manhattan

New York City and I have a long history. With roots on both sides of my family firmly planted in Brooklyn, I have fond memories of my younger years, visiting the city in the mild months during the fall to visit my cousins in Manhattan and godparents upstate in Poughkeepsie. As a young adult, I worked one or two weekends a year at the large trade shows at the Javits Center with my mom, where we would spend countless hours walking up and down the aisles picking out new lines for the next season, only to give our feet a rest for happy hour at the Peninsula rooftop bar. By the time I was 18, I had seen every museum, eaten at all the best pizza and bagel joints, and gotten the subway systems down. Most 18 year olds from San Diego had never left the beach, so I felt pretty cool having developed some authentic NYC street smarts.

Fast forward to now – adult life – where I still make a point to visit the city every year. Typically, I go out in the winter to give myself a change of seasons/scenery, but after a terribly frigid trip last January, I vowed to only come back if I did so in Spring. Lucky for me, one of my best friends from my Birthright trip Michelle happened to get engaged this past fall and scheduled her wedding for Memorial Day Weekend 🙂 Perfect timing!

The only downside to Spring in New York is that the weather is totally unpredictable. We got humid heat, flood warnings, freezing rain and then breezy sunshine, all in 5 days! I packed smart and light though, because I knew most time would be spent romping around town with friends just enjoying the city before getting dolled up for all our fancy wedding events. It was a whirlwind going from event to event and getting drenched outside in between, but all in all, this was my best NY trip yet.

Even the winter-like temperatures and heavy rain the first half of the weekend didn’t deter us from our city outings. Thank goodness for the subway and umbrellas! Highlights included: seeing all my old work friends and Israel family, eating at Mario Batali’s Eataly, walking through Madison Square Park on a beautiful spring day, New York pizza, and my very first Persian/Jewish wedding!

Now that I have been home ~~resting~~ working for a few days, I am really ready to head to France for some much needed R&R (& croissants). T minus 2 days until I touch down in the land of wine and cheese, until my return mon cheries!