So We Went to NYC {Sunday}

You know that, because you followed along on Instagram and you saw what a GREAT time we had!

Guys, we seriously think that this weekend was one of the best of our lives.  Nothing major happened, but we felt like we had room to BREATHE, and we didn't make too many plans, and we kind of just ... roamed the city for two days after the show on Saturday night, which was epic of all epic.  

Saturday night was the whole reason we were there, obv.  I work for a company called Varsity Vocals, and our Finals was on Saturday at The Town Hall Theatre.  Love that place.  The show was GREAT, the kids were GREAT, and the afterparty involved me drinking all the vodka until FOUR AM because apparently time stands still in NYC.  It was really wonderful, and is always one of my favorite times of year. 

Usually we do a Friday-Sunday trip to the city, which means that after said 4am bedtime we have to wake up, get on a plane, and be at work Monday morning.  THIS YEAR, THOUGH, due to schedules and costs and desire for more time in the city, we arrived mid-day Saturday for the show and then didn't come home until Monday night.  So, from Sunday until Monday after lunch we were FREE and it was just great. 

On Saturday we started the day with brunch with one of my besties, Lauren.  We went to Philip Marie, and it was GOOD.  New Yorkers are funny - it was 60-ish degrees and blustery and folks were fighting for outside seats, which was hilarious because I was totally freezing in a jacket and sweater but didn't want to seems lame, so OUTSIDE WE SAT.  Lauren got a deeeelish bloody mary, Jay got a smoked salmon bagel, and I got a BLT wrap with grilled chicken.  Everything we had was lovely, and besides a bit of slow service we really liked it.  I'd definitely go back!  

After we said goodbye to Lauren, Jay and I struck out the 3 miles from Philip Marie to Ground Zero to take a look around and feel reverent and see the bottom of the island.  There was a mile long line to see the memorial fountains, and I find that all feelings of remembrance and reverence leave me REALLY quickly when I wait in long lines, so we didn't get to actually see the memorial, which was a bummer.  We did, however walk around the financial district and work off some of our brunch, which was crucial to the fact that we had about 9,938 things more that we wanted to eat.  

Our plan after that was to hit Chinatown and Little Italy, neither of which I'd ever been to.  We made it to Chinatown and I was OBSESSED, since it kind of reminded me of Japan and there were so many great markets with fruits and veggies and random dried seafood and just YES.  We ate some cold duck noodles at a little shop and had a pork bun which was Jay's ONE request for the weekend, and REALLY loved them.  Our MO for the weekend was to eat lots of foods but share them all so that we never got grodily stuffed or spent all of our money.  No bueno.  The noodles had a sesame sauce on them that I could have eaten plain (the dish was called Cantonese cold noodle plate), but the star was the pork dumplings, which we both REALLY loved.  

From Chinatown we decided that, um, we weren't going to do any more walking, and let's just go to the hotel to rest!  And then of course we walked 60-ish blocks back to our hotel, stopping in Tap Room 307 for some beers because we were TIRED.   Our feet and legs were doing funny things at this point - we could walk about 10 blocks and then just really needed to sit down, so why not sit down and drink?  There would be no reason why not, so that's what we did.  This place was cool, and the food looked GREAT.  It was packed with people our age that I can only assume were liberal yogis because that's what I wanted them to be.  The service was great, there were board games all over the tables because SUNDAY FUNDAY, and we had some seriously delicious beers.  Also something was happening with a really pretty waitress (this does not narrow it down at all, everyone working there was ridiculously nice and attractive.) getting filmed for something.  We kept hoping that Guy Fieri was there, but I don't think he made it.  I think it's definitely on our list of places to go back next year to eat and write a real review on!  

After our break we FINALLY hobbled back to the hotel, and figure that we'd walked about 7 miles, conservatively, at that point.  I'll say 10 for good measure, mmkay?  We were tired, so we napped, as you do when you're in the city and have all the free time to do whatever you'd like.  We decided around nine that we were hungry again, and pizza and beer seemed like just the ticket.  We went to Bierhaus right near our hotel for a German beer and some sauerkraut balls while we googled pizza places, and finally came up with John's Pizzeria - a multi-location local chain that kept coming up on "best nyc pizza" searches.  The closest location to us was near Times Square, which wasn't ideal because aren't TOOOOO into all the bright lights and tourists, but on a late Sunday night it was PERFECT.  We sat at the bar, as we do, and the bartender was really amazing.  I didn't get his name, but he had a great accent and treated us to some "closing time" deals, IE this bottle of wine will get tossed if you don't drink it, so have it?  We weren't mad at all.  For NYC, John's prices are really great, and the pizza was thin and crispy and wood fired and exactly what we wanted.  We shared a "small" (not) margherita pizza and added prosciutto and ate every single bite. 

And that, my friends, was our Sunday.  I was planning on telling you about Monday before we came home, but seeing as how this is a mini-novel, we should probably all go take a rest and a moment of silence for my still-aching feet (taught yoga twice the days after all this walking), and wait until tomorrow for Monday's adventures, mmkay?  

In conclusion, I take a lot of pictures of buildings when I am in cities.