A picture perfect weekend with my Dad

This weekend my Dad came to visit me! Let me just tell you that we had quite the adventure this weekend. On Friday night, we went to the International Center for Photography. ICP is a school, however, there were 3 exhibits on display. It was a free event and it was amazing- the photography was unreal. After we took a walk around Bryant Park, the NY Public Library and Times Square. We then went back up to Harlem to have dinner at Sylvia's. And yes, we had fried chicken! It was delicious and this restaurant was featured on the food network! If you're ever in Harlem for any particular reason, be sure to try some down home soul cookin' and stop in at Sylvia's!

Times Square

Sylvia's

On Saturday, my Dad and I went to the newly opened 9/11 Memorial. Words cannot even express how beautiful it was, so I'll let the pictures move you. It rendered me speechless and really touched me... truly a wonderful way to pay tribute to those we lost and the twin towers. I took some pictures and decided to post a few so you could see this beautiful memorial.

After the Memorial, my Dad and I literally trekked all over... literally. Our adventure took us downtown to the Financial District to first check out the Occupy Wall Street crowd; it's really beginning to smell down there. Anyway, we strolled downtown, checked out the Seaport by the Brooklyn Bridge and then walked over the bridge! It was a gorgeous day for it, and we had a ton of fun taking pictures!

Manhattan Seaport

Manhattan Bridge

Brooklyn Bridge Park

Skipping Rocks

The Bridge from the park

This is one of the horses from the brand new carousel that opened this September. It is right on the water overlooking both the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges. The carousel was refurbished and then opened in Brooklyn!



I was really excited to take a ride on the Carousel! Felt nice to be a little kid again!

We got pizza at Grimaldi's!!! So yummy!

view from the Manhattan Bridge

Chinatown

Taking a ride over the Manhattan Bridge



Graffiti from the Manhattan Bridge


After walking over the Manhattan Bridge, we ended up in Chinatown.  We took a stroll through Chinatown and Little Italy.  There was lots going on down there; we got to witness Chinese Opera, intense games of chinese war and plenty of people out and about shopping.  We did not buy any knockoff handbags, although we must have been asked about a hundred times... gucci, gucci, louis, chanel?

Intense game of Chinese War

sharing the love in Greenwich Village... we walked up through Washington Square, through Greenwich Village and Soho, up past Union Square and ended up at the Flatiron Building.

Painted Cup Display in the Flatiron Building

We had such a long and eventful day- these pictures honestly don't even cover the half of it! After walking around all day, we came home, made pork chops and were in bed by 10pm!! We were pretty exhausted.

On Sunday, we woke up early and went to go pay a visit to Lady Liberty!

They looked like faces!

Lady Liberty!

a little lady liberty...

on the ferry ride over to Liberty Island!

Dad with Lady Liberty (he even matched)

Lady Liberty & Myself!

We had an absolutely amazing weekend- full of pictures, fun, and great memories! NYC and I can't wait until Dad comes back!

Karyl & Katie take NYC

This past weekend, my mom came to visit me in the big city!  In my opinion, this is the best time of year to visit, even with the cold, the city comes to life with the arrival of Christmas.  She got in on Thursday night, so we had a full weekend to spend traveling all over the city!  Thursday night we relaxed and went out to eat at a little italian restaurant around the corner from my house; Bar Toto.  It was delicious!  We had to get to bed early because the next morning we were on our way to Radio City Musical Hall to see the Rockette's perform their annual Christmas Spectacular!!

Radio City Music Hall; home of the Rockettes!!

Mom and I before it started!!

the kick-line!  They were amazing!

toy soldiers- easily the coolest part of the whole thing!!

the rockettes!

After we saw the spectacular, which really put us in the mood for Christmas we went off to Rockefeller center to see the tree!!!  I love the tree; I love bringing people who have never seen it and walking down the street, asking them if they're ready and turning the corner.  Picture it; walking down 49th St., only seeing random shops and cafes, no idea where you're going, and then BAM, you turn the corner and see this: 

The tree!!

We even took our pictures with it; and believe it or not, we made it back that night to see it all lit up!  It makes a world of difference when it's lit!

After checking out Rockefeller Center we decided to take a stroll down 5th Ave or Fashion Ave, and loop around through Midtown!!  5th Ave is known for it's amazing Christmas decorations and their window displays!! It's fun to just window shop because of course these stores are for the rich and famous!

 The NBA Store and Tommy Hilfiger

Tiffany's!

Fendi!

The Plaza Hotel

Even the NHL store was ready for Christmas!

After 5th Ave we took a short stroll through Central Park and then headed South towards Bryant Park and the NY Public Library!!

views from central park

Bryant Park; the rink, the tree and the library behind it!  Bryant Park had tons of outdoor shops all encased in glass!  It was a really cool way to shop, especially since they kept it mostly outside!

The New York Public library!! I fell in love with this place and even got a library card!

For all you Sex & the City fans; this is the library where Carrie attempted to get married!  It's even more beautiful in person!! Loved it here!

After we hung out at the library and Bryant Park we trekked down to Herald Square to visit Santa at Macy's!! The picture windows were all decorated for Christmas and even the 9th floor of Macy's looked like we had reached the North Pole!

Macy's!

the entrance at Macy's!

Believe Bears!

we even made it all the way to the North Pole to see Santa!!!

After Macy's we headed uptown to check out Times Square at night and headed back to Rockefeller Center to see the tree!!  The lights look even better at night!!

Times Square

All lit up at night!

The tree all lit up at night; beautiful!!!

Believe it or not, we were absolutely exhausted after that day!  We walked a lot!! After dinner in Times Square we headed back to my apartment and watched Christmas movies and drank wine!  The next morning, we were headed a little farther downtown!

On Saturday, we started off the day in Union Square to check out the farmer's market and holiday craft show!  It's amazing what they can do with a small park! 

Pretty flowers in Union Square

Christmas tree sale in Union Square

After Union Square we went to check out the Flatiron District and Eataly!  Eataly is a huge indoor market that contains Italian food.  From pasta, to espresso, to gelato to wine, it has everything!!

Desserts!

Directions to all the different parts of Eataly!

pasta lovers paradise!

After Eataly we strolled back downtown towards Soho!  On the way, we discovered a market called Limelight Market.  It was really awesome because it was a marketplace inside an old church!  It was decorated for Christmas and had small boutiques and food shops!  You never know what you'll find in NYC!

We then made our way to Soho and Little Italy to eat lunch!!  

Little Italy!

Peroni with lunch!

Antipasto Misto at Il Piccolo Buffalo!

After lunch we made our way back to Brooklyn to get ready for our big night out on the town!!  My mom surprised me with Broadway tickets to see the Million Dollar Quartet!!! It was amazing; featured Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and my two favorites... Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash!!  It was based on the gathering of the 4 of them in Sun Records when they all got together and had a big jam session!  It was seriously the best thing I have ever been to.  We left dancing!  Mimi all I can say is that you would have loved it!!!!

me and my two favorites!!

mom and the guys!! 

We had so much fun all weekend!! From the tree to 5th ave to Little Italy to Broadway, I don't think we really missed anything!  We fit it all in!!! Now I'm exhausted and can't wait to take a nap!!  If you ever get the chance to visit NYC near Christmastime, I would highly suggest it; and if you can, do it with someone you love :)