reservation at the 9-11 Memorial and Museum. It was interesting, but oh so sad. It is something everyone should visit, but it is not something I could emotionally handle every trip. 

We went back to our hotel, where we walked up to our room because we were scared to use the elevator (the one we were in was still being repaired so only one was working), I pumped, we changed, then we were off to the Mandarin Oriental for afternoon tea. Then we walked through Central park and grabbed waffles and the Wafels and Dinges cart. It was such a beautiful day! The park was filled with cotton trees and was just so gorgeous. 

After enjoying the park, we walked down 5th Avenue to Rockefeller Center, through Times Square and grabbed drinks at the View, a rotating restaurant with stunning 360 degree views of the city right at sunset. Then we went to the theater where I had to pump before the show (I swear, I pumped all over this city! haha). I was so excited to see the show, Something Rotten (starring Brian D'Arcy James and Christian Borle)! I hadn't seen a Broadway show in so long, it was a brand new show with lots of buzz, and my friend was in it! I spotted Aleks right away (he has a very specific style) and he was so great! The show was fantastic. They got a standing ovation for a number of the show (and another one at the end, but I've never seen one at any other time before). It was honestly such a fantastic show, I could easily see it again and again. After the show, we met Aleks backstage, then we went to Max Brenner for late night snacks and desserts. It was so fun to catch up with Aleks! 

On April 20th, we went to the Top of the Rock. I've done the Empire State Building a few times before, but had never been to the Top of the Rock, and I have to say, I think I liked it better. It helped that it was another gorgeous day and that they had photographers taking photos of us. ;) 

After that, we went to the Shake Shack in Times Square to grab lunch before Phillip's show. While enjoying our lunch a crazy man came in and started yelling, attacking people, throwing chairs and using a paint canister as a bat. At one point someone yelled gun (thankfully he didn't actually have a gun) and a large crowd of us ran down the street and took cover. The male employees eventually jumped on him, holding him down until police arrived. My mom and sister were covered in paint (as was the store, sidewalk and nearby cars). A few people had minor injuries, but thankfully nothing serious. The staff were amazing and handled the situation so well. After the shock wore off I of course got a picture with the police officers to document the craziness. (The pictures don't fully depict the chaos and destruction as we had other priorities in the moment). 

After that scary experience, we walked to the theater, where I squeezed in another bathroom pump session before the show. Phillip had gotten us the most amazing seats and we were so excited to see the show (starring Kristin Chenoweth and Peter Gallagher). He had a featured role as one of four tapping Porters and he was fantastic! The show was much more old-school and so different from Something Rotten, which was more modern, but equally amazing and equally as funny. We loved it and all agreed that we could easily see it again. After the show we met Phillip backstage, where Peter Gallagher was giving a talk to a group of students. Then Kristin walked by and my mom got her photo, so that made her trip. Then we caught up with Phillip and his fiancee, Joy, over coffee and an Italian dinner. It was so nice to spend time with Phillip, it had been way too long, and it was a great way to end a fantastic (albeit crazy) weekend. 

New York Day 5

After having two semi-successful nights with Hudson (if you define successful as throwing our sleep training out the window and me getting up and feeding Hudson every time he cried, which ended up being about 2-3 times each night) he fell apart again. After a feeding, Hudson would not go back to sleep (which is not like him at all!). After a good 45 minutes to an hour of crying around 1am, Nic went and got him. We took turns all night holding Hudson so we again had a night of almost no sleep! 

On Monday, February 18th, we took Hudson to FAO Schwartz. I took him on the Giant Piano. He didn't really weigh enough to make it work, but I still think he was fascinated by the whole thing. His favorite thing though was a kid size fire truck. It even had a bell on it and Hudson LOVED it!! (We might have to get him one for his 1st birthday!). We had a blast walking through the toy store and escaped without buying a single thing! 

We met my mom and sister outside of the toy store for our walk to lunch. We walked through Central Park and couldn't have been a more beautiful day!

We went to Shake Shack for lunch. This was the meal I had most been looking forward to the entire trip and it did not disappoint. I got the Shack Stack which is a cheeseburger and a 'shroom burger (a crisp-fried portobello mushroom filled with melted muenster and cheddar cheese) combined with lettuce and shack sauce. It was incredible!! I have been dreaming about eating another one ever since. I also got fries and a black and white shake. YUM!! 

I wanted to go to the Levain Bakery afterwards for some supposedly amazing cookies. We didn't have time though so I'll either have to wait until next time or maybe I will order some (while not the same as fresh out of the oven, I have heard that they are still pretty delicious!). We raced back to the hotel, packed up and headed to the airport.

As we got through security at JFK, we noticed live music was playing. It was the song Home and I suddenly realized it sounded an awful lot like Phillip Phillips. He was performing a mini-concert in the terminal. It was pretty cool!! 

Hudson did great on our flight back home. He fussed a few times, but considering the flight was about 2 hours longer than the flight to NY (we had to go around some bad weather) he did really well. I even got in some TV. 

Overall, we had a fantastic trip. The thought of traveling with a little one can seem overwhelming, but it only takes a little bit of extra planning and some extra luggage. ;) We obviously didn't sleep much, but I don't recall sleeping much on past trips to NY either (obviously for different reasons: partying, late night dinners, and Broadway shows) and we didn't feel like we weren't able to do anything we wanted to because Hudson was along. In fact, having Hud with us encouraged us to explore things we hadn't before, like the wonderful walks in the park and the Disney store. I love New York so much and I'm really glad I was able to get back there. We really had a great family trip!! 

New York Day 4

On Sunday, February 17th, we left Hudson with the babysitter again to head out and see The Book Of Mormon on Broadway. It is from the creators of South Park and obviously offensive, but if you go in with the proper expectations, it is a really funny show. I always love seeing Broadway shows and it was great that we were able to squeeze one in on this short trip.

After the show, we went back to the hotel to grab Hudson, then go for dinner. We went to Tao. Last time Nic and I went to the one in Vegas we were a bit disappointed, but our faith was restored. It was just as delicious as I remembered it. Hudson slept through most of the dinner again so that was great! 

After dinner, Nic and I ventured out to check out some of the city.We walked to Rockefeller Center and watched the ice skaters. (Ice skating in Rockefeller Center has been on my bucket list for a while and it never seems to happen. This time it was cold and late and Hudson was drifting in and out of sleep in the Ergo so I didn't want to upset him. I guess I will just have to come back someday!).

After Rockefeller Center we walked to Times Square. We checked out Toys R Us and the Disney store. Times Square was pretty empty again. It was the coldest night of our trip and the wind had really picked up so we didn't want to be out for too long with Hudson, but we couldn't help but go up the stand where you can see yourself on a giant billboard in Times Square. The few certain spots in the middle take your photo than put you in funny scenes like on a taxi or bobble heads, but Hudson kind of freaked out once we got up there. The wind was really intense and he was not happy with the freezing cold wind slapping his face. We decided it wasn't worth waiting for the special photos and instead quickly got our photo then got out of the cold. We could tell Hudson had had enough of the cold and wind so we went back to the hotel.

New York Day 3-Steuerer Wedding

On Saturday, February 16th, Nic took Hudson for a walk along Central Park to get breakfast while Sabrina, my mom and I went to Warren-Tricomi to get our hair done. 

Once our hair was done, we went up to the room to finish getting ready. We left Hud with a babysitter in the room and took off for Kelley and Kevin's wedding. 

The ceremony was at St. Ignatius church. It was a beautiful church and a very nice ceremony. 

After the ceremony, we went to Central Park to take some photos, then went to the hotel lobby to wait for the cocktail hour to start. 

The cocktail hour was great! They had cheese fondue, carving stations, and a martini luge. 

When Hudson woke up I went to feed him and we threw his tux on him and took him downstairs for some photos. We also briefly took Hud into the wedding reception. He was a very popular wedding crasher. 

The reception was a lot of fun. We sat with a bunch of really nice people, the food was delicious and a very talented band played. The cake, desserts and Eloise at the Plaza dessert bar were also fantastic.

After the reception, Kelley and Kevin had an after party in the Oak Room. Each guest got some sunglasses and we enjoyed a lot of delicious food. They had passed french fires, hot dogs, burgers, and my favorite: mini ice cream cones on sprinkle covered plates YUM!!

It was a beautiful wedding and a really fun day, but the best part was the kiss I got from my little man when we got back to the room!!

New York Day 2

Nic and Sabrina took red eye flights then shared a cab to the hotel. Sabrina watched Hudson for a bit while Nic and I slept. We both really needed it!! (thanks Auntie Beena). 

Then we went on Hudson's 1st subway ride (he was fascinated) to the Empire State Building.  

It was completely empty and such a beautiful day!! We had a great time!!

After the Empire State Building we went back to the hotel. Nic hung out with Hudson in the room, while my mom, Sabrina and I went to high tea. It was so fun and delicious!! The English Breakfast tea was SO delicious and all of the food was great too!! We had roast beef sandwiches, smoked salmon with endive, Roquefort with shaved grapes and watercress (this was surprisingly yummy), prosciutto with mozzarella and pesto on bread (this one was my favorite), curried lobster salad with apple, deviled quail eggs, smoked salmon with wild sturgeon and roasted turkey sandwiches with cranberry chutney, Every single thing was delicious!! Then we had the most amazing scones with clotted cream and jam. I forgot how much I love good scones!! Of course, the tea wouldn't be complete with a bunch of pastries and sweets too!! It was so relaxing and so fun! I am really glad we were able to have a nice girls afternoon. 

After the tea, we took a little nap and got ready for dinner. We went to an Italian restaurant called Bianca's that my mom discovered on a previous trip. It was super tiny, but delicious. Hudson slept through most of the meal, so that was nice. 

After dinner,we went to Momofuku Milk Bar. We got the cereal milk, compost, cornflake and blueberry cookies, b-day cake truffles, and a crack pie. Everything was delicious!! 

We took the subway back to the hotel and walked along Central Park. It was beautiful at night!!

What a fabulous day!! I love New York so much!!

*That night, Nic came up with the brilliant idea to put Hudson's crib in the bathroom. It worked! I had to get up a few times during the night to feed him, but compared to the night before, it was a huge improvement! 

New York Day 1

On February 14th, Hudson, my mom and I left for NYC. We zipped through the airport (I must brag that I am getting pretty good at the security checks with the little guy) and raced to our gate. My mom stopped to get Starbucks while I went ahead with Hudson to board. I got there after my boarding group so I went ahead of a huge group of people. As I was checking in the airline employee took my ticket and told me my seat had been re-assigned. She was acting a bit strange and I was concerned because we were all supposed to be sitting together. I explained that I had paid for a seat for my son and I wanted to make sure we were going to be together. She said we were still together so not to worry...we were being upgraded (wink wink). She handed me my 1E boarding pass (she only gave me one which I questioned but again she strangely acted as though I was being paranoid and sent us on our way) and off we went. It was a bit of a challenge to get Hudson (in his car seat) and my rolling suitcase onto the plane and I was a bit rushed/flustered. I walked up to my empty row and got Hudson and I situated. I was trying to play it cool, but I was pretty darn ecstatic that Hudson and I were in 1st class!! It wasn't just any 1st class either, it was the really fancy 1st class with beds!! I've never sat in 1st class before and couldn't believe that Hudson was going to get to sit in 1st class on his 3rd flight ever!! (On a side note you should have seen the looks we got from the other 1st class passengers when we walked to our seats. They were not so excited to have a little baby in 1st class with them). There was one more seat against the window across the aisle so I figured that seat must be for my mom (she travels all the time and always gets upgraded so I figured she would for sure be upgraded before us) and that is what she meant by us not sitting together. I took a picture of Hud (the photo didn't really show that we were in 1st class, but remeber I was trying to be low key) and the boarding pass and sent both to Nic. He has never sat in 1st class either and couldn't believe his little boy was so lucky to already experience such luxuries at such a young age. When a man sat across the aisle I realized that my mom wasn't going to be in 1st class with us so I called her to see how mad she was going to be. She thought it was weird that we got upgraded and not her and said that we should just ditch Hudson's carseat so we could all 3 sit up there. (I didn't really like that idea because we got Hudson his own seat mainly for safety reasons...plus let's be honest, I didn't want to be holding squirmy boy the whole flight). Just as we were getting all settled in, a lady came up and said we were in her seat. Before I knew it a United employee was standing next to me requesting my tickets. Apparently, we were only given one upgrade (one seat) and if I wanted to sit up there I needed to hold Hudson the whole flight. I explained to her that I had asked the lady specifically about that and she implied that we had two seats together. I told her that a simple solution would be to let my mom sit in the 1st class seat if she could find 2 seats together in the back for Hudson and me. She said if I gave up my seat it couldn't go to my mom, but the next person on the upgrade list (which we realized later was in fact Hudson (haha) then my mom). So I asked if they could find a seat for Hudson in the back with my mom. Our original row was still empty so Hudson and I ended up in the row by ourselves and my mom got to sit in 1st class. Everyone was sucked into all the drama and it was pretty embarrassing when Hudson and I made our walk of shame out of 1st class. It still worked out though because having our own row was nice and it would have been a nightmare holding Hudson the whole flight. Maybe someday we will get to experience 1st class, but for that flight all was "normal" and "right" again in the world. 

Hudson was so good the entire flight!! He didn't cry at all. Well, he did fuss a little bit once. I took him up to visit my mom in 1st class (she kept begging me to bring him up when he woke up) and he immediately started fussing. Everyone was sleeping in their fancy beds and I got the evil stares again when Hudson's whining was waking them up. Then I also got lectured by the flight attendant that even though I technically had been a 1st class passenger since I was no longer the ticketed 1st class passenger I wasn't allowed up there so we got kicked out of 1st class again. All I have to say about Hudson's behavior is that he could obviously sense that he wasn't welcome up in 1st class. He knows when he isn't wanted. He was so good the rest of the flight, that I was able to squeeze in a movie!! We even had people commenting in baggage claim that they had no idea a baby was even on the flight! :) Way to go Hudson!!

We had so much luggage, but the carts were $5 and we are cheap so we awkwardly maneuvered all our luggage and Hudson in the stroller over to the taxi line. Then we squeezed into a cab and headed into the city. Hudson got to ride in his 1st yellow taxi!!

We got to the Plaza and checked into our room. Upon check in we were told we had a package. At 1st we thought it was a welcome bag (for the wedding), but realized it was a flower delivery for my mom. My mom and I both kept saying how impressed we were with dad for sending Valentine's day flowers to her in NYC. When she opened the box though, we realized they were actually from Nic for me. (ooops! Apparently Nic had to address it to my mom because our room was in her name and he felt terrible about it). It was pretty cleverof him to throw me off with the can opener diversion present the day before, then surprise me with gorgeous flowers. I have the best, most thoughtful husband. Plus, we all got to enjoy the flowers in the room all weekend so it ended up being a bit of a gift for my mom after all. :)

After we settled into the room, we changed and got ready for dinner. We walked up 5th Avenue to dinner at Koi. I carried Hudson in the Ergo, which was perfect. The restaurant was pretty empty when we got there so we enjoyed a great dinner without stressing about Hudson ruining people's romantic Valentine dinners. We had a booth so Hudson just sat and played while we enjoyed the most delicious sushi!! I was off my diet and in 7th Heaven!! 

After dinner, we walked to Times Square. We stopped to admire the Empire State building which was pink for Valentine's Day. We were surprised at how empty Times Square was. Hudson loved Times Square!! He was staring up at all the lights mesmerized by it all. It was so cute!! 

From Times Square, we walked back to the hotel and got ready for bed. I did Hudson's normal bedtime routine and put him in the crib while my mom and I hid in the bathroom. (We decided to keep Hudson on Cali time, which worked out perfect for dinners, etc.) Hudson cried for about 45 minutes before I couldn't take it any longer and went in. It was so stressful because I knew we were annoying other guests at 10pm (which quickly became 11pm) with his hysterics. I tried putting a hand on him, shushing him, and patting him, but he only cried more. I finally had to pick him up (once I did that I knew I was screwed). I looked over at the big empty bed and had this brilliant idea to co-sleep. I figured Hudson can sleep on Nic's side of the bed...it will be great...he will be close to me and maybe we can even snuggle a bit. Boy was my romantic vision of co-sleeping way off!! If your baby has never co-slept before apparently a hotel room on vacation isn't a good time to try it out. I ended up holding Hudson in my arms all night. At one point I tried to scoot down and rest my head on a pillow with him still in my arms (with no blankets because blankets made me nervous), Hudson was so close and every time I tried to move him away, he cried. In fact every so often he cried just because (well, probably because he was like why the heck am I sleeping in your arms instead of my crib!). Needless to say I got little to no sleep that night! I kept thinking I hope Nic is sleeping on his red eye because I am going to need his help-but it turned out he had just as tiring of a night!.