New York, New York: Day 1...

I just got back from something that I have always dreamed of doing.  I got to visit New York City during December and see all of the lights.

Please be warned, if you do not like Christmas, you will not like any of these posts.  :)

It was such a wonderful trip with great girlfriends.  I had three main goals:  See the Rockefeller Tree, see Matt Lauer, and get on the Today Show.  It is not like I was asking for much.

The trip started off at 4:50 am when Jill picked me up to go to the airport.  We were so excited that we really did not appear tired at all.

My driver, Jill

So, the funniest part of the entire trip was when I told Jill just to leave her bags with me while she went to the bathroom.  Of course, I had a motive.  I wanted to place something in her bag in hopes that TSA would search her bag and embarrass her.

Oh yes, that happened.

I let Jill go ahead of me in security and kind of waited to see what would happen.  Sure enough, all of the TSA agents walked over to the X-Ray machine and were laughing.  I about peed my pants during my screening and Jill was laughing, but had no clue why I was laughing.  

I told one of the agents that he should search Jill's bag and she was just going along with it.  The agents were totally laughing and one of them asked me where we were headed and then replied that he should probably let NYPD know we are coming.  Jill was still laughing right along and had no idea.

On our way!

When we arrived in St. Louis, Jill reached for her phone charger and look what she found!

I am pretty sure she almost peed her pants.  

She could not believe that I had gotten him into her bag.  It was priceless.

Next stop, NYC!

Wine and snacks, we are ready for our flight!

When we got to New York, it was raining.  We quickly changed into our rain boots and had our car pick us up to head to the city.  We met with Michelle and Ann for a bit and then Jill and I headed out.

Making our way to Macy's

I was very excited to visit "The Macy's"

The 9th floor was like a Christmas explosion.  I loved it!

Ornaments, ornaments galore!

The 9th floor of Macy's was a happy place for me

We both bought many, many ornaments

Macy's was a hit!

We walked out of Victoria's Secret and I saw this:

The Empire State Building

We went back to our apartment and got ready to go out for the night.  We had tickets to go see the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall.

Ann, Michelle, me, and Jill inside Radio City Music Hall.  Take note of how fresh and lovely we look.

Below are many pictures of the Rockettes.  It was such a fun show to watch.

I was not quite sure what to expect with the Rockettes show.  It was really great!  I am so glad that we went.

Remember when I said take note of how pretty and fresh we looked earlier?  Well, after the show, we walked outside and it was pouring down rain.  We had taken a cab to the show and were not prepared with umbrellas or anything.  It turns out, we could not get a cab and Jill and I got separated from Michelle and Ann.  Jill and I finally got a cab and we went to Grand Central Station with hopes to meet up with Michelle and Ann.  

Jill and me in the pouring down rain.

Michelle and Ann darted into a bar since they could not get a cab.  When they finally got one, they ended up going back to the apartment.  

Grand Central Station

I had never been to Grand Central Station before.  It was so pretty!

Jill and I ended up having dinner at the Italian restaurant inside Grand Central.  Our food was okay, but our service was horrible.

Jill at dinner

Me at dinner, with crazy hair

We had agreed that after dinner, we would buy umbrellas and walk to Rockefeller Center to see the tree.  

Making our way to see the tree

It was really raining

We were not going to let the rain ruin our fun!

The Empire State Building was all light up in pretty colors

Another pretty building

After walking for a few blocks, we finally made it to our destination.  I have been waiting a long time to see the tree and it did not disappoint, even if it was raining.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

I was really, really excited to see the tree

Jill was pretty excited to see the tree too!

It was worth walking in the rain to get to see it!

This happened.  Love the photo bomb going on.

Many shameless pictures were taken

After seeing the tree, we wanted a little dessert.  It was late, but we stopped in for a brownie.

It was quite yummy.

After our brownie, we decided to walk a few blocks before hailing a cab.  As we were walking, Jill noticed these bright lights a few blocks to the West and asked me if it was Times Square.  I noticed what block we were on and realized it was.  We decided to walk over there and then would get a cab from there.  Now is probably a good time to point out that we were in heels.

Jill getting her first look at Times Square

It was pouring

Jill in front of where the NYE ball drops

After Times Square, we started walking and tried to hail a cab.  I consider myself a wonderful cab hailer, but with the rain, I guess it is impossible to get a cab.  We ended up walking all the way back to our apartment which was a mile and a half.  While it is not that far, it was not the most fun walk in heels and in the pouring rain.  We made it though and had a lot of fun!  

Our first day in NYC was a success!