Just noticed my FR achievement counter hit 666...I guess I can never claim another achievement again 😔

Okay though to be fair, I really do have a giant glut of achievement tokens. I wish they would introduce some sort of fabulous, very high priced item in the achievement shop. It would be nice to be able to use them up on something, plus I would be super interested to see what the effects would be on the achievement item economy (just for fun, I am no good at market games but I like to observe, lol)

NYC 2016

              I have a VERY long bucket  list (as most people do I am sure)! One of the more easily attainable list items was to see New York City at Christmas time. I had a friend who had gone years ago around the holidays and I was so jealous of all the amazing photos. Being a shift worker with many shift worker friends, it is often hard to decide on dates especially with those who can be non-committal with plans. I decided to book the trip and go on my own, which ended up being an awesome decision!

Friday December 2nd, 2016:             I decided to go at the beginning on December when the weather wasn’t too cold yet, but the Christmas festivities would be in full swing. I booked a cheap flight from Buffalo ($170 return) and flew down on a Friday night. After a few delays, I made it to JFK airport in the evening and followed the well-labeled signs to the Sky Train. The sky train is very easy to use (much like most of NYCs transit) and fast. I made it to the subway station in about 25 minutes and hopped off at Jamaica Station. From there I knew what line I needed to take and easily found it. The subway was super clean (way cleaner than the TTC) and an enjoyable ride. There were many performers on the subway- a dancing duo and a singing duo that serenaded the cabin with Neyo. The dancers were very impressive flipping all around the bars of the subway. I was floored by how fun and entertaining the subway could be.  I had booked a hostel close to the subway for this trip and was pleasantly surprised at how clean and cool it was. It was called the Local and was found in Queens, about 5 minutes away from the subway station. The room was very small but clean with its own shower and toilet. There was a bar/small restaurant at the front of the hostel and then lots of lounge areas and computers to use. The best part about the hostel was the view from the rooftop patio. It overlooked the NYC skyline, the Brooklyn Bridge and was just magical. I ran over to the 24-hour grocery store for some dinner and to get snacks for the next couple days. I enjoyed my dinner while people watching at the hostel before bed

Saturday December 3rd, 2016:             After a quick breaky at the hostel, I headed into the city (about 4- 6 subway stops to downtown Manhattan, depending on where you wanted to go) to wander around and to get my hop on hop off pass for the day.  I had been to NYC once before with my family and loved the hop on hop off pass more so for its ideas of what to do and all of the information. It also helps that its “free” transportation if you use it wisely. Before grabbing my pass, I did stop by Times Square and take some great photos of the billboards and lights as well as my first taste of the Macy’s display.  I grabbed my pass and jumped on the bus that headed downtown to reacquaint myself with the city. I had tons of stuff planned but had also left some wiggle room to see other things that may have come up or that were suggested to me. I took the bus around pass the FlatIron Building, Soho, Canal street and the Financial district where I go off just around the 911 Memorial. I wandered around there for a while and checked out the City Hall Park along with the Brooklyn Bridge (tons of vendors on the side and tourists taking selfies like me) before getting in line for the One World Trade Observatory. This is the tallest building in the North American at 541 m. It was build in 2014 and goes up 107 floors in 60 seconds. It is also one of the most secure buildings in all of the city with many security check points. While it was a pricy admission and long line ups- it was worth the wait. While you waited inside, there were many videos, photos and diagrams to capture your interest and teach you about the building, how it was constructed and the area. Just before the top, there was a neat 3-D video that showed the building of the Tower and at the end the screen opened up to the amazing view. The view from the top was truly magical! I loved being able to see the whole city from so high up (without having to be in a plane of course) as well as all of the great landmarks they had set out to see. After wandering around the 911 area and paying respect at the Tower Pools, I walked over to Battery park and meandered around there for a while before grabbing a Philly cheesesteak (wrong city, I know) and hoping on my bus to the guided tour of the Statue of Liberty.             I was so excited to see Lady Liberty up close and personal! Unfortunately, it was rather cold and we had to wait over an hour to board our boat. While it was freezing, it ended up working in our favour as the sights were so much better as the sun was setting.  The city was all lit up and looked extra magical. We learned some history about Battery Park, the Statue of Liberty and Staten Island. We all took tons and tons of photos before heading back to the port and getting the bus back into the city. After warming up on the bus, I wandered around Time square and took in some of the amazing holiday displays. They truly are stunning! There were tons of people still skating at Rockefeller Centre. All of the lights and festivities were super fun and got me into the Christmas Spirit! I grabbed a yummy treat from the original Magnolia Bakery (think Sex and the City) before heading back to Queens (with my wind burned face) for a good nights sleep.

Sunday December 4th, 2016:          I had read about a ton of cool holiday markets that I would’ve loved to check out, but I really want to spend the morning in Chelsea. I hopped on the Subway for the 15 or so minute ride over to Chelsea where I stopped in at the Chelsea Market. I am a huge fan of all types of markets (food and shopping- sign me up!) so I was pretty excited to see what this one had to offer. There were tons of great little boutique-y shops with great eclectic stuff and great coffee!! After the market, I headed over to the highline and I couldn’t have been more pleased with the weather! The highline is a linear park built on a raised section of an old New York Central Railroad (called the West Side Line). The views of the Hudson and the city are great! There are some small market type booths sets up but it is mostly just a great place to get out, get some exercise and just be. Once I had successfully walked the full highline, I walked back up the city to check out the Holiday windows in better detail. I checked out the amazing story at the Macy’s display before heading down to Eataly to enjoy an amazing lunch. The various ares of Eataly were awesome! You could get just about anything that was remotely Italian there (except for goodlooking men… kidding). I grabbed myself a fresh mozzarella and prosciutto sandwich and had lunch outside in front of the Flatiron building with the Empire State building behind me. I wandered around Madison Square park before heading uptown once again to enjoy some more holiday windows and of course Bryant Park. Everyone always suggests skating at Rockefeller but I think the view at Bryant Park is just as good and there are way more things to do and see. There was an amazing outdoor Christmas market set up on the outsides of the skating rink with various shops and treats. I spent some time browsing (and taking photos in front of the amazing tree) before heading over to Central Park.

           The iconic Central Park- you could spend days wandering around this place. I managed to check out the places I really wanted to see on this quick visit through. I also attempted to go inside the Plaza hotel (which you cannot go into sadly), but instead checked out the Market place beneath the hotel. As a side note- the FAO Schwartz Toy store is no longer beside Apple across from Central park- so sad and disappointed I couldn’t go play with the toys and the magical keyboard. Anyways, I digress, back to Central Park. I got the classic photos of the amazing park but missed the Pigeon lady! She wasn’t where she normally hangs out which was upsetting. I wandered around, checked out the skating rink and of course rode the Carousel (yes I am a child at heart). I slowly made my way around the park – stopping by the closed Sheep Meadow (All the GG Fans, you know what I am talking about) en route to the Lincoln Centre for my evening showing of the Nutcracker.

             While I am not the biggest ballet fan, I knew I just had to see the iconic Nutcracker by the NYC Ballet. I had great, centre seats and had a delish glass of red before settling into my seat beside a chatty, adorable Aussie boy. The choreography and the actual performance was amazing but the Nutcracker is a bit confusing as a story line… or maybe it was just me! In any case, I really enjoyed the show but I think I am nutcrackered out for a few years! After a walk around Columbus Circle, I had planned to go to a well-known Italian restaurant for dinner (Patsy’s). I should’ve known that it would’ve been packed- even on a Sunday! I ended up walking down the street and finding a great little spot called Joe Gs that had great food, great service and an awesome happy hour deal. I made friends with a few middle aged couples over some wine and then chatted with some Americans about politics and baseball (two subjects I really shouldn’t be discussing with any confidence haha). After biding adieu to my new friends, I stopped to take even more photos of the amazing holiday windows and displays before heading over to Penn station (without even realizing it was Penn Station) where everyone was out and about getting snacks and drinks before heading back to Queens via the E train!

Monday December 5th, 2016:            Today was a mishmash sort of day! I was excited to do a bunch of random things. I started the day off by taking the train to Grand Central and wandering around with a coffee. It was so fun to people watch- and see how stressed people can be when they are rushing about in a busy train station (we all know the pain). Grand Central doesn’t get enough credit in my opinion- it is so beautifully detailed with amazing old school touches. I could’ve sat in there for hours people watching but I knew there were so many other things that I wanted to see. I made my way to the Upper East Side to get into my Blair Waldorf zone and sit and have breakfast on the steps of the Met. I am a HUGE Gossip Girl Fan so many landmarks from my trip were taken from the books/show. I enjoyed my breaky on the steps (people watching of course) before heading inside to take a look around. I really wanted to go into the museum but knew I couldn’t spent enough time in there to really appreciate all of the exhibits. I left with a magnet (of course to add to the collection) and wandered into Central Park. Central park (as I already mentioned) is really huge and amazing. There is tons to do! I just wandered around and enjoyed the beautiful day while checking out the views around the Resevoir, the Pool and Turtle Pond near Belevedere Castle.  I circled back to the Upper West Side where I checked out the Museum of Natural history (which again I didn’t have enough time to truly appreciate so will put that on the list of next time) en route to Macy’s. The last time I was in NYC, we spent forever in the 11 level flagship store. This time, I had one goal- to meet Santa! It is tradition for us to get our picture taken with Santa and mom would not let me back in the house if I did not see the original “Miracle of 34th Street” Santa. I looked real funny in line waiting to see santa for about 40 minutes with a slew of toddlers. In any case, it was worth it! Santa’s workshop was pretty magical! The way they have it set up is that you walk through the various scenes and parts of the workshop and winter displays. I ended up chatting up some parents and getting my photo taken with the big old Jolly Fella. 

            By the time I made my way out of Macy’s, it was quite dark so I figured it was a good time to check out the Empire State Building Observation deck. I thought since I had seen the city from the tallest building in the city during the day, I should enjoy it at night as well. Similar to the One World Trade Observatory, the line ups and security were insane! It really is like FortKnox trying to get into those places. While you wait, they do have information cards and various audio visual scenes for you to learn about the Empire State building and its production. The wait was definitely worth it! I took so many photos!! I also just spent time outside enjoying the view, people watching as I do. The city is so busy, bright and vibrant- probably why it’s called the city that never sleeps.  I tried to use the view finder thing like Kevin did in Home Alone 2 but it was too dark! Ah well! Next time. After my lovely time at the top of the Empire state building (which I sang Empire State of Mind in my head the whole time), I meandered over the Radio City Music Hall for the Rockets show! I was sooooo excited about this show! I had heard such great things and read great reviews on it. The dancing, the singing, the audio/visuals, the atmosphere was just amazing! I was on the edge of my seat, totally entertained the whole time. It is definitely worth seeing if you are able to! I knew that I was going to have an early morning, so I headed back towards Queens from the 5th Ave station!

Tuesday December 6th, 2016:           Sigh! It was my last day in the Big Apple! I was excited about all of the amazing stuff had done (and still had to do!) but was sad that my solo trip was coming to an end. Thanks to some girls at work, they suggested I try and get tickets to a viewing of one of the morning talk shows. I ended up getting tickets to the View (which I never watch but do love Whoopi so…). They have very specific rules and regulations about going in, where to sit, what to wear etc. I made my way to the ABC studios on the Upper West Side for 8 am or so. We waited in line and then went through a serious security check (almost as crazy as the airport) before taking our assigned seats. We were briefed on how the show would work, when to stand, when to clap, etc and then brought into the studio. We weren’t allowed to take photos (sadly) but it was still a super cool experience. The guest stars were Queen Latifah (so so so good) and Andy Cohen (so so so funny!) It was super odd experience but really made me want to be a talk show host! I think I would do a darn good job of sitting around, chatting about current events with hilarious celebrities and drinking coffee. Alas, if only it was that easy haha. The whole thing was about 3 hours long and we ended up getting a copy of Andy Cohen’s book (which I started reading in Mexico and got slightly distracted and haven’t finished it). We were lead out of the studios out a random back door, which again, was super odd but all added to the experience! I only had a few more hours before I needed to head back to the airport but I really wanted to check out the largest Crossfit gym in the World (obvs). I headed over there after the View but sadly, didn’t have enough time for a WOD. I did get a tour of the place (which is actually massive and two levels). I will for sure hit up a class the next time I am there. There were a few other random things I wanted to check out before leaving, such as Kleinfeld and one of the popular pokeh restaurants (obviously). After grabbing lunch and wandering around Midtown, I mad my way back to the hostel to pick up my carry-on (and a last minute festive cocktail) and head to the airport for the short flight back home.          

          I have to say (and I probably already did), this was one of my fave trips in a very long time. I have done quite a bit of travelling (not as much as I would like but, I mean, the bills have to get paid) but for some reason this trip was extra special. I am not sure if it was because I did it by myself, or if it was because it was a trip I had wanted to take for a long time. Regardless, I had the best time enjoying the city, experiencing things I may not have had I been with others and just spending time with my number one- me. I was also able to do a lot of self reflection which I personally don’t do often enough. I hope to head back to NYC –with or without some fun friends in the spring/summertime to have another amazing experience!