Eric and I returned yesterday evening from a quick weekend in New York City. I flew in Friday afternoon and met E at the airport where we shared a Lyft ride to our hotel. We stayed at the NoMad hotel between Union Square and Chelsea and I thought this was the perfect location for all the exploring we did. The NoMad hotel also happened to have a super trendy bar inside called the Library and that’s where Eric and I had our first drink before going out! E ordered the Gentleman’s Exchange (Rye Whiskey, Suze, Foro Amaro, Vermouth Di Torino, Cold Brew Coffee, Absinthe, Angostura Bitters) and I had the more simple Rose.

While I have more of a creative mind & skillset, Eric has a gift for research. He did his homework before our trip and we dined at a sushi restaurant called Izakaya Mew (6pm sharp!) for our first meal. We showed up at 5:50 right before the restaurant opened and it was already packed. Within minutes of the doors opening, about 60 people were immediately seated. We waited only 5 minutes but shortly after we sat down, we heard the hostess giving groups 1 hour wait times. Yep, research paid off! We ordered miso soup and simple rolls. And it was incredible! Well done, E. Well done.

After dinner we grabbed drinks at the Skylark rooftop bar downtown, courtesy of my cousin Jake’s recommendation. We sipped our cocktails and enjoyed cool views of the city including the Empire State Building!

We ended the evening with my cousin Brad Welch at Fiddlestick’s in West Village. Solid first day in NYC!

 

Saturday felt like a Marathon. We hit 10,000 steps on the FitBit before noon. Yup. We really got after it. We started the day walking through Madison Park and by the Flatiron building and sat down to eat at Friend of a Farmer. My cousin Ellie claims its her favorite spot and we certainly enjoyed it ourselves. They have quite an array of fresh squeezed juices and the ambiance was that of exposed brick, fresh ingredients, and easy tunes from the Bridge Channel. I loved their miniature mason jars for condiments. So cute!

After breakfast, we spotted a Farmer’s Market at Union Square and had to check it out :)

We moved on and walked through Soho. I’m not sure what I expected of Soho but it really is a neighborhood filled with designer stores such as Theory, Intermix, Ralph Lauren, etc. Instead of going to a Nordstroms and seeing a variety of brands, each brand seemed to have their own store. It was cool to walk through, but we were slightly overwhelmed! I did enjoy the Kate Spade home store though :) I love her stuff!

^^ Movie scripts on sale! What whaaaaat ^^

^^ I enjoyed the variety of buildings in Soho area ^^

After exploring Soho, we cabbed it down to the 9/11 Memorial. It was very eerie feeling to look down into the memorial pool and remember what once was a tall building. And it was even more eerie to read all the names on the Memorial. But I’m glad we took the time to see it. We paid our respects and then walked over to Wall Street which was surprisingly quiet.

 

We were in the Financial District for only a short time before we moved back north over to West Village. First stop: Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment on Perry Street! I don’t know about you, but Sex and the City was one of my favorite shows, so visiting CB’s humble abode was kind of neat! West Village was my favorite neighborhood we visited. I loved the walk up apartments and condos. It reminds me of Lincoln Park in Chicago. I felt a bit at home. Just a few blocks from where Sex and the City was filmed is the Friends Apartment building. We walked over there and snapped some pictures along with other eager tourists. “I’ll be there for youuuuuu”- ah, the nostalgia.

 

E and I ate lunch at the highly recommended Chelsea’s Market in Meatpacking District. Hale and Hearty soups offered an array of gluten free/dairy free soups and I was in Heaven. I went with a seafood soup while E ate Split Pea. There was a lot of people watching in the crowded market and it was fun to explore the array of restaurants and shops.

After checking out Chelsea’s Market and then strolling the highline for a little bit, we took a cab over to the Plaza Hotel and then walked over to Central Park. Central Park is HUGE! We didn’t even make it to the Boat House restaurant on the pond because my feet hit their limit. We walked about a quarter of the way in, took some snaps, and then I had to get to the hotel for a cat nap before continuing our day. There were so many people in Central Park, it was overwhelming. We were told it was one of the first warm weekends so I’m sure weather had something to do with the masses. Either way, I’m glad we stopped here :)

 

The thing about New York City is that it is so massive with a million things to do, that you could ask 5 people for recommendations and none of them would be the same. It makes for an awesome adventure but a slightly overwhelming pursuit. We shared a Lyft ride with a guy earlier in the weekend who highly recommended seeing this new rooftop bar called Mr. Purple in East Village. I’m all about Rooftop situations so we decided to check it out. We timed it perfectly with sunset and got some neat pictures of the skyline!

We had originally planned on going to a seafood restaurant called Catch. I used to book dinners for my bosses back in the day at this restaurant. My bff also recommended we eat there. However, Eric is all about finding places that not many people know about. He loves the hole in the wall spots and the places with the best bang for your buck. And I told you about his research hobby, yes? He found this fabulous restaurant called Upstate. It had the same vibe as the sushi restaurant in that it opened at 6 and was packed immediately. We weren’t as quick to get there so we had an hour wait but it was well worth it. Oysters are our jam and we snacked on those and ceviche before ordering our separate seafood dishes! Love me some scallops! :)

After dinner, Eric and I stopped into a few bars to try some cocktails. We visited The Holiday Cocktail Bar and Suffolk Arms. We called it an early night and were in bed by ten, but first we gorged ourselves with a gluten free pizza, courtesy of Pie by the Pound. YUM!

 

Daylight savings hit us hard Sunday morning but we got up early to walk to Time Square and back before heading to the airport. ‘Twas a successful trip! Until next time NYC !

 

 

carrie bradshaw chelsea's market cocktails friends good eats new york city nyc sex and the city sips soho travel union square west village