Getting a ticket to the Martha Stewart Show's baby shower episode taping was such a "dream come true". I have watched the show (via DVR) for a couple of years now and it is a well-made show. Despite that, this is the last year that Hallmark will carry the show. Knowing this and realizing that the baby shower couldn't be a more appropriate show, really made me feel like I "needed" to go. Luckily, my awesome sister was willing and able to meet me in NYC for a few days vacation. The episode taped on Valentine's Day and aired the following week. We arrived in the city the day before the taping and then stayed through the day after the taping. We slammed those three days with every activity possible! Even though I was pregnant, it didn't slow me down too much. We arrived on that Monday morning SUPER early. We dropped our luggage at the hotel and then headed to Hoboken, NJ because Beckie really wanted to go to Carlo's Bake Shop, where they film Cake Boss. Believe it or not, I had not seen the show at that point *but have since watched it*. The bakery was awesome though! We were concerned about the potential for a long wait after doing research online but since it was a weekday and pretty early in the day, we didn't have to wait much at all. We took the train over to NJ and then found the bakery pretty easily We each picked up a couple of treats and then headed to Starbucks for fun drinks and to sit for a bit. It was a really early day for both of us (like up between 3 and 4!).
After leaving New Jersey, we headed down to the financial district. We had hoped to see the World Trade Center memorial but the ticket/tour process was ridiculous. So, we headed to the Century 21 store that I love! It is like a HUGE TJMAXX. We shopped a bit, had lunch and then headed to our hotel to rest a bit We had decided to purchase the CitiPass to save ourselves some money on the tourist attractions. First stop was the Empire State Building. I had never been there. It was amazing to see the city at night!
We also went in to Times Square and hit the tourist spots there, including the M&M store.
We had a nice dinner at a Famous Daves down there. We had hoped to try something a little more unique, but when you have a very tired and hungry pregnant lady in your midst, you have to make smart choices, which include eating when you are hungry! :)
The next day, we headed down to the Natural History Museum. We had to be pretty quick because of the Martha taping. We had a super fast lunch at the museum's cafe and then raced (via a very slow subway ride) down to the show. We had really hoped that Beckie would be able to get a standby ticket, but apparently this show is a hot one and everybody showed! She waited in line with me and then we met up right after. The show was amazing. It was incredible to see a production like this in action and an added plus was that we left with a TON of free stuff!
Do you see Martha down there? We weren't allowed to take pictures during taping but I whipped out my camera immediately after to catch her very quickly before she had to leave for a meeting.
We dropped off our stuff at the hotel and hit spot I really wanted to check out:
Eataly. Mario Batali is an owner and he had been on Martha before talking about this place. It was super cool! We had dinner at
Birreria. It was delicious. You sit on the rooftop covered by a retractable roof. We walked around a bit afterwards and then headed back for gelato. Ever since my amazing experiences with gelato in Florence, I have been looking for something comparable.
We had a great view of the Valentine's Empire State Building while out and about.
Our last day was crazy busy! We visited the Statue of Liberty, which was another first for me.
We also visited ALL of the other museums on our pass and had a yummy lunch at a
Shake Shack! Burgers, fries, and shakes = delic!
Overall, this trip was outstanding. I hadn't traveled with my sister since we were a lot younger but now I know that she is awesome at it! Hopefully we can travel with our families in the future.
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