Hi blog! I spent the last week in New York City…finally! At long last! Dreams realized. It was everything I wanted it to be and SO MUCH MORE! Let’s explore.

We left Seattle late Monday morning. Good-bye, Mt. Hood!

We flew from Seattle to Philly, where we had just enough time to snarf down some Philly cheese steak sandwiches in the airport before flying another hour to NYC.

Flying into NYC that evening. I always book myself the window seat when I fly, and this is why. Here’s where I get REALLY excited because I catch my first glimpse of all the buildings I’ve spent my lifetime staring at pictures of! Hello, Chrysler Building!

We spent all Monday flying, and didn’t arrive in NYC until 10 pm at night. We stayed at a generic motel near La Guardia airport that evening, and when we woke up the next morning we put on our workout clothes for a 5 mile training run around Queens.

First impressions of NYC: holy humidity, Batman! I didn’t expect that. It was also about 80 degrees that first day, which made running around extra challenging. Phew.

NYC started impressing me right off the bat. Look at this amazing little “castle” in Queens.

After our sweaty run, we showered and packed up and checked out of the hotel in Queens and took an Uber car to check into our next hotel, Hotel 31 on 31st Street. Neither one of us had taken an Uber car before. It made everything so easy! 

I specifically chose Hotel 31 for 1. the cheaper price and 2. proximity to the Chrysler Building, only .6 miles away. Look, there it is!

I immediately felt comfortable in NYC. It reminds me of Seattle, only much larger, older, and…smellier. The architecture is absolutely incredible.

Hotel 31 kindly let us check in before the scheduled time, so we were able to get fancied up before setting out for the day. The only thing to do with long hair in humidity is wear it in two braids, so that’s what I did.

Based on the photos I had seen online, I wasn’t sure if I would like Hotel 31, but it turned out to have a lot of charm. Dark wood, beautiful old chandeliers in the lobby, and the musty smell of a hotel that has been around for a long time. We had a “shared” bathroom on our floor, but that turned out to be just fine. We barely even saw the other inhabitants on our floor. 

My first subway ride! We bought Metrocards. Josh and I both enjoyed the subway experience. I was grateful that his navigation skills are far better than mine. He used a subway app on his iphone to help out. We used the subway every day during the length of our stay. It’s so convenient!

Naturally we had to get up close and personal with the Chrysler Building. I’ve always been obsessed with this building–being a huge fan of Art Deco, it’s an Art Deco wet dream.

We had to go inside. These pictures don’t convey how gorgeous the lobby was. Absolutely everything inside was Art Deco. I was in heaven!

Look at the ceiling! Dreamy.

Josh wanted to take me to Grand Central Station next. This was his third trip to NYC, my first.

I was totally unprepared for how gorgeous Grand Central Station is on the inside. The ceiling was an amazing aqua color, with the Zodiac painted in gold. I gasped when we walked in. A man saw us taking pictures and gawking, and gave us a brief history of GSC just to be nice. Another thing that pleasantly surprised me about NYC: people were so kind to us! None of that Seattle “freeze” bullshit that I experience at home!

Gorgeous. We walked around for a bit and stood at the “whispering wall” and whispered lovey things to each other.

Famous Oyster Bar. I liked the rainbow sign. 

We stopped at the GCS market for a little snack–seafood spring rolls and crab salad. Mmmmm.

Back outside, for more gawking at beautiful buildings…

…and beautiful flowers.

So much more to come! 671 photos on my iphone. I didn’t even TOUCH my Sony camera (Josh did). Stay tuned for our exciting pedicab ride around Central Park…and the MOMA!