If I Can Make it There, I'll Make it Anywhere.

Well, happy anniversary to us. (our 10 year anniversary was in August--but who wants to go anywhere in August? Just too darn hot)

Kyle started planning a trip for us in March! Guess who is the planner in this relationship? We spent more time planning the trip than planning our wedding. ("we" may be a little strong. "I" did nothing but get the kids ready and figure out what I was going to wear in NYC).

We were gone for 6 whole days! Only possible because of the greatness of our parents. Both sets of grandparents took care of all 4 kids for several days at a time. No small feat.

Hank is adorable but a full time job for sure! We can't thank you enough for allowing us to celebrate our anniversary together and without kids. Our kids had a great time and we loved our time alone.

If we had to title our vacation, it would be called, "Eating our way through New York City: One cupcake at a time."

Not very catchy is it? I'll work on it.

Here are a bunch of pictures. I will do my best to narrate our trip through these photographs.

One place that was everywhere in NYC was a fresh sandwich/salad place called Pret A Manger. Now you are supposed to say it in a French way (something like Pret a mon jay). Of course, we used our thickest Texas accent to say it the way it looks. Pret a Manger. Like baby Jesus was born in a manger.

We went there several times. The food was delicious, fast, not too expensive and not so heavy.

Kyle had an app on his phone that we used a lot. Hipstamatic. Here is the beautiful St. Patricks Cathedral.

See me and Matt Lauer? He is totally checking me out.

Side note: You will see an insane amount of pictures of me. We used Kyle's camera and not mine as much. The photographer is now the subject.

Best money we spent--we bought a 7 day subway pass. We rode it all the time. It took me a while to really navigate the subway system well. And on the last day I got cocky and got on the wrong train--twice.

I love the subway. But the subway stations are filthy. Mayor Bloomberg--can you take care of that please?

Just some more cool pics. I forgot what this is called. It is in Washington Square. You know the scene in When Harry Met Sally, when she drops him off in New York? It's here.

We went to so many bakeries while in NYC. Kyle wrote down any cupcake place we saw on Food Network or read about in a magazine or heard about. We went to almost all of them.

Here is my favorite one. Butter Lane (Ted Allen's recommendation). I liked the chocolate cake with creamy peanut butter frosting.
We went to Grand Central Terminal. Just like in the movies. So cool. Our pics didn't turn out so great from the inside. Lighting wasn't great. But it is a beautiful building.
Still in Grand Central Terminal. (Not too far from our hotel)

We went to two Broadway shows. The Addams Family and Promises, Promises. Here I am outside of the theater waiting to see Promises, Promises with Kristen Chenoweth, Sean Hayes (Will & Grace), and Molly Shannon. It was awesome! We had front row seats. I could see their spit--they were that close. It was Molly Shannon's opening night. She was so fabulous. She played a drunk and overly flirtatious female. It was a stretch for her. :)

Eating a muffin at the famous Magnolia Bakery. After going to the Regis and Kelly show. Delicious.
In the audience at Regis and Kelly. They were great. Very gracious. Regis is old! Kelly is about Lainey's size! Tiny. She visited with the audience during the commercial breaks. We saw Condalezza Rice and Hilary Duff and a surprise guest--Jim Parsons (Big Bang Theory).

We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge one day. So cool. It was beautiful the whole week we were there. I love the history of the bridge. Did you know that a woman was the one in charge of the building of the bridge in the last years? And on the first day it opened in the late 1800's--150,000 people walked across the bridge. If you want to know more about it, just let me know!

We saw Pat and Gina Neely from the Food Network. They did a 45 minute cooking demonstration--with a little cooking and a lot of talking. It was fun!

After we saw the Neely's, we met Meredith Davis. She is an old YoungLife kid that now lives in New York City now. It was so fun to see her and have a "local" show us around. I had never been to the Chelsea Market and Meatpacking district area. So cool. I love the West Village area as well. Meredith was a great tour guide! We loved visiting with her. And evidently, when using the term "hipsters" she is NOT referring to the style of underwear I prefer. I guess that means I am not included in the group called hipsters.

Me and Meredith on The HighLine.

On our last day, we went to Central Park and the Boathouse. We saw a commercial being filmed in the park--right by this fountain. Then when we got back to the hotel and turned on Law and Order: SVU--this same fountain was in the opening scene. Pretty cool.

Of course, we had to stop by the Today Show--or as my kids call it, "the news." It was a chilly morning so we didn't stay around too long. We just wanted to see Matt and the gang. He was super friendly to everyone and we got on tv!!

We went to little Italy to eat our last evening. When we went to New York 5 years ago with Blair and Nicole and my parents, we went to Angelo's. It was so good that we went back. It is delicious, authentic Italian food. It's our "regular" restaurant now.
After Angelo's we walked right around the corner to Ferrara's to get some pastries. This is another food network find. I don't usually like treats like these but they were delicious! The lobster tail pastry was so rich!

Here are a few other things we did:

Lunch @ Five Napkin Burger

Took wrong train (but no biggie!)

Audience member of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (he was great)

Went to H & M--like 4 times!

Ate at Pret a Manger (again)

Went in New York City Library (don't worry--didn't read anything)

Crumbs cupcakes

Went to Times Square (way too many people for me)

Ate at Freemans (very obscure location but the best meal we ate)

Found Butter Lane bakery!

Ate at The Standard Grill with Meredith

Saw a Tory Birch store--didn't go in.

Went to a place called Milk and Cookies. Got a cookie (of course)

Saw NYU campus

Went to Tenement Museum

Ate at Stage Deli

Hit Starbucks a lot (Kyle)

Walked through Lincoln Center

Ate at Shake Shack

Went to World Trade Center

Kyle did so much for this trip. Thank you so much babe for taking the time to plan all of this for us. It was so much fun! I love you. Looking forward to the next 10 years!