Sam and I moved to NYC two weeks after we got married way back in January 1998 and lived in the city for almost seven years. Our first apartment was a fifth floor walk up on 25th street between 2nd and 3rd avenue in what is considered the outer edges of Gramercy Park. I’d be surprised if that apartment was more than 350 sf – SO SO SO small. Later we moved to Astoria in Queens where we had our first child. When I was about 7 1/2 months pregnant with our second we decided it was time to leave the city and headed for Northern California. While California has been our home for the past 17 years NYC will ALWAYS have my heart; I would move back in a second. Seriously. We have returned many times since moving and it is always hard to leave again. We decided that for Sam’s 50th birthday there was nowhere else we would rather be than back in our “home” of New York City.

We spent just 3 1/2 days actually ON the ground in New York; the trip had to be quick because Sophie was back home taking care of the younger two kids. That didn’t leave a ton of time in our favorite place but we CRAMMED IT IN! Here’s what we did, what we ate, where we went and what we saw. Also, NYC at Christmas is the absolute best time of year to visit. Trust me.

We had an easy flight into LGA which was truly like coming back home since this airport was the closest one to our apartment when we lived in Queens. We stayed at the Warwick Hotel because it is in the BEST location – West 54th Street and 6th Avenue. It is an old, famous hotel built by William Randolph Hearst with great service, comfortable beds and again – LOCATION. We were very happy there and will book a stay the next time we return.

By the time we got into the city we were starving. We had plans to eat at one place but got happily sidetracked and ended up at Juniors on 45th street in Times Square. This ended up being one of our favorite meals of our whole trip – crazy fun energy in the restaurant, a table piled with food and all of it DELICIOUS, the happiness of finally being back in NYC together – it was a GREAT meal. For this restaurant and any other restaurant we ate at during our stay we had to show both our ID and our vaccination cards. I used an app called NYC Safe (I think?) where I loaded my ID and vaccine card in and just showed it when needed. It was all very easy and straightforward.

After a dinner of potato pancakes and burgers and dill pickles and pickled beets and blueberry cheesecake and gravy and coleslaw we ambled out to Times Square and up to Rockefeller Center. We crammed around the giant Christmas tree and took in the sites up and down 5th Avenue. My favorite (other than the tree) was the timed light display with Christmas music on the outside of Saks 5th Avenue. SO SO SO good.

The tradition of this Christmas tree is one that I have missed seeing and it was glorious. It was also PACKED with people. Just so you know, New York was jam packed with tourists (and I’m sure residents) around Rock Center and Times Square and parts of 5th Avenue. Busy busy. It felt full and festive and almost normal, other than most people wearing masks and Covid testing tents on street corners.

The next morning we woke up early and spent alllllll day walking and eating and shopping and watching; we walked 24,000 steps. For real. We went hard. We started our day walking through Herald Square then over to the Highline in Chelsea, made our way through Chelsea Market, took in a show at Madison Square Garden of Cirque du Soleil Christmas Spectacular, walking and shopping in Union Square at the Christmas Markets, strolling up 5th Avenue and ending back at our hotel on 54th. So. Much. Walking. What a great way to spend the day!

We spent quite a bit of time in Chelsea Market and still didn’t see everything. Sam ordered some sandwich from an Italian place that maaaaaaay be the tastiest sandwich I have ever tried. I could walk around Chelsea Market for hours and be perfectly content.

I don’t have any pictures from our time at Madison Square Garden but the show was fabulous. Seriously so good.

Once we made it back to the Warwick we basically dropped and finally stopped moving. This was my 24,000 + step day and my legs were TIRED. After my shower around 9 PM I was like…”I want a hot dog from the cart across the street!”. So I threw my coat on over my jammies, took the elevator down 24 floors, walked across the street in the drizzling rain and bought myself a truly delicious New York City hot dog. No regrets. Zero. It was awesome. And that little tiny experience made me miss living in the city so very much. I told Sam while walking around earlier that day that I feel the most like myself in NYC. No question. I feel like I am at my most creative, strongest, most motivated and aggressive there. It is a place that we had to be so scrappy and focused in to survive, to get ahead, to quit jobs and get new ones, to forge our family, to have kids, to make it through 9/11 – all of it. New York is the birthplace of our lives together and where we started our family so there is a healthy dose of nostalgia mixed in with the vibe that I love so much about the city.

The next day (which was Sam’s actual 50th birthday!!!!) we slept in a little because we were still so worn out from the day before. My waking thought was “I need a falafel at my favorite falafel place on 8th street”. Trouble was, I didn’t remember the name of the place or the cross streets. A text to a friend didn’t help so I did some internet sleuthing and discovered that my memory is amazing – I was right about it being on 8th street! The best falafel place in all of New York City is Mamoun’s on 8th Street and St. Marks. I explained to Sam that no matter what this was going to be the first meal of the day. On the way there we walked through Washington Square Park, the Cooper Union (where I originally planned to go to art school until I got a scholarship to go to BYU) and all through the East Village. I may have gotten us lost at one point but oh well, we still ended up at Mamouns. The JOY I felt in my soul taking those first few bites were…bliss.

We made our way down through the East Village into Chinatown and Little Italy and eventually SoHo. As we were walking we got an unexpected call from Simon (currently serving a mission in Maine while he waits for his visa to travel to Kenya). He had gone to the ER for difficulty breathing and feeling generally unwell and guess what?! He was diagnosed with Covid. Such. A. Bummer. We joked that we will always remember the day Simon got Covid because it was his dad’s 50th birthday. We were not worried about Simon because we knew he would be alright (he is fully vaccinated, young and healthy) but it was still a little unnerving that our child was sick and there was very little we could do about it.

We found ourselves at apparently the best cannoli place in the world (?) so we had to go in. We found our all time FAVORITE rainbow cookies fully supplied as well as other Italian goodies so we shrugged off our coats and planted ourselves at a table for a good long while. Everything was so good but the rainbow cookies were our favorite. The owner who is a bit famous for his cannolis was behind the counter and when we told him that it was Sam’s 50th birthday he was all in for some photos with the birthday boy.

We floated around Chinatown (I HAD to go back to Pearl River to satisfy myself) and back up through the East Village into Union Square.

After a rest back at the hotel we headed over for our long awaited return to Carmines for Sam’s special birthday dinner. Even with reservations the line was long and WORTH IT. We got lasagna and penne a la vodka and the most to die for salad I have ever had in my life and just soaked up the Carmines goodness. Best meal. We loved Carmines when we lived in the city and it felt great to be back.

On our last day (insert sad face) we tried to pack in as much as we could. We specifically booked late flights so that we had the whole day to play. Sam loves the Rockettes (who doesn’t, right) so he acquired some sweet tickets to the 11:00 AM show. OH MY GOSH. It had been 20 years since seeing the show and it blew us away. So incredible.

Just two days after we left the city, the Rockettes closed early for the season due to an uptick in Covid cases. We saw some of the last shows of 2021 and were very grateful that we were able to see them. After a lunch of pancakes at a diner near Carnegie Hall we headed into Central Park. We have so many happy memories of spending time in Central Park while we lived in the city and it was great to be back. But it was COLD.

When it was time to head out to the airport I felt both ready to get home to see the kids and desperately wanting to stay in my favorite place with my favorite person.

We decided while we were there that we need to buy a place in the city. We have talked about it for about a year and being back there made us more committed than ever to make this a reality. We aren’t sure of the timing yet but we will make it happen! NYC, you have our hearts forever; we can’t wait to see you again soon. Happy Birthday, Sam. You make 50 look AWESOME 🙂

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