New York, New York – Family Style

January 9, 2017 - Lifestyle

We love New York. Both of our parents are born and raised New Yorkers and we still have most of our family up there. One of my favorite times of year to go up there is during the holidays. The light displays and store windows are nothing short of amazing. This year we went up there the week after Christmas with our family and had SO much fun.

My Dad grew up in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It’s changed SO much and he always takes us around LES and shows us some of his favorite shops on Delancey that have been there over 50 years! Of course, there are more new than old stores now, but it was pretty cool to see him head into a hat store (pun intended) that’s been there since he was young. There are restaurants, art galleries and some great one-of-a-kind fashion shops. Our first stop was this graphic tee store where I needed all the band tees. Seriously, all the tees.

The downside to NY during the holidays: it was freezing. Legitimately. I wore 3 pairs of pants: leggings, fleece leggings, and jeans. Chelsea had a coat, under her fur coat. No shame here!

After LES we took a short ride over to SoHo and it is So(Ho) cute! Our brother, Lawrence, is a professional photographer and we owe him photo credit for a lot of our shots during this trip. Between the shopping and the photo spots in SoHo, it’s one of our favorite neighborhoods. And don’t get us started on their restaurants and coffee spots!

The name “SoHo” refers to the area being “South of Houston Street“, and was also a reference to Soho, an area in London’s West End.

We left the SoHo neighborhood and headed over to Little Italy to meet two of my dad’s sisters for some authentic Italian food for dinner. We had Paesanos of Little Italy on Mulberry Street and it was DELISH! Fettuccini Alfredo, Lasagna Primavera, Chicken Parmigiana, Chicken Marsala… We had a little off everyone’s plates, that’s what family is for right? And after dinner, Ferrara’s bakery for cannolis. My first cannoli I ever ate was from here a few years ago and now it’s a must have. Fun fact: they deliver! You can order online here. You’re welcome.

After dinner we went down to the Battery. World Trade is downtown and while we’ve been to the Memorial, we haven’t seen the Museum yet. When going to the 9/11 Museum, you can reserve your tickets online and forego one of the lines. They also sell out of certain times so make sure you book early! There’s security the same way you’d see at an airport so be prepared because it’s especially difficult when you decide to wear 3 jackets.

The museum is beautifully done. There were people there of all different backgrounds and everyone was respectfully of the sacred ground even the children understood it wasn’t a place to run around. Such an important site and I definitely recommend it to everyone visiting New York so that we may never forget.

“No Day Shall Erase You From the Memory of Time.” -Virgil

The 9/11 Museum is moving but very somber. When we left, we went down to 34th street to see the Macy*s windows. If you follow us on Snapchat or Instagram (which we hope you all do!), you saw that our trip was spiced up with a street performance. We were standing by Macy’s and our brother and I were called “on stage” to be part of the show!

So we hung out in Manhattan, where my Dad grew up, and the next day it was time to head to Brooklyn where our Mom’s family is. We went to the Dumbo area with great restaurants, an amazing view of the bridge, and my Mom joined in on the sister blogging duo with some cute shots of her and our aunt!

P.S. – hey Gossip Girl fans… who spots Lonely Boy’s apartment?

No trip to Brooklyn is complete without a trip to our favorite consignment shop, Beacon’s Closet, in Greenpoint! Obsessed. Can’t make it to Brooklyn? You can shop some of their stuff online! And after a day of shopping, we had to re-energize… with CHEESECAKE! Junior’s Cheesecake is world famous and for good reason! Eat it. Just, do it. Can’t make it to NY, no worries, they deliver too! Riiiiiiight here. Again, YOU’RE WELCOME!