New York City!

In the crazy busy that was the last 4 weeks at work, I slipped away for a quick trip to NYC for my cousin's wedding, and it was fabulous!  

My sister and I headed to the big city early on Thursday morning, and despite arriving 4 hours late because of weather, we were excited to hit the ground running.  After checking in to our hotel we met with our other family there, got all dolled up, and headed out into the city.  My cousin (the groom, who lives in NYC) and his fiance picked us up at the hotel and we (a family group of ~15) headed to Times Square.  It was bright and busy!  We had drinks and appetizers and then headed to the New Amsterdam Theatre to see Aladdin on Broadway.  The show was amazing!  The theater was beautiful, the costumes were incredible, and the magic in the show was very fun!  After the show, we headed to dinner at a French restaurant and then headed back to the hotel.  It was a long first day!

 Friday morning my sister and I decided to split from the group to see some of the city on our own.  We navigated the subway system and headed to Ground Zero and the 9/11 monument and museum.  The entire experience was incredibly somber and powerful.  The museum was phenomenal.  Allyson and I spent a few hours here and it still wasn't enough time. I took many pictures but it doesn't seem right to post them in this forum, but I encourage anyone who visits NYC to spend some time at the museum and monument.

 After visiting Ground Zero, we headed to Radio City Music Hall to see the Rockettes in the Christmas Spectacular.  It was the first day for the show and the Rockettes didn't disappoint!  There was also an incredible nativity scene--they had three live camels on stage!  I was more than impressed.

 After the show, we walked around Rockefeller Center.  The Christmas tree was delivered the day we were there and the crews were putting it together so we didn't get to see it lighted.  We saw the ice skaters and then walked down 5th Avenue window shopping.  Then back to the subway and off to the wedding rehearsal.  The church was gorgeous.  After rehearsal we headed to my cousin's apartment for pizza and drinks and had a nice evening meeting all the friends and family in town and involved in the wedding.

 Saturday morning we headed across the street to Central Park.  It was a beautiful morning and the fall colors were very pretty.  It was a nice change of pace and escape from the city noise and bustle.

 After the park, we walked over to the American Museum of Natural History.  We didn't have a ton of time here since we had to get ready for the wedding, but we did see some pretty awesome dinosaurs!  It was a very nice museum, it was unfortunate we didn't have more time, but we had a fabulous event to get to!

 The wedding was fabulous.  It was held in the beautiful Riverside Church and was so much fun.  The ceremony was beautiful and the vocalists were amazing.  Cocktails were served in the bell tower with a string quartet and the reception was on another floor of the bell tower.  Great food, great music, great people, great night!

View of the Hudson River from the church

Me, my cousin, and sister

After the reception was the after party in the Waldorf Astoria Towers but unfortunately we couldn't stay out too late--we were back on a plane by 8 on Sunday morning.  It was a quick trip, but we had a great time and we were so happy to be there to celebrate with our cousin.  Congratulations Cliff and Ryan!

I also notice this is my 500th post--holy smokes!  Thanks for sticking with me!