For our last day in the big city, we had planned to explore some museums, see the filming of Letterman and then go out for a nice dinner. To start, we headed on the subway up to the Upper East Side for a New York Bagel at H&H Bagel:
It was delicious!
Full belly in tow, we headed towards the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Who knew this museum was GINORMOUS!? I could just imagine my inner Blair Waldorf hanging out on the steps with my bestie Serena discussing our fabulous New York lives. The inner architecture geek in me loved the Neoclassical design:
Just making it through a portion of the Met was a daunting task and I think we probably only saw a quarter of the collections! We started with Greek and Roman art, which I must admit was not as interesting as I wanted it to be. I did love some of the architectural features of the building more than the collection itself:
I did fall in love with this gold crown of leaves and asked if I could purchase it before finding out it was way out of my price range:
After exhausting ourselves of Greek and Roman art, we headed up to the next floor for some modern and European and American art. My poor husband has no art appreciation whatsoever, he obviously wasn’t an art major like myself. We even found an original Dyson! I am pretty sure our new one works much better though:
I enjoyed checking out all of the contemporary art, like this Jackson Pollack:
And a classic Andy Warhol of Jackie O.
We spent a while longer viewing great works by Monet, Picasso, Degas, Van Gogh, etc. before realizing it was 1:00 pm and we were supposed to be over at the David Letterman show at 2. Then hubby also realized he had forgotten his wallet at the hotel and needed his ID to pick up the tickets to the show, so we decided to forgo the Letterman show and the rest of the Met and head out to get some lunch. I swear it could take years to view and appreciate all of the works in the Met! Hubby was a little disappointed that the musical instruments collection was closed since he is a music buff, but all in all it was worth the visit. While sitting outside on the steps of the Met trying to figure out what to do next, I got the bright idea to google and see where Carrie’s apartment was in Sex and the City. I thought it might be in the Upper East Side, but found out it was actually filmed in Greenwich Village and portrayed as the Upper East Side.
During my googling session I did happen to land on a page that so conveniently informed me that Sex and the City II was being filmed at none other than the Plaza Hotel at Central Park and what do you know we were right around the corner. Hubby thought I was insane and that we would, in his words, ‘never find them’ but he doesn’t know me very well. I knew if they were in fact filming that the streets would be blocked off for the trailers and it wouldn’t be too difficult to locate. e headed to lunch over by the Plaza Hotel and low and behold there were those lovely trailers I told hubby about with ‘Paramount Pictures of Hollywood’ all over them 
It appeared as though the cameras, lighting, and equipment were still being set up, so we grabbed a bite to eat at a little deli and decided to walk back over after lunch.
They were still setting up, but hubby willingly waited patiently with for me to see if we could catch a glimpse of Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte or Miranda. Not long after, the stand ins came out to set up the scene for the cameras so I knew it couldn’t be much longer before SOMEONE, ANYONE from SATC came out. Then ta-da, there they were, SJP and Kristen Davis, seemingly appearing out of nowhere with a gaggle of Paparazzi following along:
Cynthia Nixon was also spotted, but she wasn’t filming and stayed slightly hidden most of the time. When they finally started filming I made my way to the front of the group and got some (okay, A LOT) of pretty good shots:
She was waving right at me, ya know?
Just for the record, SJP was wearing a Halston Heritage dress, a Solange Azagury-Partridge necklace, Chanel Clutch, Mykita & Bernard Willhelm’s Franz Sunglasses, and GORGEOUS gold, sparkly Louboutins in which she strolled effortlessly in. Did I mention she is even tinier in person than she appears on tv? She must weigh 90 lbs. soaking wet! Kristen Davis (who happens to be my fave, in real life and in SATC, since she is a good ‘ole Carolina girl) was wearing a beautiful pink Dior suit, pink Dior bag, and pink and white Louboutins. I DIE!
Now I will annoy bless you with my incessant photo snapping. I mean who doesn’t enjoy a little celebrity photo ogling:
What an excited afternoon and a true New York experience! I have a few videos of the filming itself I will share in a separate post. Who is your favorite SATC character, or which one are you most like? I am a whole lot of Charlotte with a splash of Carrie
Last up: Bright Lights, Big City: Bridging to Brooklyn
Our second night in New York tops the list of my favorites. Ever since high school, I have wanted to see Phantom of the Opera on Broadway and I finally did! After many years of dance recitals filled with the beautiful songs, I knew I had to go see the play while we were in the Big Apple and since my husband was a music major and band director previously, it wasn’t hard to convince him to go. It definitely lived up to all those years of waiting and we got lucky and got great discount seats from the TKTS booth:
After our wonderful show, we strolled down the street humming Phantom songs and looking for a late dinner. We found a little Italian place called Carmine’s that fit the bill. Since it was family style we ordered a big ‘ole platter of pasta to share and barely finished half! We really wanted some Calamari too, but when the waiter told us it was 2 1/2 lbs. of Calamari, we decided to pass. A walk was much needed to digest all that pasta, so hubby and I went to the Empire State Building. Since it was late in the evening, we headed right up and didn’t have to wait at all. The city was mesmerizing at night, I found myself just staring out into all the bright lights and seeing how people dream of ‘making it’ in the big city.
On our way back to the hotel, we happened to stumble upon Bryant Park, where all the festivities were being set up for Fashion Week and of course I had to have a photo op:
It’s too bad I didn’t get to stay a little longer to enjoy the real festivities of Fashion Week, but maybe next year It was a wonderful day in an amazing city, so who could complain.
Day 2 in the Big Apple started off a little shaky, but it ended with a bang, the bang of a chandelier that is 
Our itinerary originally included a trip to see the Today Show like any good tourist would, until I found out Rachel Zoe was a guest on the Regis & Kelly show. Then I made it my mission to get to R&K and stand in line for tickets, so we got up at the crack of dawn and endured an EXTREMELY hot subway ride only to find out the Regis & Kelly was taping without a live audience (assuming because of Labor Day). So no Rachel Zoe for me and no Today Show because it was already too late. So we trekked across the street to Starbucks and I sulked while we figured out what else to do with our morning. After a quick stop to see the Lincoln Center we headed down to Battery Park via subway to see the Statue of Liberty:
Between the ferry ride and waiting in line to go through security, our little exploration of Lady Liberty took the better part of our first day.
The view of Manhattan from the ferry was breathtaking:
Even if the ferry ride was a little chilly:
Just call me the Statue of Fashion-y:
(Wearing: Old Navy Scarf, F21 Jacket, Coach Sunnies, HUE Tights, NY&Co. Jersey Dress, Nine West Boots)
After waiting in line for what seemed like forever, we finally got to go inside the Statue of Liberty. it was well worth the wait for this first time New Yorker:
After our date with Lady Liberty, we headed back on the ferry to Manhattan to get our Broadway tickets and see the World Trade Center site. We also walked through Battery Park to see the sculpture that was saved from the 9/11 attacks at the World Trade Center. This was probably more sobering and emotional than seeing the site itself:
We decided to try out the TKTS booth for discount Broadway tickets down at the South Seaport, so we also checked out the pier while we were in the area.
From the Pier there was a great view of the Financial District, which reminded me a lot of the Queen City:
After scoring tickets to the show we wanted, we trotted up Wall Street to the WTC site:
Construction was well underway on the new memorial building, but it was still quite emotional to walk around (just days before the anniversary) just trying to imagine what people felt on that day. I remember even thousands of miles away in my Intro to Business class being scared and sad and leaving class and talking to my mom all day while watching the news footage:
Since Century 21 was right across the street, we decided to pop in and see what all the hype was about. Honestly every person on the streets seemed to have bags and bags of clothes from there! I must say, it wasn’t my kind of place. Too many people, too much disarray and my lack of patience took us right out the door very quickly:
By this point we were pretty worn out and starving since it was way past lunch so we headed back to the hotel with a stop in Greenwich Village for lunch. Several people had raved about John’s Pizza in Greenwich, so we thought we would give it a try. I was also told the I would just LOVE Greenwich Village, but I can’t say the area I saw around NYU and Bleeker Street was up my alley. It reminded me a lot of Asheville and a little bit of Charleston, but we saw lots of interesting people and shops! Perhaps I missed the ‘good’ parts? After chowing down, we were back to the Millenium Broadway for a nap and to get ready for our show on Broadway!
Stay tuned for Bright Lights, Big City: Day 2.2 ON BROADWAY
Immediately upon our arrival in the big city of New York, I fell madly in love. The hustle and bustle, the diversity, the fashion, the architecture, I could go on and on. I might have grown up in the country, but I am a city girl through and through! I will take you on a tour of our first day in the Big Apple…just looking back at these pics makes me long to be back. We actually took over 1,000 photos, so I have condensed them for you guys:
Arriving in Grand Central Station
Our hotel, the Millenium Broadway, was fantastic. It was very nice for an NYC hotel, perfectly located in Times Square and we got lucky and got a HUGE corner room.
This was our amazing night view from our hotel room. It made me happy to wake up and see the bright lights shining in.
After checking in our hotel and dropping off our luggage, we wandered around the city for the better part of the day. Strolling around the streets, seeing some sights, and taking it all in.
(Outfit details: F21 ‘Leather’ jacket, F21 blouse, Express Jeans, Nine West boots, earrings from my mom, Coach sunnies)
Radio City Music Hall
Rockefeller Center
St. Patricks Cathedral (BEAUTIFUL!!)
Interior of the Cathedral
Hubby found his own hotel, The Benjamin
Then we checked out 5th Avenue, including the Trump Tower, on our way to Central Park:
Central Park, one of the great planning and architecture feats I spent years learning about in school. It was just as incredible as I imagined:
After lunching on a bench and wandering around Central Park, we decided to check out the American Museum of Natural History:
I have to say, I wasn’t overly impressed with the museum, but I was excited to see Dum Dum (from Night at the Museum). Dum Dum want Gum Gum?
After exploring all the crazy exhibits at the museum, we decided to head back to the hotel and freshen up before planning to go to Little Italy for dinner. We were exhausted from walking, so we chose the subway, my first of many subway experiences:
The subway brought us right into Times Square, where I was greeted by the bright lights I had been waiting for:
Before we got back to the hotel, a terrible migraine hit (dang it Diet Coke!), so I took some meds and laid down, so we missed going to Little Italy. I finally felt better about 9 pm so we decided to check out Times Square and find something else for dinner.
I found my new home, Fashion Avenue
We spent a few hours walking around Times Square all the way down to 34th Street and wandering in and out of stores. I loved that you could be out at midnight and there were still hoards of people exploring the city too. We ended up eating at an Irish Pub (O’Lunneys)across from our hotel that ended up being pretty good and not too expensive either. Our first day in NYC was amazing and we both crashed in the hotel room!
