The Fat Hydrangea

Sara Michelle - Columbus, Ohio

Travel

NYC Trip

TravelSara Michelle B.2 Comments

This past weekend I left the boys with Evan and headed off to NYC for a girls weekend with my best friend Sally, who lives in Chelsea! NYC is one of my favorite places in the world. I love the buzz of the city, the amazing food, the beautiful parks, the shopping, the architecture, and the history. I try to go at least once a year!

I flew in early Friday morning and began the day with donuts at Donut Plant, while eating in a tiny park with an amazing view of the Flatiron building. I then went on a mini-shopping spree on 5th avenue - there is no better place to shop in the country, I'm convinced! I toured all four floors of the Restoration Hardware located behind the flatiron building. It was divine. I then went to the Tory Sport flagship store, and let me tell you, this store was pretty much designed for me! The interior design was as awesome as the clothes. I loved it so much I even plan on doing another post on this brand/store sometime over the next week! After hitting a few more stores, we went and got cookies from Levain Bakery. It is a tiny, hole in the wall shop but they make the biggest, best chocolate chip cookies in the world. We made our way over a few blocks to Central Park and kicked off our shoes and sat in Sheep Meadow to soak up the sun and eat our cookies. This is one of my favorite views of NYC! I would be here with the kids all the time if I lived in NYC. We then went and had a glass of wine on the patio at the Boathouse while catching up and reminiscing about old times. Later that night we went out for dinner at another one of my NYC favorites, the Meatball Shop. After dinner we made our way back to Sally's beautiful apartment and watched the season premiere of Project Runway! Perfect Mom's Day Out! One of my best days ever (other than totally missing my boys, but still, it is healthy to get away once in awhile!)

Saturday we woke up late (8:00am.. late for me! Lol) and went and got the most amazing bagel I've ever had from Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Co. I had a coconut bagel with strawberry cream cheese. It was heavenly! We then walked over the High Line, an old train track converted into the most beautiful urban park. It is like a bike path in the sky. If you have never been to NYC, it is the #1 place I recommend going to check out. Around lunch time, we made our way on the ferry over to Governor's Island for the 2016 Vendy Awards event. Basically it is an event where you pay a general admission and get to try food from 30 of the most amazing food trucks in NYC! It was the most beautiful day and I had some absolutely outstanding food. Not to mention, the view of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty were amazing from the island. Once we were in total food comas and the sun started to set, we hopped on the ferry and made our way back to Sally's apartment in Chelsea. If you follow my instagram, you know that our night took a major turn for the worst when a bomb went off RIGHT outside of Sally's apartment. It sounded like a firework and a major car crash at the same time. We were super shaken up and it was a really scary night. I keep thanking God we weren't outside at the time and that no one was seriously injured.   Honestly I'm still shaking but I'm trying to see all the good in the fact the first responders got there within a single minute - seriously, that the people of NYC are diligent and thwarted two more bombs going off, and that the NYC/NJ police captured the man in less than 48-hours. It could have been way worse and I'm just so glad we are all ok and the perpetrator will be brought to justice. Anyway, I don't want to dwell on the bad. I love New York and ALWAYS will and I look forward to annual trips back there for the rest of my life! Here are some pictures of my trip:

Views from Governor's Island

Sheep Meadow in Central Park

The High Line

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NYC High Line in Spring

Flowers, TravelSara Michelle B.Comment

I'm so  ready for spring I can barely stand it! The forecast in Cleveland today is 42 and cloudy. The skies are gray, the snow is muddy, and my yard is a SWAMP! I was going through some photos and found this collection I took in NYC in April 2013 along the High Line. (Aka my favorite part of NYC!) For those of you not familiar, it is a park and a walking path built along an old, elevated train track. It is beautiful, especially in the spring! See for yourselves from these awesome pics:

If you go to NYC, this is a must see!