Around this time last year, Mom, Jess, Paige and I traveled to New York City. It was spring break for the girls and since it was the last year of college for both of them, we figured it was a good time to take a trip together. Jess and I had been to New York in recent years, but Paige had never been, and Mom hadn't seen its city lights since her and Dad lived in New Jersey in the '80's. I really enjoyed New York the first time I visited, so they didn't have to twist my arm to go a second time. And it was as good as I remember. I was even able to do and see things that I hadn't during my first visit with my graphic design classmates in the fall of 2006. The weather this time around was cold, windy and wet. But that didn't keep us from doing many fun things and making some great memories!

Some of the places we visited:

Grand Central Terminal
Rockefeller Center
The Empire State Building
American Museum of Natural History
Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)
Little Italty
Times Square
National September 11 Memorial
Central Park
The Statue of Liberty

Some of the things we did:

Rock of Ages Broadway show
Lucky Guy Broadway play starring the one-and-only Tom Hanks
The Jimmy Fallon show (which included a high-five from Jimmy!)
Tour of the NBC Studios
The TODAY show taping

Some of the best food we ate:

Pizza from Lombardi's Pizza in Little Italy
A hotdog from a cart in Times Square (in pouring rain at midnight, mind you!)
Cheesecake from Juniors in Times Square
Family-style pasta from Carmine's on Broadway
A raspberry-almond pastry from Bouchon Bakery in Rockefeller Center

I think my favorite thing was The Rock of Ages musical. Who doesn't love '80's music and a love story?! The Jimmy Fallon Show came in as a close second. The guests on the show weren't fabulous, otherwise, it might have taken the top honors (does anyone actually like Nicholas Cage?). Regardless, it was super cool to see the show firsthand. To wrap up this trip recap, I have to mention the one moment we haven't stopped talking about ... and that is seeing Tom Hanks live-and-in-person after his performance of Lucky Guy. We stood three rows back as he came out of the theater and signed autographs for the fans. It would have been better if we could have been in that first row - yet - being that close to our favorite actor was good enough. This short girl was able to get one semi-decent photo of Tom (it wasn't just the heads of the people ahead of me, anyway!). The main takeaway from my encounter with Hanks? His hair is much curlier than it looks in the films!

Enjoy the photos from our trip.

The Big Apple