"concrete jungle where dreams are made of..."
i can't help but sing that song- thank you jay-z and alicia keys.
we went to nyc for the weekend to visit ashley in her new digs and had a wonderful time. we have been friends since middle school and now all live in different cities so we try to get together at least once a year {we were sad laura couldn't make it}.
kellie, mckenzie, ashley, jayme
ash lives in an adorable little one bedroom apartment on the 4th floor {with no elevator- i know, it's new york} that we all stayed in and it was perfect for us. thank you ash for letting us invade your space for a few days!
she lives in a great location in hell's kitchen and we walked and ate dinner at a wonderful little place called 'ember' - probably the best veggie burger i have ever had.. not your traditional veg burg and i think that's why i liked it so much... more lentils, so good.
we went to see the 9/11 memorial on friday, it was pretty amazing and emotional.. just standing there watching the water rush down, reading all the names of the lives that were taken, right where the buildings stood, was such a strange but peaceful feeling - hard to explain. these were just absolutely amazing. i definitely recommend seeing it if you are in ny, it's free, just print tickets from online.
the 'survivor tree' - pretty amazing it survived the attacks and so cool that they nursed it back to health and replanted it at the memorial.
the new world trade buildings
there is a museum at the end of the memorial that is very sad and makes the whole thing so real, i couldn't handle it, way too sad, had to leave.
waiting for the train.. the wrong train, thanks ash ;)
some delicious fries we had at 'the piano' for happy hour.
dinner at a delicious tapas place.
ash + alex
we hung out with some of ashley's wonderful friends while we were there and they were a blast!
davie (aka chuck bass for those gossip girl watchers), rob, ash, alex, mike, john, kel, jayme
brunch on saturday
if you are ever in new york, you have to eat at 'the meatball shop' {we went to the one on greenwich in the west village}, it's such a fun atmosphere and the food is delicious. you do have to expect at least an hour wait, but there is a bar two doors down that you can go to while you wait and they will text you when you're up - so nice not to have to stand there for 2 hours. they still had a 2 1/2 hour wait when we left at 9, if that tells you anything!
us waiting at the bar.
yes, they have a veggie ball - it was so good! they have dry erase markers that you use to fill out the menu, you pick your ball, sauce and side... such a fun concept! OH and i can't forget the dessert, it's two cookies (of your choice and you can mix + match them) with the ice cream of your choice in the middle... we had one with a brownie/mint ice cream/chocolate chip cookie and a snickerdoodle cookie/peanut butter ice cream/marshmallow crisp cookie - both amazing!
we got to meet up with our friend griff after dinner... too bad we were all tired and had to fly out in the morning, so we didn't last very late, sorry griff!
it's so hard to leave iz anymore, i almost don't even get excited to go anywhere (which is terrible) because i know i am going to miss her so much.. i start to miss her days before i leave, which doesn't make leaving any easier! i always just want to squeeze her and get a little bit homesick whenever i get pictures of her.
of course i was very demanding for pics of my little one and this is the first one i got from my mom, i loved it. she is wearing her kentucky sweatshirt she got for christmas from the kuhns clan, so cute on her!
it's kind of hard to see her leg in the cabinet, but she was trying to climb into it... silly girl loves to climb in and on everything these days!
isabelle and dad had a fun day together on sunday before i got home and these pics just made my day, i could not wait to get home and see her! jacob put her on the phone while i was waiting to board and she said, 'mama, hi, mama, hi, hi' and the tears just flowed - my precious baby.
she was apparently hiding from him here!
these pics shocked me - she climbed up on the coffee table to watch a little tube.
love this, she is helping dad clean!
i pulled up to isabelle and dad waiving at me in the window and couldn't wait to get inside and squeeze her... she walked to me so fast with her arms up for me to pick her up, once i did, she layed her head down and didn't look up or move for at least 10 minutes, she would not let me go, like she didn't want me to leave her again... it kind of killed me! the best thing about going somewhere is getting home and feeling so loved and missed - i'm such a lucky mom and wife to have the sweetest daughter and a wonderful husband!
we went on a walk with the whole family {one of my favorite things}, jacob had the dogs and i pulled isabelle - i turned around and that's how she was sitting, just like a lady.
