My 30th Birthday!!!

Ok, so I need to start this post off with a HUGE apology that I have let all of my followers down because I have been so bad at keeping up my blog!! Of course I have an excuse-too busy- but of course that excuse is LAME, so Im back to square one with- NO excuse! I ask for your forgivness and I promise to be better! I'm already more posts in this year than years past, so that gets a HOORAY right?! :)

SO, LIFE- what have Noah and I been up to- ALOT! I'm so far behind that we must go back to August 23- A Thursday night! I come home from work and the conversation goes like this, " Jill I have something I want to share with you" - and of course I was like, "ok- what would that be" and he tells me that my present for my 30th birthday is a trip to NYC!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!


CHEERS!

SO EXCITED!

So, My next question after the excitement slightly subsides, is "Noah, I have an AM Meeting at work tomorrow morning, what am I going to tell my boss!" Problem solved, he got my managers number from my phone and had already ok'd the trip!!!!!!! WOOHOO! Yes, such a good man I married. :)

My second question was, WHAT AM I GOING TO WEAR?! I need to go shopping to get some new clothes for NYC- I mean this is where the stars are- I need to be in style! :) LOL- well there was no time to shop that night, so I had to be creative and pack what I had- with the mindset that I can shop in NYC of course!

Friday we get to NYC at around 9:00AM. We stayed at the Marriot Hotel in Times Square. It was the perfect location and a great hotel! AND our room had a view of Times Square and the ball that drops on New Years EVE! I was going crazy, if you can imagine, and I couldn't believe how small the ball looked in person! I have always wanted to be in Times Square for New Years Eve once in my lifetime because I know after being in that crowded of a place all night, once would be enough!

Our Hotel

Once we got setteled we went downstairs to have a bloody mary and plan our day!! Cheers!

Here it is- the New Year's Eve ball- looks so much bigger on TV! :)

Because Noah and I are not people that plan groceries much less a vacation, we decided what we both wanted to see and jumped on the subway!! Fridays Plan was: Ground Zero, Lunch, Possibly the Statue of Liberty, and then my 2nd 30th birthday present was tickets to JERSEY BOYS MUSICAL! :) Yes Y'all I was excited! I'll get to that part in a minute, but first let me share with you some pictures from our day because pictures are more fun than me doing all the explaining. :)

Look out NYC jill and her camera are on the loose- my first shots outside of the hotel! I was NYC's Paparazzi!

ABC Studio- Early Show Fans-its right up there!!

Weird shot to some, but I just wanted to show I saw the cameras! :)

I loved all the BEAUTIFUL architecture and buildings!

Its Subway time!

First subway ride to Ground Zero.

Once we got here my heart felt so sad- even after 11 years this feeling will never go away-so sad.

We decided to have lunch at O'haras- we love Irish pubs!



The inside was so neat! we didn't realize until we saw the picture below that this placehad a lot of damage from the imploding of the Towers!

Look at all the debris all over the place after 911- so sad! I felt bad even smiling for the picture below!

After lunch we decided to go down to see how long it would take to do a ferry to the statue of Liberty. We had tickets to the Jersey Boys so we did not have time to go on Friday, but we took a quick shot with the statue in the background. It was such a beautiful day outside! We decided to tour some of the city and get up early to see the statue on my birthday. We walked to teh New York Stock Exchange which was something that Noah really wanted to see. We saw the famous bull but did not want to wait in line for a photo, so the pictures below will have to suffice that we did see it. :)

New York Stock Exchange

Noah had to have his picture taken here. :)

On our walk back to the hotel, we could see ourselves in the jumbo tron, so I took our photo- can you find us. :)

I had to get a close up!

My TX Sister Heather sent me a FABULOUS birthday present that was awaiting our arrival when we returned to get ready for dinner! THANK YOU MY DEAR!! :)



Friday Night we walked to Broadway to see the Jersey Boys!

So this was the best musical to see for our first time to NYC because it is a story based in New Jersey and NYC. The whole time we there I felt like I got a glimpse at the culture of the city because they have that New Jersey accent that kills me when I hear it! We were in the 2nd ROW at this musical and I could see the characters so well!! I loved it! I felt like "MISS DREAMY" in the front row as I stared at them on stage when they sang, "SHERRY!" click on that blue link to bring you to my world that night! SERIOUSLY, click on it because it makes my blog that much better. Another one I died on was, WALK LIKE A MAN- I felt like we were back in the 60s at a JERSEY BOYS CONCERT the whole time, so I was dieing! When they sang this song I was just like WOW- it was so much FUN!! OOOOWEEEEEOOOOOWEEEEE- crazy a GUY can sing that HIGH- I CANT EVEN SING THAT HIGH! Those of you who ever sat in front of me at church know I'm a total ALTO-if that! LOL! :) MOLLYANN- I'm the one you make fun of who is tone deaf! :) So these give yo a sample of the songs and the story and I am a new JERSEY BOYS FAN!! :) After we left I wanted to go dancing, but then once we got outside I remembered it wasnt the 60's anymore and reality sunk in that I can't dance, so we decdided to go have a drink somewhere. :) 

Oh and one more song, you all know this one: BIG GIRLS DONT CRY- Yep Jersey Boys TOO!

THANK YOU NOAH for a WONDERFUL Birthday Present!
I'm hooked on Musicals now, and so far this one does rate up there with WICKED, but I think its because I liked all the songs. :)

Cheers to a good night! OOOWEEEOOOO! (listen to the song if you are confused at my oooweeoo)

Ok, so Friday night was wonderful and we had a lot of fun. We ate street Pizza for supper because thats what you do in NYC right?! It was delicious and I didnt even snap a picture- can you believe it?! We also endulged in these things called GARLIC KNOTS that I had never had before and I LOVED! Imagine the taste of GARLIC, mixed with Parmesean cheese and Dough- totally delicious and not at all healthy but I'm in NYC and its my birthday-I'll cry if I want to?!  :)


Saturday Morning, August 25, I turn the B-I-G 3-0!!! No turning back now, the clock struck 12 and its official! And, so far 30 is PERFECT! We woke up early, not early enough for Noah but early enough for me. :) Plan today is:

• 1. YUMMY PASTRY for Breakfast
• 2. Statue of Liberty
• 3. EXPLORE
• 4. Dinner
• 5. BIRTHDAY CAKE/Frozen Hot Chocolate at Serendipity!

Here's how the day unfolded below via pictures.

LOVELY Coffee with a heart in it- we had a creative barista. And a yummy scone!



The BiG APPLE, or thats what I call this sculpture that I loved!!

Time for the subway on my Birthday- August 25, 2012!

I can't wait to see the Statue of Liberty!

Ellis Island of in the distance, which we get to see too!

This is the boat we were on.

Here is a picture of Noah on the boat that we road over to the statue. You can see the Statue off in the distance.

There she is in all her glory!

Noah took this great pic!

ELLIS ISLAND TIME

Ellis Island, in Upper New York Bay, the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States and the nation's busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954. I was ready to see what happened when my ancestors arrived here- crazy to think they did! I kept imagining what they felt like, I mean this would be scarier than any job interview I've ever had! Can you imagine if you came all this way to live in America and then were turned away! Imagine what it must have sounded like- a building filled with thousands of people all speaking different languages but all wanting to live in America! Only about 2 percent were turned away for various reasons, which amounted to about 250,000 people, which doesn't seem like a lot when you consider about 14 million people came over! YES friends these are facts I actually rememberd because I was so saddened at those that were turned away and astounded at how many people filtered through this beautiful place! Well, beautiful to me, but to those that entered I imagine it was the scariest place ever!  I think this is a must see for any american, I felt like I was in an amazing HISTORY lesson, which by the way if my history class was at this actual place, I may have retained a bit more than those of you know I have! LOL- I was so mesmorized by all of the information, and I wanted to read every detail, but then I had the HISTORY MASTER with me, who laughed at the fact that I acted as though I had heard some of this for the first time- for a person that took AP History in high school, one would think I would remember all of this like Noah, but it takes me a while. :) I'm a visual learner, so perhaps now, I will remember something. :) Below are a few pictures I took inside.

For my German Family Members- this is where it all began. :)

God Bless America. :)

So, I most defintely enoyed this part of the day! We, or shall I say, I, got my history lesson in for the day, and then we headed back to NYC, to explore the other sights on the list of things to see.

My Map Reader- Ever since our first trip together, he reads the map- I love it because unless I have to, I'd rather not. :)

So we get to Rockefeller Center and of course I want to see NBC studios. :) Call me crazy but one day I will be on an early morning show, and I will be that Crazy fan with a sign that just wants to be on TV. :) Until then, I will be excited that I am standing on the same sidewalk. :)

Rockefeller Plaza- I have heard this all time on the Early Show, or Good Morning America- NOW I AM HERE!!



It was so pretty!

 And, of course those of you who have been to NYC know that Rockefeller Center is where all the shopping exists, and I couldn't wait to shop! But, Noah isn't a huge shopper so I decided that I just have to come back for a girls trip!! It would be more fun, and then Noah and I could enjoy other sights together. We did do some window shopping and I love how they display shoes and purses here- So many to pick from and they all glisten under a little light. :) We decided to stop for an appetizer, and I had a bellini! Amie Nemec- You have me hooked on these things! So refreshing and so good! So, here's to Amie for introducing me to my favorite drink.


The Bellini

 We headed back to the hotel to have a drink on top of the spinning tower, and to get a birds eye view of the city before dinner.



This as my CELEBRATION MARTINI :) A little Champagne!

ITS MY BIRTHDAY NIGHT~! DO I LOOK 30?! LOL- KIDDING! I was being a tad goofy so thought if I posted this shot you may all laugh- did it work?! :)

Ok, so Noah and I love a good steak, and we love to go all out on our birthday dinners. This was rated one of the best steakhouses in NYC, so we were in. Once you see the pictures below, you will see that our food was FANTASTIC, and it was the best birthday meal to date!

Crab Cake- we always get one of these for an app if we know its a good restaraunt. :)

Noah ordered the lobster- IT WAS SO GOOD!!

I got the steak- so surf and turf was our dinner and it was so good!!

 After dinner my dessert of choice was to try the FROZEN HOT CHOCOLATE from Serendipity. If you have not heard of Serendipity, they have been on t.v. for the Guiness World Record Sundae which is $1000.00. Of course, that was not my item of choice, all i wanted to try was another favorite that I have seen on the food network- the frozen hot chocolate. There was an hour wait at 9:45PM, so luckily there was a CANDY Store near by, so of course I had to go in and explore. Even though I'm now 30, I will forever be a kid at heart, and candy stores will always be something I must see. :) This one rates up there as one of my favs!

Was I dreaming- this place was magical! :)

My Easter Basket Favorite!

Its almost November so my little Blog PLUG. :)

Any color M&M or Jelly Bean you wanted!

 We can finally go sit down at Serendipity, so inside we go. It was the most interesting decor I've ever seen, and nothing I expected. I took a few shots to help those of you understand that have not been.

 

My Birthday Cake- Frozen Hot Chocoalte

If you are wondeirng if I shared with Noah- the short answer is No, but I was going to. :) There was a minimum order at this place, so Noah was forced to order his own sundae. I've never seen someone so upset to eat a sundae, but he did. I savored every bite of mine.

Cheers!

Sunday Morning we woke up extra early because we had to leave by 4PM!  One good thing about marrying a man that loves to get up early, is that I never have to worry about missing an alarm and being upset at myself that I got up late-he will forever get up early and I will always be able to make the most of any vacation day...if I want to. :)

On our Agenda Today:

• Central Park
• Cafe Lalo

The one regret I have of the whole trip is that I did not bring my running shoes. I know, you are thinking what?! But after you see the pictures of the running trails in Central Park, you will understand my disappointment! I love to run, and Noah does now too, so we want to come back and run around Central Park. Since we could not run, we did walk for a lot of it. I wish Baily was with us because she would have enjoyed it too.



To some this looks like a road, but it is a RUNNING PATH! WOW!

Time for Cafe Lalo. For those of you who have watched the movie You've Got Mail, this is the cafe that this movie was filmed in! A must see for most women, maybe guys, but not Noah because he has never even seen the movie. But because Noah loves me so much, this was our breakfast spot. :) After he got his meal he was very thankful it was his breakfast spot because it was so good! I inserted the clip for those of you that want to see, and then my pictures are below it.:) Claim to fame for my birthday!

Care Lalo!!!

Inside!

My breakfast, a latte and a yummy apple pastry! With a Taberlone treat on the side! :)

And yes I have morning eyes. :) Cheers to our last day in NYC!

Look at all the yummy desserts!

And to that, I say my "see ya laters" to NYC! We will definitely be back to see all the other must-sees that we did not have time for, and maybe next time we will get in a Cash Cab!! :) We were hoping to this trip, but unfortunately we never got lucky! For those of you who don't know what, CASH CAB is:

I had the most amazing Time in NYC! This was definitely the best way to ring in my 30's! A new decade is beginning and I can't wait to see what God has in store for us! Until we meet again NYC...

 CHEERS!