Hey everyone! Happy friday. Hope you had an awesome week!! And hello October and fall :) Its going to be a busy couple of weeks with Seb's 1st birthday party and a family vacation but I'm totally looking forward to it! This weekend is going to be chaotic grabbing last minute items for the party but it will be worth it.
About 2 weeks ago we headed to New York for 36 hours without the kids to celebrate my birthday (a few days in advance). We have honestly left the kids only once before and it was similar- I think for even less time (24 hours) so this was long overdue! It is always hard to leave them behind but I think its super important to get away and spend some mommy/daddy and "me" time. Self care and time for your relationship is super important and 36 hours in the big scheme of things isn't a lot of time especially if you don't do it often...(thats what I keep telling myself anyway)
A little birthday love
Travel
Because we have had the worst luck with flying and I have legit anxiety when we are both gone and the kids are with someone else, we decided to fly there and drive home. This way we would definitely get home on time..or at ALL.I seriously have had to drive back all night long twice already due to flights being cancelled..so..i just can't even deal with the stress. It totally isn't worth it especially with both of us being gone. At least if I'm on my own I don't worry as much, hubs is holding down the fort with the boys.
I go to NYC a lot so my go-to is definitely Jet Blue. Its a quick flight and the service and price is pretty good. Also, getting to the JFK air train and the subway is fairly easy from terminal 5. I've taken a few other airlines before and it definitely wasn't as easy. Whether you take a cab (at least 45 mins depending on traffic, could be up to 2 hours ) or the subway (90 mins) just getting in/out of Manhattan is tough. And of course security, etc at the airport it is such an ordeal! And then tack on any delays or cancellations and its an all day affair.
So anyway, we drove home. The drive home was pretty smooth (6 hours) with no real worries. Best part of driving back had to be no limits on baggage back. Ha Ha!!
Hotel: The Peninsula
We actually booked the trip pretty far in advance and I had been looking for good hotel deals for awhile but nothing really caught my eye. I consider a good deal to be a hotel room for $200 or less near the (central) park. My favorite spot to stay is around columbus circle to 5th along central park south. I normally stay at the Manhattan Club (they have fridges in the rooms for my milk haha ) or the Park central (both at 57th and 7th). Looking at their prices it was about $275 or so...which made me hold off.
One night I was looking up hotels and Hotwire popped up. I'd never used it before but thought I would play around with it. I selected 5 star hotels and it gave me several options but they were "mystery hotels" until I purchased. It gave me some information like location and what hotel line it COULD be but not much more info than that. I tried to put the search in a couple times to see if I could get any clues. I got one hint saying "Hurry, the last person that booked this got Hotel Peninsula". I quickly looked up the Peninsula and was like..DANG. I need to snag this deal ASAP.
For those of you who don't know, the Peninsula is a 5 star on 5th and 55th- it is gorgeous. Beautiful rooms, great location and the price was literally 70 % off on hotwire. It was a little risky (because there was no guarantee) but we went for it and got it! I was so stoked, I'm such a sucker for a deal. I'm that girl who you tell "i like your shirt" and I immediately respond with "thanks...got it at ____ for ____" haha.
So we ended up getting the room for $315 vs $800/900! Amazing! The hotel was great and I would definitely recommend it. Service was top notch, rooms were great and like I said location, location, location!!
Helicopter Ride
The highlight of our trip for sure had to be the helicopter ride we took over manhattan (although actually going to the bathroom on my own for a whole day came in a second close haha #momproblems).
We barely made the ride on time just because our flight was delayed getting down to NYC (of course). We had a beautiful day for the ride and we were with 4 other people. Everything we had heard people said to go mid afternoon which is what we chose. We had these parachute things we had to put on and also had to watch a safety video prior to. I've never been on a helicopter ride so I was super excited. The most amazing areas of the city to see where no doubt Central Park, lower Manhattan, and midtown.
Flying directly over the Brooklyn Bridge!
We went with the NYC Helicopter Tours (very original name, lol) and we got on in lower manhattan. I know there are tons of options and some you can get on from Jersey. I didn't really want the hassle of getting over there so thats why we went with the one downtown. There is also one that looks pretty amazing where your feet are hanging out of the helicopter..I was definitely not ready for that but maybe someday haha. We selected the "VIP Manhattan tour" and it was 30 minutes. I think depending on your budget going for longer is definitely worth it if you can.
It was definitely crazy how windy it was with the chopper going as we were getting in but it was super FUN. The views were amazing and it just gives you a great perspective on the city itself. There were one or two nervy moments ..like when the pilot flew DIRECTLY at the brooklyn bridge and steered away at the last section (on purpose of course)!! Anyway, heli ride over NYC is a must see and should be on your bucket list if you haven't already done it!
The one thing I would def change if I had to do it again was force hubby to get on the heli first. Because I went on second and "was the smallest" I ended up sitting bitch for the ride. Total buzz kill. I was leaning over both sides to get photos which was super annoying.
Other than that we did some shopping, went out to eat, and enjoyed a run in central park. It was a quick trip, but totally worth it and much needed!
Have a great weekend everyone xo
Alex