Last week Mandy arrived at our apartment in the very early morning hours of Thursday, thanks to the endless taxi line at LaGuardia airport. I waited up for her and we chatted until two a.m. So we slept-in and woke up to a fresh bagel delivery from Dan. Oh, my hero! Every good day begins with Steve's Bagels.
We enjoyed our breakfast while watching the "Treat Yo Self" episode of Parks and Rec for inspiration for the day. The reason we planned Mandy's trip out here was Dan's idea for us to spoil each other for our 30th birthday. Mandy and I had not been together on our birthday since we turned 21 and my Dad flew with me out to Chicago to celebrate that milestone birthday with her.
Ah, such babies.
Since 30 is a pretty big milestone as well, it felt necessary to be together. We spent all morning shopping and then Dan met-up with us for lunch and then we all headed into the city for more shopping. Oh joy! And then we saw The Waitress on Broadway!!!
Dan and I had gotten tickets to the show way back in April and it did NOT disappoint. We loved it. The music was absolutely fabulous. The show is near identical to the movie, if you've ever seen it. But the music made it even better.
They were selling pies at intermission and we fell for the trap and bought a $10 tiny mason of apple pie to share. It was a pricey gimmick but worth it.
Mandy bought the music after the show and we promptly became obsessed. Sara Barilles wrote the music and she is one of my favorites. She even has an album of the music with her singing instead of the cast. This one is my favorite. LISTEN!
Did you love it? Go ahead, obsess over it now.
Anyways, on Friday we slept-in a bit and then headed to Governor's Island to rent bikes (first hour is free!) and check-out the new hills.
They added a man-made hill to the island this summer with 360 degree unobstructed views of the area. And another hill with slides down the side. Super fun! There was a drone competition on the island that day so there was that added excitement.
Then we headed back into the city to go to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. If you ever visit NYC, I highly recommend you checkout the Tenement Museum. It's awesome and worth every penny. I'd visit that museum over any other museum in the city (and that's saying something). It's an old tenement building with guided tours that take you through different times in history for the building and city. You need to buy your ticket in advance because it's a tour only museum but all of the tours are great. I think that was the 4th or 5th time I've been there.
After the museum I wanted to go to a shaved ice place which I assumed was close. I've been pining after shaved ice all summer and a Google search only shows two places in the city (what?). So we walked a LONG way to get to this place to find it was shaved ice cream. Not at all what I wanted or expected but we tried it anyways and shared this strawberry cheesecake combination.
It was interesting but did not satisfy my craving.
Then we headed back to our neighborhood to introduce Mandy to Indian food. She always wanted to try it but was scared to go alone so we took her to our favorite place just a few blocks from our apartment. She loved it.
Our original plan for Mandy's last day on Saturday was to go to the beach and roller skating in Staten Island but the forecast had rain so we revised our plan. Instead, we headed to downtown Brooklyn to do more shopping. Obviously. But then it never rained (boo!) and it was bloody hot so we melted during our walk along Brooklyn Bridge Park. We revived ourselves with shakes and lemonade before heading back home.
We just hung-out the rest of the night and ordered our favorite Grandma's Pizza with a movie followed by board games.
Mandy had to leave early Sunday morning which was a bad idea since it was our actual birthday that day and once she left we were both super sad the rest of the day. Dan tried his best to cheer me up with a dog pile of buddies and a birthday crown.
I rallied with a birthday dinner of waffles and the best darn peach I've ever tasted. The Olympics also proved a welcome distraction.
We all loved Mandy's visit and my heart aches to be closer to her. Until next time boo bunny! We love you.
Funny story, when Mandy and I are together we keep track of how many people do double takes, stare, or ask us questions. It comes with twin territory. Anyways, on Friday we went to the bagel place to get coffee before heading out and I was paying while Mandy was standing with Dan nearby. I guess Mandy was standing really close to Dan and two NYPD cops asked them if they were related. Mandy said no and that he was my husband. Everyone had a good laugh that we were not in fact triplets. To be fair, Dan has similar features so it's entirely plausible to a stranger. But don't think about it too long because it's also kind of creepy.
That was the best visit I've had! I had so much fun and I miss you guys like crazy!!!
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