I can’t believe that this time last week I was in New York City with my husband! We were there to celebrate my birthday which was on the 14th, but the joke was on him. I decided to do a reverse surprise and I planned this weekend getaway without him having a clue!!!
I’d been to New York prior to this trip, but my last visit was about 10 years ago. This was my hubby’s first time!!!
Our trip was wonderful in so many ways. Not only do I want to share some photos from our first day there, I also want to link up with Aleigh Moore’s ‘A Thankful Heart’ series because I’m truly grateful for the time we had. I missed last week’s linkup because of the trip, but you can see my first entry here. Visit Aleigh’s blog if you want to join the fun, and I hope you enjoy part 1 of our experience!
We wanted to hit the ground running on our first day. We took the subway to Times Square, and there the adventure began!
We walked around and took in all the sights. We passed so many famous and iconic places, and before too long we were ready for some New York pizza!
We gave Abitino’s two thumbs up, and while the pizza was delicious of course, we really wanted to stuff our pockets full of those garlic knots!
After lunch we headed in the direction of the Empire State Building, and popped into Macy’s on the way.
We were loving the Christmas spirit, and can’t wait for the 90th annual Thanskgiving Day Parade this week!
From there we headed down 5th Avenue and we began to hear chanting from afar.
As it turns out we were on the same route as protesters who were, peacefully, making their voices heard.
There were likely several thousand participants as the long lines of people seemed to stretch on forever. It was a sight to behold and I’m glad I was there to witness it.
While some may disagree, this is right in keeping with the civil liberties we are supposed to be afforded here in this great land of ours.
And of course the soundtrack of Hamilton was running through my mind. In particular the line of ‘Aaron Burr, Sir’ when Hamilton sings, “If you stand for nothing, Burr, what’ll you fall for?”.
We all have something to stand for don’t we?
The sea of protesters was still going strong as we headed towards Madison Square Garden.
You should have seen my husband’s face light up as we saw the UFC press junket and even ran into a couple fighters.

After that we walked and walked and walked some more. We saw some amazing sites and covered a lot of ground.




We also did something I’ve always wanted to do, and had this fun caricature drawn of us! What do you think of it?!
Our last stop of the night was at Dave and Busters in Times Square. We met up with some friends and staked out a booth so we could watch the big UFC fight that night. Our friends left fairly early but we stayed ’til the very end. I was delirious by this time (almost 2AM!!!), but I had the best item on their menu holding me over. Trust me when I say, try it!

Needless to say, we fell into bed that night, exhausted and eager for Day 2!
Stay tuned for the second part of our journey, and tell me, what do you love about New York?
Y’all are so much fun! And, both so photogenic. I can’t wait to see/read more of what you did, even though you already covered so much in this post
Day 2 was a lot slower. We were all over the place knowing we had a short amount of time! Thanks so much friend!
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh I love NEW YORK!!! They had the best pizza!!!!!
Yes, girl. We had pizza a couple times!!
Sounds like so much fun!!!
It was Ashley!!
My fave city! Took the kids in August and I’m already itching to go back! Looks like you did so many fun things!
I look forward to taking the kids one day, but our next trip will probably just be the hubby and I again. Hahaha.
Your pictures are great! Seriously you could be a pizza model. Looks like you guys had a great time.
Thanks Boo. lol. We had a blast!!!!!
Looks like such a fun trip! I’m jealous! And that pizza is making me drool! Thanks for linking up 🙂
It’s been fun! And we had a great time!
I haven’t been to NYC in soooooooooo long! Looks like you guys had a blast!
We did!! Hope you make it back there one day!!
Blessings,
Patricia
what a fun trip! i miss NYC and cannot wait to go back. you look gorgeous in all your photos, as usual!
Thanks Chanel! I say we go!!!
So I lived in New York State for 8 years and never managed to make it to NYC! Lol. Looks like you had a great first day!
How did that happen??!! Lol. It is always different when you live in the state though. We had so much fun!
Patricia
It looks like you had an INCREDIBLE trip! I miss New York and I can’t wait to take my husband for the first time! I hope we have as much fun as you two did.
I’m sure you will!! Having it be his first time was an added bonus!
I love NYC so much and I too always make the pizza one of my first stops! The last time we were there in April we stayed just a block away from that amazing library. I’m so glad you had a nice time and a fun birthday with your hubby. 🙂
xo, Nicole
You were in a great location in April! Wow!! We’re already planning to go back!!
Oh that looked like so much fun! Also you are gorgeous!!
Looks like y’all had a blast. NYC is such an amazing place to visit.
It really is!!!
This looks like such a fun giveaway! I would love to get to New York!
I hope you are able to go one day Maggie!
Your trip looks like so much fun! I haven’t been to NYC in about 15 years, I would love to go back soon!
We had a ball, we really did!
Looks like you had so much fun!
We did Ashley!
Looks so fun! Full and busy, but fun!! ;). I have always wanted to go ice skating there! Especially this time of the year! So festive!!
Emily Lindsey | happilylindsey.com
It is so festive but I’m not one to go ice skating though. Lol.
Blessings!
Patricia