Core 4 in NYC!

A girls' weekend in The City was just what my friends and I needed last weekend. We had the best time. I arrived first. As usual. I'm always chomping at the bit to get places and sometimes get a little to excited when booking tickets/getting on the road and arrive way before I really need to. Case in point-I arrived in NYC at 8:20. An hour later, Lars and Ball arrived. An hour after that, Mere arrived.



We were so excited that Kers had sent a car to pick us up. Yes, we were very much the country girls gone to the city! Every little thing excited us, as you will see!

So here is Lars with the car that was waiting for us.

We chatted the entire way to Kers' apartment, texting her along the way, wondering if we should pay the driver or tip him in any way. She giggled at us. Said no.

Kers greeted us at the front door to her building.

We put our things down, made sure we all had on our boots that we were convinced you had to wear in NYC, and headed out to our first food stop of the day. We had lunch at Recipe, a delicious place with local, fresh ingredients and wonderful. . . water.

We toasted our small glasses of tap water to being in NYC with the Core 4 + Kers!

After lunch we headed back to Kers' apartment (via Levain Bakery and Central Park, both of which are dangerously close to Kers' place) to get cleaned up and get ready for drinks and dinner.

The GIANT oatmeal raisin cookie. We also shared a chocolate, chocolate chip and chocolate peanut butter chip. Yum!

When we got back to Kers' we looked in the street one more time for Lars' lost cell phone. No such luck.

We got all dolled up (in our boots, of course) and headed out.

We took the subway.

We had reservations for drinks at Milk & Honey. Awesome. Kers rang the bell (to the wrong door, we realized later when someone stepped in front of us and rang the correct bell) and then knocked on the dull gray door that simply said "M&H" in stick-on letters. We had read that you aren't allowed to take pictures in there, so I was very careful to sneak a few of the nondescript door.

Drinks were made based on what kind of "spirits" we felt like drinking that night. They used only fresh ingredients, had pellet ice, and were each served in a different shaped glass. They were pricey and we only stayed for one drink, but it was worth it. So fun!

After drinks we ate dinner at A Casa Fox then called it a night.

It was like 5th grade slumber party in Kers' living room!

Saturday morning, after a run around the Reservoir in Central Park with Ball, we headed by subway to Brooklyn. I will forever have an image in my mind of Lars getting the train doors shut on her, while Ball and Mere clutched at each other and screamed when they thought they wouldn't be able to get off before the train started moving again! You had to be there. Man, that was funny!

We had brunch reservations at Buttermilk Channel in Brooklyn. Awesome.

My friend Lee, who lives in Brooklyn, met us for brunch and a walk. So fun to see a friend from home when you are on a trip somewhere!

We wandered through Brooklyn, looking for the Brooklyn Flea. Along the way we found things like really cool boots that none of us could bear to drop the money on, really cool jewelry, lots of random stores, and life-changing underwear. I swear! That's what Mere was told before purchasing the $18.00 panties! We're still waiting to hear the results.

We found the Brooklyn Flea. I wish we hadn't just eaten brunch. There were lots of stands selling delicious smelling eats. I splurged and got a mini red velvet cupcake for $1.00! Julie sampled the locally grown garlic.

On the subway ride back to Manhattan we decided to get off the train in Times Square. We all had to pee so we went into Kers' office, which is right in the middle of things. We were impressed again by Kers' city life. We were even excited about the elevators.

And we made Kers pose for a picture in the lobby of her office. In this picture, Kers is explaining to her husband how corny we are. Please note the circular thing to Kers' left. It is supposed to be a really expensive fan. We couldn't figure out how to turn it on. See? We could never survive in the city!

"Franchise" sitting at her desk. We were impressed. Her office had a window with a view. Kers is big-time!

We shopped at Anthropology in Times Square and Lars and Mere bought new headbands that we all agreed were super cute!

We stopped for a glass of wine and snacks at a random little place that we walked by. We had great conversations. We laughed, we cried, we connected on such a great level. It was my favorite part of the trip, I think. But the real highlight of our trip night was a visit to the Shake Shack. We giggled out way through the line-literally. I have never giggled quite so much while ordering a cheeseburger, fries and a shake. Then we walked back to Kers' place, eating fries along the way. We had to look pretty funny, each with a bag of food and a milkshake, while shovelling fries in our faces! Pretty typical Core 4 behavior.

Sunday morning we all had to go home. Well except for Kers, since she lives there, of course. We had the best visit. We really could have been in Omaha, NE or Topeka, KS and had just as good of a time. I love my friends. I am so lucky and blessed to have them in my life. Ball said it best when she said that she was so happy to know that we could all live different places and have different lives but still come together and have a great weekend talking about things other than just our college memories. I totally agree.

The weekend in the city was just what I needed.