this cafe in the lobby of 1Hotel was unreal

There’s a line in one of Oshiolema’s favorite books that says “Because I’m your dad, I’ll take you to New York for a hot dog!” So for the days leading up to the trip, Oshiolema kept telling us how when he grows up and get married, he’s taking his wife to New York for a hot dog and also kept reminding us we don’t eat meat. His dedication to that hot dog with his future wife was absolutely hilarious! Right before he left he said “but mama, how come you’re gonna leave if I’m gonna miss you so much?” My sweet boy is a heartbreaker, for sure. He is starting to really grasp the concept of dates and how one-on-one time is important when you’re married, so he was pretty fine when we left. Keogena, on the other hand, lost it. I also forgot my breast pump trying to leave the house without lingering so I didn’t make it worse for her…this left us hunting down a pump at 10pm in the city. Whoops.

this is handprinted wallpaper in the 1Hotel. So much inspiration!

  The drive from our house to New York is about four hours, so taking the train is our favorite way to get there. Unlike the airport, Penn station is right in the middle of the city so it’s not a hassle to get to your hotel or apartment! We left our house around 8am to make our 11am train since we first needed to make the 45 minute drive to the train station in D.C. Going over the cough medicine and bedtime routines with my in-laws set us back some time and we seriously made it to the train with 6 minutes to spare- the closest we’ve EVER cut it! But it was so nice being able to ride in the quiet car in business class again! We couldn’t sit together since we were so behind, but I actually got to 1. put headphones in 2. listen to a podcast 3. get some work done and 4. doze off a little. What is life!

Pensy Food Hall is attached to Penn Station so we rolled our luggage right over as soon as we arrived to grab lunch at the Cinnamon Snail– a fully vegan restaurant we wanted to check out. O raved about the burger, but I just stuck to the doughnuts they’re famous for. I’d definitely recommend them! Though they’re not my favorite vegan doughnuts in the city (more on that later)

lobby goals for.sure.

Because Oshiomogho surprised me with the trip, I didn’t know we were staying at 1Hotel but  I had mentioned wanting to try out 1Hotel Brooklyn so he booked our stay there on a whim. Our hotel ended up being one of my favorite parts of the trip! I’ll be dedicating a full post to our hotel, but for now I’ll just say it was unlike any other hotel experience we’ve had. The design was so unique to Brooklyn and every single detail was thought of. We can’t wait to head back! (Our other hands down favorite hotel in New York is The Surrey)

Our room wasn’t ready yet so we left our bags and grabbed lunch in the hotel where I experienced some seriously noteworthy french fries. Fries are super personal but my favorite french fry is super thin, super crispy and not too salty. These fries and the fries at the cosmopolitan hotel in Vegas are identical and if I had to commit to one fry for the rest of my life…these ones would be it. Go there just for them.

THESE FRIES

We explored the hotel a little bit more and grabbed a snack from the cafe downstairs, then headed to our room to get ready for the show. O booked Hamilton without having a clue what it was about and I knew even less than him- I genuinely didn’t even know it was about Alexander Hamilton. I’d never even heard one song! I just heard the rave reviews and told him I’d love to see it. Guys. It was phenomenal. I was telling a friend the next day how I didn’t know what to expect and it still exceeded expectations!

all about that subway life (until its past 10pm or snowing…then its Uber all the way.)

I think whenever I see a show on Broadway, I get so bonded to that exact cast that it’s hard to listen to the soundtrack with the different voices. It’s just not the same for me, but that night was so special and we left on cloud nine just floating around times square, romantically in search for that good ol’ breast pump. Stay tuned this week for a breakdown of the rest of our trip!

Side note-I just laugh looking at this photo…Oshiolema is a big Elmo fan, despite never seeing a single episode of Sesame Street. I had to get a photo of O with Elmo to show Oshiolema when we got home. These other characters shoved their way into the photo so fast and when I finished taking the photo they all demanded we tip them. We gave Elmo a $5 bill and this little woman peered through the mouth hole and said “no tip no photo, you gotta tip everyone.” HA! We were like “you guys go ahead and figure it out.” Elmo, Cookie Monster and Mickey are cut throat, guys.