Hello New York!

We’ve officially arrived and settled into the Big Apple. The drive from Chicago to Philly flew by, but Philly to New York? Not so much.

Upon arrival, we were greeted with a quintessential New York welcome: a parade shutting down our street, a parking hunt longer than our drive from Philly, four flights of stairs with no elevator, and a few dead cockroaches to say hello.

Even with that New York welcome, our move was a success. The Airbnb has its quirks, but there’s an undeniable old New York charm to it with a complete with a wood-paneled fireplace, two skylights, and views of art deco skyscrapers. Plus for a New York apartment it is much bigger than I was expecting.

Since landing, we’ve hit the ground running, soaking up as much of the city as we can. In just a few days, we’ve already:

1. Seen Book of Mormon on Broadway—quirky, chaotic, and completely hilarious

2. Shopped along Fifth Avenue (Halle made a beeline for the Skims store)

3. Grabbed rooftop drinks with Empire State Building views

4. Devoured a classic late-night NYC pizza slice

5. Picked up bagels from our next-door local shop

6. Wandered Times Square at midnight, donuts in hand from Krispy Kreme

7. Celebrated our two-year (of knowing each other!) anniversary with dinner at the Michelin-starred Gramercy Tavern

   
   

Next up: exploring more of the city and catching up with old friends—we’re already on the invite list for two parties this week!

Although New York is the biggest (and definitely the priciest) stop on our journey, as the saying goes: if we can make it here, we can make it anywhere.