Jessica's View of NYC

Last weekend my very best friend, Jessica came to New York City to visit me. It was her first time in the Big Apple and I wanted to show it all to her. Over the course of the weekend, we saw a good amount of stuff that every tourist should see, as well as some hidden gems of the city. I usually recap the adventure, but I am going to let my dear friend Jessica take the reins this time and let her share her experience in the city with y'all!

Take it away Jess!

Hey everyone, this is Kyla’s best friend – Jessica! Aka Jess, Crystal, JoJo, Shorty, etc. Yeah…I have a lot of different names people call me. So not this weekend but LAST weekend (specifically June 14-17), I had the privilege of going to New York City for the first time to visit Kyla. Before I left for NYC, it sort of felt unreal that I would be going to the Big Apple because for starters, I have never traveled that far by myself. I go to school in Oklahoma City, but I’m from Dallas. So of course, it is only about three and a half hours away. Not too far at all. Since my parents trust Kyla so much and have known her for a while, they let me visit her in NYC. So this is how my mini journey to the city that never sleeps begins!

Early morning of Friday, June 14, I left to New York from Dallas. I was supposed to arrive in NYC by 1:10 in the afternoon, but I didn’t arrive until 2:30 due to delays at the airport. I got off the plane at LaGuardia airport (which is so much smaller than I thought it would be) and caught a cab to go to mid-Manhattan, where Kyla’s apartment is located. Since it was my first time in a cab, I was excited and nervous because I was in a huge city by myself! I didn’t have much time to feel nervous though because the taxi driver talked my ear off; I was so glad when I arrived at her apartmen.t Let me tell you, the walk to her job was SO awesome!! It was my first time on the streets of NYC, and I was taking in as much as I could. Just by walking on 34^th street from her apartment, I saw so much  – The Empire State Building, Madison Square Garden, and the Manhattan Center! People were walking in every direction, so many cars were driving by, music was playing in different shops, and I was just in awe of the city.We met at a Starbucks next to her building and were SO excited to start doing things around the city. We took care of business first though…we ATE DINNER at this place called Cosi. It reminded me of Panera, but better! We tried this Tucson chicken sandwich with raspberry mojito lemonade that was delicious! After dinner, we strolled around Garment District for a while and then to Macy’s at Herald Square. Then, we took the subway to go to the MOMA because it’s free on Fridays 4-8 pm. I was even in shock when I went on my first subway ride. I totally stood out from all of the locals in the subway because I was taking pictures. By the time we made it to the MOMA, they were closing in fifteen minutes. That didn’t stop Kyla and I from looking around though. Afterwards we walked around Rockefeller Center where NBC Studios is located, and we even met some people from Henderson, Texas. YAY TEXAS! The last thing we did was…TIMES SQUARE. As we walked down 42^nd street, it wasn’t hard to notice because of all the lights and commotion. It was AWESOME!!! I was in the same spot where they filmed Disney’s Enchanted (I’m a little obsessed with Disney movies by the way)! Needless to say, I had a great time seeing everything in that area like the Broadway theatres, the New Year’s Ball (which is NOT that big by the way), the M&Ms store, the ginormous Toys ‘R Us, and so much more. Kyla was tired from work, and I was tired from being at the airport all morning, so we got back to get some sleep for Saturday!

Saturday was A LOT of fun, but it was also very tiring because of all of the walking we did. We left  in the morning and took the subway to the Upper East Side where all of the fancy places are at like the St. Regis Hotel, the Trump Tower, Henri Bendel, Tiffany’s, and Bergdorf Goodman.After another five minute walk, we were crossing the street from the Plaza Hotel to Central Park. I LOVED Central Park! Kyla and I were listing off the MANY different movies that we have seen that were filmed at the park.We took a bunch of pictures, too! It was so cool to see where they filmed that famous “That’s How You Know” song and dance number in the movie, Enchanted. Then, we walked over to the MET to take pictures on the steps like the infamous lunch scenes on Gossip Girl with Blair and Serena. We asked a girl to take a couple of pictures of us “acting normal,” which wasn’t a total fail because we got a decent picture out of it. We also tried our first NY hotdog on the MET steps. I am not a big fan of hotdogs, but the ones from NY are pretty good! It was about noon, and we took a taxi to Brooklyn because Kyla bought us tickets for a Hipster food tour. We went to Williamsburg, which was totally awesome because of all the shops and restaurants. Before the food tour started, we walked around for a restroom because Kyla had to pee so bad! Another thing I learned from Kyla about NY was that it is VERY hard to find a public restroom. We finally found one in a local food market. Soon after, we ate some macaroons at a cute bakery, and THEN met up with our tour guide and the rest of our group for the food tour. Oh my goodness, the food tour was YUMMY. We tried a slice of brick oven pizza, a bagel with some really good spread, some cheese (the cow cheese was FUNKY because it smelled and tasted so bad, but the goat cheese was alright), some Oklahoma-style BBQ (Kyla kept asking me if I thought the BBQ was good since I go to school in Oklahoma but I had no idea haha), a piece of peanut brittle at a candy shop, and some rich chocolate at Mast Brothers. Our last stop was at a Hipster winery, which was pretty cool! We didn’t try any wine though. If you know Kyla and me, you know we’re not about that life! The food tour was an awesome choice, and I am so glad Kyla choose an awesome one to go to. Our Italian tour guide was even Hipster! As Kyla put it, he looked like a more put together Russell Brand. I thought he looked like Jesus, too. Too bad we didn’t take a picture with him. Anyways, after the food tour, we went down to a pier and saw the Manhattan skyline. It was so beautiful! The Williamsburg Bridge wasn’t too far either. We then took the subway to lower Manhattan to meet up with Kyla’s other friend named Jessica. Before we met up with her, I got to see that famous bull in Financial District, as well as the World Trade Center. We met up with Jessica at the 9/11 Memorial Site, but it was closed! Instead, we took the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. Since it was nighttime, Lady Liberty was lit up as well as all of the buildings, which looked incredible. I actually got a pretty decent picture of the Statue of Liberty! Once we arrived back in Manhattan, we took the subway back to their apartment. We were SO tired and hungry! We stopped at this diner, Tick Tock,  to pick up food. Kyla and I grabbed our food and ate in one of the cute study rooms in the building and talked till almost two in the morning! It was some good girl time.

Sunday was another full day. My feet hurt throughout the day, but not as bad as Saturday. If it were possible to change my feet like changing my shoes, I totally would have done it. Sunday morning, Kyla and I had tickets for the NBC Studios Tour at 9:45. We couldn’t take pictures though, which was lame! We got to see the studio where Brian Williams does the Nightly News and where Jimmy Fallon does his Late Night show (which used to be the studio of Late Night host, Johnny Carson). We also saw some other floors of the building, which was awesome and even took an awkward picture at a news desk! Yeah…we didn’t buy the picture at the news desk. Anyways, after the tour, we went to Times Square to get tickets for a Broadway musical. After searching for the best deal for a show, we got tickets to see Annie starring Jane Lynch as Miss Hannigan. The show was so much fun!!! Everybody laughed at Jane Lynch, even when she wasn’t trying to be funny. It was great! When we left the musical, we had Annie songs in our head for the rest of the day. I still do even now! After the show, we took the subway to China Town. Kyla had never been before either, so I was glad she was able to go somewhere she hadn’t been to in New York yet. Literally, we walked out of the subway and Chinese people were EVERYWHERE! I felt like we were in a different country, but it was an awesome feeling. If you ever go to New York, and you want to buy stuff for cheap, China Town is for you! While we were in Chinatown, we grabbed some delicious bubble tea and some food from this place called Prosperity Dumpling. I got four dumplings for one dollar! They weren’t my favorite, but the price wasn’t too bad. This pancake thing Kyla got for two bucks was really good! After China Town, we took the subway to check out Grand Central Station. This train station is HUGE and really beautiful, so we took a bunch of photos! At the station, we stopped at a bakery so I could try the famous NY black & white cookie. It was so yummy! It was almost ten in the evening, so we made our way back to Webster. Before we got ready for bed, Kyla took me on the roof of Webster, which has a spectacular view of the city. I couldn’t stop taking pictures! We called Sunday a night, and Kyla kept convincing me that I really wasn’t leaving New York the next day – I was only going back to Dallas for vacation.  

Well Monday came, and I ate breakfast with Kyla and her friends before they left for work. Kyla was leaving to the Penn Station for New Jersey, so I was able to walk her as far as I could. I didn’t want to say goodbye to her! Since we talk all the time, I knew we would hear from her soon. My flight didn’t leave until 3:55 in the afternoon, so I decided to go to Times Square one last time before I left. If you haven’t been to NYC yet, you’ll find out that it actually is pretty safe walking on the streets because there are people everywhere. Especially in Times Square, there is pretty much nothing but tourists so I felt completely fine walking by myself. After Times Square, I grabbed some lunch from this place called Café Bistro and ate on the roof of the apartment. It was such a nice feeling to eat on a NYC roof while listening to some worship songs. I didn’t want to leave the city! I imagined that I would stay there for a couple more days, and that I would wait for Kyla to get off of work and we would continue to have a blast in NYC. But, it was time for me to make my way to LaGuardia airport. I caught a cab on 34^th street, and made it an hour and a half early before my flight had to leave. God had other plans for me that day though! My flight back home was supposed to leave at 3:55, but I didn’t leave until 6:30. I was supposed to arrive back in Dallas at 8:45, but I didn’t make it back home until midnight! It was a super long day for me just because I was at the airport for forever, but I was just so thankful that I had been in NYC for a few days.

My dream to visit New York City came true because my bestie, Kyla! If it wasn’t for her, I would not have been able to go. This girl is already like a local up in NY! Even if we got lost on the subway a couple times, she knew where to go for the most part and she showed me a great time. Kyla and I even made a bet on Saturday night. Here it is: Whoever gets married first, owes the other girl $100. So now I’m hoping Kyla meets a guy up in NYC. She said it won’t happen, but anything is possible, right? Anyways, this NYC trip is definitely the highlight of my summer! Thanks to Kyla for being the greatest friend anyone could ask for by making it possible. LOVE YA, girl!

And thank YOU for reading! You are awesome. You know why? Because this blog post is super long, so God bless your little eyes for reading. Until next time…deuces everyone!! 

Pictures courtesy of J.Estrada herself