The Wigton Family: New York, New York!

Thanks to Eric and his hard work on a research project he scored a trip to New York City. This worked out super well because his flight and hotel were covered by the University. So, we booked me a flight and I tagged along. Eric's mom (Mamaw) came down last Tuesday to keep the kids while we were away. That was the longest we've been away from the kids and it was hard. Those were baby steps b/c Eric and I are going on a cruise this summer and leaving the kids for much longer.

Anyway...NYC! We had a direct flight at 630am last Wednesday morning and were in the City by 10am! Eric had a Lincoln Towncar waiting on us to take us to our hotel. Oh, did I mention our hotel was THE WALDORF ASTORIA! It was aaaaamazing!!!! We couldn't check in yet, so we checked our bags and took off walking. After about 10 blocks it started raining. Then it started raining a little harder. Yep, we were soaked without an umbrella, hat, or even a rain jacket. That part kind of sucked, but we still had fun. We walked so many miles I wish I would have kept track.

We happened to be walking through Times Square and a lady asked if we wanted David Letterman tickets. Ummm, YEAH!! That was one of the things we would have loved to do, but couldn't get tickets online. We had to answer a trivia question and Eric got it right! So, that evening we waited in line forever and a half and ended up with 2nd row aisle seats. It aired last Thursday night. We recorded it and watched it when we got home and saw us on TV at the very end when they panned the audience. So cool!

Central Park!

Finally got our umbrellas and walked back to Rockefeller Plaza (4 blocks from The Waldorf).

The Ever-So-Crazy-Busy Times Square!

It rained ALL DAY and NIGHT on Wednesday.

This show was sooooo much fun to go to!! After the show we had an amazing dinner at City Lobster. So good!!

Thursday morning Eric was up bright and early to go present his research! I slept in, worked out in the fitness center, went to Starbucks and SHOPPED!!! I had so much fun walking up and down 5th Avenue shopping at some great little boutiques and the biggest store in the world---Macy's! Bought myself a new purse and wallet! So exciting. Eric ended up finishing up in the early afternoon and took off shopping with me. We went to FAO Schwarz, Tiffany's, and all the other stores we couldn't afford. I felt just like Carrie Bradshaw (my most favorite person, ever!).

Dr. Wigton!!

I spent over an hour in this amazing store! I miss this so much about St. Louis!

The NYC Public Library...where Carrie and Mr. Big SHOULD have gotten married!

MACY'S!!

My new purse!! Cute, eh?

More Times Square

The Apple Store was a huge glass box and you go in and take an elevator or stairs down inside the underground store. It was HUGE and very cool.

Thursday night was so amazing. We got all dressed up and went to Becco for dinner thanks to my sister's recommendation. It was a delicious Italian restaurant that was clearly popular b/c it was jam packed with people. Then we walked (probalby the 12th mile that day) to the Theater District and saw WICKED!! It was just as awesome as I remembered! Eric didn't think it was that awesome, but he enjoyed himself after drinking his $18 Vodka-Tonics. Hey, it came with a great Wicked souvenier cup that the kids will love.

So all of these pictures were taken on our phones. Horrible quality due to it being a)our phones and b) very crappy lighting.

Friday morning was so much fun. I had to set an alarm to get up early, but definitely not as early as everyone else did b/c I walked the four blocks up the street to THE TODAY SHOW!!! I looked for some crazy people to stand next to so I'd have higher chances of getting on TV. I saw these women wearing orange hats that were made out of New York City parking tickets. I thought for sure it would get them on TV. I was right!! Al Roker came out after I was only standing there for like 4 minutes. Perfect timing. Who says you have to get up at 5am?? I got up at 7am!! He walked around and shook our hands and then set up to talk about the weather RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME (and the crazy orange hat ladies). Then he talked to the women about their hats and I just stood their smiling and waving over their heads! It got me on TV b/c Mamaw and Caroline called to tell me they saw me on TV! So, that was fun!

I'll take a picture of my TV another day with my big head smiling at the camera for the Today Show. Ha.

Eric totally skipped out on the rest of the conference that day and we caught a Subway train to somewhere in NYC to eat at a deli his friend had told us about. We then walked 200 miles through China Town, down to Wall Street, and over to the World Trade Center site. We walked through the area where the towers were. There are now huge reflective pools in place of the buildings with the names of people who lost their lives on that very tragic day in 2001. Very neat to see, but very emotional.

New towers going up.

Friday night we went to another Italian Restaurant called San Martin. It was delicious as well!

Saturday morning I woke up feeling kinda sick. Lots of sinus pressure in my head, so I slept in for a while. Eric attended some sort of lab for a while and then we went to the Top of the Rock. It's similar to the Empire State Building, where there's an Observation Deck wayyyyyy up high. It was very windy and quite chilly, but totally worth the million dollars it cost to go up there (did I mention that every.little.thing in that city is INSANELY expensive!?).

The ONLY good picture we have that proves we really were vacationing together.

Central Park!

Saturday night we walked back to Times Square and had dinner at John's Pizzeria. A friend at work had recommended it and I would recommend it to anyone! Delicious NY pizza! We then met Woody on the street and snapped a picture to text home to Caroline. She loved seeing Mommy with Woody. We then had to go to the Disney store to buy her a Woody doll. She is really into Toy Story right now. Just ask Mamaw, I'm sure they watched it 25 times while we were away.

We have to give a HUGE Shout Out to Eric's mom for keeping the kids all by herself while we went. It made my heart so happy to see the million pictures she texted of the kids smiling and having a blast. She kept them home from daycare and spoiled them rotten. She had a girl's day with Caroline one day and took her shopping, lunch, riding the train at mall, the park, etc. They are so loved and we are so grateful!

Here are some remainder pics of NYC and then some pics of the cuties that were sent to us while we were away...

Caroline is very into nightgowns at the moment and only had one. One that was a little too tight. Mamaw bought her a new one and she is verrrrry proud of it.