Up late.

My good friend Travis and I are at the midnight showing of I Am Legend. I haven't been to a midnight movie since college. I hope I can stay awake.

Last Day

Our last full day in New York was great. We woke up and got a great breakfast at George's, a restaurant that opened in 1950 and was completely destroyed on 9.11. They decided to rebuild and even made it bigger than before. I love how everything has such history in New York. After that we went shopping in SoHo and got some coffee over by NYU. Then we took a train over to Brooklyn and walked the Brooklyn bridge back over to Manhattan. Here are a few pictures from the bridge:




We then hopped on another train and went for a walk in Central Park, swung by the famous Macy's store on 34th st, and then got some more coffee on the way back to the apartment. I can't begin to describe how many Starbucks there are on Manhattan. And its a good thing too, it was freezing. I know Starbucks does well everywhere but I never saw one without a line the entire time we were there.

That night we had reservations another celebrity chef's restaurant, Craftsteak, owned by Tom Colicchio. Oh my gosh, it was incredible. Without a doubt the best meal we had on our trip, which is saying a lot considering the restaurants we visited. Definitely a place to check out if you're ever in New York or Las Vegas. After dinner we headed over to Rockefeller Center to end the night with a little ice skating.

We went there on Saturday with Jennifer and Andrew during their engagement shoot and it was so crowded you couldn't move. Luckily it was a lot less crowded on Tuesday.
Wednesday we had lunch in Chinatown at a great little restaurant we found earlier in the week and then walked up to SoHo again for a little more shopping an coffee. That afternoon we flew home and had a wonderful experience similar to our last time leaving New York, complete with 3 hours on the runway before takeoff, engine problems, missed connections and having to land at LAX instead of Orange County.

Oh well it was still a great trip. Check back Monday for some images from tomorrow's wedding... should be good!

Rockefeller Center

Subway fare: $6
Skate Rink Admission: $31
Skate Rental: $18

Ice skating in Rockefeller Center at Christmastime and not falling and looking like an idiot: Priceless

We come home tomorrow night so look for a real blog post then to recap today and the rest of the trip.

More from NY

Tonight Cyndie and I went to dinner in Greenwich Village at Perilla, Harold Dieterle's retaurant. Harold was the winner of the first season of Top Chef and when I found out he'd opened a restaurant here in the city I made sure we had reservations during our trip. Top Chef is one of my favorite shows and Harold has been my favorite contestant so far. It was a really awesome meal.

Hung, the winner of this season's Top Chef was also one of my favorites and I've been trying to keep tabs on him, seeing if he's going to open a restaurant as well. Before he won Top Chef he was the Executive Sous Chef at a restaurant in Las Vegas so I've been hoping he'd open one there that I could visit on one of my trips there.

Well, as we were eating Cyndie looked up and said, "Is that Harold?" Sure enough it was. He was talking to the people a table over from us. So I looked over to see who was so important that the Chef would come out of the kitchen to greet them. It was Hung! 1 table over from us. I fought the urge to make small talk with celebrities knowing how annoying it must be to not be able to eat a meal in peace. It was fun enough just to see them.

After dinner we walked around for a while and found ourselves in Washington Square, the site of the huge arch that they show on Friends all the time. So Cyndie and I took some pictures there. I just had our point and shoot so the quality is kind of eh.

I've been reminded many times that Cyndie's never been on the blog. Well, here she is in all of her glory!

After we got back to the apartment we jumped on iChat and said goodnight to Makenzie before she went to bed. I know video chat has been around for a while but how how freaking cool is it? Its an awesome way to keep in touch and help Makenzie feel ok with us being gone.

Not sure why this one makes her look like she has no teeth but its funny anyway.

Check back tomorrow for more fun in Manhattan!

The View

Cyndie and I rented an apartment for the week instead of getting a room at a hotel. I'm so glad we did it this way. I don't have to worry about a maid stealing my gear, it's way nicer than a hotel room and it was so much cheaper too. We're in a great building downtown by Battery Park and we have an incredible view.

These were taken from our window this afternoon. The weather here is getting pretty crazy. Its super cold and windy and we're supposed to get some more snow tonight and tomorrow. I love it!

Guggenheim

Wow!

New York Engagement

Its soooooo late so I'm not going to write much now. I'll fill you in on our trip later. Yesterday I shot Jennifer and Andrew's engagement pictures. We travelled all over Manhattan and even took a little trip over to Brooklyn too. We had a blast and got some really fun images. Here you go!












And finally a sweet picture of the Manhattan Bridge I took while we were in Brooklyn.