New York at Christmas

I think I mentioned on here before that I was really looking forward to this weekend. That's because I was in New York City this weekend! I've always dreamed of going to New York, especially at Christmas, and I got to have that dream come true. New York was absolutely crazy, but so pretty too!

We ended up going on a bus trip. We left Friday night, and drove all the way through the night. We decided to do it this way because it was the cheapest way to see New York, but my family agreed that we want to go back and stay a few nights - ha! The bus trip was kind of cool though because the lady who organized the whole thing decorated the buses for Christmas, and we watched some Christmas movies on the way down.

We stopped at a rest station around 5 to get ready. It was SO packed - we were there for an hour because the line for the rest rooms were so long. It was crazy!

Then we finally got to New York City around 7. We got dropped off in Rockefeller Center. It was so cool to see where the Today Show is filmed because my family always watches that show!

The tree was all lit up too. That was so cool to see!

We also walked around and saw the ice skating rink and some decorations around Rockefeller Center.

We had breakfast at Bouchon Bakery.

I was a little disappointed with their hot chocolate, but I ordered a Nutella Macaron (which I've been wanting to try forever), and it was good! Such a perfect combination of crunchy cookie and creamy filling :) 

After breakfast we headed up to the Top of the Rock, which is the top of the Rockefeller building. The building itself was really pretty!

The view from the top was gorgeous. I loved getting to see the city from up above, and we also got a really good view of Central Park and the Empire State Building.

This is the New Year's Eve ball in Times Square!



We stopped by St. Patrick's Cathedral afterwards.

Then we did some shopping on 5th Avenue. It was so unreal to me - I've always dreamed of shopping in NYC!

We stopped in the Donald Trump Tower to get some Starbucks. Definitely what I needed on a cold morning!

I went in the biggest Ann Taylor store I've even been in and got the cutest cardigan there!

The FAO Schwarz store was one of my favorites. I'm not a little kid, but I sure felt like one in that store!

My mom and I got our pictures taken with the toy soldier out front :)

This was a special Barbie Fous-ball table. It was amazing, but it cost $25,000. Wow!

The BIG Piano



We did some other shopping at Dylan's Candy Bar, which was the biggest candy store I've ever seen, and also at Bloomingdale's.

Then we went to Sprinkles Cupcakes. Have you ever watched Cupcake Wars? The one judge, Candice Nelson, is the founder of Sprinkles.

We got a strawberry cupcake......

.....and my favorite - Red Velvet!

We tried going to Serendipity for one of their frozen hot chocolates, but the line was crazy, so we just took a picture of it instead.

Then we went into Central Park to walk around and ride the carousel.

Then we went over to Little Italy for a delicious lunch! Afterwards we headed down to lower Manhattan to see the 9/11 Memorial. Apparently they aren't completely finished with it yet though, and you needed tickets to see it (which we didn't have), so we ended up not getting to see that. We did to get to see the Statue of Liberty from Battery Park though!

We took the subway back up to 34th street so we could go shopping at Macy's!

My jaw just about dropped when I walked into Macy's. It was absolutely huge and packed.

I got this super cute shirt while I was there.

The sleeve:



I also found a new pea coat, which I've been needing. It looks way cuter in real life than it does in the picture.

And no trip would be complete without a new scarf! I love how this one has a subtle sparkle to it.

The Macy's store was absolute insanity though! It was 9 levels, and there were 4 Starbucks in just this one store. I've never seen anything like it in my entire life.

Times Square was our next stop. Out of everything, this might have been my favorite. It definitely had the biggest "wow" factor for me. I didn't realize how BIG Times Square was. Pictures simply don't do it justice!

Harry Potter billboard in Times Square!

One of my favorite stores!

The Disney store there was awesome!

Love this cup I bought at the Disney store!

The Hershey's store was absolutely packed, as in a line to get into the store, so we decided to skip it, but it looked really neat from the outside. 

We tried going to dinner at a restaurant right off Times Square, but it was so packed, that we headed back to the food court at Macy's. We just relaxed there until 10, when the bus picked us up to head back home.

Overall, I really enjoyed the trip. My family agreed though that we would love to go back, but get a hotel room and stay for a few nights. We were absolutely beat by the end of the day, and my feet and legs were killing me. I absolutely loved seeing New York City though, especially at Christmas. If you ever get the opportunity - I would definitely recommend it!