Girls' Weekend in NYC

This past Thursday evening I stood at the entrance of the 79th subway station waiting to meet my out-of-town guests. With each group exiting, I just listened for a loud group of Texas women.
Now that I live in New York City, everyone wants to come visit me. This time it was my family- my mom, sister, two aunts and a cousin. It was our Girls' Weekend in NYC. It was everything you would expect a Girls' Weekend in NYC to be- full of shopping, eating, drinking, talking and lots of laughing. That's the great thing about us- we really do enjoy being with each other.
Friday we started in Chinatown. There were lots of purses, sunglasses, and jewlery purchased. I even bought a purse. I think the rest of the group could have continued shopping there. But after a few hours, I reached my limit. We dropped off all our purchases at the hotel, then went to eat the best pizza I've ever had. Although the airport driver for my family had recommended a great little pizza place- Dominos- we went with the hotel's suggestion instead.
After our beer and pizza, we went to Broadway for theater tickets and 5th Avenue for more shopping. By 4:00 I had definitely reached my shopping limit, and I was anxious to take them to see my very fancy and presitigous grad school and make happy hour by 5:00. After walking across the campus and going up to see my room, we did make it to happy hour for margaritas and nachos. But in the spirit of New York, we were soon rushing off again. We had to go back to the hotel to change and make to our show in the West Village by 8:00. After walking at a very fast pace to the theater, we made it just in time to buy waters and settle in our chairs.
I Love You Because was a romantic comedy about dating in the City. I laughed without restraint as I connected with much of the story. After it ended, we walked around looking for a place to eat. We finally chose a restaurant that had outdoor seating available for six. There was more eating, drinking, talking and laughing. There was also some flirting with the waiter who happened to be from Texas. We finally left the restaurant a little after 1:00am to head back to our hotel- but not before I gave the waiter my number.
The next day we woke up to rain. Not exactly ideal for a day of sightseeing. After our daily Starbucks and bagels, we went down to see Ground Zero. Since I've been there at least four times and it was cold and rainy, I quickly headed to Century 21 across the street for more shopping. Everyone else followed not long after. It was too cold and wet for reading signs in the rain.
The plan was to do more shopping in Chelsea. However, the train we needed wasn't running. So we went took another and planned to walk the rest of the way. It was still raining in Greenwich Village when we exited. Not only was it cold and rainy, but it was also windy. As we fought our way towards Chelsea, we finally decided to escape the misery to rest and eat. (Because being cold and wet was so not fun...) Once inside, I eyed the subway stop directly outside the deli and suggested we change our plan. Instead of walking in the cold, windy, rainy weather, we could take the subway to the upper west side and exit directly in front of the store we wanted. That plan was quickly adopted.
By the time we finished our shopping on the upper west side, the rain and wind had stopped. We took the train to Central Park and walked along the south side over to 5th Avenue. We continued to do some window-shopping in places such as Tiffany's. However, after Saks and H&M, it wasn't long before everyone was admitting they were tired of shopping. We went back to the hotel to enjoy a bottle of wine and rest before dinner.
Our plan to eat in Little Italy was changed due to the weather and our tired bodies. Instead we went to a recommended Italian restaurant just two blocks from the hotel. For the first time, we sat and enjoyed a long meal full of more food, drinks, conversation and laughing.
Hosting guests in the City is always exhausting. However, with all the memories made and quality time spent together, it is always worth it. Our very cute family could easily have fun together anywhere. But I think our Girls' Weekend in New York City is the best. After all, NYC has great shopping, great restaurants, and great sights. I doubt we'll be doing Little Rock next year...