Trip to New York City

Get ready for lots of pictures, dear readers (and this is the condensed version :). Despite the exhaustion of an early flight, freezing 20-something weather, and getting lost on the subway, I had a blast in the Big Apple. I left Audrey at home with my parents and it was actually nice not having to change diapers for 4 whole days. Of course, I missed my little drool monster a lot and called her everyday. But not enough to take her with me :).

Waiting in line to get a cab at JFK to Steph's dorm.

Visiting Yeri and baby Charlotte in a suburb outside the city with Jenn. I haven't seen these girls for 4 or 5 years!

I'll eat a Shake Shack burger and cheese fries over In-N-Out any day, hands down!

We had the creme brûlée and pistachio doughnuts at the Doughnut Plant. Pretty yummy with cool interior design. Didn't really like their chamomile tea though (too bitter).

Stopping for macaroons at Financier patisserie while en route to dinner. Reasonably priced ($2.50 for a large one) but overly sweet. And, btw, this was the first time I wore a big ol' bow on my head. But I suppose anything goes in NYC...

Lombardi's Pizza in Little Italy. And yes, the two of us polished off this entire pizza. Piece of (meatball and sausage) pie :).

Who said that rice pudding isn't a sexy dessert? Rice to Riches had the funniest, most sarcastic comments outside and inside their store. And a dozen decadent flavors of rice pudding to boot.

That little polar bear stole my mantra: Sleep til you're hungry, eat til you're sleepy. Love it! The pudding names were a bit irreverent (albeit creative), but the taste was heavenly!

It was Steph's idea to pose with the sign on the door. No skinny WHAT?!? We weren't the only ones taking pictures here either.

The entire basement of this Anthropologie store was devoted to sale items! No sales tax on clothing either!

Some famous Parson's hall on 5th Ave where we took a break from the pouring rain outside.

Tired, not pensive (me). Tired, and smiling (Steph).

Late lunch at Pret A Manger. Delicious bowl of Italian Wedding soup and chicken/avocado sammy hit the spot. We should have these in CA instead of Panera or Corner Bakery :).

Lunching Momofuku Noodle Bar with childhood friend Christina. She took the Chinatown bus all the way from Philly to see me! The pork buns, minus the fat, were delicious. The ramen, however, was overpriced and not as good as Foo Foo Tei's in Hacienda Heights.

En route to Parisian macaroon store Laduree on Madison Ave, where I kind of felt like a country bumpkin in the city.

Drool.

So, Laduree would have been perfect had it not been for the condescending and rude woman who bagged my macaroons. I normally don't make a fuss over service and usually let things slide. But Jennifer was impatient, acted like I didn't know how to count to ten (I purchased ten of these babies), and said she was only "guiding me through the process." Um, this is dessert-buying not rocket science, miss. I unfortunately had to report her to the store manager, who kindly gave me a free box for the 6 macaroons I purchased to take back for my family. I'm going to have to post my first Yelp review over this.

At $2.70 a pop, we devoured every last crumb. Sea salt carmel and rose were my favorite (such intense flavors). Even Miss Audrey had a quarter of each :). She still asks me for these "cookies" regularly!

C. Wonder luxury boutique in SoHo, which I at first though was Kate Spade bc of the vibrant colors. Loved the grand green doors but didn't much care for the Asian inspired themes and housewares.

Cute mouse and doughnut coasters that Audrey would have liked (at least for a minute :).

MoMA Store: one of my favorite stores to window shop in. So many ingenious goodies that I wanted to buy, but instead snapped photos of (and my wallet thanks me).

Who knew paper could be so fun? Miniature cities and paper weights (not wads).

Feast for the eyes at Dean & Deluca. 

Jenn and Sarabeth's granola showdown! So I spied a plastic jar of granola made by Sarabeth that sold for $7 there. I think my glass jars with fabric topper and homemade granola can retail for more, no?

Fun revolving mannequins at Uniqlo.

Who needs a cupcake truck when you can have a cupcake cart?

Walking on the streets of New York and riding down below on the subway.

One trendy Parson's fashion marketing student!

Light fixtures and bird cages at Pearl River Mart, which was a little too China Town-ish for me. Although I ended up getting some gold slippers and a Hello Kitty coloring book there for Audrey.

One chic, upscale vending machine at JFK. 

Until possibly May, New York, it was fun. I can't wait to see you again! To see all the photos from this trip, click here if you're so inclined :).