KC --> Boston --> NYC

My BFF Angie {who went from KC to Denver to NYC and now to Boston} got her husbands prints in to an arts and crafts fair in Brooklyn this coming weekend.  And when I found out Luke had to work his regular job and Ang was on her own, of course I volunteered to fly in for the weekend to hang out and shop work the fair with her!

So Thursday morning, after the usual 5am workout, it was a little more of a mad dash to get out the door than I expected.  I had to shower and wash my hair (hair wash days take forever!), then finish packing, figure out what I was wearing...make breakfast.  Maybe I was just moving slow, but I barely made it out the door on time.

And once I got about half way to the airport, I got a notification that my flight was delayed 45 minutes.  Awesome. 

With nothing else to do, my mom and I decided to stop at Kmart.  It was right off the highway, and sometimes they have cute, cheap stuff -- like Christmas decorations. :)

I was still at the airpot way too early, and with the TSA pre-check, I literally went from my car to my gate in under 5 minutes.  

So, lots of this in the airport:

We ended up taking off about an hour late.  So not cool.

Leaving KC:

It was an easy 3.5 hour flight.  I dozed off once or twice, read a little bit in my new photography book, but mostly just listened to music.

Landing in Boston:

Ang was right there waiting to pick me up!  (SO EXCITED for a girls weekend!)

First things first.  We had to organize and stuff some prints to take to the fair in Brooklyn.

They are literally running their business from the dining room table!  It looked like a UPS store in there.  But hey, they are making it work.  And the success they're having is SO awesome! :)

Once we got all of those stuffed and ready, we walked to the train station and took it to meet Luke for dinner.

It rained on us on the walk, but a little rain never killed anyone, right?

Funny thing was, I really wanted to bring my new rain boots, and decided against it because, oh, it's not going to rain on us!  HA!  I had to wear Angie's three size too big boots instead.

We went to a cool Asian fusion place, and Luke didn't disappoint with his antics.

Classic Luke face:

We ubered it back to their cute little apartment in Dorchester, where I was greeted with a not so friendly Popples the cat.  She has hated me from day 1, and actually hissed and batted her little paws at me! I swear animals usually like me!  Maybe she knows I'm a dog person and allergic to cats...

Luke made dessert at the house.  Homemade steamed buns from the Momofuku cookbook, stuffed with pb and jelly.  One was crunchy pb with raspberry jam, and one was creamy pb with grape jam.  Seriously, they were delicious!  His cooking skills are really something.

After an episode of MasterChef Junior, we called it a night.  But have you ever watched that show!?  Those 9 year olds completely blew my mind!  I couldn't even pronounce what they were cooking!  Amazing, talented tiny chefs.

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Ang and I got up early on Friday and were on the road to NYC by 7am.  We wanted to miss some of the rush hour traffic and get to the city early enough to enjoy some of it.

The drive was slow and long.  I bet it was beautiful a month or so ago when all the leaves on the trees were changing.  But today was just a gloomy day.  

Oh, and it was such a long drive because we were chatting away not paying attention and missed TWO exits!  Oops. 

Right as we pulled in to the city...it started raining.  Seriously.  So mad about those rain boots. 

Thankfully, the rain (which really was just a sprinkle) was short lived.  By the time we parked in Brooklyn to find food, it was over.

Food is always so hard when I travel.  I can't ever decide where to go!  We totally lucked out when we happened to drive by re union in Williamsburg.  It looked cool, so we just decided to check it out. (And we were both starving and it was the first place we saw.)

It was the perfect early lunch stop.  A little coffee shop that had salads and sandwiches, to.

I had a warm kale/quonia salad, and Angie had avocado toast.  Mmmmmmm.

On the way back to the car, we passed a dog walker -- with 5 franchise!  How can you not take a picture of this cuteness when you walk by!?

Our next stop was Angie's friends place in Brooklyn to get a set of keys.  We were staying there Saturday and Sunday nights since they will be out of town.

Saw the Barclays Center on the way -- with a grass roof!

The apartment.  I stayed in the car with the hazard lights on while Angie ran up to get the keys.  #noparkingzone

We weren't too excited about seeing this sign, so the next stop:  back to Williamsburg to park the car and subway it in to Manhattan.

Isn't this the coolest little water tower!?  (It's just a piece of art, but still cool.)

We found a good spot down a dead end road next to a warehouse to park the car for the night.  It was very near a fire hydrant so we were both crossing our fingers the car would still be there in the morning when we needed it.

Next stop: check in to our hotel in Manhattan.

I'm such an idiot and packed way too much for this trip...and brought it all to NYC.  With the logistics being a little funky today (parking the car and staying in hotel tonight only), that meant I had to lug my suitcase and backpack up and down all the stairs and on to the subway.  

Seriously.  I will never bring a suitcase to NYC again.  Dragging that through the crowded streets was so annoying.

We got off at the wrong stop and ended up walking quite a ways, but we made it to the hotel - finally - around 2.

Beautifully decorated trees in the lobby:

 

I dumped my luggage and we set off to see the city!

But first, a sweet treat to fuel me for all the upcoming walking:

So much for that whole no sugar thing.  That lasted all of five minutes.

The clouds went away and the sun came out.  Such a beautiful day for December!

Our first stop was Bryant Park.  We've gone there a couple of times in December and always enjoy the little shops an the cute ice skating rink.

I found a little pop-up bakery shop that had pumpkin pie. Couldn't pass it up.

We walked in and around every shop there, and miraculously made it out of there with only a small bar of chocolate.  Pretty good considering the damage we could have done.

 

Second location on the list:  Rockefeller tree.  Duh.

Right next to the tree, this Salvation Army bell ringer was jamming out ... to my favorite Christmas song:  All I Want for Christmas by Mariah Carey.

Obviously I could not just pass that up.

I gave him a few dollars, picked up the extra bells, and danced with him. 

 

 

The tree was big and beautiful, just like it always is. (I think I've been to NYC in December 5 times now, and it never fails to impress.)

 

{Sorry for all the tree pictures an selfies}

 

This is one of my favorite little spots in between two buildings, a half block down from the tree.  It's a little calmer out there, usually not shoulder-to-shoulder- and just so gorgeous!

 

We walked up 5th Ave towards Central Park, and widow shopped the whole way.  Because let's be honest.  Who can actually afford to shop in those places?

After all that walking and shopping, we were hungry again.  A quick and easy -- and delicious -- option turned out to be Bouchon Bakery IN the shops at Columbus Circle mall!

I was expecting a mall food court, but this was a legit restaurant.  With a view:

Ang had tomato soup and grilled cheese.  I had the salmon.  So, so good.

Our last shopping stop for the day was the pop-up shops at Columbus Circle. And it turned out to be the best!

 

I got several Christmas presents there: funny dog socks and a Christmas ornament carved from a nut, to name a few.

 

The best stop was at the Pook booth.  The guy working caught me pausing to look at the funny hats and gloves, and immediately started in with his sales pitch.  Usually that annoys me and I just walk off, but this guy was SO DAMN FUNNY.  Seriously.  Angie and I stood there and laughed our heads off for 10 minutes.  I wish I would have recorded it.  That's how funny it was  (Later found out he does stand up comedy, which makes sense.)  Of course I had to buy something from him.  I mean it's an awesome hat that's reversible.  I can't even explain it it's so funny.  But I'll get a picture of it later.

Anyways, we walked back to the hotel from there.  A long walk, and we both had to pee so bad, but we laughed the whole way still trying to remember all the funny one-liners from the Pook Touque booth. 

The city is so fun this time of year.  The hustle and bustle and bright lights all over.  It's hard to tell the decorations from the car lights and the buildings!

We crashed hard at the hotel pretty early that night -- in preparation for a long, full day tomorrow.  Day 1 of the BUST Craftacular at the Brooklyn Expo Center!