Fabulous Weekend in New York

I seriously don't think I could have asked for a better way to celebrate my 30th and Maureen's 40ishth birthday. Of course, there were a few glitches here and there...a couple of tense moments...lots of tiredness...but overall, I think the weekend was pretty perfect!

On Friday afternoon, 4 of us hopped on the train headed for Penn Station in New York (the other 4 had left earlier in the day).

Lauren and I waiting in the train station

Our train was a bit delayed, but eventually we got to the City, and headed to our hotel- the Westin Times Square. It was quite lovely!

Night view from our window

After meeting up with the rest of the group, we headed to dinner at La Masseria, a small Italian restaurant a few blocks from our hotel. It was fabulous...I had a Veal chop with Black Truffle Sauce..yummy, yummy! We shared a few desserts...my favorite was the Limoncello Tiramisu.

Sharon and Mo


Ellen Corby and I

Everyone was having fun playing with cameras

Since it was almost midnight and my birthday, we headed back to the hotel. The bar closed at 12 AM, so we headed up to the room where Maureen happened to have a giant bottle of champagne.

A little dancing and silliness...and then we decided to go back to our rooms. Lauren thought it would be appropriate to give me my birthday gifts...a crown, a pretty pretty princess skirt, and a tshirt that reads, "Let me explain that to you through interpretive dance". Of course, I had to model my gifts.

Sleepy Princess...:)

Saturday morning brought breakfast with an old friend, and at 1 PM...I attended my very first performance at the Metropolitan Opera! It was fantastic! We saw Rigoletto. All of the singers were fabulous...with a few minor issues here and there...which you can expect from live performance. As usual, I cried at the end...tragic operas tend to do that to me.

After the opera, we walked to La Bonne Soup for dinner- where I had a filet, pomme frites, and a lemon tart. Most of us were tired, so we headed back to the hotel bar. When I got back, there was a message from the front desk letting me know I had a package. Lo and behold, a certain special someone had sent me Port and truffles from my favorite place...with instructions to share (Thanks, J!). Before sharing, we hit the hotel bar for a quick drink. And then, the cupcakes showed up.

Attempting to figure out which wine goes best with cupcakes

Everyone was tired, so we moved the party to my room...complete with pajamas. This also allowed us to enjoy the port and the truffles.

Pajama party!

Port and truffles...yummy!

Lauren deciding on a truffle


Yum!

Phyllis was not sure about the wasabi truffle

Sunday morning, I got up and drank my coffee by the window..looking out at the city.

Once we got moving, there was a little French Bistro on 9th ave that was calling our name...and was very tasty!

Since there were a couple of hours to kill before our date with Wicked!, we did a little shopping and a little wandering around Central Park.

And then...it was time for Wicked!


It really was a phenomenal show. Sometimes, Broadway shows don't live up to the hype...but this one did. I enjoyed it immensely!

Another dinner...this one at 5 napkin burger (where I suprisingly didn't have a burger because I wasn't feeling well)...and back to the train station to head home. Our train was delayed in the station for about 30 minutes...another of the few glitches of the weekend.

So there you go...my lovely birthday weekend in the City!