Christmas in NYC - Part 1 - real bama blonde

Back in December before Christmas, these two Southerners flew up North. North for the Winter is kind of crazy... but Christmas in NYC was on my bucket list and my 30 before 30 list, so CHECK! CHECK!

If you know us... you know that trips like this never really fall right into place. Something always happens that changes our plans or puts us on a different path... but that's another story for another day. To give you an idea of what I'm talking about... the day before we left for NYC this happened one block from our hotel...

To say I was terrified was an understatement. I immediately thought we were going to have to cancel and our fabulous Anniversary/Christmas trip we had been planning for a few months was just not going to happen. We decided to just go and live our lives to the fullest and ENJOY and I am SO SO glad that we did. I had the best time with my man!

Since this was our very first trip to NYC, we did A LOT of touristy things. We both fell in love with NYC and can't wait to get back!

We flew out from Nashville on Tuesday, got checked into the hotel and headed out for a late lunch at John's Pizzeria. The ceiling is absolutely beautiful in there!

The pizza was sooooooooo yummy!! After our late lunch, we walked around Times Square and stumbled upon Bryant Park. It was absolutely gorgeous.

I love this city.

All the ice skaters were having so much fun! It was like a scene from a Hallmark movie! After this, we went back to the hotel and got freshened up for....

OUR FIRST BROADWAY SHOW! Oh my word, y'all! From the first notes of Circle of Life, I was in tears. As a little girl I always dreamed I would get to see it one day, and a dream over 20 years in the making happened that night. If you get a chance to see it... GO! You will not be disappointed. My husband loved it too if that tells you anything. It was absolutely phenomenal.

The amazing cast!

My very favorite vacation tradition that we have is dessert in bed! After The Lion King, we stopped in at Junior's for burgers and got cheesecake to go! Strawberry cheesecake in bed is my favorite, I think we had this 2 or 3 times while we were there!

The next day we skipped our early morning plans (sorry Kelly & Ryan Live!), slept in and then went out exploring. We landed at the American Museum of Natural History!

This place was HUGE and there is absolutely no way you could see and read everything they have... but we made the most of the few hours we spent inside!

We found some of our ancestors... the Osborn Caribou.. haha ;)

After lunch from the food trucks, we walked through Central Park. It is SO huge! This was us at the Bow Bridge. Oh, how I love him!

This, my friends, is one of the only good pictures J took of me the whole trip.... so I am documenting until I get him in some iPhone Photography classes. ;)

We then found the Bethesda Terrace & Fountain. It was gorgeous and there was a couple having engagement pictures made... I was a wee bit jealous.

Does anyone know who got married right here? Ahhh... the list of things I wanted to do while in NYC was 85% of locations and things from this show.

(For those of you who are not cool...Chuck & Blair from Gossip Girl got married here. Totally kidding, I guess we can still be friends if you didn't know that.)

We found Wollman Rink in Central Park...

The beautiful Christmas tree in the Plaza Hotel...

"Howdy-do? This is Peter McCalister, the FATHER. I'd like a hotel room, please, with an extra-large bed, a TV, and one of those little refrigerators that you have to open with a key. Credit card? You got it!"

The window displays on 5th Avenue were OUT.OF.THIS.WORLD.

Then I rounded a corner, seen this gorgeous view... and shed a few tears. (only a very few... ;)) It literally took my breath away. You see it on TV, you see it in movies, you see pictures... but nothing does it justice like being right there. ALL.THE.HEART.EYES.

After picking my self up off the sidewalk from the Rockerfeller Center... we went through St. Patrick's Cathedral. Absolutely amazing.

Another GG location. The Palace.

We stumbled upon Grand Central Station. It was insane. Terrible picture because I didn't want to get ran over. Also... trying not to look like a tourist.

We went down to the subway landing... and I immediately had to leave. Too scary for this skittish girl... but I can say I've seen it.. and that's all I need. The Proof is in the Photos. ;) It was so cold and I was so tired that day (We crammed A LOT into one day!) So we just ate supper at a local bar called Carragher's, if you ever find yourself there.. have the French Onion soup.