Sweet Like a Song: November 2013

Saturday, November 30, 2013

New York City Vacay: Day Two!

On Friday morning, (our first full day in New York,) we didn't waste any time getting our day started! The first stop on our itinerary was the Good Morning America studios on the corner of West 44th and Broadway, a quick subway ride away. Danielle's dream is to work for Good Morning America, so creating a sign to bring with her was a must!

"Robin Roberts, can I be your co-anchor?"

It started raining just as we got there, but we were still able to snap some fun pictures in Times Square!

We had set aside the earlier part of the day completely for shopping, definitely a must-do in New York City! Our first stop was the brand new H&M store in Times Square, boasting 63,000 square feet of pure fabulousness!

Alex and me on the escalator inside the store!

After a little more Times Square shopping, our next stop was Rockefeller Center to check out the ice skating, fun shops and places to eat! If you have a chance to go, make sure to step inside of the Rockefeller building, that hides beautiful stores like J.CREW, Anthropologie, Banana Republic and so many more.

The famous Rockefeller Center tree wasn't complete just yet, but it was in the works!

Knowing that we'd be back later that night to ice skate (another must-do on our list,) we made sure to check out the ice rink, find out where to get our tickets, etc.

The ticket office for ice skating is just behind Danielle and me in the photo below. To skate and rent our ice skates, we paid $39/person.

Being so close to the Today Show studios, we made a pit stop at the NBC store, where I got to pose with Matt Lauer. My Mom has always been a huge fan of his!

Our next stop was one that I'll never forget! The Kate Spade flagship store on Madison Avenue!

This store is absolutely beautiful from floor to ceiling! As the flagship for the brand, I didn't expect any less!

Outside of the front door!

Window display! Yes, that is a bedazzled pink fire hydrant!

Completely in awe of the gorgeousness!

This store is made up of four beautifully-decorated floors, featuring Kate Spade in every facet. Upon entering, one of the sales associates immediately noticed my Kate Spade bag and earrings that I was wearing!

A few pieces of KS's newest collection on the first floor!

Gold sparkle steps on the way upstairs!

The second floor displayed gorgeous shoes, along with some of their most-recent holiday dresses.

The fourth floor was made up of their wedding collection, beautiful dishes and champagne bottles. When you walk a little further, you enter a beautifully decorated living room, where Alex and I had to take a picture!

You may not believe this, but I actually didn't buy anything in the store! I was looking for a particular watch, umbrella and necklace, but they didn't have any of them! Crazy right? The experience alone was definitely worth making the trip! After a stroll down Fifth Avenue, it was back to the Loft to get ready for that night's activities!

Later that evening after a quick nap, we started getting ready for ice skating at Rockefeller Center! This is something that all of us had wanted to do, and it was SO worth it!

Tickets to skate can be bought the day of, or ahead of time for large groups. The entire day is broken up into 1.5 hour brackets, so it helps to arrive a few minutes before the time you'd like to get on the ice.

Though none of us were great skaters (Alex really led the pack!) we had such a fabulous time scooting around and taking pictures on the ice! Luckily, it wasn't super crowded, so we could basically do whatever we wanted!

Afterward, we walked just a block away to the nearest Magnolia Bakery! Alex and Danielle had real New York cheesecake, while I snagged a chocolate cupcake. It was chilly outside (hence my Carrie Bradshaw-esque hat,) but not too cold to take our dessert back to Rockefeller Center to sit and enjoy!

Later that evening, we met up with some friends from college, and then made our way back to the Loft.

Click here to read my post on day one of our trip!

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As always, Have a Sweet Day!

Friday, November 29, 2013

New York City Vacay: Day One!

Let me begin by saying,

I am obsessed with New York City!

Last weekend, two of my close friends and I had the amazing opportunity to go to New York City! During the four days and three nights that we spent in the city, we were able to fit in all sorts of fun and fabulous things! This is something that Danielle, Alex and I had been talking about for months, so we made sure to pull out all the stops!

I've split this post into three parts, one for each of the days were were in the city! If you have any questions, or would like advice as to how we got tickets/what we packed/how to prepare for a trip to NYC, feel free to email me at sweetlikeasong@gmail.com!

On the Tuesday night before we left on Thursday, Danielle came over to my apartment to help me pack. We literally spent hours deciding on the perfect outfits, shoes and accessories to wear in New York! We were also trying to pack light since we'd be carrying these bags from place to place, and we wanted to stay under Delta's 50lb weight limit.

Danielle and I got up bright and early on Thursday morning, to head to the Greensboro airport. I was so relieved when my bag only weighed 29lbs at the ticket counter! We checked our bags, quickly made our way through security and arrived at our gate right on time. Everything went swimmingly!

Of course we had to snap a few pictures when we finally got to where we were supposed to be! Here I am before boarding our hour-long flight to New York City!

It still absolutely amazes me that you can travel from North Carolina to New York in just over an hour! So cool! Danielle and I flew Delta both ways, and they were just fabulous to work with! With just one phone call, we were able to confirm our flight details, and make sure that we were able to sit together on the way there!

Preparing for a smooth landing at LaGuardia!

We arrived at LaGuardia just after lunch, met up with Alex (who was flying in from Charleston) and took a taxi straight to the Appalachian Loft, where we would spend the next three nights.

The Loft is a wonderful resource for ASU's students, faculty, staff and alumni that are interested in visiting New York City for a much cheaper rate. It functions somewhat like a dorm, with two large rooms of bunk beds and community restrooms. This set-up worked perfectly for us and our budget! We were able to stay at the Loft for four days and three nights for just over $100/person. Sign me up!

Thanks to our sweet friend Tyler from Appalachian, we had tickets to see The Late Show with David Letterman. Since the show is actually taped during the day (who knew?!) we had to be at the theater to claim our tickets at 2:30PM. We left the Loft, walked just a few blocks to catch the subway and headed to 53rd Street to the famous Ed Sullivan Theater.

Thanks to Tyler, not only were we guests for the show that day, we had special VIP seats in the balcony of the theater! We also got to go up on stage after the show. It was amazing!

So legit!

Jonah Hill from Superbad was the special guest that day, and he was hilarious! I still can't believe we got to get up on stage and sit at Letterman's desk. If you ever have the chance to do this, it's totally worth it. Thanks, Tyler!

Later that evening, we made our way back to the Loft to get dressed up for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire movie premier. Normally, I wouldn't dress up to go to the movie theater, but we were in New York City, so why not?!

Thanks to a little research prior to the trip, we had our tickets bought and printed, all before arriving in New York. This saved so much time once we arrived at the theater. The movie was amazing and it was packed! I'm so glad we made time to do this!

Since we weren't too far from the Loft, we walked back, admiring the beautiful buildings and lights. Our first day in the city was nothing short of amazing, and I knew right then this trip was going to be one for the books!

Make sure to check back for my posts on day two and three of our trip!

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As always, Have a Sweet Day!

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Life as of Late: Fiji Pig Dinner

Though there's no way to catch you up on everything I've done during the past month, I wanted to let you all know that I'm alive. I may be absent from the blogging world, but I'm still here, shopping, eating dessert, working and going to graduate school. I miss blogging more than anything, but at this time in my life, that's the one thing I don't have much of…time.

So while I sit here on this Sunday afternoon, reflecting on the weekend that has come and gone so quickly, I wanted to share some of those memories with you!

This weekend, I was invited to attend a fraternity alumni function with my friend, Andrew. With dinner, drinks and pretty dresses all in the description (plus my good-looking date,) I knew this event was right up my alley. We dressed up, sipped cocktails, had great food, played Catch Phrase, and simply enjoyed each other's company. I had the pleasure of meeting so many of his close friends, who were all just as sweet as he is. Even though I'm normally going non-stop, and this weekend was no exception, I had the absolute best time! Plus, the pictures were too good to keep to myself!

My outfit before dinner at Our Daily Bread on Friday night!