On the road again! Girls trip to NYC for the holidays was a huge success. We heard how gorgeous New York was for Christmas and we finally decided to plan a trip to see it first-hand. If you haven’t been to the city for the holidays, HIGHLY recommend — even if you’re not a city person like us. So when I say “us”, I mean me, Jessica Scott and Katie Tudor, my two girls! We met through gymnastics many many years ago and have stayed very close ever since!
Day 1:
We took a train from Norfolk up to New York because I love being able to work on long travels like this (A.K.A right now lol!). It was only an 8 hour train which probably would have been just as long if we drove. If you haven’t taken a train as a form of travel before, it’s definitely an experience that I recommend, but only if you don’t get carsick cause it can get a little bumpy at times. We got in around 3pm on Sunday and actually sprinted right to the ticket office because our top priority was to see the Rockettes! We managed to get there pretty quick and snag 3 tickets for the 8pm show! FYI, if you’re wanting to see a show in New York, if you wait and go to TKTS the day of, their 50% off and great seats! After that we checked into our cute little boutique hotel, Arlo Nomad, then went to dinner.
We went to the Marshal for dinner and it was such a unique little restaurant. Chef Charlie was SO SWEET and told us all of the hotspots to go to in New York for the holidays. So if you saw my stories from the trip, you probably know Katie has TONS of allergies. The staff at Marshal was beyond helpful in creating something that worked for her dietary restrictions. Jessica and I got the Apple Cranberry & Sunchoke salad, Roasted Cauliflower soup, was their roasted piped mashed potatoes! The food was outstanding and the decor inside was absolutely adorable.
After dinner we started making our way to Radio City Music Hall for the show. When we finally found our seats we were like HOW DID WE LAND THIS?! Literally the fourth row right smack in the middle. Highly recommend going to TKTS the day of the show. Tickets were under $100 each and managed to get some of the best seats in the house. The show was so entertaining and adorable for all ages and groups! The Rockettes were just unbelievable and their hard work shows in their performance. We spent sometime around Times Square just enjoying it, seeing all the street dancers, and beautiful lights!
Day 2:
This morning we went on a 6.7 mile run at 6am through central park… doesn’t sound like a lot of fun but honestly it really was! We all love working out so being able to change up the scenery by doing it in central park, made us so very happy! Also, doing it this early was great timing because it wasn’t as busy as the late morning crew going to work. We even were able to run on Madison and 5th to see all of the designer shops, and Lotte New York where some of Gossip Girl was filmed! We went back to our hotel to shower and get ready for the day.
Our first stop was Bryant Park where they have the cutest red and blue Christmas tree, the cutest little Christmas pop up shops, and ice skating! We stopped into every shop to look around and had a mini photoshoot in front of the tree.
Our next stop was at Rockefeller center! If you haven’t seen Rockefeller during the holidays you are missing out! The decorations are out of this world, the tree is HUGE, and the ice skating was an unforgettable experience. We spent a majority of the afternoon here soaking in the Christmas spirit (which involved more photos obviously) and it even started to snow!
After Rockefeller, we did some shopping around town. We went into Lululemon, Coach, Nike, and a few others. Then we made our way back to the Arlo to get ready for tonight!
We went to dinner at Tap Haus 33 right around the corner fro our hotel. They too were so helpful with Katies allergies and made everything exactly how she wanted. Shout out to our waiter, Harvey, for looking after her in the kitchen! Jess and I got the Hummus platter, Chicken Fajita, and fries! The food here was WONDERFUL! They also have a variety of beer deals throughout the week and it is a self serving tap house — pretty cool to check out if you’re ever in New York City!
After dinner, it was time for the ROSE MANSION! If you saw my instagram stories, it was all the pretty pink rooms and decor. This was such a unique experience (plus Katie can have rose! So we were all able to enjoy it together!). They were 8 different rooms with all different types of wine to taste. The decorations matched the theme and the wine that was paired to the each room. The amount of photo opportunities that the mansion has to offer will actually blow your mind. We found a few new wines that we all enjoyed — so it was a WIN! Plus, it’s the perfect excuse to dress up and drink wine with your girls!
Day 3:
We woke up this morning and event though it was raining, we headed straight to Macy’s to check out all of their deals and display cases! There are legit 6 floors….. and yes we went to every single one lol! We are all huge Macy’s shoppers so this was an awesome experience. Not to mention the entire store is decorated for Christmas and even has a “write Santa a letter” station for the kids (which of course we participated in cause why not?!).
We hopped across the street to Chop’t cause we were STARVING! I had never been here before and it was yummy! You can chose from their paired salads that they recommend or you can create your own. We headed on back to the hotel so we could pack up, check out, and head to Penn Station for our train. It was a long train ride back but it was such an experience and I would totally do it again. Our trip went by so fast but I highly recommend spending 48 hours in NYC with some of your best friends to celebrate the holidays!
Some other hotspots to hit for the Holidays if you have time: Chelsea Market, Chelsea Bridge, Union Square market, Good Morning America show, Kelly and Ryan show, and the light show on Saks 5th Avenue.
NYC was so magical and got us in the spirit for Christmas! It is truly a city that never sleeps and is BUSY BUSY BUSY. My best advice is to have a plan, walk everywhere, and dress warm/cute cause the photo opportunities are unlimited! Happy Holidays y’all!
XOXO - Amber
P.S. I may be slightly MIA this holiday season, Drew finally comes home for a few weeks so I am going to be spending lots of time with my sweet boy. However, I still have some fun things planned and hope you will enjoy them :) Love y’all lots!
Thank you to Posh Appeal Boutique and Fuzzy Babba for making this trip possible!
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