NYC: {Days 1 & 2}

Like I said before, we went allllll up and down the island of Manhattan on our NYC vacation. We even ventured into Brooklyn. It was a busy four days, and I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say we walked for 5+ miles on a couple of those days. It helped burn off a few of the excessive calories we were consuming at every meal! 

I just have too many pictures I want to share. It's dangerous having my nice new camera! I should do some collages or the like, but I don't want to. I want to just soak up all these pictures on their own, and make this a long ass post full of pictures. Sorry to any of you reading this on your smart phone... I know the pictures can get annoying. But it's my blog, so I'll be annoying if I want to ;)

Saturday started with a long walk from Murry Hill up to Central Park. We took a scenic walk uptown, enjoying the sights along the way. Our friends were great tour guides, stopping along the way to point out important neighborhoods or landmarks. We stopped for a required picture in Times Square, and it is as horrible a place as you'd imagine. Reminded me a lot of Navy Pier in Chicago... you have to visit sometime, but you shouldn't make it a habit. Then we continued on North, visiting the Whole Foods in Columbus Circle (my store's biggest competition), and then landing in the one and only Central Park.

We walked through the south end of Central Park, and ended up over by the Met. This seemed like a legit place to visit, so we headed on in. We only had an hour or so to spend there, so we oped to pay only part of the usual $25 donation to get in, and we spent most of that time visiting the Andy Warhol exhibit. It was interesting, and we saw some interesting art in the museum, but I'd be willing to say that the Art Institute in Chicago gives it a run for the money. The best part, for sure, was the rooftop patio. What beautiful views of Central Park and the Upper East Side!

Day two involved less walking, and maybe more drinking. We started at Danielle's for a delicious brunch, with lots of mimosas. It was nice to just relax with our friends for a bit, before another busy day of wandering New York.

Hostest with the Mostest!

After brunch, we jumped in a cab (ok, actually we ordered a towncar... so fancy, right? Thanks Daniel!), and we headed to Brooklyn. We had the hookup at Brooklyn Brewery, thanks to a connection at work, and enjoyed free beer, a tour of the brewery, and some sweet t-shirts on the house. I like hookups, and Brooklyn makes some pretty tasty beer!

I was reunited with my Chicago friend Stacy! She's living in New York now,
and it was great to catch up with her. We always end up having a good time together!

A couple people wandered off and asked us to hold their drinks.
Daniel and I felt quite powerful in this situation.

After the brewery, we took the train to Cobble Hill, a cute Brooklyn neighborhood. Unfortunately, we didn't have much time, but we stopped long enough to enjoy a cocktail and some live music at Bar Tabac. I could tell it was a great area to hang out in, but it was later on a Sunday evening, so a lot of shops were closed. Plus, we had plans to meet friends back in Midtown, so we finished our drinks and zipped back to meet up.

The first two days were quite a success, full of more adventures than I could even capture here! We got some necessary sightseeing out of the way (Times Square-- no bueno), and soaked up the vibes of both Brooklyn and the Upper West Side. We were charmed, for sure, and went to bed Sunday feeling grateful that we still had a couple more days of exploring to do.

To Be Continued...