Schue Love

A Weekend in New York {Part 2}

Catch Part 1 here!

We started every morning with Stumptown Coffee from the Ace Hotel...it was beyond dreamy!

Day 2 was a Sunday, which also happened to be Mother's Day! I was looking forward to hitting up a cute neighborhood spot in the West Village called Hudson Clearwater and getting my Mother's Day mimosa!

**Tip** New York does not sell booze before noon on Sunday...good to know, especially when it's Mother's Day!

We got to the restaurant early because they didn't take reservations, and duh, it was Mother's Day! But it was surprisingly quiet. Well...that was 100% because of this silly alcohol rule. *Sigh*

Naturally, we made the most of it and requested to sit outside on their quaint little patio. It was super charming and the food was excellent! The restaurant is a couple blocks from the Hudson River, so we strolled down there to check it out before returning promptly at noon for our drinks! You can also get a nice view of the World Trade Center from the river too.

After brunch, we headed to the Highline to walk it all off. If you're not familiar, it's a converted train track from the 1930s, made into a public park and walkway. They integrated the traintrack into the design, which makes it super unique. They also have little food trucks, lounging chairs and art along the way. I definitely recommend checking it out--it's a gorgeous spot and a nice reprieve!

Afterwards, we went back to the hotel to change and freshen up to see Wicked on Broadway! It was such a theatrical show and super fun to see! Bonus, the dad from GIRLS was the Wizard, which was a nice surprise!

After the show, we walked over to Time Square for an obligatory picture!

Since it was our last night, we decided to really splurge on food!

First stop was Buddakan for their edamame dumplings...which were OUT OF THIS WORLD! We also got the tuna tartare spring roll and rock chili shrimp {which was also amazing!}. You might remember this restaurant from Sex and the City!

After, we stopped by Milk for some cereal flavored soft serve...delish!

And then we had dinner at Upland, which was super swanky, modern, but not too stuffy! We loved the little gem salad and their bucatini cacio e pepe. It was all delicious! Not pictured but worth noting, we stopped by a whiskey bar, Maysville, around the corner from our hotel for a night cap and the bartender, Gabriella was the best! The food menu also looks pretty spectacular!

Sigh...our last day! We really wanted to make the most of it, so we got up early and walked back down to the West Village for brunch at Bluestone Lane. We loved sitting outside and eating something semi-healthy! ;)

Our next stop was at Central Park. We really lucked out with the weather...it was sunny and in the low 70s. I can't even imagine it being any hotter...the humidity is no joke!

For lunch, we decided it was worth waiting in line at the original Shake Shack in Madison Square. This was probably the benefit of staying until Monday because the tourists were not as prevalent! **Hint** The chicken sandwiches are the way to go!

Our last and final stop was at the rooftop bar over Eately. They've changed their concept so that it's a new pop-up restaurant every season. They just changed it over for the summer to Sabbia, which had a fun coastal vibe. We would definitely go back for some appetizers next time!

One last tip I will leave you with is to bring a portable charger! If you're anything like me, I was Instagramming and Snapchatting up a storm, which meant my battery was d.e.a.d. half way through the day. The portable charger was a lifesaver!

So there you have it...how to do two and a half days in New York! It was such a spectacular trip and we felt super fortunate to escape for the weekend. We are already planning our trip back {which probably won't be for a while...but, hey, we can dream!} and can't wait to create new memories. If anything, our trip really reinstated the importance of taking time out for "just us" and traveling...something we never really made a priority before kids. Word of advice...travel more! Memories really do last a lifetime. ;)

xo natasha

A Weekend in New York {Part 1}

This past weekend we got to escape to New York...which was my first trip EVER to the Big Apple! We only had two and a half days but we made the absolute most of it and I am so excited to share our trip and some tips that we learned along the way.

First things first, we stayed at Ace Hotel, which is centrally located in midtown. Now...I did a TON of research about where to stay and agonized over the location, atmosphere, and of course price point. If you didn't already know, I can confirm that New York is expensive across the board and while we weren't planning on spending an excessive amount of time in our hotel {hello, we only had 2.5 days}, we wanted to move sure we stayed somewhere fun!

Ace Hotel really nailed it for us! The property was pretty much everything we could have asked for. The location was great...we could walk to our favorite neighborhoods or jump on the subway, which was located right around the corner. The hotel is fun, quirky and personable. There were lots of little details that made our stay memorable...like a record player, guitar, Pendleton blankets, fun little quotes around our room and an oversized rain shower head. The staff was extremely accommodating...we got to stay on the top floor with a great view of the city {we booked a medium room, for reference}! And the scene in the lobby is always bustling, which made us feel like we could unwind at the end of the day in a fun atmosphere. Oh! And don't forget, Stumptown Cofee Roasters is on-site too!

We took the red eye flight on Friday night and arrived at 8am on Saturday morning. The perk was that the drive from JFK was only 30 minutes, since we weren't dealing with commuters. The hotel happily held our bags, we grabbed a huge latte at Stumptown and hit the ground running.

Our first stop was Dominque Ansel's Bakery for his infamous cronut! The line was not too long and we figured it was worth the wait...and it was! The May flavor of the month was brown sugar ruhbarb with lemon thyme sugar and it tasted just like a giant poptart...only 1000x better!

**Tip...you can pre-order your cronut and skip the line if you play your cards right! More info on that here.**

Ryan and I both had one thing that we felt we really wanted to see while we were in New York. Mine was seeing a musical and his was seeing the 9/11 memorial and museum. We pre-ordered tickets for both.

The 9/11 museum was very emotional for me. They did such an amazing time laying out the museum {we skipped the tour...but you can easily walk through the museum on your own} and they captured all the details, from phone call recordings of passengers on the plane {heartbreaking} to semi-destoryed fire trucks that were on display. There were several other exhibits in the museum that just took my breath away. I could not help but cry for those all of the victims, whether they were on the plane or in one of the buildings. I'm glad we went, but be prepared for the weight of the experience.

Afterwards, we decided to walk up to Soho and do some shopping. Did you know that there is no sales tax in NYC? Hello!

We grabbed lunch at Tacombi on Bleeker Street which was an adorable taco shop!

After lunch we did some more shopping, sight-seeing {we strolled down Carrie's old street from Sex and the City}, grabbed a latte at Bluestone Lane and made our way back to our hotel to check-in and freshen up before dinner!

That night we stopped by the 230 5th Ave rooftop bar for a glass of champagne, the stunning views of the Empire State Building and fun perks like robes to keep you warm! ;) We walked through Eataly before going to ABC Kitchen for a cocktail. ABC Kitchen is Jean-Georges restaurant and connects to one of his other restaurants, ABC Cocina, which is where we had dinner that night. The food, service and atmosphere was all on point! Definitely order the spring-pea guacamole {it was AMAZING!} and the short rib tacos. I also tried the ginger margarita at ABC Kitchen and really enjoyed it too!

After dinner we grabbed macarons at Laudree in Soho, met up with a friend at Estela and then headed back to our hotel for a nightcap in the lobby! It was a fantastic day and we were both impressed that we got to do as much as we did in one day!

I think I'll break this post up into two parts since it's getting so long! Check in tomorrow for the rest of our trip!

xo natasha

PS... See Part 2 here!

New York in the Spring!

Image via The Glitter Guide

Our New York weekend is finally here! We're taking a red eye in and will have two and a half days there. I.cannot.wait! Any last minute tips or places to see/shop/eat at? Let me know in the comments!

And follow along on Instagram and Snapchat! {schuelove}

Have a wonderful weekend and Mother's Day!

xo natasha

Surprise Shopbop Sale!

Surprise! Shopbop is having a sale {no code needed} and if you have Amazon Prime, you should be able to get free 2-day shipping in time for Mother's Day!

Here are some of my favorites...