NYC!

Kyle and I were initially lured to the East Coast because of New York City. We were so excited about the thought of living in a big city, just the two of us, within walking distance of the latest Broadway show. We got as near as Connecticut, and we can't complain. Two hours by train or car to the city is doable and we are taking advantage of every opportunity to be part of this crazy metropolitan.

As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Kyle and I attend an LDS temple as often as we can. We are technically within the borders of the Boston Massachusetts Temple but have decided to attend as many different temples on the East Coast while we can. It's a wonderful experience to attend the temple, and we are grateful to have an extra reason to visit some fun cities while we are here.

During the first part of December, Kyle and I made plans to venture into the heart of New York City to attend the Manhattan New York Temple. Our friends here in CT let us know that the best ways to get into the city are (in this order):

1. go by train from southwestern Connecticut
2. park on the edge of the city and take the subway in
3. drive into the city and try to find parking

They warned us about the last option because of the expense and chaos. However, Kyle found an awesome website that tells in real time where there is free and available street parking anywhere in NYC. Granted, it did take us about 40 minutes to find a spot even after following the website, but we were able to find a free parking about seven blocks from the temple.

Yes, we are that cool to find free parking in NYC. Mighty proud. ;)

The Manhattan Temple is so beautiful! We had a wonderful time there and are excited to go back soon.

The Temple is located across from the
Lincoln Center and close to Central Park

Following our visit to the Temple, Kyle and I began a Christmas tour of New York City! We started with a chilly stroll through Central Park.

Kyle is so debonair...

...and then there's me! ;)

We were so excited to visit Broadway and Times Square. We didn't have time for a Broadway musical on this trip but we'll be back for that soon.

Times Square

We passed by Grand Central Station on our way to the decked-out-for-Christmas Fifth Avenue. 

Grand Central Station

I loved seeing Fifth Avenue at Christmas. It was better than I imagined in a lot of ways. The Saks Fifth Avenue store had a Christmas movie that displayed right on the side of the building! The skating and tree at the Rockefeller Center were so fun to see and department stores up and down the street were wrapped up in lights and bows.

The countdown to the Saks Fifth Ave Christmas movie

The Rockefeller Building

The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree and ice skating

It seemed like every shop in NYC was giving out free chocolate samples! Kyle and I got one at the Hershey's Store by Times Square, one at the Godiva Shop on Fifth Ave, and one at the Lindt Shop on the same street. 

The Hershey's Store

The Godiva Store

Chocolates galore!

The last time I went to NYC, my sister Tiffani took me to the famous Carnegie Deli where we munched on half sour pickles and ate New York cheesecake. I raved about this place to Kyle so he agreed to try it out. 

The restaurant was crowded so we snuggled between a French couple and a tourist family enjoying their meals. We watched as foot high pastrami sandwiches passed us by on waiters' trays. We looked at the menu and decided to fully take in the Jewish deli experience by ordering matzoh ball chicken soup, a meat knish, and potato pancakes. We discovered that we are maybe not such big fans of Jewish deli food. ;) I did go crazy over the half sour pickles and we overall had a really fun time just being there.

The half sours are the greener ones...yum!

Matzoh ball chicken soup

We just had to take this picture

We had a fabulous day in NYC and can't wait to go back!