Will and I took the train to New York to celebrate our second anniversary a couple weekends ago and had a great time! We went primarily to see Dear Evan Hansen, because I have somehow turned my legal nerd husband into a full-fledged theater lover. I don’t know exactly how I did that, but I am so thrilled about it; because as you might have noticed, this lady loves her theater. I always said I didn’t need a husband who was a true theater person as long as he enjoyed going to see shows with me, and Will loves it! Hooray.
We didn’t have much of an itinerary or plan for this trip, which I don’t advise in New York, but we enjoyed wandering around. I just realized that we don’t have a single photo of us together, which is something I want to work on. Usually I’m just enjoying the moment and snapping photos, and we forget to ever hand the camera off to someone else!
Where We Stayed
We got a great deal on this darling boutique hotel called the Redbury New York. I had never heard of it, but it’s in the NoMad/Flatiron area, which I love. The vintage decor was really fun, and it felt much more luxury than what we paid for it!
Brunch at Upland
After some aggressive Yelp-ing for a brunch place in the neighborhood I hadn’t tried yet, we happened upon Upland, and it was perfect! There was really only one egg option on the menu that didn’t have the raw or undercooked asterisk (a pregnant lady no-no), so I begrudgingly ordered the quiche. It was fluffy and delicious, and I would totally order it not pregnant.
The homemade donuts were also to die for. One of these was key lime!
Madison Square Park
Next, we had to visit my favorite little park in the city, Madison Square Park, which is also where I used to work. I never get tired of checking out the latest art installation and seeing how many dogs are in the dog park there.
That darker building is my old office!
We browsed through Eataly, did a little shopping in Flatiron, and then it was time to head to the show!
Midday in Midtown
Have I mentioned that Dear Evan Hansen was amazing? But seriously, go see it if you can. It was just a beautiful and completely authentic story of how one high school kid gets himself into a situation that he doesn’t know how to get out of. To me it was primarily about belonging and community, and it was just so wonderfully written that it managed to be realistic and also satisfying at the end.
Fun fact: that little red and green French-looking building is one of my two favorites in the city.
After that, we caught up with a couple friends and ended the evening in Bryant Park!
Sunday in Williamsburg and the West Village
On Sunday we had another great brunch over in Williamsburg, because Will wanted to see these rainbow bagels he had seen on the internet. I had never heard about this, but aren’t they fun?? We ended up giving this one to a homeless man, who I bet was pretty surprised. It looks like play-dough!
After our Brooklyn bagel adventure, we were already on the L line, so I decided to show Will around the West Village. We popped by Magnolia for some stereotypical banana pudding and did some window shopping. Next time, I really need to take Will to Levain, because he’s a cookie guy.
We ended up in Washington Square Park after that and watched the piano guy for a bit.
Rooftop Sunset
I felt like we needed a rooftop view before catching our train (and we had to come back to the neighborhood to get our bags), so we ended the day with happy hour at 230 Fifth and a quick bite at Wagamama. Someone please bring Wagamama to D.C. so I can pretend I’m in London! 🙂
It was a great, quick trip! We did agree that all of our trips to New York together seem to have been in the winter, so we should probably come back when we aren’t dashing from place to place to stay out of the cold!
