Day Five: NYC

We started our day off the right way...at the Doughnut Plant! By far, the best doughnuts I have EVER, EVER had. I never thought it was possible for a doughnut to be so good. The Creme Brulee Doughnut was out of this world! The top was hard caramelized sugar and the inside was actually creme brulee filling with fresh vanilla bean, all combined with a light and fluffy doughnut. Amazing...what I wouldn't give for one right now!!! I don't like it...I like it, like it!

The Coconut Doughnut with a coconut cream filling was also incredibly delicious!

The Chocolate was just okay, compared to the others...just in case you ever go...which, by the way, you totally should!

This is the Subway exit to get to the Doughnut Plant...and it is also an inside joke, I will let you be on the inside if you ask me...

I have always really loved flags from different countries and their symbolism. I just love going to places where flags from all over the world are being flown. Isn't it beautiful?

We went to The Mesa Grill, it is one of Bobby Flay's restaurants. My mom is totally obsessed with Bobby Flay. She watches all 17 of his shows on the food network. I actually really like him too. So this was a real treat for us to actually get to taste his food. And everything was unbelievable. Great sauces! All of the flavors were perfectly balanced and they just built upon each other beautifully. We loved every single bite. It was definitely a highlight for my sweet mommy!

Aimee bought these fun hats because it was freezing and so she and my mom put them to good use. My ears hurt so bad for like five days straight when we were there because it was so cold. Anyway, they look cute, don't they?

We are the Brown-eyed Devine's. Everyone else in our family has blue eyes. That's all.

We love Serendipity, how could we not, it is in a few of our favorite love movies plus it is such a fun word.

Love the Frrrozen Hot Chocolates! Was worth coming back a second time to get in.

My dad got the Hot Chocolate, because he was already Frrrozen!

We had so much fun together on this trip and Ace and I got some much needed sister time! I'm so glad we did this!

We were waiting in the subway and my dad reached over and started tying the strings on my mom's hat, Aimee caught this photo. How sweet?

The Beautiful Manhattan Temple.

We had to go try the Chocolate Chip Walnut cookies at Levain Bakery of course because Bobby Flay did a Throw Down against them and Levain Bakery won. So here we were...and those cookies were bigger than my fist, and incredibly delicious. And they were also perfectly cooked for such an enormous cookie. I expected it to be over cooked on the outside and undercooked on the inside when I saw the size...but I was so wrong.

Sooo Good, we even ate them for breakfast the next morning on the plane.

We made friends with this guy in the Bakery, we were laughing because he was ordering a few cookies for himself while holding this book. He told us not to tell his clients since he is a personal trainer, so hopefully none of them read my blog. But he said that they were definitely worth the splurge. And they were!

This is Juilliard...and this one is for you Mattie. (My talented and adorable cousin went to Juilliard)

Just hanging out in my new glasses that I bought in China Town.

I got the Falafel wrap on the street corner...best I have ever had without a doubt! And it was fun to experience the street food in New York City.

Me and Ace had so much fun wandering the streets at night laughing the whole way.

The Ice Rink at Rockefeller at night. It looked like so much fun...but I have no idea how anyone was skating...like I said before, it was freezing!

The Chrysler Building at night!

The Empire State Building against the night sky.

And then we left the next morning...Goodbye New York, thank you for so many great memories!!!

Day Four: NYC

Couldn't have said it better myself.

We went to Norma's, as recommended by Ashley and Tracy. I love breakfast food and so this was a real treat for me. It was sooo delicious. I loved how inventive and unique each dish was. It was kind of inspiring...made me want to "create" in my kitchen too.

We took the Ferry over to tour the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. It was a really moving experience. We got the headset tour, which I really recommend, because if we had just gone there to look at her, we would have been amazed but it would have been a totally different experience. The tour really brought it to life and there were so many interesting facts that I hadn't know, so for me it was definitely worth it, both for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

And I brought along a little something to keep us company. Magnolia Bakery, loved it! We loved the chocolate frosting...easily the best chocolate frosting I've ever had on a cupcake. (Thanks Ash) And I actually liked them much more than Sprinkles (Sorry Holli). They were more moist and flavorful. We also tried the S'more Cupcake. It was a Graham Flavored Cake, and a Marshmallow Frosting with Chocolate swirls and chocolate in the center of the cake. (The cake was a little dry) It was good, but could have been great...and now I am going to get inspired by their idea and see if I can't make it a little better, I'll let you know. Anyway, I am a fan and maybe we went back later that night and got a few more to taste????

There she is...she was even more Brilliant and Green and Beautiful in person. Thank you to Frederic Auguste Bartholdi and France! It really is a treasure.

Me and my headset!

One of the reasons why he created the statue in copper, knowing that she would turn that green color was to abstain from making it look and feel like another elite statue made out of gold or another precious metal, like commissioned by so many emperors and rulers through the years to declare power and glory.

Love this one of Ace! You are so cute!

I never knew that she was hallow inside and her "shell" is made up of copper the width of two pennies. That is so crazy! She looks directly towards France which was where she came from and was given to us kind of as a strong hint to the French government that they wanted Liberty too, so they were praising us for ours.

I can't even explain this one... it was the wind and the 5th shot my sister was trying to take of me and I just gave her the shot she really wanted! (Mitchy would be proud...that is what we call a "Mitchy face"!)

They emphasized that as an immigrant, how emotional it must have been to finally catch a glimpse of Her as you are approaching America after a long journey from your homeland and how inspiring it must have been for all those searching for a new life.

One interesting story that they mentioned was that on the day that they celebrated the unveiling of the statue, women, who were not allowed to attend, floated around the island in boats protesting that they were not allowed to attend the celebration of our countries "Liberty" that was demonstrated in the form of a Women.

Ellis Island

Because we did the headset tour, we loved this experience. They took us from room to room as if we were immigrants and had to go through the whole process. It was nerve-wrecking and heart-wrenching pretty much the entire length of time each immigrant spent here. But it was also hopeful. There were a lot of really beautiful stories.

Aimee's best friend, Richard, lives in New York and we met up with him. He is so fun and our whole family adores him. I don't think there is a sweeter person on this planet than Richard. And he makes us laugh!

We stopped in at Dylan's Candy Bar.

These two are like two peas in a pod.

We went to FAO Schwartz and of course had to go check out the "Big" piano. These guys, who were in charge of the little "recital" were really good, but so funny because they were so serious about it! They loved their jobs.

We went to Serendipity but it was an hour and a half wait and so we decided to put that off until later because we had another show to get to that we were really excited about...

Yep, Mamma Mia! We were way up in front, so we could see every facial expression. The energy and excitement of that show was incredible. We loved every moment and the time flew by so quickly because we were so entertained. We were all sad when it was over. It was an amazing show! Basically, by the end it turned into a rock concert. There were these 50 year old men in suits in the audience, dancing around and rocking out! It was hilarious.