I had the chance to check off something on my bucket list this past weekend! Go to NYC during Christmas time! I went with my best friend Brooke & it was the best time! So much to see & do there regularly but add in the holiday magic— obsessed! We covered a lot— walking over 30 miles in 2.5 days & honestly we could have kept going! Walking & subways are the way to go in my book if you want to get a lot done especially at Christmas time because of how busy traffic is!
I will say if you hate crowds, hate standing in line, & anything like that.. this is probably not the time for you! Especially at anything tourist or viral. We stood in line a few times for things that probably seem silly to wait in line but YOLO!
I loved going into all the small shops at Bryant Park & other places to support the local businesses! So many creatives & it really made my heart happy supporting them! Everyone was really nice & appreciative of business which was always nice when so many people always say how awful New Yorkers are! I made sure to bring that midwestern nice to everyone though 🙂
We got in on Friday morning & hit the ground running! Went to grand central station & they had tons of little holiday shops up so that was fun— Brooke got me obsessed with these mini print machines so now I’m the proud owner of multiple mini prints! After that we ventured to Bryant Park for some lunch & to walk around the shops they have there! So many fun things to see! We then walked around 5th ave, Central Park then headed to Brooklyn to cross some stuff off our list. Finally got to go to The Ripped Bodice romance bookstore after seeing it online for so long! So freaking cute & could have stayed there all day to be honest! We went to an old Italian restaurant Patsy’s for dinner & called it a night!
Saturday we hit the ground running again.. went to Ralph’s coffee for gingerbread lattes & a walk through Central Park. Headed to SoHo & the West Village for some shopping & more coffee. Got a big NY slice of pizza. Got to go to a Starbucks Reserve finally!! I loved it so much— such a stunning store! Went to the Harry Potter store which was a ZOO but obviously loved it! Rounding out the night with dinner at Vinyl Steakhouse which was so delicious!
Sunday which was the day we were already leaving! 😦 We got more Ralph’s coffee of course. We tried to go to FAO Schwartz but when I tell you I’ve never seen a more insane line to get into something.. absolutely BANANAS. I couldn’t believe it — so that was a bummer. We went back to Brooklyn for cheesecake that Brooke loves so much & it was probably the best cheesecake I’ve ever had! So good! We walked the Brooklyn Bridge back to Manhattan & just bopped around until it was time to go to the airport!
What a time! I needed 2 days to recover after walking so much & so much go, go, go but goodness was it worth it! I can’t wait to go back & I couldn’t say enough that going during the holidays really is so magical!
What we ate/drank:
- Gingerbread latte from Ralph’s
- Pizza from Nolita Pizza
- Salted Brown Butter & Oatmilk Latte from Caffe Paradiso
- Chicken Parm, Chicken Alfredo, Garlic Bread from Patsy’s
- Chocolate Chocolate Chip & Chocolate Peppermint Cookies from Levain Bakery
- Chocolate Chip & Chocolate Chipped Dipped Cookies from Jacque Torres Bakery
- Baked Cheese Haus Raclette — I got the cheese, ham & mustard sandwich (this is a stand at Bryant Park
- New York Cheesecake from Almondine Bakery in Brooklyn
- Tiramisu latte from Starbucks Reserve
- Vinyl Steakhouse — order a filet with sides of truffle mac n cheese & French fries! The sauce they give you for the fries is SO good!
- Obviously any bagel! I had a toasted cinnamon raisin with cream cheese one weekend!
Danielle Paschka 
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