A few weeks ago I was talking to Hanna and we decided that we needed to see each other. We were thinking of places we could possibly meet up, but then she threw out the option of me just coming to stay with her and that option made it all come together! It made so much more sense to #1 save a lot of money and #2 be a lot more flexible on dates because just one of us had to figure out child care. She was kind of shocked when I told her I found a flight for the weekend before Thanksgiving, but we were both excited and it came up quick.
I left early in the morning last Thursday and my kids were troopers to get up at 5:30 a.m. and head to the airport to drop me off and then get back and ready for school by 7:40 a.m.! I had a layover in Detroit and that airport is HUGE! I deplaned at gate A11 and my next flight took off at A72...and it's just the longest corridor. I got confused and thought I had to go the the C gates, but luckily I realized it before I got all the way there and turned back and RAN as fast as I could with a suit case and jacket on and was the last person on the plane! I made it to NYC just fine from there, but was NOT prepared for the weather. Brian and I had discussed and I thought my new wind breaker would be enough with a sweater under it. Nope, it wasn't. It kept me warm enough on my adventurous bus ride to the Harlem 125th Street train station, but I barely missed my train by about 7 minutes and had to wait another 25 on the platform and that's when I got cold. I am so silly. Luckily I got to Hanna and she had a warm sweater and coat for me to use all weekend. She is the best! I was so happy to see her beautiful face when I finally got to the Port Chester station! We picked up right where we left off and once we started talking I don't think we stopped the rest of the weekend. Friends like this are not a dime a dozen. I love that lady.
The first evening we just hung out while I thawed out, ran Sophie to dance, got a delicious dinner at Little Thai Kitchen, had delicious hot chocolate and then got to work on my hair-
We might look a little haggard, but I don't think we even got started until 9:30 p.m. It didn't matter, though, we had so much fun talking about our goals and dreams and struggles and even at 2 a.m. I think we could have kept going. She is a wise, wonderful friend that I was so blessed to cross paths with 7.5 years ago in Norwalk, CT that I am lucky enough to keep forever. That girl and her family are the #1 thing we treasure from that place!
The next day we headed to Greenwich Avenue to get our nails done and shop and do girl stuff-
It is always so fun to go and do these things without kiddos in tow. We were kind of hilarious at the nail salon picking out each others colors and then maybe wishing we would have just picked them for ourselves. I always do purples at the nail salon and she always does pinks so we just swapped and wished we hadn't. Haha! Hanna, my color was "Go Go Geisha." Now it is documented forever for when you go back.
We spent the rest of the afternoon just being together and headed to Norwalk/New Canaan that evening. She and Tracy had to practice at the chapel for a duet they were singing on Sunday and I got lucky enough to see my old Relief Society president, Heidi Ashton, who had organized it. We had fun catching up and I loved hearing the little bit that I got to of those two singing with their beautiful voices. I left before they were done to meet friends at Valencia's in Norwalk, it is always the one place I have to go and eat!
Camille and Sarah were there first and we chatted for about 45 minutes before everyone else arrived and it was just so fabulous! Hanna and Kristin joined us and we just had a really fun evening of delicious food and even better company. I love those girls so much and am so glad they carved out the time to come meet up with me.
Saturday was the big day and we headed to NEW YORK CITY!
We got there around noon, headed to Bryant Park, got some DELICIOUS Max Brennar hot chocolate and had some fun shopping at the fun Christmas pop up shops-
We made our way towards the subway to take us to the Upper West Side for lunch at Jacob's Pickles, but we ran into a fun street fair/market on 6th Avenue and had fun doing some souvenir shopping.
As soon as I saw all these fidget spinners, I knew it was what I had to get for my kids!
And then Hanna was the cutest photographer and wanted me to have some fun NYC shots and I loved her enthusiasm, so tried my best. And though I'm not the best model, I love them!
We found our way on the subway and finally made it to Jacob's Pickles-
Who knows why I was making this face? Not me. Sometimes I just like to do things to get a rise out of Hanna! She always laughs at jokes and makes me feel like I'm funny. Thanks, Hanna!
We had to wait outside for a bit for lunch, but we got our Instagram picture, Snap Chatted with Brigitte and tested out our umbrellas in the rain.
And then devoured this delicious feast-
We shared the eggs and biscuits and pumpkin biscuits with sweet potatoes. They were divine.
The rest of our night consisted of the Natural History Museum, Levain Bakery, shopping for necklaces in Times Square, getting caffeinated beverages before our show and finally making it to Broadway for Cats-
We were able to check out the Mummies exhibit, then we strolled through some fossils, watched a little show about cladograms narrated by Meryl Streep and ended up just sitting on the benches to rest our backs and feet and stay out of the rain until they closed! We would have stayed there and talked longer, but they kicked us out.
These warm, delicious cookies were worth leaving for-
Another ride on the subway and taking the express train instead of the local, took us to a spot we didn't care to visit, but had fun anyways!
Brian's and Tracy's old stomping grounds!
We didn't find a necklace for my family pictures, but we did make it to our show and had fun finding our inner MEOW-
Cats was a lot of fun, but much different than what we were expecting. It is based on some poems and so there wasn't much of a story line. The costumes and dancing and singing were amazing, but we both got a little fatigued with the lack of story line. I missed a scene with the train cat...oops! We still loved it and will forever be able to say we have seen Cats and that we did it together.
On Sunday we headed to church and I got to see a few familiar faces and listen to Tracy give an excellent talk about temples as the High Councilor for their ward. Their ward is very diverse and it was so wonderful to see all different types of people at church!
After a relaxing afternoon of me acquainting Hanna with podcasts and her introducing me to the Marco Polo app, it was time to say goodbye. Her darling family loaded up in the van to take me to JFK together so they could head to New Canaan right after for their duet at Youth Standards Night. I love them all so much and am so grateful for the time I was able to spend in their home and especially the one on one time I got with Hanna. I feel like a better person after spending time with her and once a year just isn't enough, but for now it's what we have to do.
Thank you for everything, Hanna, I can't wait to do it again...sooner rather than later!
XOXO
P.s. Some things I don't want to forget about this weekend:
-"So I listened to this podcast about..." said I during every other conversation
-Totes McGoats, totes adorbs, totes whatever
-"I really like your nails." ~Hanna
-"Why do you need a copy of your receipt?" ~ Me
-"I can go really fast." ~Hanna
-What am I doing to write my story?
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