NYC: Day Two

Waking up in the city is nothing short of amazing.

The city is never quite even when you are 23 stories in the sky.

We woke bright and early on our second day in the city.

There is a Dunkin' Donuts one block up from our hotel on West 48th.

My mom walked down (in her PJs and a coat) and got coffee for us and hot chocolates for the girls.

I had decided against breakfast at The Plaza Hotel before we went to the city.

The reviews online said it was overpriced and there was really no "Eloise experience".

Wrong but I will get to that.

Luckily, we decided to go for breakfast anyway.

We quickly called and made a reservation.  By some magical chance, there was a reservation available.

We quickly dressed, hailed our first cab and we were on the way.

Big and Bug were not in love with cab rides.  We had not prepared them for the crazy driving and the nastiness that comes along with cab rides i.e. their cab driver opened his door at an intersection and hocked and loogie on the street.  *gag*

Fifth Avenue is a whole new world.

Everything is shiny and beautiful and grand and perfect.

We arrived in front of the hotel and I immediately got butterflies.  I am at The Plaza Hotel.  The freaking PLAZA HOTEL!!

We spoke to the doorman who I fell in love with.  He was the epitome of a Plaza doorman.

I walked in and silently gasped at the grandness of it all.  It was beautiful.

This is the floor when you first walk in

Despite all of the beauty, I kept thinking about that doorman.

I needed a picture of my girls with him.  He was perfect and I loved him and I wanted my girls to take their picture with him.

We trudged back outside in the cold.  He happily obliged to a picture.

Be still my heart!!  Look at all of the preciousness.  I mean he even has on a FUR HAT!!

We went back in and looked around.  The Palm Court was beautiful and I was overwhelmed by the fact that we were going to be eating there in just a few short minutes.

We walked around the hotel.  We were on a mission to find the Eloise painting.  We spotted it and  had pictures with it.  {Hint: it is in the hallway to the left of The Palm Court} Next, we had to find the Eloise Boutique.  We made our way downstairs.  We stopped along the way to admire the beautiful sweets.

Breakfast was delicious!  The girls got their very own PINK Eloise Breakfast menu.  Here it is in PDF format.

Bug had the Central Park Pancakes with warm syrup.  YUM!

Big had the Perfect Parfait.  It was not her favorite.  The yogurt was not flavored and she was not a fan of plain yogurt.

Here is the adult breakfast menu.

I had the choice of 3 fresh baked pastries.  OMG!  I chose the seasonal scones,  pain au chocolat & cheese danish.  SO DELICIOUS!!

Mom had cold cereal with skim milk.

Marion {mom's BFF that went with us} had the Homemade Bircher Muesli and her daughter had the adult entree of buttermilk pancakes.

The $12 glass of orange juice {which we did NOT realize cost $12} was amazing.  Like, the best orange juice I have EVER tasted.  6 glasses and $72 later, we still wanted more.  Good thing we stopped ourselves.

After stuffing our faces with the most delicious food, we headed back downstair to shop at the Eloise Boutique.

Eloise is a fictional character who lives in the "room on the tippy-top floor" of the Plaza Hotel in New York City with her Nanny, her pug dog Weenie, and her turtle Skipperdee.

She has always been one of our favorite characters.  Her books & movies are great!

The girls picked out gifts, wrote Eloise a letter and even sat on the plush couch and watched a little bit of the Eloise movie.

This is a DEFINITE if you go to the city with girls. They will love every second of it.

If you don't want to do the grand experience of The Palm Court breakfast, you can always just eat downstairs at The Plaza Food Hall.  It will not disappoint.  Promise.

After The Plaza, we headed across the street to FAO Schwarz.

We took pictures with the soldier that holds the door.  He even suggested that the girls do two poses.  Super nice guy that really loved his job.

Sadly, FAO Schwarz in Manhattan will be closing its doors in July.  So, if you want to jump on the big piano like Tom Hanks or you want to meet the soldier standing gaurd at the door, you better go now.

What else did we do?

Well, the upper east side holds a 3 story candy store known as Dylan's Candy Bar.

Dylan Lauren {yes, Ralph's daughter} opened this flagship store in 2001.

You name a candy, I promise you will find it here.

AND everything is made of candy.  Not.even.kidding.  The STAIRS are even made of candy!

Dylan's portrait made of candy

After our sweet visit, we had to make our way back to midtown.

We had tickets to see Matilda.

We hailed a cab because walking from the upper east side to Times Square is a haul.

When we got back to the hotel, the girls were hungry.  We found a little tiny pizza joint {standing room only} and got them their very first slice of New York pizza.  AND we found Dr. Pepper for them.  {They had been craving Dr. Pepper since we left the South}.

Matilda was wonderful!!!  It was a great show for kids and my girls LOVED it.

We went to Restaurant Row to find somewhere to have dinner.  Restaurant Row is on West 46th Street between 8th & 9th avenues.  It is conveniently located to all of the theaters so it was a perfect time to head down there.  Restaurant Row is a street packed with some of New York's best restaurants.

We decided on Da Rosina... a cute little Italian place.

I had Farfalle Cacciatora.  It was a bowtie pasta with onions, peppers, mushrooms & chicken in tomato sauce.  The girls had Tortellini alla Panna-- a homemade tortellini filled with ricotta cheese in a cream sauce.

After dinner, we were all exhausted.

We walked back to the hotel and tucked ourselves in our warm, cozy beds as the rest of New York buzzed away 23 stories below us.

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UP NEXT: Day Three

Downtown