All good things come to an end

This was our last day in New York. We were super tired I had knee surgery my sophomore year and then I got massive blood clots. Since we've been flying and walking so much, I got to sport these lovely black socks today, but we got to see a lot of fun things. We even tried New York Cheesecake.

We went down to Soho and had a great time. I finally got to go to a Kate Spade store and they even had a Mother's Day celebration complete with fancy refreshments. (P.S. See that yellow shirt? I bought it at Century 21 during the 5 hours we spent there. When I put it on today, I realized it is actually meant to be worn backwards to how I have been. Oh well, I like it better this way.)

We went to Grand Central Station to catch the subway. We stopped in all the stationery shops and saw the funkiest Apple Store before hopping a train.

We went to Central Park, but we were too exhausted to walk very far. Instead I laid down on a bench. That tree was my view while laying on the bench when a bird narrowly missed pooping on me. Trusty camera strap, thanks for taking the hit for me.

The Alice and Wonderland statues...

L: One last view of Central Park.

We left the park, picked up our luggage from the hotel, and jumped on the subway to the airport. There was one transfer to make, but we got so caught up planning the exciting changes coming soon to kensie kate that we missed it. Other than that one tiny mistake, we navigated the subway system like pros the whole time we were there. Or at least my phone did. We made it to the airport and found out our plane got delayed by a couple of hours so I took a nap.

It was crazy to leave the day after I moved out of my apartment, especially since we are leaving another trip (this time with the whole family) in 6 days. Much to do before then, but boy am I tired.

another day in the big city

While walking around the city, I noticed tons of people with bags from a place called Century 21. We passed the store and decided to stop in. The first floor was all designer shirts and ties that were seriously discounted. We saw the Tommy Hilfiger ties and knew we would be there for a while. My dad is seriously picky when it comes to ties and we don't dare buy him one without his permission. Instead, we send him pictures of ties like this and he tells us which ones to buy.

This is what I tried on. What can I say? I know what I like. This place was the size of IKEA. We ended up staying for over 5 hours!

L: Today was my grandma's birthday so we ate a Hershey pie from Burger King in her honor. R: We found some amazing Thai food for lunch.

Pictures just don't capture how tall some of these buildings really are.

We were able to make it to the 9/11 memorial today. As incredible as the monuments are, my favorite part was the display at the place where you get tickets. I was only in 2nd grade when it happened. I remember the day and the days that followed well, but I didn't understand the magnitude of what took place.

We took a ferry over to Stanton Island so we could get a good view of Lady Liberty. The island the statue is on is still closed because of Hurricane Sandy. I didn't realize how much the hurricane is still affecting the city.

from porto to london to nyc

Today was another "3 countries in one day" kind of day. We packed last night and headed to the airport this morning. We flew from Porto to London. A puzzle in the London airport.

When we got to our terminal to fly out of London, the attendant asked if we would be willing to sit in the exit rows. My mom emphatically replied, "Yes. Absolutely. Of course." We knew exit rows usually had 6 more inches of leg room and we could not believe we got so lucky on an international flight. We got to our seats and there was not 6 additional inches of leg room. There was 6 feet! I thought that because there was no one in front of us, we wouldn't have our own TVs. Turns out they just popped up from the seat. I slept for most of the flight. It was beautiful.

L: We flew into Gatwick and had to fly out of Heathrow. We took a taxi since the bus wouldn't get us there in time. Our driver was very nice. Even if he did drive on the wrong side of the road. // R: Hotels in NYC are expensive. We decided to try out this little place, called Pod 51, after finding it online. It was tiny, but very clean. I would stay there again. It was really close to the subway and in a safe neighborhood.

This is the lobby of the hotel. I was a fan.

from nyc to madrid to porto

Because of the bad weather across the country, the flight before us got in late, which meant we were late leaving for Madrid. We landed in Spain right after our flight to Porto was leaving. Our new flight was supposed to leave 4 hours later. Because the airport was so big and we didn't know the city, we didn't dare leave the terminal. Our flight kept getting delayed, so we really spent 8 hours in the airport. Because we walked all over New York and then went on an international flight right after, my feet were so unbelievably swollen.

L: Flat Stanley made it to Madrid // R: The Madrid airport was huge

See my huge feet?!

We landed in Porto and went straight to the hotel. Patricia (who we went to teach for) took us to dinner. By this point, I was seriously lacking in the sleep department. It was all I could do not to put my head on the table at dinner.

L: View from the hotel window // R: Snazzy chandelier at the restaurant

nyc baby

My mom and I are headed to Portugal to teach at a scrapbooking event. This is my mom's 4th time teaching there, but my first time out of the country. We had to choose between a short layover in Dallas or a long layover in New York. We chose the big city since neither of us had either been there. We headed to the airport at 10:00pm on my mom's birthday, took a red eye, and woke up in NYC on my birthday. We had 14 hours to roam the city before our next flight. We certainly didn't want to lug our bags all over the city, and we didn't know where to store them, so we did something...creative. Our flight to New York was packed, so they asked for volunteers to check their carry-on luggage. We were first in line. We asked an employee what would happen if we didn't pick up our bags from the carousel. She said they would be taken to a storage room until we came back for them. When we got to New York, we sat by the carousel until they took our bags and then we were off to explore.

The Airtrain at the airport connects right into the NYC subway. We downloaded a nifty app to navigate the trains and then headed for Rockefeller Center. Finley begged us to find the Today Show so she could see us before she went to school. If you've never been to the outdoor standing area of the Today Show, know that it is tiny! I don't know how they fit concerts or ski slopes in that thing.

L: I navigated the subway like a boss // R: See how tiny the plaza is?!?

L: The Today Show on my birthday // R: My birthday is 4/24 and that building number is 424

L: Rockefeller Center // R: The Lego Store model of Rockefeller Center

While in Rockefeller Center, we went to the Lego Store, the American Girl Doll Store, an underground mall, and Anthropologie. While we were in Anthro, I was looking at my Facebook feed and my cousin from California had posted a picture captioned "good morning nyc." When we got to New York, we were surprised at how small the city really was, how close everything was, and how little time it took to walk somewhere. The city really isn't that big, so we called my cousin to see where she was. She is touring with a band all over the country and they were preparing to perform for MTV in Times Square. We were able to meet up with her, see the green room, and explore the tour bus.

L: Times Square // R: Random characters in Times Square make me even more excited for Disneyland

We had a few more hours to walk around the city, but we were super tired at this point. We wandered for a little bit and then decided to take the subway back to the airport a little early. Good thing we did. The weather drastically changed while we were on the subway. We got to our terminal with the perfect amount of time before our plane to Madrid left.

Finley's Flat Stanley came with us. Here he is in Rockefeller Center and Times Square.