"The Big City".....

We ditched the beach this year for Fall Break and headed to New York City!!!

Our trip was planned before we went to Chicago this summer where this happened..............

June 28, 2016 (we think)

This engagement made the anticipation for our trip to NYC even more exciting because that meant we got to go wedding dress shopping.

And you KNOW what bridal salon is in NYC!!!!!

This is our cousin and her very brand new boyfriend at the time, now fiancé. We are beyond thrilled to welcome him into our family. After graduating IU, they moved to NYC and now they live this super cool life.

I'm pretty sure these two didn't think they were holding their future flower girl....(I remember this like it was yesterday----only it was 2011---Farm Bloomington)

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Delaney didn't know about our trip to NYC which was such a fun surprise to keep from her (well, for some of us)! We picked her up from school packed and ready for the airport (where I almost wasn't allowed on the plane due to a "name thing" which came after they told me my luggage was over the weight limit and it was ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS EXTRA....no ma'am). I finally made it through security (and took the express lane to the bar for a glass of wine) and we were NY bound!!! The excitement level was at an all time high (especially since Delaney knew there is an American Girl store in NY and asked every.single.day when we were going).

The last time I was in a taxi in NY I should have been home studying for my SAT (so yeah, it'd been a minute). I think I blocked from my memory the experience of riding in a taxi in NY. Unfortunately, it all came back to me. Fortunately, I lived to tell, or in this case, blog about it!

(We used a car service for the trip back to the airport.)

Now you know by now we don't travel without Karey!! Here we are at the 9/11 museum (along with a lot of other people).  After standing in line for these............

We stood in line some more (they let you in the museum in groups).
No clue why my hair has more volume in this picture!

There are lots of areas where flash photography is not allowed. The following are some pictures I took (343 is the number of firefighters who died) but all the pictures in the world could never capture the magnitude of being at the museum. Even standing before all of the evidence of destruction and devastation, it seemed unbelievable that it really happened.

Delaney's first subway ride........
I have no words for the subway, just no words for this experience.
It's a step up from a taxi ride which "ain't sayin' much".

Hanging out at the carousel....

And just, you know, walking the Brooklyn Bridge.....

I also have no words for the amount of walking you do in NYC. No words I tell you, just numbers, as in an average of 6 miles per day (per the fitbit of course).

All that walking made us hungry.....(Delaney and white do not mix well)

And thirsty......
.(you know Delaney is on vacation if she's drinking Sprite)

Yep, that's two pizzas friends!
Like I said, A LOT of walking....

Grand Central Station....

Chinatown....

And some rolled ice cream......so worth the wait!
I don't know if this has made its way to Indianapolis but it should....or maybe it shouldn't.
It is life changing friends!

And the NINE story Macy's where I stood in line for a half hour.
Who am I to deprive Delaney of yoga pants???

The Trolls display. Delaney is counting down until the movie starts.

Picture a large Christmas tree and ice skaters here...

And then we finally found our way to the American Girl Store.....

Where Delaney blew her budget in record time!

And now Kohls sells American Girl??? #whatthe

We finally made it to Paris!!
My new favorite café....(where I got the best peach iced tea, THE BEST)
I know it should be found in the South but it's not, it's right here in "Paris".

And none of these....

Now that's....

Willpower!!

And then there was one more surprise in store for this girl....

Dinner at the Stardust Café (not the surprise)

And we are not wearing our own version of Matilda Jane, purely coincidental!

Where the wait staff sings and entertains.
They aspire to do more than wait tables and are working in hopes of someday making it to..................

BROADWAY!!!!!!!!!!

Lion King was Amazing!! AH-MA-ZING
(Unfortunately, no flash photography)

A photographer, I am not (even with the flash this is as good as I could get, not to mention I was holding up a whole lotta pedestrian traffic)

And then Times Square....

Where Alicia Keys was in concert....Where it was beyond crowded.

And now I have a little glimpse into how it is there on NYE!  

I'm going to think of that when I'm in my yoga pants on the sofa come New Year's Eve this year!

And then it was back to the hotel to deal with a little "security matter".  Before we left for Lion King, we had a certain someone in the room who messed with the safe. A quick call to the front desk and we were....

Back in!!

Delaney locked her prized possession a/k/a little baby (which she grabbed before I could take the picture), 3 hair sprays, her purse, neck pillow, headband and A LARGE SUM OF MONEY!! She was hysterical over locking her baby in the safe even when I reminded her we needed to be a little more hysterical over the money!

We took the ferry to see the Eiffel Tower a/k/a Statue of Liberty.  Delaney clearly has Paris on the brain because she would not stop calling it the Eiffel Tower. I tried to explain to her that the people of France gave the US the statue but she's 6, so there's that.......She wanted to go up in it until I showed her the long line of people (who looked like tiny ants from the ferry) waiting to get in. Then she was good with a picture!

Delaney's messy bun didn't last long.....

So this happened...........

 When your hotel is around the corner from the fire station, you visit the fire station.

It's funny to see one on the first floor of an office building.

This fire house lost about 8 guys in 9/11 and had an awesome display in their honor. And as I sit here and type this, I so regret not taking a picture of it, it just seemed "wrong" in the moment......
When I asked if I could take Delaney's picture with the engine, these guys assumed I meant with them sitting on it (I meant the one next to it) but who in their right mind would hurt an FDNY firefighter's feelings???? Not this tourist! In the words of Delaney, it's the "ultimate" fire department.

 A carriage ride through Central Park Please...

#NYC2016
Love these girls......

 This is as close as she would get.

 I was in complete awe at how big Central park is.

 Recognize this "Friends"???

 So apparently they can only let 4 people in a carriage ride at once so when you're a party of 5, the littlest one has to hide under the blanket from the NYPD!
Nothing like hiding from the cops in Central Park.

And then guess where......

 I know what you're thinking and yes, it's A LOT of calories, BUT, it's also A LOT of walking!

The famous frozen hot chocolate (not to be confused with the one on the menu that cost $1,000.00)

Think "edible gold".....

 It most certainly did not disappoint!

 We were beyond excited to go to Serendipity!

Times Square during the day (the bright, sunny day)

 And now the moment you have all been waiting for...or maybe it was just us!

Mother of the Bride and Bride.

I know my role as "mother of the flower girl" (is that even a role??) isn't near as important (or expensive) but man am I excited!

We have another cousin getting married next summer and Delaney is her flower girl too.

Let me know if you need her, she's booking fast (and is experienced)!

Oh, you know, the sofas that the friends and family sit on when the bride to be comes out....it was just like it is on the show. Delaney was in bridal heaven. She said "has anyone seen Randy". We never saw him but we did see the seamstress, Vera.

Under Kleinfeld it says "Just say yes".

 And like the frozen hot chocolate, it too, did not disappoint!

 I mean....

 Soon enough Delaney, soon enough...
She kept telling our cousin "I would like to see you in a ball gown wedding dress".

 So cute. So Kleinfeld.

 She loved every.single.dress
She kept saying "that's the one"......

 Can you tell how excited we were??

 Especially once we learned they were taping for the show that day. Thank goodness later in the day because as you can see, one of us did not have her hair done!

The suspense of sitting in the waiting room was almost too much! That is where we saw Vera and Delaney recognized her right away and some other ladies waiting thought that was so funny! Apparently 6 year olds don't commonly watch Say Yes To The Dress????

#SYTTD

WOW, what a vacation.

Sitting next to my favorite person at a play on Broadway, a carriage ride through Central Park, splitting a frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity....How in the world did I get so lucky?

The Newsom Twosome are BEYOND blessed.

When we got home, I asked Delaney where she wanted to go for our next vacation.....I don't need to tell you what she said.....I think I will go ahead and sign her up for French lessons! #mygirllovestotravel

And now it's time to do all of the laundry, anyone want to help?

Oh, and Delaney really did have to go to the dentist and I am happy to report no cavities!

Thank you Jesus...and Crest!

I am also happy to report (or maybe not) that I made it safely through security at LaGuardia with no questions asked about the name discrepancy!!!