Girls’ weekend

Well HELLO there! I’m back, I’m back! It was a whirlwind of a weekend, for sure. We had a BLAST in the city that never sleeps. I’ve told you before how much I adore NYC, and this trip was special because I brought two friends with me who are now in love with the city as well.

It is now my mission to make every single person I know a NYC lovah. :)

We were there for three days, which translates to about 300 pictures. I’ve seen it all a million times but I never tire of the sights.

It was HOT, but it was a beautiful, sunny weekend. Times Square was hopping Friday afternoon:

We stayed at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square (to the left by the Bank of America and Kodak signs above). We used to stay there ALL the time – in my opinion it’s the best spot in the city for a tourist. We don’t stay as often anymore because the room rates have gone up so much – ours was $350 a night!

But divided by three, it was way affordable for a Times Square view!:

Geez, I am SUCH a goober.

That first night was the main reason for our trip – the last NKOTB concerts ever (at least that’s what they say now.):

There is something really special about going back in time like this – we felt it at the concert last summer and at this one as well. You are in space with thousands of women, all who grew up having so many of the same experience you did. And when you get together again 20 years later, there is such a wonderful feeling of camaraderie that is so sweet:

Of course, just like last year’s concert, we followed the instructions on our tickets and DIDN’T take in our cameras. WHY do we listen and follow rules? WHY?!

Um, every. single. person. had their cameras. We had our camera phones.

Translation – crapola pictures:

Actually that one isn’t so bad. ;)

Radio City was a an absolutely fantastic venue – amazing! Even though our seats were closer last summer, this seemed more intimate. At one point Joe and Jon came up to the side we were at:

Of course I ran down there. :) I may or may not have been screaming. I will never tell.

Back in the day, Jon Knight was my fave – something about that tall dark and handsome – I married one of those. ;)

So I figured this was going to be the closest I would ever be to him. But I was WRONG my Squeezies!!

After the show, we went around the side of RCMH and found a gaggle of women and decided to see what we could find. There were many large men walking around with walkie talkies, and barricades up everywhere.

We waited around for a while and then were about to take off, but I had a FEELING. A white van pulled up, and all the sudden there’s SCREAMING and who walks out but Jordan, his son and JON.

This is the part where my eyelids flutter and hearts fly out. :)

The crowd rushed them, of course, and the bodyguards were SERIOUS. (I don’t blame them.) I pulled back a bit (I was about five feet from the van) and then my smarty little head was a thinkin’ – and I realized they would pull out and have to drive away, so I ran down the street about ten yards and waited.

I’m smart. :)

And as the van drove my way, the gaggle ‘o women came with it, but I was in the perfect spot to put my hand right on Jon’s window as they drove away.

And he LOOKED at me. And smiled. SQUEAL!!! :)

Let’s ignore the fact that there were women all around me, umkay? Whatev.

Did I mention, I didn’t have my camera?! Good Lord, when will I learn?

So I walked away a happy camper. I checked one off the bucket list folks.

The next day I took the girls to Ground Zero (more on that in a later post!), Little Italy, and Chinatown and the shopping commenced! HA!

There is NOTHING like the shopping in NYC – the variety of stores is one thing. The street vendors (especially in Chinatown) are another.

Want (cheap, really cute) earrings?:

   Pendants?:

Blingity bling?:

 

Purses and scarves?:

Belts?:

:) Those New Yorkers are funny.

The prices are great, and you can usually get them down even more if you try. Some of my favorite jewelry pieces are from NYC – they are the cheapest I own and they’ve lasted years.

I thought of you all as we walked down 6th Avenue and saw M&J Trimming. You’ve NEVER seen such a selection of buttons:

That was just one wall!

Nailhead trim:

Ribbon:

And trim:

Isn’t that insane?? It was GORGEOUS! :)

If I had only thought to bring my fabric swatches for the office redo, I would have had it made!!

Oh my goodness, we smooshed a LOT into three days – I can’t even begin to tell you all of it! Well, I could, but I got 14 hours of sleep in four days, so I need to get to bed. :)

We truly took in the sights and had a blast – our last night there, we were up till 5:30 a.m.:

That’s me at 5 a.m. See the sun coming up in the background? CRAZY!! (Notice the pic of Sean Hayes to the right? We saw that show last month and this time I came within feet of him as he left the theater that night!)

We weren’t even that tired – there’s something magical about New York City. It has my heart.

That’s the view from the Top of the Rock, all the way up there…

:) Sigh.

I love you New York!!

I am so glad to be home sweet home though – and looking forward to getting back into my crafty mojo with a fun item I got last week.

And I’ve got a little surprise for you tomorrow! Whoohoo! Stay tuned!