Mom and T come to NYC!!

In what my mom and I figured out was mom's 9th trip to New York City since I moved here in July 2006 (it was Taryn's 4th, still a respectable number!), my mom and sister and I had a great weekend in New York City last weekend, despite chilly temperatures and windy conditions.

They arrived on Thursday morning at 9am, and I waited for them at our apartment so that I could let them in. They had to get up at 4:45am to make their flight from Detroit, so mom and T were pretty tired by the time they got here. I left right away for work, and they spent the day wandering around the Upper East Side and taking a much-needed nap.

Thursday night Taylor and I met them at Blockhead's Burritos after work for our classic 2-margarita dinner. Mom and Taylor look like they are having a little more fun, what do you think??

Thursday night we had a blast after 2 margaritas (like it's hard!). We headed back to our apartment, watched music videos, played some skip-bo, and had a good old time!

On Friday, I took the day off work to spend time with mom and T.

We started out with pedicures, the one thing that's cheaper in New York than it is everywhere else:
After pedis, we headed downtown to the meatpacking district. We checked out The High Line, a former elevated roadway that's been converted into a really great park. Here's a photo of mom and T in this one area where you are actually over the roadway:

From Mom and Taryn come to NYC 2011

Despite the pretty weather, it was COLD!

Then, we headed to The House of Bumble, the headquarters of a company whose hair products Taryn's salon in Perrysburg carries. They have this amazing space with a delicious little cafe where we got lunch and a great view of the city. Here are some shots!

The Salon space:

From Mom and Taryn come to NYC 2011

The view of the Hudson River:

From Mom and Taryn come to NYC 2011

After the House of Bumble, we headed to Soho where we got a little chocolate fix at Marie Belle, a beautiful little chocolate shop with $2.50, 1" X 1" chocolates. They are screen-printed with artwork made by the husband of the shop's owner. Check it out:

From Mom and Taryn come to NYC 2011

After shopping for a little while in Soho, we headed home for a nap and to get ready for an exciting evening!

Friday night, we went out to dinner at a restaurant called ONieals, which is famous for being the place where they filmed (ie. "playing") the bar Scout in Sex and the City. The meal was fantastic and we had some really great servers (from Ohio of course) too! Here's a great shot of the three of us at dinner:

From Mom and Taryn come to NYC 2011

After dinner, we had some top secret plans that I had been keeping a surprise. I had given them some hints, but even as we approached the entrance to this famed NYC spot, they still didn't get where we were, not that I blame them!

From the outside, it looks like a hot dog shop called "Eat Me"

From Mom and Taryn come to NYC 2011

Even from the inside, that's exactly what it looks like!

From Mom and Taryn come to NYC 2011

But then you notice that there's a phone booth in the corner. And when you pick it up, the hostess of a bar is on the other line.

From Mom and Taryn come to NYC 2011

And if you have a reservation...that white door behind you opens and...you can walk through into the bar!

From Mom and Taryn come to NYC 2011

They bar on the other side is this really tiny, fancy looking bar, with $15 (yes, that's 1-5 DOLLARS, as in a ten and a five...) drinks with ingredients we've never heard of. The bar is called "Please Don't Tell (PDT for short)" and is a play on the 1920's speakeasy.

We had a great time! After a couple drinks at PDT, we stopped by another New York institution, Artichoke Pizza, for a slice of their famous spinach and artichoke pizza (it's basically like the dip on a slice of pizza, delicious!) before heading home.

From Mom and Taryn come to NYC 2011

Mom liked the pizza...

Whew! We were busy, in case you can't tell! On to Saturday!!

On Saturday, we slept in a bit, had brunch at 11:30, and then went to Chinatown. I didn't take many photos in Chinatown on account of the fact that it's so crowded that if you stop walking to take a photo, you get run over! So...suffice to say there were lots of Chinese people, tourists, and fake purses in Chinatown. My mom got a pair of earmuffs, Taryn got a purse, and I got one of my favorite NYC treats, a Tara Bubble Tea from the Thai bakery on Canal street. YUM.

After Chinatown, we did some shopping, checked out the South Street Seaport, and then stopped by a really cute little wine bar called Bin 220 for a glass (ok 2) of wine. Here's a photo of us there:


They had the best Sangria I have had in the city, highly recommend it! After some wine, we walked (stumbled?) across the Brooklyn Bridge to Grimaldi's Pizza, a famous pizza place in Brooklyn. In all of their trips to New York, mom and T had never been on the Brooklyn Bridge!!

From Mom and Taryn come to NYC 2011

From Mom and Taryn come to NYC 2011

We ended up having to wait about an hour in line for pizza, but it was worth it (after the fact):

YUM! After dinner, we headed back to our apartment, grabbing some wine and Crumbs cupcakes along the way. We spent the rest of the night drinking wine, playing games, and eating cupcakes. The next morning, mom and T left bright and early to make it back to Toledo. I miss them already, but we had a great weekend!!