New York, New York...

So this past weekend Graham and I went up to NYC to visit Matt & Lauren, eat well, see Robert, see Chase, have some wine and take a little break. My parents kept Carrie and it was so nice to leave and not have to worry about a thing. Apparently she did great! Slept well, ate well, played hard and just had a great time! I know my mom expected to be ready to hand her back to me as soon as we returned, but she actually wasn't! She says she already misses her so she really must have been a good little girl! I am so glad! We were actually gone even longer than we expected to be because our Sunday afternoon flight home was cancelled so we came home this morning instead. 4 nights away was a LONG time...let's just say I balled on the phone with American Airlines when they told me we couldn't come home yesterday. But I got it together so we could make the most of another night in the city, and that we did!

We got there Thursday night and headed straight to Matt and Lauren's apartment. They live in Tribeca in an awesome apartment so it was so fun to see where they live and see some of their neighborhood! After we saw their place and Matt's floor at the Goldman Sachs building (so insane! Computers everywhere!!!), we went to a little restaurant in their neighborhood called Landmarc. It was so yummy and a perfect way to start the trip...good food, good wine. And we spent the night at their place that first night and they were such good hosts to us.

Graham and me at Landmarc.
Matt and Lauren...host and hostess extraordinaire!
Matt had to work Friday so Lauren took us all around the city! Graham had never been to NYC so we definitely had a lot of ground to cover!

Here we are at Ground Zero. It is literally like 2 blocks from their apartment. Put a lot of it in perspective.
We then walked around SoHo in the morning and shopped a little before heading to Midtown. We had lunch at Fred's at Barneys (one of Robert's many amazing suggestions) and this was my favorite lunch. The food was SO good and so was the people watching.

My ravioli...
Lauren and I
Then we headed to the St. Regis to check in. It was SO pretty all ready for Christmas. The hotel was SO nice (Robert and Graham will laugh now, but I just have to say we had points so this was free...otherwise we would never have gotten to stay here! It was such a treat!!) The hotel was SO nice and SO beautiful, the location was perfect and the service was amazing. They have butlers that bring you tea or coffee, shine your shoes, press your clothes...crazy. I love serving my family more than anything, but being served for a weekend was not so bad!
And Lauren knew Graham couldn't miss a trip to FAO Schwarz. Let me just say that at Christmas time, you cannot move in that place! But it was still cool to see it and we cannot wait to take Carrie there someday!
Graham with Chubaca made out of legos!
Lauren also took us by the Plaza Hotel for Graham to see it and we went down to the Eloise store...it was adorable! I have always loved the Eloise books so seeing it at the Plaza in the adorable little store was so fun. They have a room where little girls can have tea and a room where they can dress up with all these mirrors...adorable. Cannot wait for Carrie to go someday. We bought her her first Eloise book there even though she is way too young for it. Just couldn't resist!

That night Graham and I had tickets to see Billy Elliott. We love musicals so we were really excited about this and Graham was excited to see Time Square! Before we went, we went to the bar at the St. Regis and it was so neat. It was PACKED, but we stayed for a drink just to enjoy the atmosphere. It was a wood paneled bar called "Old King Cole" and they had this cool mural over the bar...
Then we headed into the madness that is Times Square. Graham loved getting to see it.
Billy Elliott was amazing. It was 3 hours which is longer than we are used to, but the lead role boy who had to be only 12 or 14 was incredible. Afterwards, we headed to Minetta Taven to meet Robert, Daniel and Chase! It is so fun to visit a place where we can see several friends. Minetta was another of Robert's recommendations and it was delicious. The burger there is the way to go...so we all did...
Then Robert got us into the Boom Boom Room! Apparently it is like the hot spot in NYC right now and it was really cool! They had a cinema society party there before we got in there so there were a few celebs there which I thought was pretty cool. Among those there: Mark Wahlberg, Owen Wilson and we had drinks next Kirsten Dunst. It is on the top of the Standard Hotel and all windows so the views were incredible and the place was just all around amazing. We didn't even leave there till 4 am. That is not even in my time zone anymore, but somehow we made it! It was just too fun to leave. Robert really hooked us up with some amazing places.

Chase, Robert and me at Boom Boom Room.
And as the night went on...
Somehow Graham and I got out of bed the next morning to enjoy another fun day. We met up with Matt and Lauren in West Village and walked around some shops and even saw the apartment building that Carrie lived in on Sex and the City (Carrie Bradshaw not to be confused with Carrie Young :) ). West Village is such a neat area.

We then ate lunch at the Spice Market in the Meat Packing District. Graham's mom told us about this place and it was really good! A really cool atmosphere!

Then we made Lauren and Matt take us to Rockefeller Center. After experiencing this, I realize how NICE it was that they acted like of course, no big deal we can go here...but it was! The place was a ZOO! The line to ice skate there went for blocks. But the tree was pretty and I am glad we went.
We then split up boys and girls and the boys went to do their cigar thing while Lauren and I did a little more shopping. Again, SO crowded that it was a tad overwhelming, but still fun.

When Graham and I got back to the room, I wanted an in room version of "high tea" so they brought us this...
Haha it was really cute and since there wasn't time for Lauren and I to get our High Tea in, this sufficed just perfectly!

Before meeting Matt and Lauren for dinner, Graham and I went to the Mark Hotel for a drink (again, Robert's suggestion) and it turned out to be such a good decision because when I sat down at the bar, the guy next to me turned around and there was Owen Wilson! Sitting next to me eating his dinner. I dont think Graham and I talked for like 5 minutes haha. We just were a little star struck.

Then we headed to Scalinatella to meet Matt and Lauren for some Italian. It was a really small place below ground, but it was really yummy. They make all their own pastas and we had some really good food.
After this Robert hooked us up yet again and got us in the Rose Bar at the Gramercy Park Hotel. It was a really beautiful bar/lounge and it was fun to be with Matt, Lauren, Robert, Chase and Nick all together! Again we were out way late, but totally worth it.

When we woke up Sunday, we thought we would just pack and then head over to Norma's to meet Matt and Lauren for brunch. All was going as planned until right when Graham and I got there, I got a text that our flight was cancelled. I was on hold almost the entire brunch and then when I finally talked to someone, they told me we couldnt get out until Monday afternoon so then I was crying the rest of the brunch haha. But the food was delicious! Callen recommended this place and the food is all so different and elaborate...I had the Peanut Butter waffle...YUM! After I gathered my emotions (was really having a hard time facing another night with out Carebear) but I rallied because like Graham said, there are way worse places to be stuck so we may as well make the most of it! And we were so lucky that we had Matt and Lauren to stay with. So Lauren and I piddled around Tribeca/Greenwich and got coffee and went in some shops while Matt worked and Graham went to the Natural History Museum (his Heaven...he is Ross from Friends). I had a great afternoon there. Lauren and Matt had some dinner plans and of course invited us, but I was really craving some sushi and thought I could easily find some in NYC so, naturally, I called Robert to get a suggestion. He said to go to Blue Ribbon in SoHo and OH MY GOODNESS it was the best sushi we have ever had. It is just a little hole in the wall under a brownstone, but the fresh fish in the sushi was to die for. All in all, the day turned out so well once we made the most of it! And I harassed American Airlines through about 13 phone calls and finally got both Graham and I on the 820 flight this morning so we got back to Nashville at 930...not so bad at the end of the day! It was so weird to leave a beautiful NYC with weather in the 50s and come south to Nashville to 18 degree weather. Opposite of what I expected, but it was great to have nice weather up there! Seeing Carrie was wonderful and I have so enjoyed my day with her. It's amazing how a little vacation can make you just appreciate your life that much more when you get back to it :).

So thanks again to my parents, to the Hancocks, and to Robert and Chase. We had such a great time!!!