Baby in the Big Apple

Oh my gosh, you guys where to even start. This trip will go down as one of my favorites ever and all because of the little squish featured in these pictures. We flew out to New York to meet up with my family who either lives in NYC or were in town for the long weekend. Andrew had a work trip that was at the same time so it was just the squish and me for the weekend.

I can’t get over how great Teddy was during this whole trip. With jetlag, naps on the go, it being way too hot for him, he was just the dream baby the entire trip. Yes, I’m even including the flights there and back. I can’t believe it! 

I think it’s just his personality to be really social and like the hustle and bustle of the city. He lights up when he makes eye contact with people, he doesn’t shy away from loud noise, and he loves being out and about.

Why We Went

Like I mentioned before, Andrew already had a long weekend trip planned for work so Ted and I decided to head out of town as well. It happened to be my cousin’s son’s birthday so that was part of the reason part of the family gathered in NYC.

Where We Stayed

We stayed at the SpringHill Suites on 37th street. My mom found this hotel, I think another cousin had stayed there in the past, and it ended up being such a great find. First of all, the view from our room was spectacular. An unobstructed view of the Empire State Building is generally reserved for rooftop bars and penthouses and apparently our hotel room as well. Talk about a fantastic view to start and end your day.

I mentioned this on Instagram but I didn’t really know this neighborhood (the east side of midtown) from when I lived in New York but the last three times I’ve been to the city, I’ve stayed over there and it is quite nice. Especially for visitors, you’re close enough to all the signs without being in the heart of the mess. Meaning that it’s easy to get around/in and out since you have access to all the train lines plus Ubers don’t have to go through the heart of the traffic to get to you.

What We Did

One of my aunts hadn’t been to NYC in over a decade so we did quite a bit of sightseeing with her. Our first day we walked from our hotel up Fifth Avenue to take pictures at all the sites along there: NY Public Library, Rockafeller Plaza, St. Patricks Cathedral, Central Park, etc. We went over to my aunt’s place in Queens that afternoon and spent the rest of the day hanging out with family.

The next day I went way downtown with my aunt. She hadn’t been to New York since before 9/11 and wanted to see the Memorial. From there we walked down to Battery Park so she could see the Statue of Liberty.

We ended up Ubering to Soho to try and find some lunch. After wandering around there for a while (I stopped at the BeautyCounter pop-up location), I went back to the hotel so Teddy could get his first real nap of the entire trip. It was really hot down in Soho as well and the next stops my mom and aunts were going to make didn’t have AC so it was a no-go for poor Teds. We ended up meeting them again for dinner at Eataly.

Our final full day ended up being a slow one. I wanted to make sure that Teddy was able to have a normal nap day since he had been doing stroller naps basically the entire trip plus it was the hottest day of our trip and the poor kid just isn’t accustomed to heat and humidity. While he napped, my mom and aunts went shopping and more sightseeing then met us for lunch at Bryant Park. I took Ted back for a second nap then the two of us just wandered around until it was time to meet up for dinner.

It was the UN General Assembly the same weekend we were there so the traffic over on the East Side was worse than normal. Since we walked just about everywhere we were able to see the hotels that were housing the different dignitaries. You noticed the mess of blacked-out Escalades, reporters, photographers, not-so-secret service and it was a bit of a giveaway. We even saw the U.S.A. presidential motorcade drive past one evening

We didn’t get down to any of my old haunts during this trip neither in the Village or in Lincoln Center. I was hoping to have some nostalgia moments there with Teddy but it ended up not happening. I also wasn’t able to go to any museums on the Upper East Side. It has been years since I’ve been to the Met but I haven’t made it a priority during my last several trips back. I’m thinking I need to draw up my dream NYC itinerary and make a special trip just to do all those things.

What We Ate

I had quite an ambitious list of places/things that I wanted to eat and I didn’t get to many of them. I didn’t have a single bagel or a single slice of pizza during this trip so I consider it an incomplete trip.

Shake Shack – I’ve made a point to always get Shake Shack when I’m in NYC but now we have one in Seattle so it’s not as special anymore. I still went because it was open and they have vegetarian options

Rubirosa – I’ve heard so much about this pizza place in Soho that I knew we had to try. We made it over there on Sunday without thinking to make a reservation and it ended up being a 1.5 hour wait time so we scrapped it and we around the corner and got crepes instead.

Vive la Crepe – This was just a convenient stop that ended up being a gem. We each got crepes and the manager was really nice even though we were blocking half of her already small spot with the stroller.

Il Pesce at Eataly – We had dinner at Eataly at the sit-down fish section. Everyone said that their meals were great but as a vegetarian there weren’t many options for me. Which is why I ended up at Whole Foods afterwards…

Whole Foods – Their hot food bar has saved me more than once while traveling. I’m especially grateful that they are open late at night with plenty of hot food options.

Prete A Manger – Another travel savior for vegetarians. I only went there once during this trip but on our trip to London this time last year, it was an almost daily stop.

Maison Kaiser – This is a French bakery chain that is to die for. My mom loves this spot and since they have several right around Bryant Park it was a great stop for an on-the-go lunch. I grabbed a couple premade vegetarian sandwiches and an almond croissant, which were all beyond delicious.

Oyster Bar at Grand Central – Our final dinner was at this historic spot. They make a great lobster roll along with anything else fish or shellfish related.

What I Wore

It was still summer weather (aka mid-80s) while we were there so I was able to get some more use out of my summer clothes. I have a whole post with all the links to everything that I wore, which you can find here. Since I was only going for a few days and I knew it would be hot, it’s mostly things that you’ve seen before. I don’t have a ton of summer clothes since I live in Seattle and I have even less that fit right now because #postpartumbody.

Next time…

Hopefully next time we head east, Andrew will be with us. It wasn’t the same not having him there. The last time we were in the city together it was after our road trip up to Nantucket for my friend Julia’s wedding in 2017! That was probably one of my favorite trips to New York to date, not only because it included a weekend trip to New England but because I was there with Andrew and my best friend Luciana.

This trip didn’t have either of them which was a bummer but it was still special all the same. But I just kept thinking how much fun we’d be having if Andrew was with us. He also would have been able to see how well Teddy did on this trip. I got really sad a couple of times when I started thinking too much about everything that Andrew was missing.