new york, concrete jungle where dreams are made

Happy 2013 yall! A new year that comes with a free, fresh start is always the best! I hope you don't mind if I rewind to my last few, favorite memories of the old, and outdated year of 2012.

One of my Christmas gifts was a Coldplay concert ticket to see them in NYC, and my brother just happened to get one too, how ironic! I headed up a few days after Christmas to visit him in the big apple and to see Coldplay!

When I arrived, we hit the ground running and certainly didn't waste a minute. The first stop we made was to Eataly for roast beef sandwiches, and gelato. Holy smokes, yall! It was delicious!

My brother's best friend, said that they make the best sandwiches he's ever had and I might have to agree. Then, we ventured around the city so he could show me the sights.

The Flatiron, talk about a mind blowing building.

Grand Central, there were only a few people there.

Washington Square with the Empire State creeping in the background!

Ice skating in Rock Center. I was a little shaky, and didn't turn out to be Michelle Kwan like I thought I was. Bummer. However, I didn't fall so that is what we call a success. Andrew did... but I missed it which I'm thoroughly upset about.

And perhaps the biggest event of the day that wasn't captured on my iPhone... I got a fleece vest!! If you know me, you know I've been looking for one but I've been very unsuccessful. Shout out to REI, NYC and Andrew for making my dreams come true!

Day two started with a cold, cold, run [and a super creepy face] through Central Park! And then it was followed by one of my favorite things, Chobani! They recently opened an adorable, little store in Soho!

I was SO excited to go and try it out! We all know my love for pumpkin, so of course I couldn't pass up the seasonal, pumpkin + walnut. It was SO yummy!

It came in the cutest bowls [which I got to take home, talk about me freaking out] and they even had warmed benches to sit on while eating! My body couldn't have been more thankful for those. If you're ever in the area, you have to go and try it out!

After we got home, we napped... AND IT SNOWED!

Those white specks are snowflakes. It was too wet to stick to the ground, and just turned into rain which isn't as fun.

We went to Ground Zero. I'm really glad we got to see it, and still can't get over the tragedy that took place there.

Shake Shack was our lunch spot. If I'm going to drink 800 calories, I want it to be in a peanut butter shake from there...that's all I'm saying.

We headed over to Brooklyn for a tour of the Brooklyn Brewery. Afterwards, we went to a bar right down the street called, The Counting Room. We drank beer and played UNO... the usual right?

Brooklyn was my jam. I was all about it and I want to move there and hug everybody... except they probably wouldn't hug me back.

The next day started off with brunch with Andrew's best friend from middle school, who was in town for work! We brunched underneath the apartments from Friends... we didn't get the hype but there were lots of tourist snapping pictures, so we decided that we needed to snap one too!

[If you made it to this point in the post, props to you and thanks for reading]

Then it was time for Coldplay at the Barclays Center!

 Guys, they blew my mind! They give all the audience members wristbands that have computer controlled lights in them so they go on and off during the show at random times.

 
It was truly an amazing sight [my crappy iPhone camera doesn't do it justice]!

They played an amazing show with so much energy. You can tell they are a group of super humble guys, who are truly thankful for what they get to do!

[I'm almost done, one more fun story...]

I'm a huge Today Show fan and last time I was in NYC, it was a weekend so I didn't get to go because lets be honest, who watches The Today Show on the weekend?!

Bad news, because it was NYE the only regular host there was, Willie Geist. Great news, I LOVE Willie Geist!

Willie Geist and Carson Daley creeping in the back!

My 15 minutes of fame! Andrew was SO excited, I had to tell him to calm down and act not thrilled... That's a joke! It was so fun and I felt like all my dreams had come true!


And with that my friends, my NYC adventures come to a close. I seriously couldn't have had a better time. I'm really lucky to have such a great brother that spent time with me, showed me around the city, and even went to The Today Show with me!

2012 had the best ending.

Cheers to you, 2013. You have BIG shoes to fill!