My Sister Rachel's Visit

A few weeks ago my sister came up for a few days. She was attending a conference in Madison Square Garden on Friday and Saturday, but we got to spend all day Thursday, part of the day Friday, and then Sunday together. It was Rachel's first time in NYC ever, so we decided to "see all the things" together. Thursday was her "cheat day" on dieting so we also decided to go big and eat all the things. 

We began with donuts from Cream in Bay Ridge:

We got on the train and stopped first at Washington Square Park, then walked up to Union Square and to Madison Square Park - stopped to view the Flatiron Building.







We hopped on the train to Grand Central and she gave her best Serena pose:



We went to the New York Public Library - which is more of a museum/ tourist spot, then did some shopping at Zara.








We also split a giant cookie in Bryant Park because it was cheat day.



We walked over to Rockefeller Plaza, Saint Patrick's Cathedral and Times Square. She saw the Naked Cowboy and I lost my MTA card and then found it (miracles exist!).





We took the train to the Upper East Side to sit on the Met steps (it was Gossip Girl day) and then walked through Central Park to our lunch destination.



Rachel's friend from Charlotte generously booked reservations and paid for our lunch at the Loeb Boathouse. It was such a beautiful and fun experience and it was SO NICE to sit down after walking all morning.






We walked through Central Park to the Upper West Side, then took the train south to Battery Park City.



We looked at the 9/11 pools, got some coffee and found a bench where we could admire the Statue of Liberty without taking the ferries because we didn't have much time left to kill.



We headed BACK up to the Upper West Side and went to "The King and I" at Lincoln Center. We had tickets on the very front row thanks to LincTix and it was really fun! Again, it was magical just to sit down after the entire day of walking. 




Day 1 we walked 11.5 miles. It was a long and very eventful day!

Friday we started the morning at MoMa and ate lunch at the Meatball Shop. Then Rachel headed on to her conference. 



Sunday Rachel saw our Sunday routine and the beauty/challenge of walking kids to church when they're not cooperating! We got $10 massages at the corner salon and then Israel and I drove her to the airport. It was a great trip with Rachel and I'm so thankful for all of the one-on-one time we had together and the memories we made exploring the city!