NEW YORK CITY. day one & two.

a few months back justin and i began talking about we wanted to do to celebrate no more cancer. we decided on nyc. we both love the city but had never gone just the two of us. we love cities. so new york we decided would be perfect.

we left chesapeake real early on thursday morning. justin's mom had arrived the night before from ky to watch ava while we were away. we are happy to report that ava did great! thanks roma for your help and for teaching ava a few things while we were away (such as patty cake and old mcdonald). she loves to sing along!

first off everything this weekend was a surprise except for one thing. someone accidentally told me. but other than that i did not know one thing that was ahead for us in nyc. and i loved that. we arrive in nyc around 10am. its wet and rainy but weather does not stop nyc. we took a taxi into the city and arrive in the center of time square at the renaissance hotel. it was perfect. we were in the center of it all. our room was gorgeous with a great view of the city. we unpack a bit and then head to a great brewery justin had found. we sat right by the window to watch all the people go by. i loved it. when we return to our room there is champagne and strawberries. perfect touch. the weather was pretty bad at this point so we just hung out for a bit and took a little nap. since we had been up since 5am and went to bed after midnight it was needed.

time square. the view from outside the hotel.

at around 5pm we start getting ready. justin said to dress up a little. so i did. (we did not take pictures tonight but did take video so...nyc video to come). we took a taxi in the pouring rain to chelsea and got out. i saw the name. it was colicchio and sons. the owner of this restaurant is tom colicchio who is a judge on the our favorite show TOP CHEF. every wednesday when justin gets home we watch this show together in bed. its perfect. when we walk in i spot tom sitting at a table. we then get seated near him. i pretend to act cool. a few minutes later he walks over to our table. what? he says..."hi justin and libby...welcome to colicchio and sons." i am secretly freaking out. we chat for a bit and i ask him questions about top chef. he was really so kind and appreciative that we would celebrate at his restaurant. he said congratulations and told us to enjoy ourselves. he walks away and i look at justin...he had been in email contact with his assistant and they all new we were coming. so everyone at the restaurant went above and beyond. it was so awesome. i felt so special. we ate a lot of food. it was seriously unbelievably good. i tried a few things i have never had before...bone marrow and lamb. and the bone marrow was recommended. it was not good.  i am not picky. but bone marrow? i actually said a lot to justin throughout the weekend...so why did i order bone marrow? but i did. i tried it. but it will be the last time for me. it was an unbelievable night. we even had two courses brought out to us...compliments of the chef. so pretty much tom cooked for us! so cool. justin started the trip out right. great food and great night. loved it. if you are in nyc check out this restaurant. we headed back to the hotel and sat on some comfy couches with an incredible view of times square. good first night. actually great first night.

on friday morning we got up early and headed to the today's show. it was a little cold and rainy. but we stood outside for a little bit and then left. we ate breakfast at the hotel and headed to central park. the rain stopped so we spent the day walking around nyc. we took a little pedicab ride through the park and then walked and walked and walked. all day. we ended up in the soho area where i bought my nyc souvie. justin's family calls souvenirs "souvies" and i like that. so i got myself some hunter boots. no i do not hunt. they are real cute rain boots. i got beige with grey cable knit welly socks. so excited. we ate lunch in a little place in soho and then kept walking. we discovered this sporting goods store that was justin's dream. he asked to go back there seriously five times. we did go back one other time. we took a taxi to the hotel and got ready for dinner. again i had no idea what was coming...but i did have a little guess. we both got dressed up. i wore the dress i bought right before we left. we ate a great italian place and then walked down broadway and stopped at the big Wicked sign.

we walked inside and had amazing seats. thanks to my cousin derek and his wife jen. we were like six rows from the front and right in the center. thank you. i had never seen the play before and i loved it loved it. great night. we left around 11pm and justin wanted to go back to little italy for a cannolinyc...the city that never sleeps and i chose to sleep. sorry jus. i was wrong. we should have gone to little italy so you could get a little cannoli.