new york, new york

Several people have asked me to identify a few highlights from my recent trip to nyc. Well, the truth is that the entire thing was one big highlight. Yup. All of it. Even the moment I realized a blister was developing on my foot while walking to our gate in the denver airport (because this gave me an excuse to return the expensive shoes i had bought for the trip and to buy cute, cheaper shoes in nyc). Even the flight back to denver, when i could barely communicate because I was so exhausted (because i then knew i had truly taken advantage of every second that we had there).

Stef, Shauna, and I had such a great time. Here's a way-too-detailed rundown of our v-day weekend:

Thursday:

• hoped/prayed that our plane could actually land in nyc (post-blizzard)
• boarded plane
• drank champagne on plane
• landed at la guardia
• took a taxi to snowy brooklyn
• greeted by noelle at her sweet apartment
• slept for three hours

Friday:

• woke up early -- way too early
• arrived at battery park (coffee in hand) at 8:00
• discussed the geography/politics/history of the u.s. with george, who was visiting from greece (by himself, for the first time)

(view of the statue from the pedestal)

• rode the ferry to liberty island
• climbed 354 steep, spiral steps to the crown
• admired the view, as well as the close-up of lady liberty's strong arms

(shauna & stef in the crown)

• carefully climbed down the steep, scary steps

• rode the ferry to ellis island
• sped through the museum, found a few rutherfords on the wall outside
• rode the ferry back to manhattan
• explored the financial district, world trade center site, st. paul's (current wtc memorial site), the west village (my favorite -- best coffee ever), chinatown (had to search for fake purses), little italy, and the east village
• ate a yummy dinner in the east village at a tiny italian joint (frank's)
• met rusty and autumn at a bar in the east village
• nearly passed out from exhaustion sometime around 9:00

Saturday:

• grabbed coffee in DUMBO (down under the manhattan bridge overpass)
• ate lunch at grimaldi's, which is said to have the best new-york-style pizza in nyc

(noelle, our gracious host, and shauna at grimaldi's)

• froze
• checked out some shops in williamsburg (hipster central)
• age pierogies in greenpoint (polish area of brooklyn)

(delicious pierogies in greenpoint)

• soaked in the polish culture -- including the bitter cold
• met rusty and some friends in williamsburg for some beer and bbq at fette sau, then spuyten duyvil
• wrote a haiku on the bathroom wall

(stef filing her nails at spuyten duyvil. this photo makes me laugh.)

• ate falafal (have you noticed that eating seems to have been the theme of this day?)
• rusty hailed us a cab, which turned out to be driven by the worst driver in the entire city
• tried to explain to the driver where we needed to go, but he couldn't seem to understand
• realized we were being pulled over by a cop
• discovered that our driver had no license (and that we were most likely not in the cash cab)
• giggled the entire time
• shauna sent noelle cryptic texts
• finally arrived back at noelle's place with a fun story to tell

Sunday:

• walked/ran across the brooklyn bridge to manhattan. amazing.

• realized we were running really late (had to be at the MOMA for the Tim Burton exhibit between 10:30 and 11:00
• ran through the streets of manhattan, trying to get to the MOMA on time. incredibly dramatic.
• arrived at the MOMA at 11:02, and were allowed in because, well, it was valentine's day
• loved, loved, loved the tim burton exhibit. what an interesting guy! so dark! poems, notes to johnny depp, drawings . . . so cool.
• wandered through the museum and was finally able to see "starry night" in person, as well as dali's "persistence of memory," which was much smaller than i had expected. wow.

• explored 5th ave, where we picked out our engagement rings at tiffany's. the elevator operator caught us in the act -- "recon mission." yup. obviously.
• walked through central park
• stumbled upon strawberry fields and the dakota building

• stalked celebrities in bryant park (it was fashion week)
• admired the craziness of times sqaure

• looked for tina fey and alec baldwin at rockefeller center
• ate dinner with the ladies (v-day celebration)

Monday:

• made a quick trip into manhattan and went to alice's tea cup (an alice-in-wonderland-themed cafe) to meet up with shauna's friend, karyn, and my friend, darcy, who now lives in new jersey.

• attempted to keep our eyes open as we ate breakfast and then made our way back to brooklyn. exhausted.
• sadly went back to la guardia and boarded the plane
• planned to go back asap