I Love New York City. I was lucky enough to land an internship in 2009 with CBS Sports that required me to live on the Island Manhattan. It’s an entire album of favorite memories that I refer to often.

When the opportunity to meet (almost) all the O’Hara women for our annual shopping trip in the Big Apple, I was absolutely in. I didn’t care what the plane ticket cost, I was going. It’s that feeling you get when you pass that one landmark on your way home. That rush of relief, that’s what I feel when I go to NY. For as massive a city as it is, I am comfortable there. I know where I’m going, how to get there, and I’m very fond of walking. Perfect for a directionally challenged one such as myself 🙂

I hopped a direct (YAY!) flight to the big city, and was swooped up into a cab (an expensive one at that) from LaGuardia Airport to our fantastic Homewood Suites on 37th ave. I walked into the hotel and the whole gang was in the lobby waiting, I haven’t seen BigSeester jump up that fast since Nugget almost rolled off the ottoman!

I had texted my buddy earlier that week to see if we could get together somehow in the limited time I’d be spending, blast being adults, he had to work 😦

The O’Hara Clan had to plan our assault on the city – Since Mom and I are fairly comfortable getting around the city, we took the lead; figuring out what to make sure we see in the short weekend and where we need to eat (Bar Americain, no questions asked).

It was late, but hey, this is the city that never sleeps! LET’S GO!

I’m definitely finding Toothless at the next Build-A-Bear I come across.

Times Square & Pizza is a MUST on the first night!

It’s already chilly in NYC, jackets were kept on the entire weekend. We headed back to the hotel to get a good night’s rest in as our plan was to get up early for breakfast and head to Macy’s. We happened to pass a billboard for Finding Neverland on Broadway and got to thinking…. “Maybe we could fit in a matinee before Kinky Boots on Saturday!”, so we switched up the plan, breakfast – then the group would head to the TKTS booth in hopes of some discount tickets, probably not 8 together, but that’s ok. As we got in the queue, somehow mom got to talking with some relatively normal looking tourists (you never can tell). They had planned to bring a group to the city for Homecoming until the high schoolers changed their minds – so they had about 20 tickets to Finding Neverland and were willing to sell….. for $20 each. They can’t possibly be real, but mom had been in that predicament before and has great gut instinct, so we bought 8 together and hoped for the best at the theater.

Since we had some time to kill – next on the list was Rockefeller Plaza (the rink is already ready!), 5th Ave, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Central Park, find some lunch, and to the theater by 2pm

St. Patrick’s Cathedral is one of my favorite stops along the grand NYC tour. This is the first time I’ve ever seen the priest standing on the stairs greeting people, and listening to the Organs play. It was an incredible feeling.

We also made a stop at Tiffany’s 🙂 I may or may not have treated myself after a long, hard, successful week. OK, I definitely did.

It’s Black Titanium….. to match my heart (or so I joke). 🙂

Well, the tickets were legit!! And we had awesome seats. We always loved the movie with Johnny Depp, so we were glad it was very similar. Matthew Morrison (of Glee fame) headlined, but all the actors were incredibly talented. Even the kids held their own against a veteran!

Since we had time before our next show, we decided some downtime was a good idea. Aunt Becky was the only one prepared with a box of wine brought all the way from Syracuse. We were some classy broads with our “wine & cheese” party.

After a break, we changed outfits (because hello, its New York, and we’re going to a Saturday Night Broadway Play) and made our way up to 45th ave for Kinky Boots!

Holy AMAZING show Batman. Cyndi Lauper’s music seriously brought it. While I will say, some of the men in drag were harsh to look at (there was one in particular we couldn’t figure out if he was a she playing a he, she was so petite!) but it was a hilarious, high energy performance. I’ve already bought the soundtrack on iTunes.

Since we weren’t getting out of the theater till late, we made an 11pm reservation for Bar Americain. It’s one of Bobby Flay’s restaurants if you weren’t familiar. I went for the first time with Mom and one of my college roommates, Bobby Flay was actually sitting in one of the booths for lunch, and now everytime we go back to the City, that’s one of our restaurant stops. It’s the best burger I’ve ever had in my life. I actually scarfed it down before getting a picture. #Hangry

Another late night, and we still had another day!! 5 of us had the desire to go to the One World Observatory and the 9/11 Memorial. I had seen the memorial on my last visit, but wanted to go back now that the tower was finished. It’s 102 floors and an elevator that rises in 60 seconds (or less).

We got there bright and early, walked right in, bought tickets and went right up to the observation deck. I strongly suggest you take the time (its only $32) to see it.

Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island.

It’s always a heavy experience visiting the 9/11 memorial. Everyone remembers exactly where they were when it happened, but standing there, where the towers once stood strong & proud, reduced to an unfathomable void as this installation has captured…. it’s silencing.

We met up with the rest of the group at Macy’s Herald Square shortly after – We ended up splitting up to divide and conquer, each woman had her eye on some particular item and off we went. I don’t think mom ended up finding the black cardigan she was looking for, but I was most successful. I FINALLY found my dress for STAR Awards in December. I managed to squeeze myself into the biggest size available in the store… it was a 9. Not even spanks would fit under that sucker (see what I did there ;)). So I jumped onto the Macy’s website from my trusty Samsung, ordered, used a coupon code and got about $100 off. THANKS MOM!

Sadly, I had to catch a 4pm flight so we said goodbye to the rest of the clan, ran to find bagles, and hopped in the car back to LaGuardia. I felt bad on my first flight – There was an older woman sitting in my seat. We both checked our tickets and she was in fact supposed to be in D (an aisle), not A (the window). It took her a while to get her thoughts together and move into her seat (she may have had Parkinsons?) – so long in fact, the flight attendant came up asking if there was a problem. I’m still not sure if I should have just told her to stay there and sat her seat for the short flight….. what is protocol there?

Anywho… I made it home in time for the 4th quarter of the Patriots game and uploaded all the photos to Facebook for family & friends to check out/steal/want to claw my eyes out more. It’s been a busy week. Next week doesn’t look like it’ll slow down either.

#AdventureYear