Yellow Mango Life: Trip Away From Little Man: New York City (Part #1)

We arrived in NYC on Friday geared up for three nights of fun in the city. Both the hubby and I were excited to be there together for the first time since both of us have had our own version of NYC from past trips with other people, as well as the three months I lived there after college. His past trips included lots of baseball and many hours spent in sports bars drinking and watching baseball. Mine? Lots of walking, shopping and many pictures. Our compromise? A little bit of both.

The Empire State Building never gets old

We had both decided early on that we needed to do some shopping the first day because neither of us were happy with our wardrobe {fine by me!}, plus the hubby told me that I could match what he spends, plus add another $600 as my birthday present {um, yes please!}. After we checked into the W on Lexington, we headed for a quick lunch at Rockefeller and then hit up some 5th Avenue shops. A must for me in NYC is H&M - I believe we are the only city in the US without one of these stores AND you cannot shop online. I love H&M clothes - they are cheap and great pieces to layer.

Lunch at Rockefeller Center Cafe

After shopping, we put ourselves together and headed on the subway to Canal Street. It's always a good time to see all the action and hear the constant "Gucci," "Prada," "Chanel" under the breaths of the locals trying to sell their knock-offs. Back in the day, I used to get excited about checking out these knock-offs. Any more? Not so much.

Then we turned North onto Mulberry Street, deep into the heart of Little Italy - one of my favorite places in the city. We walked the streets, checked out some shops and worked on figuring out the best spot for dinner...finally settling on Angelo's. It was excellent. A little wine, bread, pasta and people watching never hurts a girl.

Dinner in Little Italy - a bottle of vino & carbs. Nothing better.

Angelo's in Little Italy

The longest escalator EVER into the subway

On Saturday morning, we got up relatively early {early for us on vacation, that is} and headed south to Ground Zero since Nick had never seen the area. I tell you know matter how many times I see it, I still get the chills. Then we hit up Century 21 for some bargains on semi-designer clothes {I refer to it as a TJ Maxx on crack}. I got some dresses and shoes..what every girl needs and the hubby found a great blazer.

After some shopping, we found a little pizza shop for some New York-style pizza and then we walked and walked through the villages, until we settled on a little Italian bistro for lunch {the pizza was just an app, y'all!}. After lunch we walked to a designers market in the Village where I found some great jewelry for myself and my mama. We had stumbled across the exact same market last year and loaded up on tons of unique jewelry, so I had to make sure to swing by again {probably one of my favorite places to shop in the City}. I got a couple necklaces, earrings, and bracelets and found two necklaces for my mom for a belated Mother's Day present.

Finally, after a bit more walking, we ran smack into a dance parade that had closed off a major street. It was such a sight to see all of these different types of people doing these different styles of dance...yet another thing I love about the City, you never know what you're going to see.

In our hotel - waiting for the elevator

New York-style pizza...

...nothing better!

Salad and Neopoliton-style pizza

Dance parade!!

Dance parade: exercise addition

We wanted to catch a show on this trip and decided on Avenue Q because we had heard good reviews from family and read great reviews online. We went to New World Theater just off Broadway and settled into our seats. Unfortunately, we didn't find it as funny or entertaining and ended up leaving at intermission. We jumped in a cab and headed up to the Hudson Hotel for a few drinks and then decided it wasn't our scene {are we really getting that old?!?} and figured a late night meal was in order since we hadn't gotten dinner. We went to Dos Caminos Mexican restaurant and proceeded to feed our faces.