I want to be apart of it...New York, New York!

As mentioned in this post, we went to New York after our Thanksgiving in Cancun. We arrived in New York at 4pm on Saturday and left at 8pm on Sunday. That gave us 24 hours-ish! N*, my sis in law, had never been to NYC and Matson had not been since he was 12. We carefully planned out our 24 hours to do as much as we could. We didn't hit up all the common tourist spots, but we did some. Instead we combined stuff that everyone wanted to do!

Growing up, my dad showed my siblings and I new movies almost every weekend. Most of the time these movies were sooo dumb and he would try to convince us that they were the best movies. Like National Velvet (Sorry Elizabeth Taylor as a teenager, your fake riding a horse while in your bed was just too much) and The Field Is White (Probably some of the worst production, acting, and everything I have ever seen. Great LDS story but just not a good movie in anyway). Whether he said they were classics or movies with an "all star cast", we rarely watched one that us kids liked. One time though, one of his movies he showed us was a hit! The movie, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying became a family favorite fast. We watched it all the time and had every phrase and song memorized and I still do. When we found out it was coming to Broadway we were soooo excited and told ourselves we had to go sometime soon! So that is why we stopped in NYC after Cancun.

We checked into our hotel and quickly called for a cab that fit 8 or for 2 cabs to fit 8. We ended up in a...

Limo for a cab? Ok!

So our #1 priority in NYC was to go to the broadway show of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying starring Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) and John Larroquette (you know...the mean guy from Richie Rich?).

Before going to the show we needed somewhere close the the theater and was kind of fast (not sit down). We decided on Shake Shack. Yum yum!

Finding a place to sit for 8 people was ridic. Finally got an area for us all to sit at but it required some staking out!

After eating we still had some extra time before the show started so we went to show N* Times Square. Matson was fasinated by all the screens in Times Square and he got to sit on the "red steps" for the first time. Haha.

We sat on the steps and realized, "What the heck are you suppose to do here?" Ashley replied, "You just sit..."

Finally...it was showtime!! It followed the movie pretty exact and was hilarious. They added some parts to the Groundhog fight song scene, which was hilarious! The fact that Daniel Radcliffe and John Larroquette are so different in height made it quite funny. I would highly recommend going to this show when you go to NYC. Worth it!

After the show we headed to Serendipity where we were told the wait for 8 was 2+ hours at 12 at night? URGH...Matson, T*, N*, and I waited while the other four went back to the hotel for some sleep. We got in 15 minutes after they left! Dang hostess dude lied. URGH...

Biggest Menu Ever.

Matson ordered the classic Serendipity Frozen Hot Chocolate.

Me..I was craving something refreshing. I got Pink Ice (Frozen Lemonade).

Serendipity is yummy and everything, but honestly it is more about the fun Serendipity atmosphere that you wait for. The actual food isn't to die for, but it is still a NYC touristy spot. After Serendipity we took the long subway adventure back to our hotel where we finally went to sleep around 3am. Next morning we woke up at 7am for a bright and early attack on the city. First, we hit up Rockefeller Center where N*, Matson, and my brothers saw the view of the city from the Top of the Rock building. My dad, mom, sister, and I went to Anthropologie (which was my mom's only request for the NYC 24 hour trip). 

I was so excited to see the Rockefeller tree. I love the Home Alone scene where he meets his mom. I love this tree!

It is seriously so BIG. How do they get it there? The stump of it is bigger than my car!

Matson on the Top of the Rock.

Next we did some shopping on 5th Ave. - H&M, Urban Outfitters, etc. Good deals and some killer finds! I got the cutest boots for only $20! They were more than 50% off because they were 50% off the marked down price! So pumped about some of our purchases. I have to wait for Christmas for some though :(

Us on 5th Ave.

Next, we headed to Grand Central Station. Mats had never been there, he loved it. It really is such a cool, old building!

Matson at Grand Central. It was sooo busy even on a Sunday afternoon.

We took the subway to Chinatown/Little Italy. My family has this thing on vacations where we sometimes go too long without food then we get hangry I love that word now that I saw pinned on Pinterest. Hungry+Angry=Hangry. Therefore, Dad demanded us to eat at Lombardi's Pizza. It was so yummy.

Chinatown Story: We then headed to Chinatown where N* originally was the only one that wanted a purse...we were crossing a street when some creeper Asian man came up to us and quietly said, "you want Gucci, Prada, Michael Kors?" Dad told him yeah then all the sudden we were following this guy with a leather jacket like 5 blocks down to some sketchy area. He walked like 30 feet in front of us and when my dad asked him how much farther away it was he replied by saying, "We can't talk now." I felt like we were in a movie. Having been to China a couple times, my family had experienced this multiple times before. Matson on the other hand had not and was a little sketched out. We got to this guy's location where we ended up buying 5 handbags (I am getting mine for Christmas from Mats!). The guys except for T* waited outside while T* tried to work a deal. Mom handed T* the cash and T* asked how much for all 5? The Asian boy told him $300 (That's 60 bucks a bag..I had heard other people getting theirs for $30 even though those womens' bags were smaller than ours). T* started at $150 lower then the guy asked for. The guy said no way. T* went straight up to $200. The guy said no way again but said $250. I really wanted to get all the handbags for 30 bucks a piece, so that's $150 for all! I then budded in and said, "ok well we don't need these then" and hung my bag I was holding back on the rack and started walking out. I wish you could of seen my mom's and N*'s faces. Their faces were saying, "NO...we love these bags! We want them!" As I started to walk out the guy said, "FINE FINE we will do it for $200." I was so happy to get them for cheaper than $300, but I still wished T* wouldn't of said $200 because guarantee I could of gotten them at least for $35 a bag if not $30. Reminded me of all our times in China shopping. SO MUCH FUN!

After our China adventure, we walked over to the World Trade Center buildings. The guys went through a little memorial/museum while us girls went to Century 21. Century 21 is such a fun store!

We were out of town and had to head back to the hotel to get our luggage then head to the airport. New York was so much fun! I loved just being there even for a day, but I want to go back again and see more shows and shop more! It was super fun to be there with all the Christmas decorations up all over too!  Again, thank you so much Mom and Dad for taking us to NYC!

Here's one last little picture for you guys all to get a laugh from our plane ride home Sorry Instagram friends, you get to see it again. I fell asleep the whole way and Matson took 6 pictures on my phone that I didn't even find until I was on my phone at work the next day. Enjoy :)