New York, New York

Last weekend I left the boys at home with Matt and headed to New York to visit my sister Kelly and my Mom came, too! We had a wonderful weekend full of great company, great food, and an awesome city. Last time I was in New York City, I was 22 and had just graduated from Notre Dame. I was really poor, so I crashed in three different places over a short week. It was a bit on the crazy side, but I was able to see most of the sights. So I didn't have to check too many landmarks off the list on this trip. We just enjoyed seeing different neighborhoods and tried to avoid Midtown.

Friday, after a light trip with no checked luggage or kids in tow, I explored Kelly's neighborhood while waiting for Mom to arrive. She lives on the Upper East Side at 78th and York. It's a great residential area. I spent the better part of a couple hours at this market called Agata & Valentina. It was so visually pleasing and was laid out in somewhat of a serpentine manner that was fun to explore. It was also full of awesome smells. See the apple pie construction below. Just imagine how it smelled! I had a traditional bagel and smear for lunch. Delicious! Why isn't there chive cream cheese everywhere? Once Mom got there, we started our stroll down Madison Avenue through the fancy shops.

The apple pie in construction.

Lovely pastries!

Pasta in progress.

Look at all the ravioli choices!

No Wisconsin girl can resist the cheese department.

I couldn't believe how much produce was piled on this display.

Stand back and look.

 Our one Madison Avenue purchase, macarons from Lauderee.

So pretty!

Yummy!

A stop at The Plaza ended in a brush with fame. Jimmy Rollins of Phillies fame was hanging out there, too.

All the way down to Radio City Music Hall and Rockafeller Center before a wonderful dinner at Mesa Grill.

Saturday morning we headed down to Times Square to hit up the TKTS booth to get some show tickets for that night. The line was really, really long. Luckily I found the "Play only" line which had about 20 people in it. 30 minutes later, we had tickets to War Horse in hand and were off to eat, again.


The boys love this picture!

This one too!

 From Midtown, we headed to Soho and Nolita to do some more exploring.

Snooty Soho coffees.

Cool Soho dining. Seriously, tacos cooked in a VW van? What's cooler than that?

Kelly's smiling because the roasted corn in a cup was so awesome!

I guess there are no pictures of the next 20 hours or so. Sorry. It was complete with a lovely Italian dinner in Kelly's neighborhood at Uva. War Horse at one of the theaters in Lincoln Center. I had to crash after the show. A headache and a growing baby wore me out. That's right, baby Lee No.3 is on its way!

Sunday we headed to mass and then brunch in the neighborhood. Then we walked to the Met and explored Central Park. I love the park. It is such a treasure for the City.

Had to take this one for the boys. So many children's books rerepresent this painting. They had to see the original. It's amazing!