Guys, we love New York. Well…I love New York and I think David just goes along with it because he loves me. And here’s my little disclaimer…we don’t live in Radford aka Southwest Virginia for the amenities and fun atmosphere :] We live here because we love the people and our community and we’ve got a heart for the university. We’ve learned to love it here after living here for 7 years, but we often think about how we’d fare better in a bigger city. I love the fast paced environment of the city, the fact that everyone is trying to get somewhere, and that there are so many people and stories in one place. I guess that might come from living in Northern VA most of my life, but a lot of it is rooted in my love for NYC.

I was a theatre kid in high school, so my obvious love for Broadway just makes sense. But something about walking around in a city full of dreamers and chalk full of stories enchants me. From middle school on, I looked forward to my yearly NYC visit and it was always my favorite weekend of the year. Whether with family or the theatre department or that one excellent 18th birthday trip with friends, it was always full to the brim with Broadway, exploring, and being a little (a lot) touristy. Now the yearly trips stopped after college and I hadn’t ventured back to NYC in 4 years…until last weekend!

Alex and Nicki made our dreams come true, not only by bringing us up to shoot their engagement in my favorite city aka their home, but by showing us around NYC and not being too embarrassed by how excited I was to be there. If you love New York or you’re visiting soon, here’s a little rundown of our weekend, complete with iPhone photos of course. We jammed a lot of fun things into a short trip and highly recommend almost everything we did!

We spent Friday night in the magical land of Astoria as Nicki and Alex call it. They both live there, only about 10 blocks from each other, so we walked around and ate delicious food upon arriving Friday afternoon. Nicki said they call their Astoria neighborhood magical because it’s full of puppies and babies…so true. It feels more like Old Town Alexandria than it does the big scary city :] We had a classic NYC Italian dinner and then hopped on over to Martha’s which was SPECTACULAR. I’ve never seen so many desserts in one place and the Nutella cheesecake was quite literally to die for.

We all turned in early on Friday night so that we could start shooting at 6AM! You’ve got to beat the heat and the crowds in NYC in August! I’m so glad we did this because that meant we had PLENTY of time to explore Alex and Nicki’s favorite spots, without racing the setting sun :] I don’t want to give too much away, because their full engagement session will be coming to the blog next week…but it’s safe to say you’re going to love this one. The snaps below are from our first location…which was only a 5 minute walk from Nicki’s apartment! GAH!

Okay, this is such a nondescript photo, but I’ve got to throw up a shout out to the New York Coffee and Bagel Company. For real. We stopped here on the way to the subway Saturday morning and David and I ended up going back twice. These are real New York bagels people…and when you grew up on bagels like my family did…these are the dream. Thank you Astoria for being perfect.

We tromped around the city until around noon and finally regained strength to go back out in the late afternoon. We had to hit up Cafe Benne in Times Square for our friend Megan and try the waffle cookies. Also, how come everywhere in New York has great atmosphere? If just one place like this moved to Radford, I’d never leave :]

A huge DUH if you love New York is Times Square. Yes, it’s crowded and crazy approximately always…but it’s a guilty pleasure.

I can’t really describe my love for Wicked. But if I could just watch it on loop for the rest of my life…I think I’d be ecstatic. It was amazing to finally be able to bring David to my favorite musical ever. And yes, it was just as good as the last two times. :] Traveler’s tip: Nicki clued us into Today Tix, an app that gets you discounted show tickets, and we SO recommend this if you’re in town. It was a crazy easy pickup and great prices.

PSA: If you’re sitting in the way back…which we were…beware of two things…grouchy old ladies complaining and wishing they’d just gone ahead and seen “Phantom” again and loud yawners. Some people just don’t get it! This was the ONLY downside to our seats.

No trip to NYC is complete for me without a stop into Stardust Diner. Everything about it is wonderful and magical. All of the servers are aspiring Broadway performers…so they perform the entire time you’re there. The mic gets handed off and you get to hear everything from RENT to pop hits to oldies to swoon worthy duets. And because it’s Broadway…absolutely everyone is amazing.

We popped in right after Wicked let it and it was a fun crowd. Milkshakes and an awesome show :] And on the left is when they handed out receipt slips and had a 5 minute dance party. It was amazing.

Obligatory.

Day two brought us to brunch with Alex and Nicki….how did we get NO pictures together? And then because we’re a little crazy and were feeling spontaneous, we headed back to Broadway to see Something Rotten last minute and it was SPECTACULAR. So hilarious. We were laughing the entire time and the music was wonderful. Cannot recommend this one enough. I think that David secretly loved it more than Wicked, but he doesn’t want to hurt my little heart by telling me.

Stopped by Guitar Center on our way out because why not? Really I just included this because David looks real cute.

And of course, you can’t head through the middle of the city without getting stopped by sketchy vendors. These three specifically forced David into a picture and immediately pulled off their mascot heads looking for tips. That’s something that’ll haunt you forever.

And we were off! After heading back to Astoria and grabbing MORE bagels, we raced to Penn Station and got home way, way late. But it was all worth it :]