I'm Nikki, a creative old soul who loves tea time, tip-toeing through gardens, mounds of books, swaying to records, watercolors, sunset walks with our three yorkies, and star-gazing with Paul. This blog carries snippets of my life with just us two (five with Rusty, Lucy, & Ethel) - I hope it brings you happiness as you snuggle in with something warm and delicious and begin reading. Enjoy, friends!

the blog!

If I had to choose:

It’s Up To You New York, New York!

A couple things before I get in to today’s blog post –

a. Thank you all SO much for helping me out with deciding on types of blog posts by taking the poll – you are all just wonderful. :) And if you haven’t taken the quick poll yet, feel free to do so here. Your answers from the poll made my day  – for the most part all of you wanted a little bit of everything, but it made me so happy to see that you enjoyed reading about homemaking posts because that is my absolute favorite thing to write about! And now it’s given me the courage to post more posts in that genre, so THANK YOU!!! xoxoxo

b. As some of you know, most of my business comes from word of mouth or Facebook. I rely heavily on Facebook for you all to see my blog posts, photos, etc. However, lately Paul and I have been noticing that our “reach” has dropped significantly (reach is how many people are seeing my photos and posts on their news feed) and after doing some research, it seems to be the case with a lot of other small businesses that use Facebook for advertising. So, if you have noticed that you haven’t been seeing a lot of my stuff pop up in your news feed and you would like to see more, just go to my business Facebook page and click the arrow next to the “Like” button and then click “Get Notifications.” This is one for sure way to see what’s going on with photos and my blog. Another way is to subscribe to blog updates by entering your email at the menu above – you won’t receive any spam, just an email letting you know I added another blog post. :)

Alright, all business put aside – let’s enter the world of NYC (with some music, of course :))

This trip had been planned for a few months, although it had been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember. My brother, sister-in-law, and nephews moved out to NY about five years ago so once we feel like we can afford it and fit it in our schedule, we try to plan a trip to see them. This time we all decided to spend a couple of days in NYC. :) Mom and Dad helped us out and watched our little Rusty, our neighbors took care of our mail and flowers (we really have the best neighbors) and off we were on a plane to spend the next 5 days with my family.

We arrived Friday night, spent the night at their house, and then early Saturday morning we all packed up the van, turned on Big Hero 6 for the boys, pulled out some magazines, and made the 4 1/2 hour trip (which turned into almost 6 hours because we just had to stop for Starbucks which was unfortunately in a small town that was apparently having an entire town extravaganza and had massive amounts of traffic) to New York City. Bliss!! Our first view of the city was just amazing; it’s like living an actual dream – you see this place on TV shows, movies, photos, etc. and then you’re just there. Unbelievable!

We got to experience the Subways, the crowds, the never-ending action in Times Square, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, WTC & 9/11 Memorial, Central Park, museums, pizza, NYC history – so many things!! Our first day (we didn’t get in to NYC until about 2:30pm) included our trip to the Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island, meandering through Little Italy, and experiencing the nightlife of Times Square…I feel like I keep rambling so I think I should just show you the photos. :)

Can you spot Paul and my brother’s reflection in the subway?? :)

David was like glue to Paul the entire trip . :)

Waiting in line to board the ferry to the Statue of Liberty!!

My first glimpse of her – it’s even more amazing than I thought it would be.

I kept getting goosebumps during the ferry ride – you know, the kind of goosebumps that you get when you hear the Star Spangled Banner or America the Beautiful? Patriotic goosebumps. :)

I love this one.

Unfortunately we picked a really popular day to visit the Statue of Liberty and we were already on a time crunch (the last ferry was leaving only an hour after we got there). So, instead of getting in the 10,000 person line to see her up close, we got back on the ferry and went to Ellis Island – we were on a mission there anyways. :)

How cute is that??

Before we left, Nana had told us that Great-Grandpa Londino was on the Wall of Honor at Ellis Island and of course, we went to find him.

Found him!! Family, if you ever go there he’s on panel 260! Thanks so much to Uncle Buck for getting him on the Wall! :)

Joseph Londino!! :)

My brother and I “with” Great-Grandpa Londino. :)

Need more music?? Here you go. :) We could have stayed here all day. Ellis Island was beautiful and so relaxing. If you ever go here, plan for a picnic – bring a blanket, grab some food, and just be.

WWII Memorial at Battery Park.

More Dr. Seuss Land.

Paul made fun of me but let’s be honest, how many birds can you get THIS close to without them panicking?? These NYC birds have no fear.

Strolling through Chinatown to get to Little Italy…

The Motherland!!

Ahh! How cute?!

We had dinner under the lights – a tad chilly, but you couldn’t beat the view of the hustle and bustle.

We were all serenaded. Swooooon. :)

Gelato and a Cannoli for dessert.

And then I saw Heaven.

I wish I could have bought all of these little loves!!

What?!?! How cute is this?

Making our way back to the Subway and on to Times Square.

Can you even tell it’s nighttime when this photo was taken??? It really is the city that doesn’t sleep.

Our second day was a bit more relaxed and less structured; Paul and I went on our own while Rich, Kristy, Johnny & David went to the American Museum of Natural History (they love dinosaurs :)). We walked from Times Square (near where we stayed) all the way to Central Park, stopping at various spots on the way and enjoying life in the City. We went to a museum (The Frick Collection – beautiful, beautiful art and since it was Sunday we could pay whatever we wanted to pay to enter!), climbed rocks in Central Park, went to Rockefeller Center (I couldn’t help picturing Kevin McAllister everywhere we walked, especially when he waited by the Christmas tree :)), and just kind of let serendipity take over.

Here I am (can you spot me??) with George M. Cohan. We grew up watching “Yankee Doodle Dandy” with James Cagney and loving Cohan’s songs – I sang quite a bit of them during our trip (how you not with titles like “Give My Regards To Broadway”?) – so it was like I was meeting a big-time celebrity. :) :)

More music?? I got you. :)

The Frick Collection. It was absolutely beautiful and such a nice change to get a bit of culture and real art in our lives. You couldn’t take any photos inside so this is the best I can show you.

Then we found this (Bethesda Terrace) in the middle of Central Park – who knew such beauty could be in the middle of a park??

There was even someone down towards the opening playing the piano.

The view from Central Park.

And then we got right under the new WTC. Unbelievable. This photo doesn’t even grasp the concept of how high it really is, even when compared to that smaller (but still tall) building.

And then we found the memorial. The videos of 9/11 and my friend running into the classroom telling us all what had just happened replayed in my head and it was surreal to even be standing where it happened.

We stopped in Koreatown on our way back to the hotel – Kristy is from Korea so we trusted her to pick the best restaurant and oh my goodness did she ever!! Korean Barbeque is amazing!! So much food and everything was good. They cook the meat on your table with its own personal grill and then you just add everything else that you want onto your plate.

Those were the last photos I took from NYC – we spent that night in Jersey to save on some money and of course, had a wonderful time again. Paul and I swam with the boys in the hotel pool and we taught David how to swim, played swim tag with Johnny, and just relaxed after a couple of fast-paced days. The remainder of our trip was spent at their house, relaxing on their patio, playing catch or tag with the boys, watching Johnny’s baseball game, reminiscing and playing Super Mario Brothers 3 (:)), playing and teaching piano, having dance parties, getting read to before bedtime from the boys – we are already homesick for them all.

I hope you enjoyed our trip, friends!! :) Have a wonderful weekend!! xoxoxo

  1. Kristy Pierce says:

    8 years ago TODAY! (Facebook memories brought me here back to 2015!) So many great memories and very grateful for the time we spent together in NYC. This post makes me want to go back in time and do all over again :)

  2. Jackie Boy says:

    Loved your pics of the trip. Looks like you all had a grand Ole time.

  3. kristy says:

    I like the way you put the warning about taking pictures with the characters in Time Square. NO TIPPING! :-) They are awful!!!

    Love the pictures, lady. ??

  4. That opening photo of the New York Times building makes my writer heart go pitter patter. :)

    • Nikki says:

      Oh I’m so glad you enjoyed it, my love! It was one of the first things we saw walking – I knew the trip was off to a good start. :)

  5. Toni says:

    What awesome pictures! Looks like a great time :)

posts

my