Christmas and New Year's in New York City, that has been one of my longest dreams and it finally came true in 2017. Having an apartment to live in for the first time, and not a dorm, my family and I decided to spend the Holidays in the Big Apple. If you thought I was in love with this city, boy did spending the most magical time of year here make me OBSESSED! Having two full weeks with my family, it gave us plenty of time to literally do everything and anything we wanted. From Broadway shows to going to DC, we pretty much covered it all.
Leading up to Christmas, we hit all the classic tourist stops that you simply must go to during the Holidays. We went to Bryant Park, Rockefeller Center, and the Radio City area. Seeing these places all decked out with lights made the moment with my family even more magical. I highly recommend getting an apple cider when you go to the Holiday Markets in Bryant Park, they will keep you warm through the intense cold.
We stayed at the beautiful Royalton Hotel in NYC for a night, and I absolutely loved it! This hotel is located on 44th street between 5th and 6th ave, perfect spot for a quick holiday trip to either Rockefeller, Bryant Park... or even some last minute Christmas shopping on 5th ave. The Royalton had a cabin aesthetic to it, complete with wooden furniture and a giant fireplace, both in the lobby and in our room!
Our room was definitely one of the best rooms I have ever stayed in, the view was outstanding, the fireplace kept us cozy and warm, the bed was SO COMFORTABLE, and the bathroom... oh my God, the bathroom was to die for! The bathtub was so big that it could almost pass as a jacuzzi! If you are ever in need for hotel recommendations, I would highly suggest that you check this one out. You will not regret it.
Having grown up with theatre in my life, we absolutely had to go see some Broadway shows! My sister and I grew up watching Spongebob, and I am not ashamed to admit that I still watch it and can probably recite most of the episodes. So, in light of our obsession it only seemed fitting to go see Spongebob Squarepants The Musical! GO SEE THIS SHOW! It has all the humor of the cartoon, and even a lot of the most iconic lines from the show! The musical made me cry of laughter, that's how good it is! I loved it so much, that I am definitely seeing it again.
The other musical we saw was Kinky Boots, winner for Best Musical. This show was absolutely beautiful, and we even got to see it with the original Charlie and Lola! They did justice to the movie (if you did not know it was a movie, go see it!) and adding music to it made the meaning of the show that much deeper and meaningful. I actually got chills.
I love going to museums, yet I had not been to the Guggenheim. I live very close to it, but I just could not find the time to go and now that I have, it makes me want to go back to see all the different exhibitions. This time around, the exhibit they were showing was "Art and China After 1989: Theater of the World". I gotta say that this is not your traditional museum, it provided me with a different experience of how I view art and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
After the Guggenheim, I recommend walking one more block uptown to Blue Stone Lane. This is a super cute coffee shop with an amazing assortment of healthy food and GREAT coffee!
For New Year's Eve, my mom gave us the ultimate treat... a party in Times Square! We went to the Ball Drop Party at the AMC Empire 25. We had 5 whole floors of entertainment! Two floors had open bars and in every floor they had theaters showing a variety of movies throughout the night. We took advantage of this and went to see The Greatest Showman, which has become one of my new favorite movies. Once we came out of the movie, it was 30 minutes til midnight so we got our champagne ready and rang it the new year in style!
During our holiday, we traveled to Washington DC for the day since none of us had been, and took a Big Bus tour around the city. It was FREEZING, but we managed to enjoy our tour around the city and see the most iconic spots of the capital.
During out trip to DC, we stayed at The Mayflower Hotel, which is one of the most famous hotels in the city. The hotel is absolutely stunning! They have a long hallway with mirrors... can you guess what it reminded me of? The Hall of Mirrors from Versailles! The restaurant and bar of the hotel was pretty great too, I was shocked at how cheap the drinks were... might consider moving now.
One of our tour stops was Madame Tussaud's Wax Figure Museum. This museum is special because it has wax figures of all the US Presidents, the line was actually insane to take a picture with the Obamas. And, just like the other museums, it also had many famous pop culture figures... I am always shocked to see how short some celebrities actually are.
Due to our time constraints, we only got to go to one Smithsonian Museum, the Natural History one. Being that these museums are free to the public, they are insanely crowded but you still manage to enjoy your visit. My favorite exhibition is always the mammals, but this time around my favorite exhibition were actually the photographs gallery! All the pictures were breathtaking and I could honestly have stared at them all day long.
Having my family here meant that I could spend time with ALL my loved ones, so of course we made time for my family to spend time with some of my friends. We actually got the opportunity to all get together and some of my favorite places, Five Mile Stone and Mad Dog & Beans. These spots hold special places in my heart because of the many memories I have made there, so what better place to spend time?
God I love New York, and I love it even more when I am sharing it with my family and friends. This holiday was the best one yet. 2017 was a year of growth and I finished many chapters in my life. Now, 2018 better be ready for me because I intend on fulfilling even more dreams! Happy New Year everyone!
Special thanks to my amazing mother who gave me the best gift ever, her and my sister's company during these holidays. I love you both so much, here's to success, love and happiness in 2018!
#Holiday #Christmas #NewYearsEve #NYC #NewYork #NewYorkCity #RoyaltonHotel #BryantPark #RadioCity #Winter #SpongebobMusical #KinkyBootsMusical #Guggenheim #BlueStoneLane #AMC25Empire #WashingtonDC #TheMayflowerHotel #MadameTussaud #FiveMileStone #MadDogBeans #Friends #Family