DAY ONE IN NEW YORK CITY: Chelsea Hotel, St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York Cheesecake, and feet screaming out in pain.

April Fool's Day 2011: Got myself to the airport at the crack of dawn to catch a flight to the Big Apple with a friend. It was our first time visiting and we were excited and anxious that we would finally be able to say we've experienced the New York City lifestyle, if only for a weekend. The weather was already warming up dramatically in our southern home state of Texas, so I was feeling a bit panicky to hear that Father Winter was still alive and well up north where we were headed. I had an overstuffed suitcase full of warm clothes, but my spirits were high.  There was nothing that was going to bring me down on this vacation. Upon arriving at JFK airport, we had to enlist an official NY 'cabbie' to drive us to our hostess friend's place.  I can assure you: the cab driver was 100% certifiably nuts, but it felt like a truly authentic "welcome to NYC" experience.


After a speedy rush through rained out highways, we arrived at our destination and had to literally hit the ground running.  Our hostess was late for meeting a local friend for lunch, and I barely had time to set my suitcase down before I had to run off with an umbrella into the cold, windy drizzle to meet up at an outdoor place called the Shake Shack.

After getting our food and heading back indoors, I was finally able to sit back and let it sink in that, "hey, I AM IN NEW YORK CITYYYYY!!!".









Even though the wind and rain had ruined my hair beyond salvation for the day, I was excited about our first round of sightseeing: Chelsea Hotel, Saint Patrick's Cathedral, MoMA, H&M, and just the views you get of the city itself from simply walking around.  Everywhere you turn and look, there is a sight for your eyes, and something about this city just had a comforting kind of feel to me.

Sid Vicious and many other music legends have stayed here <3

Saint Patrick's Cathedral - so much more majestic and breathtaking in person.

nice view from inside the Museum of Modern Art

statue of Atlas across from Saint Patrick's.

After all this we headed out to a Venezuelan food dinner, Belgian fries, and authentic NYC cheesecake for dessert.  Everything below my waist was screaming out in pain and I wanted to cry, but I soldiered on and anxiously awaited the next day.

Stay tuned for DAY TWO :)