NYC Trip 2022 - Day 3/Shopping On 5th Avenue

We awoke to another gorgeous day on Day 3 of Bri's 16th birthday NYC trip. Briana was very ready to go shopping on 5th Avenue.

We decided to start our 5th Avenue shopping journey at Rockefeller Center/Plaza...

It was cool seeing the Rink at Rockefeller Center as a roller skating rink this time!

 

 

She finally made it to 5th Avenue...

We did spot St. Patrick's Cathedral (which is right near Rockefeller). We visited there in 2019. It was so beautiful. 

We walked inside but didn't go past the velvet rope this trip. We wanted to concentrate on our shopping adventure, but I just had to pop in there for a minute and take a quick look. (Florists were adding beautiful flowers to the front of the church)...

 

The lovely bells of St. Patrick's...

 We went in the "Kate Spade" store first (Bri found a pair of earrings in there)...

Then it was off to "Michael Kors"...

Bri fell in love with a pair of designer sneakers in there and we also spotted a cool purse. She and I decided to buy and share the purse!

 

Of course, we had to stop at the 5th Avenue Lego Store! It was really amazing...

 

 After spending a lot of time at the Lego Store, we were pretty hungry. Doug had looked up some info about beautiful little alcove with falling water and trees (Paley Park) with a small restaurant to buy some food - so we decided to go there...

I'm so glad we went there. It was a perfect place to rest and get some food - and it was just so pretty. Right in the middle of the concrete jungle!

 The fountain...

 

And the food (from The Lunch Box) was so yum!

After having a nice lunch in a relaxing atmosphere, we wanted to go to Saks Fifth Avenue - a must!

We walked into Saks and it was covered in rainbow colors and there was a potpourri of designer names...

10 floors full of Fendi, Prada, Louis Vuitton, Christian Louboutin, Gucci, Valentino...

This is how celebrities and super rich people shop - without blinking an eye!

Everything was SO crazy expensive. Me and my bargain, coupon-searching self couldn't bring myself to even consider buying any of the merchandise in the store...

We came across this bright yellow blazer on sale and I just had to see the price. It was on sale for $345!!! That is just insane to me (and Bri)!

I did see a dress that I thought would be so pretty on Bri. It reminded me of Hermione's dress in Harry Potter...

After walking around Saks for quite a while, we left without buying one thing - which was totally ok. It was fun just to walk around there!

Here are a few other stores in which we just looked in the windows...

Bri did spot a HUGE H&M store (which she loves) and that is definitely more in our shopping wheelhouse, so we stopped in there. It has 4 floors!

Bri found a few cute items there and she was very happy.

Once we got done with H&M - we were really tired. It was time to hike walk back to our hotel in Times Square.

The clouds were starting to form and it looked like it might start to rain, so it was a perfect time to head back.

We rested in the hotel for a while and Doug and I wanted to get something nice to eat for dinner. Bri had fulfilled all her wishes for her birthday trip and just wanted to spend the evening resting in the hotel. It was a room service night for her. For me and Doug, we were getting an unexpected date night.

More on that next...

NYC Trip 2022 - Day 2/Broadway Lounge And Beetlejuice The Musical

It was so convenient having the restaurant we ate for dinner at located in the same place as our show. We ate at the Broadway Lounge.

We were sat right next to the huge windows that overlook the city. It was so cool...

Broadway Lounge...

The food was really good. Bri had charcuterie, I had lobster ravioli and Doug had scallops with risotto. Doug had the cheesecake for dessert and Bri the chocolate cake (of course - she always picks something chocolate)...

Once we were done with our meal, we headed into the theater...

We bought some bottled waters and Beetlejuice swag and headed to our seats

Doug snagged us first row seats - amazing...

Briana opened her Playbill and we saw Beetlejuice wasn't going to be played by Alex Brightman that night - the understudy Will Blum was filling in. I asked Bri if she was super disappointed with that and she said no, she just wanted to really see the show.

Oh my gosh. We had nothing to worry about. Will Blum was absolutely AMAZING in the role. The show was amazing. So entertaining.

Intermission picture...

All the rest of the pictures of the show were taken by other people (I snagged off the internet) since we aren't supposed to take pictures in the theater.

The sets are just crazy cool...

The actors...

Will Blum re-posted someone's post on Instagram of himself taking a bow over that weekend (I follow him now)...

And then sadly, it was time to leave...

What an amazing show! So, so good! This was our fourth Broadway show and we will have figure out what our next one will be.

When we got home (like the next day), I read Beetlejuice is closing...

It made me very sad to read but grateful we managed to go and see it in person.

We walked back to hotel and got settled in for the evening. We had a full day scheduled for the next day - shopping on 5th Avenue!

NYC Trip 2022 - Day 2/John's Pizzeria and Broadway

We woke up a little later on Sunday morning and lounged around our hotel a bit. We thought it would be a good idea to eat an early lunch (skipping breakfast) since we were going to eat an early dinner before we went to the theater. Briana was very excited to see Beetlejuice that evening.

We headed out of our hotel around 10:45am to go find some NY pizza. A must!

We went to John's Pizzeria the second time we were in NYC, and it was delish. We decided to head there again.

It was a beautiful morning in Times Square...

Do any of you remember when I got bumped into by the "Naked Cowboy?" It was during our first visit to NYC. 

Well, we spotted him on the street and no bumping into him! I managed to snap a few photos of him this time...

We arrived at John's Pizzeria and were seated in the very front of the restaurant looking out the window (we sat in the two story section last time). It was a perfect table!

 The restaurant was built in an old abandoned Tabernacle Church, so it has a lot of amazing history.

Our table next to the window was situation directly across from the Majestic Theater where Phantom of the Opera plays (we saw that on our first trip). I spent a lot of time looking at the theater during our lunch because not only was that Briana's very first Broadway show, Phantom is closing in February. It is the end of an era. I'm so grateful we were able to see it in such a beautiful place. I'm so sad it is closing and I'll never forget that experience.

We ordered a pepperoni pizza and Caesar salad and it was as delicious as I remembered...

After lunch, we decided to walk around the Broadway theater district for a while and try to find the hotel where Beetlejuice was playing.

 We love the theater district...

The Kite Runner is closing soon...

It was literally the last day of the "Dear Evan Hanson" run...

The new Neil Diamond show, "A Beautiful Noise," is opening in a couple months (I saw him in concert!)

 

Hamilton! We saw that one!

So many amazing shows (sadly a lot of shows will be closing early next year)... 

"Wicked"!

We finally spotted the "Marriott Marquis" where "Beetlejuice the Musical" plays...

 

We didn't realize we would come across an amazing wall with a ton of fan art...

It was really something to see!

After spending quite a bit of time walking around the district, we headed back to our hotel. Back through Times Square...

Up to the 50th floor...

Resting in the room...

Doug had the Panthers/Giants game on. I'm not a football person, but it was cool watching the Giants win in NY.

Then it was time to get dressed and head to the Broadway Lounge for dinner and then to the show.

Briana dressed and ready to go...

We were getting very excited about our evening.

 

Dinner and Beetlejuice next...