Christmas in NYC

.......2013. 

Yes, so this post is a year late. BUT I didn't have a blog when we went and I'm having severe "please take me back syndrome" so I figured it's never too late to post about an amazing trip!

First night in NYC! I love them so much.

This trip was my college graduation trip. When my sister graduated, the three Reeves women went to Los Angelos, and by the time I graduated, I knew I wanted to go to NYC....at Christmastime. I had been to New York a few times before (and loved it!) but I had never been at Christmastime. 

So right now you might be thinking: but you didn't graduate college in 2013....
You would be correct! 

I graduated college in December 2010, but was still recovering from surgery/radiation, so we decided to postpone. In the fall of 2011, I had to have another eye surgery that postponed the trip again. By 2012 I had a four and a half month old niece...so Amy was a little busy. By 2013, we were ready to go - come hell or highwater.

We flew out the Thursday morning after Christmas (me and my mom woke up at 3 a.m. for that flight!) and stayed through Sunday evening. 

While waiting on my sister (who flew in later from Dallas), mom and I got settled in and went and walked around the city. Holy. Cold. It was SO cold. In fact, I'm not sure I've been much colder than I was on this trip. It was a good day if I returned to the hotel with ten toes, cause I rarely could feel them. Did it snow? No no - it was just bitterly cold. 

So Amy got there, we got her settled, and then went to see the city lights. My friend Ryan told us about all the neat Christmas window displays, so we hit those up before visiting Bryant Park.

Pretty sure I almost got run over taking this but it's fine...

Me and Aim posing on a festive corner. PS we took this 17 times. Susie ain't that great with a camera..

Then we headed over to Bryant Park to see the shops and have some dinner. I don't know what Bryant Park is like during the warmer months, but you MUST go during the holidays! It's adorable! Picture those Christmas villages that people display in their houses....got it? Okay good. Now that's Bryant Park. 

The girls, the tree, and the 'hustle and bustle'

Hah - so then we were like 'hey, lets grab dinner outside and watch the ice skating." They had heaters, so we thought it'd be fine. Yeah no, it wasn't. We were stupidly cold. I don't even remember what we ate but I'll bet it was lukewarm by the time it made it to the table. 

Our view from dinner...ain't it cute???

Susie didn't think so. Susie was cold.

That was my first real night to be concerned for my toes. Those poor little piggies. 

BUT - no rest for the freezing. The next morning we bundled back up and headed to Rockefeller. 

We walked around the outside (and contemplated ice skating) and then had to take a break in TGIFridays just to thaw a bit. Have I mentioned it was cold? I'm not kidding people. 

We surveyed the city on the top of the Rock...

#windyselfie

And bought the picture like true tourists do....

We came back to sea level and said hello to Radio City....

And bonded a bit with the big red balls.

If there's one thing that says New York at Christmas, it's those big red balls...

Good shot, huh? Thanks :)

 To wrap up that pretty perfect day was one of the best nights of my life. We ate a good southern meal at Justin Timberlake's restaurant, "Southern Hospitality," and then WE WENT AND SAW NEWSIES ON BROADWAY. And sat in the very middle of the 5th row. I cried, y'all. Not only am I that cheesy, but I just love that musical THAT much. It's coming to Dallas in the spring. I will be there. No less than three times. Ohmygosh I'm so excited.

Look how happy we are. Our tastes may differ in some areas, but we all LOVE. US. SOME NEWSIES!!!

 That night was done. We bought the "making of" book, went back to the hotel, sang the songs, and talked about the show for the rest of the night. And then tried to find matinee tickets for the next day. Sadly to no avail. 

On our last full day, we visited the Plaza (were too late or brunch reservations - planning fail), revisited our childhood (and claustrophobia) at FAO Schwarz, and then went ice skating in Central Park. And THAT was an adventure...

Pretty lobby of the plaza

We stood in a line for this with people all shorter than my waist. It's fine...

Home Alone bridge!

I love my pretty sister.

 And then it was time. Time for the ice skating. Here's the deal. I don't ice skate. I don't roller skate. I don't ride bikes. I'm just not athletic, okay? SO - I was pretty nervous. But Amy said she wouldn't let go...so I obliged. 

And she didn't! ....For the most part. But those couple times she did, down I went. I'm just counting it a small victory that I didn't split my pants.

Success!! So glad we did this!!

Saturday evening is not worth documenting. We decided to go shopping and see Rockefeller at night. Yeah, well so did 35,000 other people. It was frustrating, hilarious (I'm laughing just thinking about it), and something I never want to experience again. 

Before we headed out on Sunday, we woke up early and walked to wait in line for Serendipity. Other than ice skating in Central Park, this was HUGE on my bucket list. I've always wanted to try that frozen hot chocolate. So we waited, and waited, and were within the top 5 groups in line. And people - it was worth it. 

I love this picture of my mom. This woman has one big sweet tooth!!

You probably thought this was a lot of pictures, but it was only about 1/6 of them. I will never forget this trip. I love these two women with my whole heart and couldn't ask for better role models. You can't give memories due credit on a blog, but I'm sure you can tell that a lot were made.

Counting down to the next city we take on. And I wouldn't be sad at all if it was New York again. At Christmastime. :)

Until next time, 

Katy