As I said before, my mom picked the coolest hotel ever. We stayed at the Paramount Hotel which is smack down in the middle of the Theatre District. We were just a block away from the Broadhurst Theatre where Anastasia the Musical was performing. This hotel was insanely gorgeous. It was so grand and luxurious. All of the tables and countertops were marble with gold accents everywhere. Our room was perfect too. It was smaller than most hotel rooms, but that's because it's New York and it made it so much more authentic. We had a gorgeous view and could see all of the city chaos right from our window. Our shower was red! It was seriously the coolest and Mama Katz couldn't have picked a better place to stay. The minute we got off the train we checked into our hotel and hit the streets. We walked around, did some shopping, ate some New York pizza and explored. We stopped for desert at Carlo's Bakery. Although we don't watch Cake Boss, we knew this place was popular because of that show. Hands down, the best cheesecake I've EVER had. My mom said the cupcake she got was the best cupcake she's ever had too. If you're ever in NYC, you must stop by for something sweet. We did some serious shopping and even went into some fun stores like the Disney store! I even found the perfect dress to wear to the show for the next day! As we were exploring we came across this salon to get pedicures, manicures, and our eyebrows done. While looking over everything that the Marc Joseph Salon & Spa had to offer, we also decided to get a facial. I have never had a professional facial done before and I've always wanted one. My mom booked us for an appointment getting everything done! It was a day of beauty for sure. Seriously, I can't explain how getting a professional facial has changed my life. I almost cried with how good my skin looked. Okay, Okay, I did tear up. If you're someone who struggles with acne then you totally understand what a good face product or facial can do to your confidence level. We decided to have lunch at Black Tap Craft Burgers & Beer. I have seen this place all over Instagram and being known for their crazy milkshakes and I knew I had to try it out. The restaurant was almost a hole in the wall, we actually almost walked right by it. When you walk in it was a mixture of graffiti walls and an old 50's diner. It was honestly really cool. The food was so good and they had the most creative cocktails as well. The grand finale of course though was the milkshake. We got the Bam Bam Shake which consisted of Fruity Pebbles (hince the name), vanilla ice cream, rice krispy treats, strawberry pop tart, and a nerds rope. Is your mouth drooling yet? This thing was huge and it was DELICIOUS! After our tummy's were happy & full we headed to our hair appointments at Dry Bar! As a blogger I have seen so many bloggers and YouTubers rave about this place, but I've never had a blowout done before. I absolutely loved going to Dry Bar! I've never been able to do my hair really well or curl it to where it can hold the curls, but this place was fantastic! If you guys have never been to Dry Bar, I highly suggest making an appointment ASAP! I oredered the Mai Tai hairstyle and my mom ordered the Southern Comfort. Our hairstyles looked so good it even held the curl the next day! It was seriously such a great beauty day and it didn't stop there. The whole reason we came to New York- Anastasia on broadway!
Like I said, Anastasia has always been my favorite princess movie. Sorry Disney, but you've got nothing on my girl Anastasia. Anastasia was my favorite princess when I was a kid, so much so that I even dressed as her for Halloween, which during this NYC trip my mom told me how she actually made the costume herself because they didn't sell Anastasia costumes in the store. This story only made me love that I was sharing this experience with mom even more! When I found out that this was going to be a Broadway musical I had the alert for presale tickets on my phone. The minute they were available my mom and I were getting tickets! We had second row tickets and it was completely worth every penny. I felt like a little girl all over again. I was so ecstatic to see the musical I could barely contain myself. We got all dolled up and headed to the show. The show... honestly. No words. It was spectacular! My favorite part was the 'Once Upon A December' number. It gave me goosebumps it was so ingenius how it was all put together. It was so amazing that my mom and I were looking up tickets for the matinee for the next day just to watch it again, but it was already sold out. The costumes were breathtaking and I was in awe of how gorgeous the dresses were. The cast and crew did an unbelieveable job of bringing my favorite fairytale to life. After the show I found out that we could meet the cast! We stood in line and the cast signed our playbills and we got to take pictures with everyone. This was the cherry on top of this event because I fell in love with this cast. It was so crazy how dead on the casting was. Especially Derek Klena, the actor who plays Dimitri, new celebrity crush for sure! The whole day was so special and magical and I owe it all to my amazing mother!
On our last full day in NYC we decided to cross somethings off of our bucket list. We had a list of places we wanted to visit and eat at. We walked everywhere with no real destination in mind. As we were walking we came across this mall which we had initially just gone inside to use the bathroom, but we defintely walked out with some goodies. At Sephora they had some professional makeup artists from Anastasia Beverly Hills there doing makeovers for free. It was so cool to get our makeup done professionally (again a first for me) and my mom even fell in love with the beauty products. Of course she spoiled me too and got me my very own highlighter pallete. After we were glowing (literally- check out my mama, how gorgeous does she look!) from our new makeovers we decided to eat lunch in Central Park. Now, even though my mom and I had both been to New York several times we have never actually been to Central Park. We didn't even mean to go there, it just sort of happened. We walked through the entire park because our main destination was just on the other side of it. Sometime during the makeovers and lunch we had googled famously known Gossip Girl locations in New York. This gave us a map to all of the places we were going to stop at. As we walked through Central Park and questioned why there wasn't a real Central Perk Coffee Shop we passed Nate Archibald's townhouse, The Met Steps, and Grand Central Station. Everything was so beautiful and it was fun to pretend to be Blair Waldorf for the day. Before we headed back to the hotel we explored time square some more and even went to M&M World for the first time. Seriously, we did a lot of first timer things, but it was so much fun! At the end of the day Mama Katz & I decided to get some food from the restaurant in our hotel (truffle oil french fries are my new obsession) and watch The Real Housewives of New York City (because, duh!). This was also the night that my phone blew up with Twitter notifications. The cast of Anastasia was replying to my posts and the king of NYC, Andy Cohen, had retweeted me. Okay, fan girl moment. It was the most adventure filled day!
On our last day I convinced my mom that we should go to Chinatown. Again, I had never been, but I really wanted to check it out because I heard they had the best shopping. My mom was a little sketched out about it at first, but now that we've been, we would totally do it again. If you have never experienced Chinatown, you just go to go to see it for yourself. We walked away with some really cute purses, jewelry pieces, and sunglasses (click here to see my NYC haul). It was so much and the whole experience gave us a great story to tell everyone back at home. As our time came to an end I was really sad to be leaving the city. I was even more sad because I had been having such an amazing time with my mom and I honestly didn't want the trip to end. However, we were exhausted and officially broke. I know I've said it a hundred times, but here's a hundred and one- this was the perfect graduation trip and I owe it all to my amazing mother. Since I know you read my posts, I just wanted to give a special thanks to Mama Katz. Thanks for always believing in me and celebrating these moments with me. I love you mama!
This was an unforgettable trip and I defintely recommend that you go see Anastasia on Broadway! What should I add to my "to-do" list for my next New York visit? You know you love me -- ;)
xoxo, Michele
