First Days

Time for a first post in the city! It's a bit rainy today so I'm locked inside for a bit, waiting for Siobhan to come back from work and then we can go out on the town!

Siobhan is a superstar!

The trip here was frustratingly long, as my connecting flight through Denver was delayed two hours. Still, Siobhan was ready to greet me in her adorable midtown apartment with a bottle of wine and a fun night out! We went to dinner at a New Orleans themed restaurant called Bourbon Street where they handed out beads. From there we went to a live band karaoke bar where Siobhan sang her heart out, and then on to a couple other places before heading home.

Yummmmmm!

We might have partied just a teensy bit too hard, however, so slept through the morning. We decided to freshen up and take a walk to Chelsea, grabbing lunch at a fun place called Cafeteria. They had these amazing stuffed dates wrapped in bacon - yum! We walked back, napped some more, then headed to a bar called Finnerty's that is all about the bay area teams - Sharks, 49ers, and Giants - where we watched the Giants get their butts handed to them by Pittsburgh. Ugh. We then walked a bit to a bar called Tortilla Flats that Siobhan's roommate Nancy was working at, and had a couple margaritas and relaxed.

Overall a great couple first days. Today we will probably head to a museum, maybe the Met. We might catch a yoga class or maybe go for a run. Siobhan convinced me to sign up for a race she is running at the end of June so we are getting our training on!

This city has such awesome shapes, great for photos!

The New York Times building on our walk to Chelsea

Museums, Part 1

I know I want to spend tons of time at museums - but which ones? Below are some of my thoughts, feel free to share your own! As the title indicates, this is just the first post in this series of museum research - if you have recommendations for other museums I should see or specific exhibitions to check out, please suggest those in the comments!

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Website: http://www.metmuseum.org/ Hours: 
Cost of Admission: $25 for adults, $12 for students
Interesting Exhibitions: Punk, Chaos to Couture; Photography and the American Civil War; African Art, New York and the Avant-Garde; "A Sport for Every Girl;" At War with the Obvious; Plain or Fancy?

Tuesday–Thursday: 9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.

Friday and Saturday: 9:30 a.m.–9:00 p.m.

Sunday: 9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.

Monday: CLOSED

Thoughts: The Met is HUGE, and I'll probably plan on more than one day there! There's so much to plan to see - I like the suggested itineraries on the website, and plan to follow one or more to direct my visit. There's also The Cloisters which could provide a nice break to smell the flowers before returning to the astounding plethora of art and history. A friend recommended I bring a book and take a break to read in the gardens. And, let's be real, the girly-girl in me can't wait to take a picture on the Met steps a la Blair Waldorf!

Guggenheim

Website: http://www.guggenheim.org/

Hours:

Sunday - Wednesday: 10 am–5:45 pm

Thursday: CLOSED

Friday: 10 am–5:45 pm

Saturday: 10 am–7:45 pm

Cost of Admission: $22 for adult, $18 for students

Interesting Exhibitions: Frank Lloyd Wright's Usonion House and Pavilion; James Turrell; Thannhauser Collection   

Thoughts: The Guggenheim looks to have some amazing exhibitions, though they aren't at the museum for the whole time of my trip so timing could be tricky. The Thannhauser Collection looks impressive, but I'm not sure if this is a place I want to spend a whole day; it could be a nice place to spend a morning if I run out of priority items to see. The museum offers a mobile app (which isn't yet available to Android) that could help with a multimedia tour of the museum.

Museum of Modern Art

Website: http://www.moma.org/

Hours:

Saturday - Thursday: 10:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.

Friday: 10:30 a.m.–8:00 p.m. 

Cost of Admission: $25 for adults, $14 for students

Interesting Exhibitions: I can only post this link, they all look amazing. 

Thoughts: After navigating the slightly annoying website, my first thought when seeing the collections and exhibitions was "Wow!" From the quirky sculptures in the gardens to the Rain Room, I feel like I could spend days here. My only regret is that the political architecture exhibition ends two days before I get to the city.

Warmup

Hey there, loyal readers!

On June 11, I will be heading to the Big Apple for a summer of fun with some of my best friends. I will be seeing the sights, tasting delicious foods, playing the tourist and more.

My goal is to employ this blog to create a series of posts that will serve to remind me of the good times before I dive headfirst into the hectic life of a law school student. Once I return home, I intend to repurpose this content to create a printed book that I can reference when times get tough.

I will employ the following tools are more to capture my journey, and will use these tools to update the blog here for your enjoyment.

• Evernote suite of apps
• Evernote Moleskine notebook
• Google Nexus 4 phone and camera
• MacBook Air
• Advice of friends
• Pens - the exact brand of which I have yet to determine
• Stabilo fine point pens

Do you have any ideas on where I should go? Tips and tricks on making it in the bustling town of NYC? Let me know in the comments!