Not only did I get to celebrate my birthday with Ryan in New York City, but I also gained a beautiful niece! What a memorable birthday indeed!
Congratulations Lee and Katie!!!
Ryan's brother Lee and his cute wife Katie had the first Carnell grandchild- Kinley Jane, and we just so happen to share a birthday! It's funny because my sister shares her birthday with the first grandchild on her husband's side too. What a coincidence! {I guess I really was meant to be a Carnell!}
Lee, Katie and Kinley live in South Africa because of work for the next few years so I'm not sure when I'll get to see Kinley in person, but she is absolutely adorable! When we saw pictures I immediately fell in love! She's a tiny little baby only weighing in a little over 5 lbs but she is very healthy and has a beautiful head of hair. She is PERFECT! Lee and Katie are going to be wonderful parents! Babies are truly blessings from Heavenly Father, I'm so happy for them all! And Ryan and I lucked out...we have a niece and a nephew...now we don't need kids! {Just kidding!}
As for my birthday celebration, Ryan and I drove to NYC! I've never been so it was an adventure!
When we got to Staten Island, we parked in overnight parking and rode the ferry across to Manhatten. It was the best entrance into a city I could think of! We got there at dusk so the Statue of Liberty was lit up but you could still see her very easily. She was A LOT smaller than I imagined, but I guess during the turn of the century she would have been quite the sight! Oh Lady Liberty. I can't wait to go back and see her and Ellis Island because some of my ancestors crossed here coming to America.
After the ferry, we tried to figure out the subway systems so we could get to our hotel which was on 51st Street and Park Avenue. The subways are FULL of very interesting people. We heard an old black man singing Elton John medleys at the top of his lungs on our train and saw Spiderman playing the saxophone {definitely sights to see only in New York}. We couldn't find a sub that stopped exactly there, so we got off at 42nd Street and to our utter surprise, arose inside of Grand Central Station!
Grand Central Station
We walked past the Chrysler Builiding and it reminded us of Spiderman!
Crazies
Ryan's uncle gave us our wedding present by getting us a room at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. It was awesome with typical New York Art Deco charm. LOVED it!
The Waldorf Astoria
View from our Window
Inside the Waldorf--Everything's Art Deco and I LOVED it!
After we dropped our stuff off, we walked down to Times Square. Our best way to describe Times Square {and NYC in general} is Disney Land for adults. Honestly, magical is a pretty accurate adjective. We ate dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe and wandered the streets. I loved all the bright lights, crazy people, and fashion!
The next day the Puerto Ricans decided to celebrate my birthday by throwing a large parade that Ryan and I watched while we wandered through Rockefeller Square and other side streets sight seeing. Shake Shack is a must, so we stopped there for lunch and then headed to Central Park.
Central Park is HUGE and you'd never believe that a park that big would be in the middle of the Big Apple. Here, I learned that I married a squirrel whisperer seeing as Ryan made a 'squirrel' sound and out of nowhere 2 came charging at our park bench and stopped about 10 inches away.
Bridge Tunnel and Cleopatra's Needle
One of the squirrels Ryan called over and us kissing on a park bench
After our stroll in the park, we stopped at the Met! {I'm an art history major so I probably looked like a kid in a candy shop} We didn't have a lot of time to see everything I wanted to see, but I did get to see a few priceless gems that I've learned to love dearly:
Facade and Steps of the Met
Jackson Pollock- Autumn Rhythm {No. 30} and 2 of Mark Rothko's 'multiforms' or 'color fields'
Right Image: Morris Louis- Untitled 1960
Brancusi- Bird in Space and Umberto Boccioni- Unique Forms of Coninuity in Space
Rosa Bonheur- The Horse Fair and Seurat- A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte
Chuck Close- Lucas with detail
Piet Mondrian- Composition
To wrap up our NY adventure, Ryan and I again, traipsed through the city and eventually ended up in Chinatown. We wandered into a random joint and ate dinner. Holy cow, it was phenomenal! I got this delicious fried sea food platter, and I ate the BEST shrimp I've ever had! So good. mmm. Little Italy was across the street so we stopped there for a bit and got Italian pastries. Those were also heavenly and when we go back to NYC I fully intend on eating at one of the cute cafes.
It was a long day packed full of amazing memories that I will never forget. Thank you Ryan for the best birthday I've ever had! I can't wait to spend every birthday with you for the rest of my life! xoxo
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