vegas, part two

saturday was a beautiful and sunny day, so we started it off with breakfast by the pool. after eating, we made our way back over to the strip to do a little shopping at fashion show mall. by noon we were both tired, and heading back to the hotel to lay by the pool sounded like the best idea ever.

while laying by the pool, kendrick mentioned that he was gong to grab us a couple of virgin daiquiris from the bar. he returned ten minutes later with a slushee in a three foot tall cup, because apparently, he's always wanted one? hahaha, cutest husband ever. 

after laying out for a few hours, we decided to do something a little different and drove out to the seven magic mountains. while it was a pretty view to see those vivid colors against the brown dirt, it was not exactly a vegas "must see", in my opinion. after five minutes had passed, ken and i looked at each other and were like, "so.... let's go?"

we ended the night in downtown vegas at the el cortez, our favorite place to gamble (five dollar black jack, anyone?!) i don't usually gamble becaues i have so much fun watching kendrick, as he's awesome at roulette and black jack. 

kendrick started black jack with thirty dollars, and for the next hour, he stayed around that same amount (he'd get down to ten, work his way up to fourty, go back down to twenty, and so on and so forth). my legs were getting super tired, so i asked kendrick if i could go sit somewhere else, and he was like "why don't you just sit here and gamble, and i'll help you out!" well, long story short, i was up a hundred dollars in the span of fifteen minutes, and then cashed out soon after that. beginners luck, maybe? haha

the next morning was easter sunday, and we spent it in a car driving back to salt lake. once in mesquite, we pulled over to a chapel to attend church and take the sacrament. 

so grateful for the sunny weekend that i was able to share with my husband, and my savior that has made it so we can be a family forever.

happy easter!

vegas weekends are the best weekends, part one

if there's anything that we love, it's weekends spent in vegas. something about the combination of great shopping, delicious food, and prime people watching with a side of light-hearted gambling just makes me so, so happy. 

kendrick and i decided to take off work on friday to make our weekend even longer. once we were off work on thursday, we were in the car and on our way to mesquite, nevada. 

the next morning started with a small breakfast at the casino before heading to las vegas. once in vegas, our first stop was the outlets, because in my opinion, those hold some of the best shopping in the city! the kate spade always has amazing deals, and kendrick insisted i get a certain cobalt leather beauty that i couldn't get my mind off of.

we hung around these outlets for a solid three or four hours, making necessary stops at ted baker, cole haan, banana republic, and j crew. it was the most perfect sunny afternoon.

once we were shopped-out, we made our way over to our hotel, the tuscany suites, which were only about five minutes outside of the strip. 

after a quick power nap, we were on our way over to a buffet at the mirage for a nice dinner. i have to laugh at how incredibly awful i am at buffets, because i am honestly not a foodie at all when we travel. i think over the span of one hour at the buffet, i had consumed a half a piece of cheese pizza, some mac and cheese, and a cup of frozen yogurt. kendrick, on the other hand, plowed through about thirty crab legs, two sirloin steaks, and some pasta on the side. now that is how you eat at a buffet!

we walked the strip for a little bit after dinner, because going through the amazing and glamorous casinos is always my favorite part!

we were ready to hit the pillows by ten thirty because... #adults. 

new york, finale

our last day in new york was freeeeezing, so we weren't all that motivated to accomplish too much on this day. we checked out of our airbnb in the morning, and dropped our stuff off at an all-day luggage holding place in the city (so convenient!) we made a stop at the empire state building, the gigantic macy's on 34th street, and then a much needed stop for hot chocolate.

next, we made a quick stop at grand central station, which is absolutely stunning inside, but there isn't a lot to do there except for marvel at the painted teal ceiling.

 aftewards, we strolled over to central park, which is huge and seriously gorgeous. i just wish the weather would have been better, as it was super gloomy. next time, we are definitely going in the spring or fall! bethesda fountain was my favorite part of the park, which sat right next to a large bridge with stunning archways and painted ceilings underneath. there was a lady in a huge ballgown singing opera in there, which made the atmosphere of the park that much cooler.

 our last major stop was little italy, which had the most charming streets, lined with red brick buildings. kendrick stopped at a small restaurant for some dumplings, while i went for rolled ice cream (so delicious!)

we ended out tour of little italy with a stop for sushi, which is a must on every vacation.

our very last actvity for the trip was a night bus tour that took us through timesqure, past the empire state building (and some other cool establishments), and then across the brooklyn bridge for a stunning view of the city. it was a great way to rest our legs and learn about all of the impressive buildings and the amazing city of new york.

well, that's a wrap! to be honest, i don't feel like we hit the jackpot on food during this trip (and what's a trip to new york without amazing food), so for that reason, we are definitely going back soon. because, priorities. 

new york, day two

our second day in new york started out the best way possible - walking across the brooklyn bridge. we lucked out on weather, and it was such a beautiful day, making the views 1000x more perfect.

once we were off the bridge, kendrick grabbed a hotdog from a nearby stand and then we stopped to see a pretty impressive group of boys doing a street show. we should have known better than to watch for too long, because kendrick ended up getting pulled into the show. i literally almost died laughing. basically, they had five people stand close to each other, and then one guy backflipped over all of them. i sure am happy that he knew what he was doing, as i would have been pretty bummed out to go home with a decapitated husband.

we wandered around this side of manhattan for a bit, before taking an uber over to navy pier for the ferry ride around the statue of liberty. once in line for the ferry, i grabbed a pretzel from a stand, which ended up being almost as tasteless as my bagel from the other morning. what is going on new york?!

 once on the ferry, we took a seat on the bottom of the boat (a lot less crowded), and it still provided some pretty great views on manhatten. we decided not to get off on ellis island, as it was way too crowded with tourists and selfie sticks and not to mention the ferry gets you super close to lady liberty, so your pictures turn out just as good (i love how my pictures of the statue turned out!)

when our ferry ride was over, we hopped on the nearest subway and made our way over to greenwich, or "the village", which is basically the hipster part of town. greenwich may have been my favorite part of new york, as the entire town is chill and lined with old brick apartments. while in the village, we were able to find the 'friends' apartment building that is shown in the opening scene of each episode, so that was pretty thrilling for this 'friends' fanatic!

next up in the village was chelsea market, which is an underground shopping place full of cool shops and great places to eat. we purchased some fruity pebbled flavored mini donuts from a small bakery, which may have been the most expensive yet most delicious donuts of our entire life. 

concrete jungles where dreams are made of... day one

we've been talking about going to new york for a couple of years, as i hadn't been since 9th grade and kendrick had never been, and we finally made it happen! although, the skymiles that we racked up from pricey home renovations definitely helped ;) 

our flight landed around ten thirty at night, so we quickly made our way to our airbnb in brooklyn for some shut eye before our first big day in the city. i literally got the cheapest airbnb i could find, and it resembled a college dorm shared with a few other traveling groups (the bedrooms were private, though- not that desperate to save money!) our next trip to the big apple will definitely be in somewhere nicer and in the city, we just decided to go cheap this time around because 1) we just bought a house, and 2) we only had three days and every single one of them would be spent in the city, not our room, so really we just needed a place to crash.

we started the next morning with a trip to the bagel store in brooklyn for one of their famous rainbow bagels. to be completely honest, it was the most flavorless and bland thing i have ever put in my mouth- totally not worth the picture or overpriced charge, whatsoever! don't fall for this colorful, visual appealing trap, people! haha

we then hopped on the subway and headed out to the city for the rest of the day. our first stop was 5th avenue, which is lined with some fabulour places to shop. i was quick to find the kate spade, but that's really no surprise, right?

 

afterwards, we headed over to pier 36, in hopes of hopping on a ferry that circled that statue of liberty. unfortunately, our groupon wasn't valid on that particular day of the week, seeing that it was a sunday. however, this may have been one of the best mistakes we made because it lead us to an absolutely gorgeous spot that provided a stunning view of the manhattan bridge, brooklyn bridge, and the ocean.

we then made our way over to wallstreet to snap some pictures of the new york stock exchange. because it was a sunday, the entire street was dead silent, which was so crazy compared to all of the other new york hustle and bustle. sadly, we didn't make it over to the famous bull statue, but our feet were already getting tired and neither of us cared enough to justify walking over (lazy problems).

our next stop was the 9/11 memorial & museum, which ended up being one of our favorite things that we did on this trip. the memorial itself is breathtaking, and the museum was absolutely incredible and flawlessly honored all of the victims who lost their lives that day, as well as their families whom they left behind. the museum provided some amazing memorabilia, photographs, and videos, and i found myself getting extremely emotional as i read through and watched clips of what those brave people had to endure on that terrible day. if you're planning a trip to new york soon, the 9/11 museum is a must.

we ended the night at timesquare, which is such a rush and probably the most energy you'll ever feel in a single spot. from timesquare, we walked over to rockefeller center and st patricks catherdal, which was handsdown one of the prettiest cathedrals we've ever been in!

we went back to our place and crashed after this, already ready for day two!