Last week I watched Breakfast at Tiffany's on the big screen in an actual movie theater and it was the perfect way to get me in the mood to visit New York City for the upcoming weekend. It is one of my favorites, but experiencing it in theaters was like watching it for the very first time. Little did I know just how relevant Holly Golightly & Paul Varjack's New York City story would be to mine...
Saturday/v-day/my 21st b-day was spent all day in NYC and it was absolutely perfect. Drew has never been to NYC so I was so excited for him to experience my favorite city. It was filled with lots of delicious food, meeting up with friends, (because if you weren't in Moab or St. George this weekend, you were in New York) the Brooklyn Bridge, the MoMA, shopping at Uniqlo, and the highlight of the evening: watching Romeo + Juliet performed by the New York City Ballet. Shout out to our lovely host Emily for being the best tour guide and letting us crash at her cute apartment on the Upper East Side! xoxo
first stop: Doughnut Plant because duh.
"I'm DONUTS about you"
bundled up for BB with babes
MoMA
LET ME IN PLZ I just wanna hang with Leandra/Karlie/Jenna
Romeo + Juliet - the death part
On our second day in the city, February 15th, we first ate brunch at the positively delicious Jacob's Pickles. Our train back to Lancaster left at 1 PM, so we had limited time to spare before leaving the city. First I grabbed a cookie from Levain Bakery and Drew was adamant about visiting Central Park for ~*some reason*~. I was a little more reluctant considering the weather. OH, the weather. Sunday was blistering cold with upwards of 40 mph winds and a windchill of -3. The last thing I wanted to do was walk through the huge park when we could have easily caught a bus to Ladurée. All this chick wanted was some macarons. But Drew insisted and since he let me plan 90% of the activities for the weekend, I agreed. We walked a little more until we approached the Naumberg Bandshell. Drew sat me down on one of the benches in front of it and told me he loved me. Then he got down on one knee and asked me to take my left glove off. Remember when I said it was -3 outside? LOLfest just thinking back on how cold I was this entire time. Then he asked me if I would be his wife and marry him in the Washington DC Temple and I said yes. It was a perfectly private moment and the happiest part of what was already the best weekend in the best city with my best friend.
Brief history of this monumental spot: Elkan Naumberg, founder of the Naumberg Orchestral Concerts, donated the Bandshell to NYC in 1923, where it continues to be used as a theater for free outdoor classical music concerts. The real reason I wanted to stop by was because I thought I recognized it as the location for the scene in Breakfast at Tiffany's where Paul Varjack meets Doc Golightly and gets the background story on Lula Mae Barnes aka Miss Holly. I wasn't positive on this, but then I did some research and confirmed it to be true. Granted, it is not the most romantic scene of the movie, but it is a scene nonetheless from one of the greatest romantic movies of all time.
"Presented to the city of New York and its music lovers by Elkan Naumberg, 1923"
Hey wait, we're music lovers too! CUTE, RIGHT?!?
This weekend was equal parts exhausting and happy and I would do it all over again if I could. Thank you for staying long enough to read this tale and thank you to all those who offered words of love, support, and well wishes for my birthday and engagement. And a special thank you to Drew for agreeing to be my forever Valentine and making me his soon-to-be Mrs.
Guys. It's official: ceremony in DC August 7th 2015, party in Lancaster August 8th. MARK YO CALENDARS CUZ MARRIAGE IS HAPPENING. And it's happening at the prettiest place in the world to the coolest guy in the world.
We are stoooooked.
