Little Apple, Big Weekend

So I had a fantastic weekend. My husband, MattGyver (aka MG), and I, decided to take our first out-of-town overnight excursion with our 11 week-old daughter, affectionately known as "The Bean". (Side note: surprisingly, this moniker did not come about as a cute little nickname for her in utero self; instead, it was adopted by MG after she was born, apparently due to the shape of her head shortly after birth....much to the surprise, and feigned chagrin of her mother, the nickname has stuck. Thankfully, the head has returned to a normal shape, albeit with the disproportionate head-to-body ratio one expects in an infant.) OK, side note aside, the three of us embarked on a journey to NYC! So of course, I was super concerned with my wardrobe choices. The night before we left, my poor husband, who was diligently trying to get a bit of work done at home(i.e. browsing Reddit) was interrupted by me waltzing down the stairs every 5 minutes  in a different outfit, asking "Do I like look like a hip upper East Side New York mom who is totally not a tourist in this outfit?" Of course, I would never have such an outfit in my possession, so I settled for the "I got up and took a shower and vaguely tried to look put together" look.

So we took 1-1/2 hour train ride down to the city. After lugging our big ol' stroller and two rolling bags the mile to our hotel (yes, we had two bags for a one-night stay, because I simply had too many wardrobe options that I insisted I simply could not share a bag..surprise, I only wore a quarter of the items packed, and the entire time lamented that I had not brought a different outfit for the occasion. Ladies, I know you are with me on this one.)...we checked in and then headed to lunch at a pretty cool restaurant that had about a hundred different beers on tap. My beer snob husband MG was in heaven. I don't think he even noticed what he ate.

Then we headed out to soak up some culture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, otherwise known by hip Upper East Side New Yorkers as The Met. Thanks, BL, for the recommendation! It was beautiful! And huge! We spent a good three hours in there (a feat with a 2-1/2 month old  in tow) and saw, I would say about 1% of the exhibits. It is like a mini-city within the city. Really neat though. 

After a brief jaunt through Central Park, and a stressful Subway ride back to the hotel (let's just say, scheduled route changes + panhandlers + the G family= frazzled brains), we got some late night grub at a pretty cool Irish pub. The fish and chips for me, the bangers and mash for MG, goat's milk for The Bean.  An Irish band was setting up to play while we were there, but we couldn't stay as we had to get The Bean to sleep. 

After Mass in the morning , we had some amazing Eggs Benedict for brunch; MG had the original and I had to have the smoked salmon version!! Mmmmm so good, my mouth is watering all over again. There may have been a Bloody Mary or two involved as well. 

And before I knew it, it was time to head home.  My darling Bean did amazingly well; she, just like her mother, was so content the entire trip just soaking up the sounds and sights of the city, and, unlike her mother, hardly cried at all. (Is she kidding?)  And it was such a great 4 year anniversary trip for MG and I. I kind of feel like all we did was eat, and ahem, maybe drink a bit, but that is my kind of trip. :)

I hope you all had a great weekend!