High Line Park – Say Yes to Happy

Yesterday I shared Day 1 of our NYC adventure. The second full day we met up with some friends in Prospect Park, before the wedding in Queens at night.

The post yesterday was a little lengthy but there were still a few other pictures of High Line Park I wanted to share because I just love this park. I didn’t mention it yesterday but for those of you who don’t know what High Line Park is, it’s a beautiful park that used to be a train line and is now remodeled into a park where people visit, run, read, and just sit. I love that New York was smart enough to reuse this gorgeous space.

So back to Day 2 of our trip. We stayed at the Paper Factory Hotel in Queens for the wedding, but in the morning we headed to Prospect Park to meet up with two of our friends. Because we live in the suburbs of Orange County we don’t usually take cabs anywhere. This weekend was our first time using Uber and they were fabulous.

We walked around Prospect Park, which was so pretty and had so many cute little shops all along the neighborhood. We met up with Bill, who lived in DC when we did, and he is one of my favorite human beings ever. He is hilarious, smart, and so witty. We also meet up with Supriya again, who is also one of my favorite people. She really took me under her wing when we lived in DC and I’ll never forget it! Sadly we didn’t take pictures with them, and the one picture I have with Supriya we have our eyes closed.

But Prospect Park was blooming with flowers and it was so dreamy. When we lived in DC we left right before the cherry blossoms, so seeing them here in NYC was amazing and I was so happy!

I love a good mural.

We all had brunch in a random Mediterranean restaurant that was really good. Being with those two makes my heart so happy and we all laughed so much. It was great seeing them.

Too bad my ice cream isn’t in focus in this picture, but it was two of my favorite things: ice cream and cherry blossoms in New York. Life is good. 🙂

After brunch we walked around a little more and then Bill and his friend had to take off. So Supriya was kind enough to hang out with us and take us to the Brooklyn Bridge Park. The last time we were NYC I wanted to see the Brooklyn Bridge but we weren’t able to. But this time we took a nice walk down there and saw the bridge in all its glory. It is magnificent and I loved it. And the park was so lively and fun.

Here are Supriya and Dave with flannel for days.

I mean, come on! That bridge is ridiculous. So, so pretty.

Being from Chicago, I obviously favor and love that skyline, but New York is serious competition. New York is huge and the skyline is amazing. I totally get why so many movies and tv shows are made here now. It’s architecturally beautiful and a bustling city.

I loved the pink skirt and crop top I wore to the wedding. It worked out quite nicely. I’m not generally a fan of crop tops but paired with the skirt it just looked like a dress.

The guy on the way right is Sean who was the groom. We had a picture with the bride as well but it was pretty dark and blurry, sadly. Dave and I are so thrilled for Sean and Jean. I didn’t use to cry at weddings, but apparently I do now. Their vows were so sweet. They’re a lovely couple together and we’ve had lots of fun memories with them and look forward to more in the future.

I usually reserve my travel adventures for Travel Thursdays, but since this is a two part-er I’m going to share Day 1 of our New York adventure today on Wednesday. (Mixing things up today! hah) Day 2 will be tomorrow on an actual Thursday.

Last month Dave and I went to a wedding in New York. We have a few friends in New York so it was perfect. This was our first time going to New York in the spring and it was gorgeous! We fell in love with the city this time. Last time it was a little overwhelming and freezing in the winter. But this time it was so lively, pulsing with undeniable energy, and so inviting.

We flew in late Thursday night, stayed at our friends Katy and JJ’s place. Dave and I have both worked with JJ and have kept in touch through the years, and the two times we’ve been to New York they always invite us to stay with them. They’re fantastic hosts and so fun to be around.

This is the view from their awesome balcony.

In the morning we walked to breakfast at the Rabbit Hole. It was a cute little bar with good food.

We walked around the neighborhood, stopped in a shop or two, grabbed coffee at Devocion. It was a really cool looking coffeehouse. The live plant wall was so pretty and the skylight was beautiful. It was very trendy.

Then we met up with JJ and headed into the city. We met our good friend Jared and Marlee, their baby Luna, and Jared’s mama. We ate in the basement of the Plaza Hotel (from Home Alone 2! One of my favorite movies ever.) They have a bunch of options to choose from and was super cute. A little pricey but that’s to be expected in NYC, right?

Here is where I ate at the food court under the Plaza.

We took our food to go and walked across the street to beautiful, Central Park. It was a lovely, sunny day out. We were soaking up the sun and went for a nice little stroll through the park. It was really peaceful. And the flowers were all in bloom, it was so dreamy! Everyone is so active in New York running, walking, and biking all over the city, I love it.

This little love bug is Luna, our good friend Jared and Marlee’s baby. I am totally in love with her, as seen in this picture. 🙂

Luna was all tuckered out. New York is exhausting! 😉

After our friends had to take off for the rehearsal dinner, JJ, Dave, and I went on the subway to High Line Park. JJ showed us the park last time we were in town and I fell in love.

After High Line Park, we went home for some down time and watched a rough cut of a documentary JJ and I worked on (more on that later this year!) and waited for Katy to get home from work.

For dinner we met our good friend Supriya who I absolutely adore and love! We used to all hang out when we lived in DC together. Those were great times and Dave and I miss living in DC all the time! We made really great friends while we were there that we are lucky to still have.

After dinner we headed to Queens to go to a cocktail hour with the bride and groom before their big day on Saturday. Because life gets so busy and time flies, it’s really, really nice to all get together from all over the place and be together even if it’s just for a weekend.

Our first full day in New York, was just that, full. Full of sight seeing, great friends, lots of walking, and delicious food.

Tomorrow I’ll cover our second and last day in New York.

What are your favorite places to go in New York? It’s such an amazingly large, vibrant city with so many cool hole in wall places and neighborhoods. I was smitten with New York after this trip.