One of the best things about post-graduation life has been the fact that I now have close friends living across the country and I’ve been able to make short trips to visit them throughout the year. Often I’m able to combine a short visit with a work trip which is just another one of the perks of my job (and another reason I’m happy to travel basically anywhere for your wedding!) A week ago I was second shooting a wedding in NJ and the wedding was conveniently located only 30 min away from one of my closest friends, Rachel. Rachel is in grad school and last weekend happened to be her fall break so it was the perfect time for a short little visit. Our other friend, Kathleen is a 2nd-grade teacher down in VA but thanks to Columbus Day, she also had an extra day off and decided to come join us for the weekend.

Rachel lives just outside NYC and the train into the city is within walking distance from her apartment so it’s extremely easy to get into the city from where she lives and so we decided to spend our Sunday in NYC. We started with brunch in the adorable (and classic) dinner in Rachel’s town that is located underneath the train station and then we took the train into the city. Our first stop was Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It ended up being a bit of an adventure to get there because unbeknownst to us, there was a big South American festival and parade happening on 5th Avenue directly outside the Cathedral. We had walked to the Cathedral from Penn Station and so we had arrived on the WRONG side of 5th Avenue and had to wait quite a bit for a break in the parade in order to be allowed to cross the street and get to Mass. We made it through eventually and celebrated Sunday Mass in St. Patrick’s Cathedral which was a beautiful experience and a great way to kick off our day in the city.

After Mass, we headed south a few blocks to the NYC Public Library. All three of us are avid book lovers so this was a must-visit location. I was here once before but that was about 8 years ago, so it was definitely time to visit this beautiful library again!

The rest of the afternoon included a DELICIOUS lunch in Bryant Park (we got the best sandwiches and pastries from a Danish cafe and bakery), a leisurely stroll through a large portion of Central Park, dinner at a French wine bar near Washington Square and finally ending our night at Dō, the cookie dough shop that serves cookie dough like ice cream and is seriously as amazing as it sounds.

If these pictures look at all familiar, that’s because I took almost identical photos to these when I was in NYC in March, but there were no leaves yet so it’s cool to see the same setting in a different season.

The picture below on the right is my face when other people steal my picture spot right before I can use it…and then stay there for a LONG time taking 10000+ selfies. Hahaha.

It was such a fun day and easily the most relaxing and fun time I’ve had in NYC! I’m so grateful for such awesome friends and for visits filled with adventures, lots of laughter, and so many good conversations!! I love you both! Until next time.

Xoxo,
Mary Kate