Adult Getaway to New York

Well I worked on this post for about an hour before I realized it wasn't saving and when I shut it down everything vanished! So here's the abbreviated version of the trip to NY that Sean and I took in November.

Sean was in NY for work and I joined him at the tail end. We had less than 48 hours there together but made the most of every minute! It was my first night away since Harrison was born but I managed just fine. :) The boys were in the excellent care of my parents so I know they hardly missed us!

Upon arrival we met at the hotel to freshen up and then headed out for drinks at the Bemelmans Bar in the Carlyle Hotel. It is a warm and elegant bar with live piano jazz and we will definitely visit again. Then we walked to our favorite restaurant in the city, Elio's, a small, always crowded, local and delicious authentic Italian restaurant. We made the mistake of stopping at one more bar on our way home, The Penrose, which was a really great place, but we didn't need any more drinks at that point and regretted the decision in the morning...

Bemelmans Bar is named after Ludwig Bemelmans, the creator of the Madeline children's books, and he drew the murals covering the walls of the bar.

I wish I could transport us back to Elio's right now!

The next morning came really early, but a shower and coffee were all we needed to get moving for the LIVE with Kelly & Michael show! We had to stand in the cold for about two hours before being shuffled into the studio, but it was really cool to see and we got to stay for a special Earth, Wind, & Fire Christmas performance that was being pre-taped after the show.

Braving the cold in line for Kelly & Michael. Sean is such a trooper for doing this with me!

I'm so happy we got to see their show! 

They oversold the seats so we chose to take balcony seats to make sure we'd have a spot (and so we could get out of the cold!)

One of the guests that day, Anna Camp

Earth, Wind, & Fire with Kelly & Michael in Christmas sweater onesies

We grabbed brunch at the yummy, homestyle Sarabeth's, then walked through Central Park on our way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It's a huge museum (the largest art museum in the US, in fact), and there was no way we could see it all in one day, so we picked a couple of areas to really focus our time in. Then we walked around the city and popped in a pleasant little Turkish restaurant to refuel. We both love finding random spots to eat like that and were very pleased with our experience!

Beautiful day in Central Park

Outside the MET

Dinner that night was at a trendy, unique restaurant hidden at the end of an alley in the Lower East Side called Freemans. Our only complaint here was that we couldn't stay longer to enjoy the atmosphere and creative drinks because we had to high tail it to the theater district to catch our show in time! We saw This Is Our Youth, a play that follows 48 hours in the lives of three troubled young adults. It was not your typical broadway show with set changes, music, song, and dance - it was one set and three actors with no music, light, or costume changes. The actors were incredible and Sean did theater in college so I know he really appreciated their talent. It was intimate and entertaining and we both really enjoyed it. After the show we grabbed cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery and walked around Rockefeller Plaza before grabbing a nightcap at the hotel and calling it a night.

The entrance to Freemans at the end of an alley

I loved the cozy and rustic feel of Freemans and we would frequent it if it were in Dallas!

I was so impressed with the talent of all three actors! Michael Cera was great to see in that setting, Kieran Culkin (Macaulay's brother) blew me away with his acting, and Tavi Gevinson is at the beginning of what I'm sure will be a huge career in that business!

We had an afternoon flight out on Saturday so we decided to spend our morning shopping and dining in SoHo. Breakfast was at another favorite of ours, Balthazar, which is a delicious french bistro with a great energy to it. Then we popped in some shops and markets and tried to grab lunch at Gramercy Tavern but the wait was too long for us to safely make our flight on time so instead we had a quick lunch at Beecher's. The cheese lover in me was just fine with this change in plans! I insisted we then take the time to see Carrie Bradshaw's apartment from Sex and the City and this little adventure nearly caused us to miss our flight. We were both quite stressed and nervous but once we safely made our flight I could say that I'm glad we took the time to do it!

Breakfast at Balthazar

Carrie Bradshaw's apartment!

It was a quick, fun getaway and we were so excited to see our boys when we got home. Thank you BeBe and Papa for taking such great care of them (and Hazel, too!) so we could enjoy ourselves! We didn't have to worry about a thing while we were gone and we really appreciate it!