This trip was so much fun and we kept this weekend jammed pack. But I also knew I wanted to spoil my mama and I had some surprises up my sleeves. So let's get into our itinerary.
We got to the city on Friday and walked from the train station to our hotel because it was so close. Everyone contributed to this trip, so my dad booked us a room at the Dylan Hotel. The room was pretty spacious too—especially the bathroom! For a New York hotel, this was huge! We each got our own queen size bed, as I said the bathroom was gigantic, and there was so much closet and drawer space.
After we got to our hotel we decided to walk around and find a light lunch. We decided to stop at this German pub and had a quick bite before heading back to the hotel to chill out and get ready for dinner and Broadway. I made reservations at Serafina and the food was delicious. After our bellies were full of pasta it was time to see Lea Michele in Funny Girl! The show was absolutely amazing. 100000/10! A must-see for Broadway fans. She freakin' crushed it and I can't say enough good things about this production. Afterward, we went to the stage door to get our playbills signed. I don't know why or how but my mom and I were escorted to the front row and even though they said Lea would only sign playbills and no posters, I decided to leave my poster out anyways and she signed both! I was completely starstruck when she got to me and I barely whispered "Hi Lea" to which she replied, "Hi, how are you?" I think my heart fell in my stomach because I just froze and stared at her before saying thank you for signing my poster and playbill. Watch the video by clicking the link here. She was way nicer than the last time I met her and I think almost getting canceled a few years ago has humbled her a bit š. After the show, we got some dessert at Insomnia Cookies and headed back to the hotel because the next day was going to be insanely busy!
The next day was my mom's actual birthday and I had such a surprise for her. Our original breakfast plans fell through so we decided to just get something quick at a cafƩ along the way. Which was fine because her real present was something my boyfriend booked for both of us and that was a day at the Aire Ancient Bath and Spa. This was one of the coolest experiences of my life. This place had multiple pools with different temperatures and features like a salt bath, a sauna, and more. We upgraded our day pass to include fresh juices and a 60-minute massage. After the massages, we went into the sauna again before going to the locker room to freshen up. The locker rooms had everything you need including hair brushes and hair tools, lotions, face wash, showers, and everything you could possibly need. We felt sooooo relaxed after the spa it was seriously incredible. We had no plans until later that night so we decided to go walk around downtown. Which was awesome because we stumbled upon a street fair including shops and food vendors! My mom got a Greek Gyro and I got the infamous potato cheese...thing, haha. It's basically the vegetarian version of a corndog and my mouth is watering now just thinking about it honestly. Then we got fried Oreos and beignets for dessert they were delicious! We also did some shopping and my mom got herself a little birthday gift at the Ugg store surprisingly I didn't buy anything that the Nintendo store but it was tempting! Now there wasn't much time in between the next thing I was going to surprise my mom with that night. And trust me we both were dragging our feet to get ready, but it was totally worth it to rally and get back out there. My mom has been on a new health journey which includes being sober. I have been so extremely proud of her that I feel like proud isn't a strong enough word. I admire this woman. And I've seen a huge change in her mentally and physically and I just really wanted to celebrate this new version of herself that she's working on. I'm not a big drinker but I really want to get into making mocktails so I've been following Absence of Proof and Ritual Proof for inspiration. So when I saw that they were hosting a sober pop-up event the weekend of my mom's birthday I purchased tickets right away! I still think to this day my mom thinks I planned this trip around Funny Girl but it was actually this event that started it all for me. I really wanted to celebrate my mom and her sobriety and show her how proud I am of her. It was so cute to see her get excited to go order "drinks" at the bar and they were really tasty! We tried a few mocktails and non-alcoholic beers and even met the queen Absence of Proof herself! We grabbed some food at this Mexican restaurant right next door before heading back and calling it night.
On the last day, my mom took charge of the plans. She had always wanted to go to Coney Island and honestly so had I! It was a bucket list item for sure and I'm so happy we went. Even though I got horrible motion sickness from the long subway ride š
. But before that, we had to go to the Toys R' Us in Macy's because it's iconic and because the day before was PokĆ©mon Day I got 3 free PokĆ©mon cards š„¹. We got to Coney Island later in the day and because it was off-season, rainy, and later in the day pretty much everything (including the aquarium) was closed š. It was still so much fun though and we did go on a few rides and play a few games. My mom even got to eat the famous Nathan's Hotdogs! We felt like kids enjoying Coney Island and I can't wait to go back.
This trip was beyond fun. There aren't enough words in the English language to explain how grateful I was for this trip especially since the following week I moved to Florida. I love celebrating my mama, not just for her birthday but for everything she does. Our parents always celebrate us and I just wanted to return the favor. Happy birthday Mama Katz, I hope you had a wonderful birthday trip š.
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