new york day 4

day four was our last day in the city. we had so much left to do, but not nearly enough time. we were feeling pretty guilty about not seeing any museums or central park yet, but the day was really rainy and we really wanted to catch another show, so we decided to make that our first priority. the whole trip was super relaxed and we didn't make plans until the morning of each day. i liked it that way, but it wasn't super efficient. not to mention that we slept in a lot!

our first stop was tkts, a place in time square where you can buy discounted broadway tickets.

there were plenty of shows to choose from, but based on the time and price, we chose to see rent. bad choice. it's pretty much about AIDS in NYC the early ninety's. i could appreciate the message of love and hope, but the scenes got pretty risque. 

oh, we had an hour to burn before the show started, so we stopped at dylan's candy bar.

couldn't get over how cute it was. of course it was just a bunch of overpriced candy, but the shop was really fun and they had some pretty unique candy there. so we all spent way too much money on candy for ourselves and our kids and wrapped it up.

tables and chairs upstairs in the ice cream shop & the stairs with candy in them.

jen posing in a bathtub of gumballs.

after seeing rent, we were starving and decided to make our way down to little italy for some italian food and gelato. we were smart and stopped at local stores to get recommendations on where to eat. a cute little italian boy behind a gelato counter referred us to a restaurant down the street called, il cortile. good choice.

our waiter was swooning over jennifer. he seriously offered to meet up another day and make us his famous nutella dessert thingy. he also bragged about his 4 wins in a spaghetti eating contest. 

we loved fabrizio, but the food was even better than the service.

our appetizer of fresh mozzarella on tomatoes with basil was melt in your mouth deliciousness!

the freshness of the mozzarella was out of this world.

i had the lobster ravioli on the left and jen had lamb with a special mushroom sauce on the right.

 noel ordered potato gnocci stuffed with spinach. hers was my favorite, although they were all to die for. fabrizo then brought us out a complementary ricotta cheesecake. jen loved it, but noel and me, not so much.

our last meal in the city:(

even though it was late, freezing, and pouring rain, we had to stop and grab some gelato and italian pastries on our way home. the gelato was incredible. i ordered the salted caramel and was dying...

we tried to get home early-ish that night so we could hang out with craig and anne more. the only bad thing about staying with people so amazing while in NY is that you have to divide your time between the city and your company. it was hard because we wanted to stay and lounge with anne all day. in fact, we did that a lot in the morning:

notice how we overtook anne's bed?

i felt bad sleeping in every morning, but with all the walking and staying out late, we were so exhausted. also, i didn't have kids waking me up, so how could i not!?

on our last day, noel and i went running in the morning and anne took us to lunch and showed us around her little town before we headed to the airport.

i purposely came with a half empty suitcase, because i knew there would be a lot of shopping.

i stayed in my budget though!:)

this trip really was unreal. when i suggested it to my sisters a couple months ago, i wasn't sure if we'd all be able to make it happen, but we did!!! no one is pregnant or breast feeding, we had time off work, good husbands to watch our kids, an amazing place to stay, and a little money. i'm so grateful that it all worked out and i was able to have these 5 days with my sisters. words can't describe how much i love and miss them. every laugh and conversation had me smiling and wishing i lived near them again.

till next year ladies...