Life with the Shurtleff's: Summertime in NYC

I can't believe they can grow such beautiful Hydrangeas.

Kevin and Louis continuously cut them and bring them inside....

After dinner we drove back to Brooklyn to our hotel.
Here are a few pictures Chance and I took from the rooftop of our hotel in Brooklyn

I had never seen Coney Island, so I drove by that as well.

One night Chance and I took a cruise in the East River and the pictures we took are incredible. I grouped all of my "scenic" pics together at the bottom!

That afternoon my mom had flown up to spend the weekend with me in NYC. The last time she was here was when she was a child so I had a lot to show her!

I met my mom at the airport...after waiting forever! I got there very early because I was so excited and her flight was delayed....I waited about 4 hours. Thank goodness for my unlimited data plan, my iphone and Netflix!

Once she arrived, we jumped in a cab and headed to Manhattan. We checked into our hotel, got settled and before you knew it, we were off! For those of you that know me, know that I am a
P-L-A-N-N-E-R...I plan EVERYTHING.

When my mom arrived I had a very serious detailed itinerary for her. I was convinced I was going to show my mom everything...well almost everything, that Manhattan had to offer in the short 3.5 days we had left.

The first place we visited was the Empire State Building. What better way to see Manhattan for your first time then from the 86th floor....and then again from the 102 floor (1,224 feet above ground).

We stayed up there until sunset so we could take fabulous pictures! See for yourself....

The NYE Ball in Times Square!

After all of those pictures we had really worked up an appetite. My mom and I had heard about this place called, Eately near Madison Square Park, so we decided to check it out...and FELL IN LOVE!!

What I would do to shop here before each meal!

Cheese = my absolute favorite food. I was in HEAVEN!

After a wonderful dinner, we took to the streets. First place...Times Square!

My mom loves her chocolate milk! Last time I was in NYC, I took a picture holding this huge (and real!) bottle of Hershey's syrup and text it to my mom. So this trip, we just had to get a picture!

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early. First place on the list:Bryant Park, then the New York Public Library

Then across the street to Grand Central Terminal.

One of the best parts of this trip is that I did so much research on these landmarks. I created a PowerPoint with the most interesting facts from these places and emailed it to myself, so while were there I was able to open it on my phone and read some cool facts while walking around. Did you know that since 1903 this landmark is actually named Grand Central Terminal, and not Grand Central Station, which is what most people call it. There are so many interesting facts that you just don't think about when hurrying through here.Did you know that the ceiling is backwards...or that you can play tennis here? Or that there is a top secret room, hidden bar, or a whispering gallery?

Located between the Main Concourse and Vanderbilt Hall is an acoustical architectural anomaly: a whispering gallery. Sound is thrown across the 2,000 sq ft chamber, "telegraphing" across the surface of the vault and landing in faraway corners. Yes...we tried it. It kind of worked....we think.

Next to GCT is a Baked by Melissa. We had never heard of this place before but when we saw the cutest mini little cupcakes from the street window we knew we had to go in. While there I signed up for email notifications because I felt bad saying no, so now I receive these emails letting me know what flavors they have for that month and I think thats really cool! While there we tried the typical Orea, Red Velvet, etc and the flavor of the month was Watermelon! It was delicious.

We got to see the Chrysler Building!

Then we took a really cool tour of Radio City Music Hall. I would suggest everyone do it.We got to see a lot of the beautiful outfits that they wear, and we met a Rockette!

Then we went next door and did the NBC Universal tour. We got to see the stage for Saturday Night Live, and if you haven't seen this stage before then you need to! Well....there isn't much to see actually, it is very tiny!

While there, we walked through the Rockefeller Center area and had lunch in the restaurant that is level with what would be the ice skating rink during the winter. During the summer it is just set with tables.

After lunch we went up to the Top of the Rock. I have a bunch of pictures, but when I was posting them to this post they kind of got scrambled. When I come across them I will point them out.

Another thing - we just so happen to be in NYC during the heatwave this summer. We expected to have awesome comfortable weather and we were literally drenched!

Across the street is St. Patricks Cathedral, which is incredibly beautiful. Unfortunately, it's under major construction until 2015 so you almost don't get the full effect.

Scaffolding inside the church.

Then is was off to Central Park. We literally walked the entire thing...in 105 degree weather. It was awful and I don't suggest it for anyone. But we did see some great landmarks!This is Belvedere Castle...did you know that this is the location of the Central Park weather station?!

Bow Bridge...one word = stunning!Did you know that this bridge is the longest in the park, coming in at about 87 feet long.

Bethesda Fountain and Terrace = my favorite place in Central Park.

Then over to the MET to take a picture sitting on the Gossip Girl steps :)

After all this running around, my mom and I decided to head back to the hotel and get ready for the musical tonight. We saw Mamma Mia and it was by far the best musical I have EVER seen. Seriously....the best musical!

We had so much FUN!

After Mamma Mia we were hungry for dinner so we stopped in the Stardust Diner, not sure of what to expect and it was a super cool burger joint where the waitresses bust out in a song every few minutes.

The next morning we started our day in Columbus Circle. I took my mom to Time Warner Center where we did our souvenir shopping. We both bought a set of measuring cups so any time we use them we think about our trip to NYC together :)After that we walked down towards Hell's Kitchen....

Then to Chelsea to the High Line. It was hot, but still very nice out so it was packed!

We headed inside Chelsea Market for some fruit and walked around the market to look at all the beautifully colored produce.

After this we headed over to Madison Square Park. We went into Macy's on 34th street and did a little shopping.

Flatiron Building

We then headed South down 5th Ave to Washington Square Park. The NYU campus is so pretty! I could walk around all day.

My mom loves seeing this arch since it's a replica of the Arc de Triomphe and she had just been in Paris.

We then walked to SoHo because I had to show her Dash. Keeping up with the Kardashians is our guilty pleasure and I knew she would like this!

My pictures are now out of order...we walked south to Little Italy, then Chinatown, then WTC...but we will skip to our WTC pictures. We took the tour because I wanted my mom to see the beautiful memorial, and my mom knew people that had been in one of the towers during 9/11.

NYSE - Wall Street!

We walked to the center of the Brooklyn Bridge so we could take lots of pictures looking towards Manhattan.

While in Paris my mom saw the bridge that all the couples put their locks on. If you put your lock on the bridge you will return some time in your lifetime together, and still in love. I had read that people started doing this on the Brooklyn Bridge a few years ago. So although this isn't a love lock, its a best friend/mom daughter lock and we will some day return to NYC together :)

Chinatown!
Have to love this area of the city. And yes...we did do some shopping...Michael Kors handbags ;)

After touring the South of Manhattan, we went back to the hotel and got ready for dinner.
I took my mom to my favorite little restaurant in Little Italy called De Gennaro, they have the best olive oil dipping sauce, very heavy on the garlic though so watch out!

It started raining so we had to move under the covered patio...but we didn't let that ruin our night!

After dinner we walked through Times Square again and took in everything TS has to offer!Sunday morning we woke up bright and early so we could go out to the Statue of Liberty before heading to the airport to come back home.I had never taken the tour and was excited about it, but when we got there it was WAY more than I expected. My mom and I walked through the museum part before checking out the view and learned so many new things!

It was so incredibly hot that we had to use an umbrella to keep cool.

The entire time I was there I knew one of my friends from college was also in town with her mom but we were never able to meet up. While walking around the Island I ran into her. Of all the people in Manhattan, I run into her on a tiny Island!It was so good seeing you Stef!

After the S.O.L. we decided our last place to eat while here needed to be New York Style pizza, so we went to Grimaldi's!

Then back to the hotel to pack up and leave. Mom - I had the absolute best time with you. You are one of the most fun people to travel with, probably because we are so similar. We love exploring new places and learning all of the interesting facts there is to learn about a place. I will always remember this trip we took together and would say it brought us closer together, but I don't think you can bring us any closer :) I look forward to going back and checking to see if our lock is still on the bridge! Love you bunches xoxoBelow are a few random pictures I took while there...ok I actually have to give Chance some credit for some of these because they are really cool. I'll point them out below.