nyc babymoon - part 2

ok, so i got us covered up through saturday night., right?

sunday morning, we woke up and ordered room service.  it was outrageously expensive (we paid more for our breakfast in bed than we do for most of our dinners out), but it was so lovely to relax in our bed and just have breakfast brought to us.  not to mention, it was delicious.  i had cinnamon raisin challah french toast with a mixed berry mascarpone.  it was heavenly.  after we finished our breakfast, matt got in the shower and i lounged around a bit more.  finally, i got in the (rain) shower and then we headed out to catch the subway up to 72nd street.  the subway was right outside our hotel, so it was really easy.  we took the c train north and got off at 72nd street.

i have been in new york city what feels like a gazillion times and have never once seen the dakota building or the john lennon memorial in central park.  so we decided we'd stop there on our way up to the american museum of natural history.  standing in the place where john lennon once lived and where he was shot and killed was an odd feeling.  i have been a beatles fan for as long as i can remember, and john was by far my favorite.  after the beatles split, he became such an outspoken advocate for peace and understanding, and everything he wrote, spoke, and sang about has always deeply resonated with me.  after standing there and admiring the dakota for a few minutes, we crossed the street and walked into central park to strawberry fields, the section of the park dedicated to the memory of john lennon.  we stopped very briefly at the memorial and took a few pictures and then walked through the park up to 77th street to the museum.

guard tower outside the dakota

the gate and driveway where john lennon was shot

the  memorial

in central park

i have been at the american museum of natural history once, and thought it was really incredible.  i wanted to take matt there and he'd never seen actual dinosaur fossils, so he was looking forward to going.  the first thing i did, though, was take a picture of the building. 

almost 16 years ago, 3 of my very best friends and i sat, huddled with about 700 other cheerleaders, on those front steps, waiting for the 1996 macy's thanksgiving day parade to begin.  it was 18-degrees out, freezing drizzle, and we could not have been more cold.  but it was one of the most exciting days of my life, and i wouldn't trade it for the world.  we marched in that parade, cheering our hearts out, and then performed out dance at herald's square like it was the last dance we'd ever do.  i will never ever forget that day.  it has such a special place in my heart.

anyway, after i got my fill of nostalgia, we headed into the museum.  we only really had about an hour, so we headed straight up to the 4th floor to check out the dinosaurs.  you guys, dinosaurs are so cool.  once we finally finished gawking at the fossils and bones and marveling at their size, we went down to the african mammals exhibit.  if you ever get a chance to see the museum of natural history, please take more time to wander through all the animal exhibits.  they are just amazng, and i really wish we'd had more time. 

t-rex!

huge prehistoric turtle

matt calls me cheetah and padfoot is little cheetah.  i know, he's weird

 

unfortunately, we had a bus to catch, so we caught the subway back to the hotel, hopped in a cab, and got back on the bus to head home. 

it was a short weekend, but i'm so glad we got the chance to get a way for a bit. 

nyc babymoon

this past saturday, matt and i spent the night in new york city as a combination anniversary trip and babymoon.  one of the many things i love about living in philadelphia is that we are a mere 90 minutes from new york city.  it is a relatively easy drive, but it's even easier to hop an amtrak or a megabus to get us there.  it makes it a great one-night getaway, and that is just what we needed.

matt had to work saturday morning, so i met him at the train station around 1:30 to catch our megabus to the city.  we opted for megabus over amtrak because it saved us $130.  amtrak is lovely, but megabus is actually rather comfortable and only 30 minutes slower.  we got a great deal at the intercontinental times square on hotwire.  it ended up being the perfect location, at just 2 blocks from times square, and there was a subway station right outside the front doors.  not to mention, it was beautiful.

our bus was actually a little late getting into the city (we've taken megabus 6 times and this is the first time this ever happened - usually they are right on time, if not early).  we were a little time crunched, so we decided to take a cab to the hotel.  cabs in new york city are an adventure in and of themselves, and as long as you don't get carsick, it's definitely something you should experience at least once in your life.  we got to the hotel around 4:45, checked in, dropped off our luggage, and headed right back out to walk over to the tkts booth in times square.

this was my first time actually using the tkts booth, and i had absolutely no idea what to expect.  i had prepared myself for an hour-long wait, and was very pleasantly surprised when our wait was no more than about 15 minutes, if that.  if you are relatively flexible in what you want to see, i definitely recommend going this route.  on our walk over, we talked about what we'd like to see.  our first choice was once and our 2nd choice was rock of ages.  i also suggested chaplin because i'd read some good reviews, but mostly because a girl i grew up with is in it and i thought it would be so cool to see her perform on broadway!  unfortunately by the time we got there, they did not have any tickets for once available.  for rock of ages, all they had left for that were partial-view seats.  we were actually ok with that, but then they also only had single seats.  we were not ok with that.  and even though we had already talked about what our third choice would be, suddenly, standing there having to make a decision, i panicked.  i looked at matt and just blurted out, "ok, um, phantom of the opera?"  matt said ok, and we had ourselves 2 tickets to phantom of the opera at 50% off.  as we walked away, i thought, "i'm such an idiot...why didn't i ask for chaplin?"  i mentioned this to matt and he said, "yeah, i said that to you, but i guess you didn't hear me."  darn it.

anyway, we rushed back to the hotel and got ready for our night out.  i had rented a dress from mine for nine, and would absolutely do it again.  for $40, i got a dress (actually, 2, since you get to get two sizes of each item so that you can be sure to get a good fit) for 2 weeks.  they send it to you with all the stuff you need to mail it back (return postage included). so i got into my fancy dress and matt put on his shirt and tie and we headed out for dinner.  we had made reservations at a restaurant called strand bistro.  our reservations were for 6:30, but i wasn't worried because it rarely takes us more than hour to eat a meal.  strand bistro was this cool little place, set up a bit like a library lounge.  it had old books lining the walls, and the seating was soft cushy chairs.  matt gave me the "sofa" side of the table so that i could use the pillows they had to prop myself up.  he's so thoughtful.  the food was delicious, but the service was slllooooww.  by the end, we had to ask for our dessert and for our check to be brought with our dessert.  we left there at 7:45, walked as quickly as my 5.5-months-pregnant-ass-in-heels could carry me until we were able to flag down a cab.  we only had to go about 7 blocks, but we were in a hurry and i couldn't walk very quickly.

we got to the theater at about 5 of 8, and walked in.  as we showed our tickets to the usher, she looked at the tickets and then looked at me and said "you're all the way at the top of the stairs.  like, you're literally in the last row of the theater.  are you ok to use the stairs?"  i thought it was very sweet, but i decided to tackle it.  we went slowly and i did fine, but i did not leave our seats until the end of the show.

i am terrible at taking selfies

Gorgeous theater

the show was fantastic.  i've seen phantom before and it's a beautiful show and the music is great.  and i think matt enjoyed it.  but i really wish we had seen chaplin instead.  i think it would have been a more fun show and i would have really loved seeing sara up on a broadway stage.  i have known her since she was 4 or 5, so it just would have been super cool.  oh well.  next time.  baby loved the show, that's for sure.  he was kicking like crazy throughout the entire show.  we're going to have a cultured little guy!  matt finally got to feel him kick, and his reaction was just, "wow, that's so weird!"  ack, men.

after the show, we walked over to a bar where matt had a few drinks and i watched some college football.  around midnight, i finally threw in the towel and said it was time to go.  luckly, the bar was directly across the street from our hotel, so we headed over, up to our room, and fell into bed.

that was pretty long for saturday, so i'll come back with sunday's happs tomorrow.