Quick Taste of NY…

After a hectic red-eye flight arriving at La Guardia on Pi day, Lana and I took a shuttle to the hotel (The Inn at Fox Hollow — a very luxurious hotel located on what the locals call wedding alley, where a bunch of these fabulous hotels are located and where weddings are hosted like clockwork — so efficiently and so wonderfully). We met the bride and groom in the lobby before checking in and relaxing with guidebooks and naptime before taking a short jaunt to a restaurant: TO FU for a late light lunch. This restaurant served both Chinese and Japanese food and did a rather decent job at both, especially considering that it was a VERY reasonably priced place. After spending a bit of time with the groomsmen, we primped and relaxed to broadway showtunes on the local University radio station before heading over to Fox Hollow for the wedding itself.

And what a wedding! The ceremony was incredibly tasteful, beautiful and unique. I loved the little touches and the hall was gorgeous! Of course so was the bride, so beautiful was her gown and hooded cloak. She stole the show (if it could be said that anyone did). Of course the rest of the wedding party all appeared radiant as well.

Cocktail hour was a yummy affair. As I don't drink the open bar didn't tantalize me as much as the others, but the food — my gawsh… so yummy! There was everything by way of incredibly delicious hors d'oeuvres and such. Delicious! And then the reception, which began with a grand entrance that rivaled all I have yet seen. 🙂 I think we ballroom dancers knocked people's socks off with our antics… (oh well) but the dancing and fun continued all night… so entertaining and yummy the evening was (I ate duck). The bride and groom shone with radiance — dancing up a storm. The evening ended with photo sharing, New York, New York and more great dancing! Oh and two awesome friends of mine caught the bouquet and garter respectively.

The next morning, we headed to Manhattan via LIRR. Manhattan brought the joys of tall buildings, the hustle and bustle of crowds and of course some fun! Indeed, we rode the carousel in Bryant park before heading to the NY Public Library. So gorgeous a building it is — it recalled Europe! We caught a Jack Karouac exhibit, a 400 yr Milton retrospective, some drawings of Monumental France, some glass etchings, a Gutenberg Bible and the original Winnie-the-Pooh stuffed animals. And that's just a library! Wow!

The rest of the day included a visit to Rockefeller Centre (where we went to the NBC Experience where we toured and saw part of the SNL set — including a pre-rehearsal rehearsal of some SNL sketches and pretended to be Today Show TV personalities), a visit to M&M World, Saks 5th Avenue, the world's largest Build a Bear Workshop, a Sanrio store, and a Hershey's store as well as Times Square and of course Madame Toussaud's Wax Museum before heading back to Long Island via a LATE train (1:06am).

Sunday was a bit more relaxed. We arrived in Manhattan in time to catch some lunch before our respective shows: I saw Chicago! 🙂 Lunch was also delicious at Ruby Foos in Times Square — another Chinese/Japanese restaurant — this time with more of a westernized Dim Sum style. Much fun and DELICIOUS food — especially the AWESOME maki! The evening was spent in the company of the Bride and Groom who entertained in their suite — yay for playing the Wii, before I packed to head home via delayed planes the next day (yay for Minneapolis weather *rolls eyes*) arriving home in time for class.

So that's the uber brief version of my quick trip. I think some of the others arrive back today…

Oh and if you didn't hear it the first time: have a splendid Easter! 🙂