The Big Apple

The Hubb-ster and I just returned from our vacation to NYC... and boy, did we have a great time! Usually, when we go somewhere for a while, we're looking a little forward to coming back home by the end of the trip. Not this time. We wanted to stay in the city where dreams are made of: New York. (Thanks Jay-Z and Alicia Keys).

Some of the highlights of our time in the Big Apple:

On the very first day of our trip we got to see history being made. How freaking cool is that? That's what I love about NYC! You're there for a few hours and you see something you can't see anywhere else: Pop-Up Wedding Chapels in Central Park in honor of NY's new law allowing same-sex couples to marry.

Holy guacamole, that's awesome!

Pop Up Chapel is an organization that provides FREE marriages to anyone wanting to get married. (I love that I can now type "anyone" and really mean it) According to their literature, "We provide the wedding! And the photographer! And the officiant! And witnesses! And cupcakes! And everything you’ve always dreamed of! A free and legal wedding, for anyone who wants to get married." So very cool. And we got to watch some of these long-awaited nuptials. Again, very cool.

One of the very nifty and artsy arches that couples could marry under...

After witnessing a bit of history... we strolled through Central Park and I snapped this adorable photo of Ryan and my great-aunt Ruth. She is the whole reason we went up there - to hang out with the coolest lady I know!

Ryan and the coolest lady we know ;)

Then we had some delicious lunch at our favorite sandwich place! (name is escaping me now...)

The best is their curried chicken salad sandwich

I'm so glad we're related ;)

Then we checked out the Museum of Art & Design (MAD) that's right there in Columbus Circle. At first, I felt kinda guilty... I knew that only I would enjoy the museum while Ryan sat on a bench near the door surfing the net on his iPhone. But, I wanted to go anyway. (Mwahaha) Turns out, this was the one museum exhibit that he liked! It was one of the coolest exhibits I've ever seen in a museum. It was called "Other worlds" and was an exhibit of dioramas and miniatures. Squeal! If you did not know this about me before, well... here it is: My name is Mari Bland Smith and I am obsessed with miniature things. Dollhouse furniture? Obsessed. Magnets of mini kitchen equipment? In love. So, this was so far up my alley that I could barely contain myself. The best part? I could take pictures and share them on my blog for the world (Ok... the 14 people that read this blog) to enjoy! So, here we go...

Check out this nifty diorama.

Now... check out the photo that the artist took of it HERE

Artist: Matthew Albanese

Oooo... what's in there?

Amazing! Each of those little roses was attached with tweezers!

Click HERE to see some of Patrick Jacob's other work.



This one had a pretty fantastic impact.

Click HERE to see how large the building is.



And this is what you saw when you look through the window!

Artists: David Lawrey and Jaki Middleton

Even if you're not obsessed with dioramas like myself, you have to admit that was pretty cool, right?

Ok... next on the agenda

Ohhhhh yeah. You know it.

We walked to the Al Hirschfeld Theatre to see that precious boy wizard wonder, Daniel Radcliffe in "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying."

Ready to see Mr. Potter Mr. Radcliffe!

Inside the theatre
(shhhh... I wasn't supposed to take this photo!)

The show was HILARIOUS and fabulous: everything you want from a Broadway musical. John Larroquette and Daniel Radcliffe were funny just by standing next to each other (Radcliffe is a little short; Larroquette is quite tall). The sets were amazing... brought you back to the 1960s (whether you were alive then or not) and the costumes were great. Radcliffe was precious and he could sign, by golly! You could tell he loved every minute of it by the redness of his face, the sweat pouring off of his brow, and the goofy grin plastered to his face at the end of the high-energy musical numbers. Adorable. We all loved it and it was definitely worth every penny!

(I just had to throw this picture in... haha)
The quintessential New Yorker ;)

Ryan in the front seat of a NY cab

For lunch, we wanted to try Mario Batali's "Eataly."

It was a pretty intense experience... it's a huge marketplace full of all kinds of Italian produce, cheeses, pastas, etc.

Just a few tomatoes...

We wanted to sit down and eat (novel concept, right?), but it was going to be a 45 minute wait... at 2:30 in the afternoon! There were swarms of people everywhere and you could barely walk through the dang place.

Needless to say... we didn't eat there. Lol. We ate at a little cafe that was quite tasty... and there was no wait.

As we were walking down the streets, I noticed two people wearing "Pan Am" name tags. I just kept walking and then I thought to myself, "Hmmm... Pan Am hasn't been around for quite some time... why would people be wearing name tags for a defunct airline?"

They would be wearing Pan Am name tags if they were shooting a scene for the new ABC show "Pan Am!" And that's what they were doing!

Don't you love the 2011 cab next to the old cab?

They were powdering-up an actress (the one in green).
Even the bell-hops were in costume!

Love that car!

In the evening, we went to the famous Radio City Music hall to see "Zarkana" - the new Cirque Du Soleil show.

Radio City Music Hall

Inside the Radio City Music Hall

A pretty impressive stage!

The next day we went to the Harry Potter Exhibition at the Discovery Times Square Museum. Sadly, we couldn't take pictures inside, but it was so neat! All the props from the movies were there: everything from Harry's glasses to Buckbeak herself!

And there's the car!

After the exhibit, we went to "Junior's" for some BLT's and cheesecake (a very healthy lunch)...

(I did take some of that bacon off before I ate it...)

Times Square

Enjoying NYC

That night I met up with some of my Girls State friends who live in NYC at a very cool South African restaurant - Xai Xai. It was delish!

Ostrich Burgers!

Allison and her goat cheese stuffed pepperdews
YUM.

On our last day we hopped on the subway and headed to the South Street Seaport!

Waiting to board the subway...

We had a nice stroll through the seaport. There was a nice breeze and it wasn't too crowded - the perfect end of our trip! (not that we wanted it to end...)

View from the seaport

So, after lunch down by the Fulton Fish Market (or what was The Fulton Fish Market), we headed back to Columbus Circle.

The Time Warner Building

One of Ryan's goals for this trip was to have real NY pizza. And so we did:

It was delicious and tasted nothing like any pizza we could get in Kathleen, GA. Boooooooo. But, then what would be the fun of NY pizza if you could get it in Georgia, right?

So, we packed and left the next morning. :( Very sad day.

Aunt Ruth packed us QUITE the lunch for our trip home!

You can't really tell from this photo, but we were delayed in boarding our flight because they couldn't get the electronic walkway thingy hooked up to the plane. It was like watching someone try to kiss a wall blindfolded. (If that person's face and lips were faulty electronic equipment...)

"Yes! Right there... just hook the walkway up there and we'll hack through the
side of the plane with an axe. It will totally work."

Hilarious. We didn't even have the heart to be annoyed... it was so pathetic.

So, now we're back in Georgia where it's a billion degrees and there are no movies being shot on the street or boys marrying other boys. Boring. But, it's where we live and so we do!

Stay tuned for this coming week... I'll be getting another farmer's basket!

~ Mari