New York City!

back in December Jason was sent to New York city for work and I decided to tag along! we were there for 10 days and it was so incredible. it was our third time in the city, we had previously spent our honeymoon there and then we drove to the city on our cross country road trip a few years ago. I love Manhattan so much and would move there in a second if it were possible for us. I had never been there at Christmastime and it made everything even more magical. I took quite a lot of pictures on my phone but I wish I had taken more with my nicer camera. I just felt weird bringing it out sometimes cause I didn't want to look like a tourist- ha!
we stayed in Staten Island because it was cheaper and on the subway it didn't take us that long to get anywhere we wanted to go. we stayed in the Paper Factory Hotel which was originally a paper factory turned into a boutique hotel. It was such a cool hotel with a modern industrial feel.
we flew into NYC on Saturday 12/3 and got there in the evening. we dropped off our luggage at our hotel and then went to Brooklyn to eat and explore a little. 

we flew into the city Saturday evening and ate in Brooklyn that night and then just walked around.

 the next morning we took the subway back into Brooklyn. Jason is really good at quickly navigating the subway system and finding out how to get to where we want to go. 

we went to the Brooklyn flea market which normally is outside but since it was winter it was in a beautiful old bank. it was a lot of fun looking through the vintage clothes, beautiful old Persian rugs, and a random assortment of interesting vintage knick knacks. they also had some vendors selling handmade items such as jewelry and mud cloth fabric from Africa. 

I wish I had bought one of those little salesman sample phones- so cute! I did however buy that great little globe bank in the right photo :) 

the bottom floor had many different temporary food venues but we didn't end up eating there. it was cool to see the original heavy duty steel doors from when the building was a bank. we walked around Brooklyn afterwards and ate some tasty bbq at the Smoke Joint which Jason had seen recently on Diner's, Drive ins, and Dives. 
they had all their Christmas trees for sale on the sidewalks and I loved smelling them as we walked past. 

 even though we were there in December the weather wasn't bad at all. the nights got pretty cold but there were some days that I hardly needed a jacket. I don't mind the cold though and while other people travel for warm weather, which I get all the time, I'd gladly do the opposite!

we then took the subway to central park. I love taking the subway but I could see it getting old quickly if I had to commute to work on it everyday. I feel like you get a small view of strangers personal lives that you don't see in a city where everyone has a car. mostly in the evening everyone is exhausted after a hard day of work and those lucky enough to get a seat are enjoying the opportunity to relax. rather than having a car to unwind and have personal space, they become comfortable doing private things in public. there was one couple who were having a full on argument next to us and I could see the the wife was in control and the husband was doing everything he could to get out of the situation. you see all different types of people- men and women in work clothes along with smelling homeless people muttering to themselves. 
can you see us? :) this was one of the rare times the subway was empty.

 it was pretty dark by the time we got to central park. 

we didn't ice skate in central park but I'm kinda wishing we would have! I hear it's usually so crazy crowded that it's not worth it but it doesn't look too bad in this pic. we decided to go check out all the holiday window displays. I found a map online that showed all the best ones one a little walking tour. I took some pictures of the best ones with my phone but somehow I deleted them or something. most of them we weird and not even Christmas related. they were just trying to be edgy rather than holiday themed. I think it was Macy's that was the best with actual holiday theme with cute animal animatronics. and the sidewalk in front of it had a canopy of greenery and white lights like in the pic below. it was super pretty.

we walked by the Rockefeller center Christmas tree which was very pretty and crazy crowded. 

we walked to Times Square and it was insane as usual. I don't like spending a lot of time there because I get overwhelmed very quickly. I feel like the only people that go there are tourists, which is what we were, but I'd rather not hang around other tourist if I don't have to. Jason feels the same way as me. while it is fun seeing the big tourist attractions at least once, I like seeing the lesser known parts of the city. the bright lights are pretty impressive though.

there was such beautiful Christmas decor all around the city!