I wanna be a part of it...New York, New York

New York is one of my favorite cities. I have had to travel there lots for work and I just love the excitement and energy.  There is so much history, so much to do and see, and some dang good food. Last weekend Andrew had to go to New York for work, so naturally I needed to tag along with him and hang out. It was so much fun to be on the other end of traveling. Lots of times when we travel Andrew follows me while I work. It was a blast to kick back and tag along with him and just be able to enjoy myself! 

I'll admit I felt a little guilty because we had just been in Hawaii the week before but I didn't let that stop me from going. Our families were sweeties and took Chance so we could spend the weekend together exploring.  It was such a fun quick trip and it was dreamy to explore one of my favorite places with Andrew. I felt so good the whole time and was grateful to have energy to walk around and have energy. I don't think I'll ever take feeling good for granted again. We missed Chance but think it's so important to keep dating and have experiences with just the two of us. There's something about doing new things together that keeps things interesting and I love it! 

The first thing we both wanted to do was go through the 9/11 museum. I had done this before for one of my work trips but wanted to go through with Andrew. It's such a special place and felt really sacred. I was in 7th grade when 9/11 happened and will never forget it. Visiting this place made me appreciate our great country even more and grateful for all the brave servicemen and women who have lost their lives fighting for our country. Because of them I can just live my life in my safe house with my little family and I am forever grateful for that. 

We spent most of the day walking around the city and that evening took the Subway out to a Yankees game. It was so cool to be in Yankee stadium together! The energy was unreal and we experienced a New York miracle. We didn't purchase tickets in advance, we just figured we would show up and buy them from someone. Andrew was talking to a ticket scalper when a random couple walked up to us and offered us free tickets to sit with them in their suite. They just said they had extras and we looked like a "nice couple". It was so awesome we couldn't believe our luck. We bought them drinks as a thank you and had a blast hanging out with them and talking to them all night. They couldn't believe we were Mormon and that I worked and that we were "normal". I just told them they didn't know us good enough and we definitely weren't normal. :) I will say it's fun to be Mormon outside of Utah. It makes me proud of who we are and I like talking about it with people.

The next day we did some more site seeing. I showed Andrew my favorite area of New York which is Soho (the shopping obviously) and we ate at a cute little underground pizza place with the best  old school pop music playing on Pandora. It brought me back to my high school glory days. I asked the waiter what it was (Summer Hits of the 2000s) and I've been listening to it regularly ever since.  We also walked along the Highline (a must if you're in the city) and explored Chelsea market for a bit.

That evening we spent some time at Chelsea Market and Washington Square. One cool thing we loved was walking up to the Strangers Project and reading the stories of strangers. It was so fun and fascinating and I love this campaign. I now follow them on Instagram.

We topped the night off with some solid people watching at Times Square and then headed to my favorite (Magnolia Bakery) to pick up some brownies and milk. We walked over to Rockefeller Center and sat down and had our dessert and talked like a real couple who is dating. I loved it so much.

The next day we slept in , then our smoke alarm kept going off which was exciting. We spent our last day at Central Park, the Met, and walked around the temple, Julliard, and Lincoln Center. We enjoyed the people watching at Central Park and even saw a beautiful male model in action by the fountain. We both couldn't look away because he was so dreamy. It was fun enjoying this pretty park and just strolling. We've been married for almost 6 years and I still feel cool walking around on Andrew's arm because he's so tall and handsome. We did have one bump in the road when I had a mild panic attack when we couldn't find a restroom in the park but finally found one...it was wayyy too close of a call. Chance has ruined my bladder forever. TMI. 

Moving on, It was colder than I thought it would be and I whined a little bit to Andrew that I was mad I didn't bring cuter fall clothes but Andrew let me wear his jacket and we survived. 

^^99% sure Andrew's flexing in this one😅...I would too if my triceps looked like that!^^

On our last night we went to see Wicked which was the highlight of the trip. It was so good I cried. I can't believe the talent some people have. I am not artsy at all but I appreciate it. Andrew surprisingly loves plays too and we had a ball. We ate dinner at a Thai place across the street (way too late, we were starving) and finished the night off with more people watching and getting these rad caricature pictures done of the both of us (on our bucket list). 

 We took the red-eye home that night which is always the worst but it was cheap and we are scrappy. It was a fun quick getaway and I'm so grateful to Andrew for working so hard for us so we can do fun things and make memories together. Until next time, New York!  

xoxo

-steph