NYC: Part 2

After spending my first night in New York right outside the city at my aunt and uncle's getting caught up with everyone, my cousin and I were ready to take on the city.

First up - shopping. We usually love wandering around the village and checking out boutiques, but lower Manhattan was still without power so we decided to hit up Madison Ave instead. After showing considerable strength at ZARA and not buying EVERYTHING (i want it ALL), we were ready for a little lunch.

We decided to hit up my auntie's home away from home.

Every time we come here with her, she is greeted by the sales people by name. It's like shopping with Carrie Bradshaw.

It wasn't the same without her, but we found our way back to our favorite lunch spot, hidden behind heaven Saks's shoe department.

I was craving crab cakes like they were going out of style, and my cousin opted for the gourmet grilled cheese.

After checking out a few more stores, we decided to meet up with our other cousin for happy hour. She is a Penn State grad, and she was out at the local Penn State bar watching the football game.

After catching up for a few hours we parted ways and I headed down to Union Square to grab dinner with some friends.

We decided on SPICE. SPICE is a mini-chain of Thai restaurants sprinkled around NYC. The one we went to had a complete lounge feel, was really dimly-lit, with bi-level seating and red and black themed decor.

The prices, considering this is New York, were really reasonable.

We shared a variety of appetizers, and I went with the Chicken Pad Thai for dinner.

After dinner we hit the town. Hard. I don't know if it was because we all had reunited and we were making up for lost time, but this night was one for the record books.

First stop - Gramercy Park Hotel. A friend's friend got us a table (isn't this how it always goes in New York) so we decided to make this our first stop. Another dimly-lit lounge atmosphere, where the prices weren't as reasonable.

Next, we met my friend's brother and other people at a karaoke bar (sorry I don't remember the name or location, this is where the night gets fuzzy).

Maybe we ended up at a bar where everyone was secretly in off broadway musicals - but EVERYONE could sing. As in REALLY sing. No amount of Pinot was getting me on stage with that competition.

After this we hit a few other places before being forced to go home because it was 4 in the morning calling it a night. We headed uptown to a friend's place. Hello futon.

I had planned on taking the train back to my relative's  after dinner. I made it back around noon Sunday.

New York always wins.

I tried to get some reading for school done on my flight home, because I knew once my bed was in my sights, there would be no turning back.