Boutique Crawl & Bryant Park

(Very very sorry for the technically difficulties yesterday and this whole weekend. This post will detail my Monday in Hoboken and my Tuesday in Midtown)

My morning, surprisingly, didn't start off with cuddles from Marlo as he ditched me for the floor about halfway through the night. I pretended not to be hurt by it, but it definitely broke my heart a bit.

I made plans weeks ago with my cousin Jessi to run in Central Park with her, so we met at the Lombard Lamp (oddly enough where I had been waiting for my other cousins two days before) and ran on a combination of the inner and outer loop for about an hour or so. 

After a healthy dose of jogging, we headed out to Hoboken, New Jersey for the day. With a quick pitstop to her apartment for an outfit change and drink break, we went out for lunch at a fantastic old fashioned diner.

I was so hungry by the time that I could our food that I sort of devoured it...but I got a BLT (with no tomato or mayo, of course...I call it a bacon, lettuce, and toast...) with kettle chips and an iced coffee. 

After lunch we went on what Jessi called a "Boutique Crawl", which just consisted of us stopping in every boutique that we saw on Washington Street that looked interesting. I didn't get anything, though her favorite boutique Dear Hannah, had the greatest chalk sign out front.

We grabbed a quick drink at Dunkin Donuts (Snickerdoodle lattes) and headed for the water to watch the sunset over the Manhattan skyline. 

We did things a bit out of order and decided to head to Carlo's Bake Shop (Cake Boss anybody?) because she had never gone and my dad was obsessed with the show and would have killed me if I didn't try a cupcake from there.

(Top left is Oreo, top right is Caramel, bottom left is Peanut Butter Cup, and bottom right is Red Velvet)

I bid farewell to my cousin after we had some salads for dinner near her apartment. Even though I was given petty clear instructions on how to get back to Queens, it still made me excited when I successfully managed to do so without even a second of panicking. 

I promptly took a nap when I got back to my other cousin's apartment and started packing up (insert crying emoji) for my trip back home.

Onward to Tuesday...

I went into Midtown/Bryant Park area with my cousin on Tuesday, but not after bagels that we ate on our subway commute. She went to work and I went around wandering the Bryant Park area and parts of Fifth Avenue that I hadn't covered on Saturday (though I did hit Rockefeller Center again...). I was on a quest for Zara and after about an hour of botched navigation because of the Veteran's Day parade, I found the motherland. 

After another quick coffee run (I think I consumed more coffee than water this trip...), I met up with my other cousin and headed out toward Chelsea. 

I quickly got changed and went to La Taza De Oro near W 15th, a small Spanish diner with some killer grilled chicken and vegetables. 

After that, it was onward to Port Authority  where I was catching my bus at 10:15 PM.

The overnight bus ride was miserably long, mildly nauseating, but I'd do it all over again for a weekend even half as fantastic as the one I just had. Many thanks to all of my wonderful family who accommodated me so nicely and were wonderful hosts and tour guides. And for Taylor Swift for providing my soundtrack for the entire trip. 

Until next time, New York...