Day One

Eat at Sun Sweet Deli // 29th St & 6th Ave

My mom wanted to eat at a real New York deli and this is where the concierge told us to go. It was pretty good; they had a buffet as well as a deli. There were quite a few options to eat and would be great for a quick and easy lunch.

Visit Carlo’s Bakery // 95 Washington St, Hoboken, NJ

After we had lunch at Sun Sweet, we took the Path train from Herald Square to Hoboken. It was a pretty easy trip to get there but once in Hoboken, Google Maps had a hard time actually directing us to the bakery. It’s about a five minute walk from the train station to the bakery and if you get lost, any local would be able to point you in the right direction. Once there, the bakery isn’t too busy, which I was very surprised by. They said it will get a little busier on the weekends but it never gets too crazy, mainly because they’ve opened so many other Carlo’s around the country. I got the mini cheesecake and it was delicious! I was also eyeing the cupcakes and all of their beautiful cakes too :)

Visit Macy’s // Herald Square (34th St)

We took the Path train from Hoboken back to the city to do some shopping at Macy’s in Herald Square. I’ve always heard about the Macy’s in New York City (and actually went when I was very little) but it’s always cool to see such a huge store and experience the magic of Macy’s!

Times Square // 42nd St & Broadway

Times Square is always bustling with people and it’s great if you want to experience that NYC hustle and bustle. It is a lot of tourists but it’s also a great place to do some sightseeing.

Rockefeller Plaza // 50th St & 5th Ave

Because Times Square and Rockefeller Plaza are so close to each other, you might as well take a trip and see both. One of my favorite parts about Rockefeller Plaza was a shop called Rain. It’s a bath and body shop of all handmade products with African origins. I bought a few bath bombs and a small bowl to keep them in beside my shower in my apartment next year.

Eat in Little Italy // Lower Manhattan

We asked the employees at Rain for directions to an Italian restaurant someone had recommended and they had never heard of it before, so they suggested just going to Little Italy to eat. It was a pretty long cab ride (probably about 25-30 minutes without much traffic) from Rockefeller Center to Little Italy, but definitely worth it. We ate at Angelo’s on Mulberry Street and it was delicious. I recommend the Fettuccine Alfredo :) We didn’t stay for dessert, but I spotted a few gelato places that looked to be pretty good.

Day Two

Visit the High Line // 23rd St & 10th Ave

For most of Thursday, I was on my own to explore the city. The first thing I wanted to do was go to the High Line and get some photos of the NYC skyline. I found out about the High Line just by searching for things to do on Pinterest but I had never heard of it beforehand. It was about a 20 minute walk from my hotel and very accessible. They have multiple staircases along 10th Ave that you can use to access the High Line.

Historically, the High Line was an old rail line located about 30 feet above ground. After the lines had been closed for trains, it was transformed into a walkway for pedestrians. The views from here are absolutely amazing. The walkway is lined with beautiful plants and trees that were also great scenery. I would absolutely recommend visiting the High Line for great photos ops and scenery.

Eat Breakfast at Think Coffee // 30th St & 10th Ave

After I was done at the High Line, I had realized that I hadn’t eaten breakfast yet and this just happened to be the first coffee shop I had seen. I thought it was pretty good, although I didn’t have coffee but the lemonade was pretty rad. I thought the vibe of the whole coffee shop was sort of interesting just because it didn’t seem like a typical coffee shop. They played Nicki Minaj and Drake! Very different than any other coffee shop but it was a cool vibe for a place to grab a quick breakfast.

Shop on 5th Ave //

I made my way back towards 6th Ave and finally got an Uber to 5th Ave to do some shopping. The first place on my list was the Kate Spade store. I love all of the new summer designs and colors they have in stores right now. From here, I was in a great location on 5th Ave to just do some shopping by foot. I was very impressed by the size of the Madewell and couldn’t resist going in. My favorite find of this little shopping adventure was a jacket from Gap. I went into the store looking for a shirt I had originally seen on Instagram and right beside it was the jacket. Long story short, I’ve wanted one of these jackets for a while and it was on sale. Now I can’t wait for fall so I can wear it!

Depending on your location, I believe its best to get a cab or Uber to get to 5th Ave, then walk from there until you’re done shopping. But, one thing I learned was that 5th Ave is VERY long and has stores for miles. After shopping, I went to visit a friend working at Bergdorf Goodman and found that it was going to take me an hour to walk from Kate Spade to BG. For this, I got a cab and it worked out perfectly.

Meet & Greet with Carly of The College Prepster // vineyard vines, Upper East Side

I was very excited when I found out Carly would be doing a Meet & Greet while I was in the city. TCP is one of my favorite blogs to read and where I get a lot of inspiration for my own blog so it worked out perfectly that I was able to go. She was so sweet and vv was great for hosting!

Tapas at Raymi // 24th St & 6th Ave

I don’t know if you noticed or not, but throughout most of the day, I didn’t really stop to eat. Oops! I guess I just got carried away with exploring the city that I forgot to stop for lunch. By the time I had made it to dinner time, I was starving. We had some snacks at Raymi, which was delicious. I recommend the Pork Sliders for an appetizer. The bread pudding for dessert is also so so good.

After Raymi, it was pretty late and we were tempted by an open aired pizza shop called 2 Bros Pizza. It was $1 a slice and holy cow was it good. We took this back to our hotel room and had some yummy New York style pizza before heading to bed for the night.

Day Three

Wake Up! // 4:30am

Day Three started with a bright and early morning so we could get spot in line for the Gwen Stefani concert at the Today Show. We were out of the hotel by 5:15am and we took a cab to Rockefeller Plaza. The lines weren’t too crazy and we only had to wait until 6:15am when they started letting people in.

Gwen Stefani Concert & The Today Show // Rockefeller Plaza

Once in the venue, we only had to wait for probably 25-30 minutes before Gwen Stefani came on stage and did her soundcheck. She sang three songs and soon after she finished, the show had started. My mom and I were surprised that we were able to hear and/or see the actual show from the stage area, so we left the area and tried to find the Studio where they film the show. It was very easy to find and we got to stand right behind the window and watch them film! I’ve always wanted to stand there and be in the background on Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie while they report live. Such a fun experience!

We went to Bouchon Bakery to grab some breakfast around 8am and found out that Bouchon sells “tickets” to watch the concert right beside the stage, but still inside of the bakery. They’re $35 each so we thought it would be worth it to be able to sit and eat our breakfast and still get to see the concert. I would definitely recommend doing this for shows if you want to have a good view of the stage. We had good spots for the soundcheck too, but it was hard to see over everyone’s heads and phones in the air.

My mom and I also went into the NBC gift shop and I got a Today Show coffee mug. We looked into taking a tour of NBC Studios but they were booked for a couple weeks out. So, if you’re going to NYC and you’d like to do that, make sure to book ahead of time to ensure you get to go. My mom and brothers went on a tour when we were all vey little (I stayed in the hotel room with my dad) and they said it was very cool. I’d love to take the tour!

Travel Home //

We walked back to our hotel from Rockefeller Plaza just to get one more walk through the city before leaving for the airport. The trip was short and very exhausting but so worth it. I loved every minute of being in the city and I hope to go back very soon!