New York State of Mind

The first weekend in October, Dan and I went to New York City for two nights. The occasion? One of my friends from Elizabethtown was getting married; it's the only time the four original Etown girls seem to find time to get together, so Dan and I decided to go up early and make a weekend out of it. After battling traffic to get there Friday evening, we checked into our hotel and went to dinner. I must talk about the dinner. I have dubbed it BDE: Best Dinner Ever. The salad...to die for. The main course (baked shrimp with mashed potatoes, some weird corn sauce, and spinach)...amazing. I was so full, but I ate the entire thing...it was honestly one of the best dinners I've ever had in my life.

So Saturday, after recovering from BDE, we hit the sightseeing. Here I am in F.A.O. Schwartz, where I was in love with all the Wizard of Oz stuff. Couldn't resist posing with both the good and bad witches...

Dan and I had croissants in Central Park, then wandered around for a bit. The best part that we discovered was this pond area...so beautiful in the middle of the city!

The restaurant where BDE occurred (Sequoia if you're interested in finding it) overlooks the water and the Brooklyn Bridge. So pretty!

Our hotel looked directly out onto ground zero. We were literally right next to it. In fact, when we checked in, our desk guy told us that construction happens 24/7, so we may need ear plugs or a white noise machine. While they were doing construction, there wasn't any demolition, and it didn't bother us. We were mesmerized, though, by what was happening. Here is the WTC building going up...they were up to 34 stories while we were there.
This is the area with the reflecting pools...the pools are basically the foundation areas of the former towers. The entire thing is very sobering, and it's amazing how quickly the area around this has been built back up.

As for the actual wedding...well, I have no pictures. I forgot my camera at the hotel. However, it was beautiful, it was fun, and the four of us aren't sure how we're going to get together again since we're now all married :)