MDW

To start out the Memorial Day Weekend, I headed Downtown Raleigh to have a drink and experience some places I haven't been before. I went to the Boylan Bridge Restaurant and enjoyed the tiny Raleigh skyline. When I looked up the restaurant it said it has the best view of the skyline, but it was kind of funny how small it is coming from seeing Chicago's all my life and just visiting NYC. 

My apartment complex's pool opened on Saturday and it was lovely.

On Sunday, I decided to take a day trip to the beach. I went to Wrightsville. Its so clean and beautiful there. I think next time I may try a different beach though to mix it up.

I arrived quite early and was able to enjoy the nice quiet beach.

The houses there are my dream.

For lunch, I ate at The Oceanic. I've been there before, but never for lunch. It was pretty good, but I would suggest holding out for dinner. Their menu has much more seafood dishes. However, the views are amazing anytime of day.

Shrimp Roll and the Crab Melt.

  Capped off the weekend with a trip to the grocery store to pick up these beauties for the week. I'm not sure why, but I've been craving these for the past two weeks. So good.

Noteworthy

With all the things to do in NYC, sometimes you just stumble upon sites that you didn't intend to. 

Look familiar? You've probably seen these buildings in Law & Order, Blue Bloods, etc. 

We went to dinner our first night and both ordered deliciously refreshing cocktails. Mine was made with fresh watermelon juice and mint. Yum.

Because of my mom's flight delay, I ate lunch at Vezzo down the street from our hotel. I ordered the Rotella: prosciutto di parma rolls with arugula, roasted pepper and smoked mozzarella. I felt like I was eating the Italian equivalent of sushi. Everything looked absolutely amazing.

I ordered a nice sauvignon blanc and they came out with this little glass. I was a bit confused, but okay. It worked out.

 Light lunch at Brio on the UES. Total sucker for a caprese salad and/or margherita pizza.

Cute little, non-traditional tequila bar that we dined at before heading to the Top of the Rock. Amazingly tasty chicken tacos and sangria.

The one day we ate brunch, we stopped at Rue 57. Highly recommend for everything you could want for brunch. The part that was interesting though was that they were also a sushi bar. Didn't get to dabble in that, but I would have liked to.

One of my coworkers told me about this tiny ice cream shop that used to be an ice cream truck. The recommended "Salty Pimp" was light and amazing, while my mom got the "Mermaid." She said it was great too!

I was also lucky enough to round up our NYC experience with my first go at Shake Shack. It was everything I imagined. Delicious American burgers and fries. Currently craving another round now. Except this time, I would really like to try that red velvet milk shake. Ahh!!!

Central Park

Central Park was a must see site on my list. Its so iconic, in my opinion. The movies and TV shows its been the backdrop for seem endless and I felt it was absolutely necessary to experience nature thriving in a huge city. Its pretty crazy to think about and see how big it actually is, dropped in the middle of this enormous concrete jungle. 

The tulips were beautiful. I'm now thinking I want to buy some for my balcony.

There was a little wedding going on under one of the most picturesque terraces in the world. 

The Bethesda Fountain and Terrace were gorgeous. They literally were everything I could have imagined. They don't build things like they used to.

Beautiful.

Upper East Side

 

What is a fashion enthusiast's dream? All of their favorite designers up and down one street. I was told that Madison Avenue has surpassed Rodeo Drive on being the most expensive retail street in the nation.

I was in my glory window-shopping and stepping into some of the world's best designer boutiques and department stores. The Upper East Side is elite in itself, but the fashion is bar-none.



 

What I would give for a pair of Vivier heels.



 

Swooning over the Celine bags.



 

The Rolls Royce of Macaroons. Ladurée Paris was the cutest little café. Biting into one of their delicious creations was pure luxury. The salted caramel was my favorite.



 

I LOVE cupcakes and I believe I have found my unicorn. Why have one flavor, when you can have little bites of a bunch of flavors? Genius. The cupcaron was a serious treat. Cupcake + Macaroon = Cupcaron. The cotton candy one was divine.

 



Feel free to have these delivered to my door. I will not turn them away!! :)