New York Trip, Part 2

After we left the 9/11 Memorial, it was such a gorgeous day that we decided to "walk" our way back to midtown.  In theory, it was a great idea but in reality, not-so-much.  While Big Poppa was in jeans and tennis shoes, I was trying to not look the role of mommy and dressed in a cute sweater, leggings and boots.  Not thinking that we were going to walk our tushes off that day, I didn't choose my socks very carefully and ended up wearing a pair that rubbed my baby toes in the wrong spot.  (And yes, I whined the entire day)

Not a single cloud in the sky!

After a quick lunch at Cosi, we resumed our walking and shopping and just enjoying the city with no plans!  We stopped in an Irish pub to warm up, have a late afternoon pint and just chit chat.  It's great when you go into an Irish pub and the bartender is...Irish!  We got a big kick out of that!  By the time we left, the sun was starting to set and it was only 4:30! It's crazy, but it seems like this year it's getting darker so much earlier than normal so we decided to start narrowing down our dinner choices.  We both agreed that we wanted some good, straight up Chinese food and found Chin Chin, a gem of a restaurant not far from our hotel.  Let me tell you, Big Poppa is a bit of a food snob and a self-proclaimed foodie, and this meal was his favorite of the entire trip.  I was shocked when he said that, but didn't disagree! We were lucky that it was around six when we went in and we were able to get in without reservations.  By the time we left, it was insane busy!

Chin Chin, a must eat if you like Chinese food!!

Sunday morning we slept in a little later than we wanted and had to make a decision to either go catch part of the ING New York City Marathon or skip breakfast and eat an early lunch at Mario Batali's Eataly.  Big Poppa and I are big fans of Mario Batali restaurants with The Spotted Pig being one of our favorites!! Last year, Eataly had just opened the weekend before we were in NYC so when we were there it was literally shoulder-to-shoulder people and the wait to eat in all of the areas was over 2 hours.  We chose to make our way over to Eataly and we were lucky enough to get there just as they were opening up the restaurants to serve and were seated immediately. What a difference a year makes!  We ate at the pasta/pizza restaurant and shared a fresh mozzarella and salami platter and a 3-in-1 pizza that had margherita, calzone and verona pizza toppings.  Delish.

I wasn't thrilled to have my pic taken, can you tell?!

While we were at Eataly, I called my mom on one of my nine thousand check in calls of the weekend and when I asked her how Miss K was she said that she could tell Miss K was missing us.  From the moment she woke up that morning, mom said she was asking where we were.  That about broke my heart.  Especially since as far as Miss K is concerned, "Maga" is the best thing since sliced bread!!
After lunch we hit up our usual NYC stores and made a HAUL at Filine's Basement, Nordstrom Rack, Fishs Eddy (and about a gazillion others) and then finally, drum roll.....The Frye flagship store in SoHo. Holy boots, batman!  That store is the coolest place, and the fact that it is the ONLY brick and mortar Frye store made it that much cooler! I had been debating back and forth between the Melissa and Paige boots; but knew I wanted to try on the extended calf in the Melissa since I have such athletic humongo calves before making a decision.  They both fit great, but after chatting with the sales person and trying both pair on numerous times, I decided on the Paige tall riding boot in black.

I big, pink, puffy heart them and was trying to think of a way to squeeze get a second pair of boots while we were there.  Big Poppa kept asking why I didn't get new brown boots instead, but I have a pair of Miz Mooz Kent Riding boot in cognac from Nordstroms that I've had for a few years and I'm hoping to get through until next fall with them.  They've been worn hard, but are a great boot for the price.  Another reason why I didn't get the Melissa.  They're almost identical.
We got back from our shopping adventures with enough time to shower get ready for dinner at Tao. I was excited to go eat there, but even more excited to wear the new dress I got to wear to dinner!  (it doesn't take much!!)

New York and Company!

The food was really good, but the atmosphere made the meal!  It was a lot of fun.  Afterwards, Big Poppa wanted to go to a wine bar in Rockefeller Center, but when we got there, they were closed!?  So we settled on sharing a Sprinkles cupcake and called it a night! (Crumbs was better)
We had a great trip, I really do think it's essential to be able to go away as a couple and not be mommy and daddy for a few days but I know we were both excited to see this pumpkin when we got home!