Our Little Bit of Heaven, Among a Whole Lotta Chaos: These vagabond shoes, are longing to stray....

....Right through the very heart of it, New York, New York

If someone were to ask me, "What do you enjoy doing?" My number one answer would be traveling. However, technically that is incorrect. I love being in new places. Traveling I actually hate. But I can't have one without the other so I suffered through another self-medicated all night flight to get to (drum roll please) NEW YORK CITY. This has been a destination I have long wanted be apart. I grew up in a small town, I went to college in a small town and I currently live in a small town so NYC, needless to say, has always seemed very intimidating to me. My curiosity though has always kept a pin in this destination on the map. And since my SIL and BIL are currently and probably temporarily living there while she gets her master's at NYU we jumped on the opportunity.

I just have to say that I am so lucky that Lance loves to "travel" just as much as I do because I can get him on board for just about any trip that comes into my flighty little mind. (As long as we can find a place for our kids.) So that being said I will get to our big city experience.

Even though I survived the flight our travels weren't over. I had to brave the subway. Lance loves public transportation but I loath it. I know it sounds princess of me but one bus ride with a bunch of teenage boys and a rabid cat and I am always on my guard when riding public transit. And our first experience on the NY subway did not put my fears at ease. Some crazy racist guy was very loudly cussing out some people on our train. When he started getting close to my baby I thought "I was going to contribute to the city's crime rate by killing this guy" but he just looked at Lance and said "Your baby is cute." and then continued on is expletive filled racist rantings. An unnecesary two hours later we got off at our destination.

Boy were we glad to see Kristy and Bryson and Kristy made us some super yummy pancakes that hit the spot after a long night of traveling. We detoured through central park on our way to Church with them and I got in a much needed power nap during the service so I was ready to go by the time church let out. We headed over to our hotel at Times Square and Kristy and Bryson graciously watched Joshua while Lance and I enjoyed some culture watching "Wicked" on Broadway. I loved it. Absolutely wonderful. Then we got some take-out at Junior's and ate it back at the hotel and watched the end of the Superbowl. I enjoyed the food way more than the football but it was fun to be there when New York won! I hit the pillow hard that night but was refreshed and ready for fun the next day.

Monday we were total tourists. We walked by Radio City Music Hall, went skating in Rockefeller rink, Joshua made an appearance on the Hoda and Kathie Lee hour of the Today show, we met up with Kristy and Bryson at the Hard Rock for Lunch and I got my shot glass.

Then Krysty and Bryson agreed to watch Joshua again while Lance and I got back on the subway and went to see the 911 Memorial. The memorial is not finished yet but it is sobering to be on the spot where thousands died in such a horrible act of terror. We then walked down to Battery park to look at the Statue of Liberty at sunset. Then we walked back up past Wall street and caught the subway back to our hotel. Then we all went out for dinner at a steakhouse called (aged.) It was fantastic! I don't claim to know a lot about food but I do know that I love it. And I do know that crab cakes can either be really really bad or really really good and this place had the latter. I had a spinach salad and crab cakes and Im pretty sure that good crab cakes are my most favorite food ever. After that it was another night going to bed exhausted.

When my alarm went off the next morning I was half tempted to ignore it but I was more determined to GET ON TV! This was my day, the one I was waiting for! I have been watching the today show for years and now it was my time to shine. I got up and ready and headed over to Rockefeller plaza to needlessly save us places. This is February and even in a city of millions your not going to find a whole lot of people standing outside for hours for 3 seconds of fame. But I sure as heck was! Lance and Joshua met me about an hour later. I was hoping that since we had a baby that Matt or Ann or Al would come talk to us but the little girl next to us happened to be her birthday so they talked to her instead. Anyway, we did get on TV a few different times and I have it recorded and show everyone that comes in my front door.

After that Bryson introduced us to the "Shake Shack" and ooooh baby wish I could take that home with me. Good burgers, but the concrete creations (ice cream) are what sold me. That is some good stuff right there. Then we headed on over to the American Museum of Natural History. My guilt over took me there. My boys (mostly Darren and Cameron) would have died! A larger than life blue whale swimming through the air and all the sea creatures you could even look at. Not to mention the dinosaur and space exhibit. WOW! I would make another trip to New York just to bring my boys there because they would absolutely LOVE it!

Anyway, after that we had to say our good-byes! Kristy and Bryson, you guys are just awesome and we were so glad we got to hang out with you even for just a short time. Your hospitality was awesome and we can't wait to see you again!

So this small town girl survived the big city and even loved it. But as much as I loved the visit I sure wouldn't want to live there. Besides the subway there are some pretty odorous smells floating around NY and getting caught in Rockefeller center at lunch time was dizzying. But I would go back in a heart beat just for the food!

Outside the American Museum of Natural History