Oh my goodness... are you ready for this? 100 photos from our trip to New York City. Here we go...!
We can't say enough wonderful words to say how grateful we are that we have dear friends who live in NYC (Queens) that make this trip possible for us! We love you, Jason and Sam!
Our first sightseeing of the trip was to the site of the US Tennis Open. Jamie was beyond excited and I tried to understand his joy, but I just didn't get it.
Apparently this globe there is a big deal to him...
I just snapped silly pictures.
I wish you could have been there to see how thrilling this was for Jamie. The boy likes tennis!
It was fun to get a Metro card and ride the Subways again. (Except this time I didn't have a big pregnant belly so no one gave up their seat.)
Jason smiling on the metro.
We headed into Times Square the first night so we could ooh and aah at the bright lights!
Late that night we made our first (of many) visits to Martha's Bakery. Every night we stayed out really late, but this bakery (a few blocks from their house) was always open and waiting when we walked by!
The first morning we went to Central Park for our 4 mile race in support of Sam (who is training for the big NYC Marathon in 2010!).
The weather was actually wonderful that morning.
There were many thousands of people in the race. We couldn't even see the starting line.
We felt like it was "Game Day in the Ozarks, baby!" And even reenacted some NFL to get ourselves pumped up (and too annoy the "real" runners around us).
And we were off and running! (I had my little silver camera in my pocket...!)
Usually my goal is too not come in last place. But for this special race I upped my goal to "not letting this guy beat me"... (he was actually a totally adorable old man, but I still couldn't let him pass us!)
We actually pretty much ran steady the entire time. The only time we really stopped was for the little water pit stations.
But then we hit the ground running again. It really was alot of fun!
Running in Central Park was so beautiful! The fresh air, huge lake, skyscrapers, etc... so much to see while we ran.
The organization emailed us some photos they snapped in route, too.
Here Jamie and I are crossing the finish line!
Sam waves to her adoring fans as her and Jason cross the finish line, too!
We got cleaned up and headed back into the city to make up for any calories we may have burned. Here we are getting a street vendor hot dog. Yum!
(Love the guy in the background here...)
Of course we ate TONS of awesome food the entire week. And every place we went, I tried to find something unique on the menu to try. 
A lovely photo of Sam enjoying our calamari appetizer.
Jamie's iPhone came in very handy when choosing new restaurants to try. He has an application called Urban Spoon that will seek out any type of food, near to you, in certain price ranges, and then lead you to the place. So fun!
That's how we found this really unique Mediterranean cafe and tried some delicious food that we had never had before. It was fun just trying all the new flavors.
We also ate at a Vegan Falafel cafe and I really loved it! Alot of the ingredients had sesame seeds or tahini so Jamie had trouble finding something safe to eat, but it was really tasty!
And shows! My favorite part. We saw four Broadway shows while we were there. Wicked, Chicago, Mary Poppins and Billy Elliot. I was in heaven!
And each day we tried the Lottery. And with about 200 people there and 14 names drawn each day it was a slim chance but we had to try. And then on Tuesday Sam WON the Lottery for Wicked!! Being the gracious host she is (and they had already seen Wicked) they gave the tickets to Jamie and I- so we sat on the FRONT row of Wicked. It was the highlight of the trip for me! 
Here we are standing in line for the Wicked Lottery...
Aside from the Broadway Musicals, there were street musicians on almost every corner.
This is as far as we got in the Empire State Building. The lobby. We saw there was a two hour line to wait in to even get tickets. So we decided to save that for next time!
We did SO much shopping and I loved every minute of it! Macy's, H & M, Century 21, Filoene's Closet, a cute boutique in Soho... it was all wonderful.
And of course, shoe shopping!!
We heard you can make a 6 figure salary being a dog walker in NYC. Tempting?! Especially with cute dogs like these...!
We got to go by where Jason helps teach music to high schoolers on the Upper East Side.
Right across from The Metropolitan Museum where Jamie and I spent a few hours getting some culture.
Auguste Rodin sculptures.
Jamie ponders the masterpieces of Monet.
And Van Goh. 
I enjoyed the exhibit they had on the origins of musical instruments!
And then I got to play the coolest musical instrument ever... the huge floor piano from the movie "Big". (We had a blast at FAO Schwarz!)
As we were walking back to meet Jason and Sam we saw a crowd forming, so like any good Americans we snooped it out. It was the back stage door to The Late Show with David Letterman and a few famous people were going in.
Mary Tyler Moore.
I LOVED seeing the paparazzi! Jamie said I should go stand over there with my camera and scream at the celebrities. (I really kind of wanted to...)
And Blake Lively.
I thought this picture captured what Audrie probably feels like around me sometimes... 
The next day I was a big girl and rode the subway all by myself (yikes!) to meet Jason at NYU where he does vocal coaching and accompanies music students. 
I got to sit in on a lesson and it was really neat to be on the other side of the stress. It brought back memories of long hours in the practice rooms. Don't miss that!
While Jason finished up his lessons, I wandered around the music buliding and snapped random photos.
(I took this from a window in the music building.)
It was fun to see Jason "at work" and using his amazing musical gift.
Meanwhile, Jamie was hanging out with Sam at the costume design shop where she works. He took one photo.
I loved all the graffiti in the city. I thought it was sort of artistic in a way...
And I took a random photo of this man because I thought he looked very "new york". I thought I was being sly and snapping this photo as I passed him, but now I realize he was looking straight at me. Sorry Mr. New York. (His name is probably Tony or Joe, right?)
Jamie and I (well, our shoes) kicked back on the steps in Times Square... waiting for the Burrow's to get off work and come play.
The Greenwich Food Tour we went on was crazy awesome! Here is a photo of us getting ready to embark on our "three hour tour".
I realize now I didn't get photos of all the food we ate, but there was SO much more interesting stuff besides the yummy food. We learned so much about the culture and history of Greenwich Village.
I found my next job...
Here is the building where "Friends" is supposed to be located (you see this building in the opening credits).
There were bicycles everywhere in Greenwich Village. I thought they were cool looking so I took photos of a few.
My favorite stop on the tour was to this Cheese Shop. Oh my! Amazing cheese and billions of different types. I could have stayed there all day.
We had samples at a gourmet Olive Oil shop which may sound weird, but it was SO good. We actually went back there after the tour and stocked up on some unique flavors of olive oils and vinegars. So fun!
Another highlight of the trip for me was going to B&H- a camera mega store! I was thrilled!
They let you try out anything you want on your camera. Sam and I had a blast testing out different lenses that we will buy when we are millionaires.
Jamie. Not so thrilled.
The last day of our trip, we rode the bus to a local diner for a huge breakfast and mimosas. Perfect way to start a day.
Were were sad to think about our last day with Jason and Sam. 
I thought my huge blue sunglasses would hide my daily tears from missing Audrie, but now I realize I just looked like a big dork in them.
But it was a great last day in New York. We stopped into this adorable French Cafe called Parigot and everyone in there was actually speaking French. I said the five words I know, but it didn't get me very far.
I liked this bright pink graffiti we saw on the way to Chinatown so I had Sam snap my America's Next Top Model photo.
Ah, Chinatown! Miles of purses, jewelry, scarves, hats, everything a girl could dream of... for $20.
I'm embarrased to tell you how many purses I bought. And I'm not posting a photo of the HUGE shopping sack full of purses that we lugged around the rest of the day! It was hilarious in a not funny kind of way.
We ended up spending our last afternoon in Central Park again. It was almost 60 degrees that day and we soaked up the sun in the park. Sam also did some fun headshots for us... I'll post some of them later.
We already miss Jason and Sam so much. It was an amazing week and we can't wait to see them again. Thanks, guys, for everything!
As we were walking back to meet Jason and Sam we saw a crowd forming, so like any good Americans we snooped it out. It was the back stage door to The Late Show with David Letterman and a few famous people were going in.
Mary Tyler Moore.
I LOVED seeing the paparazzi! Jamie said I should go stand over there with my camera and scream at the celebrities. (I really kind of wanted to...)
And Blake Lively.
I thought this picture captured what Audrie probably feels like around me sometimes... 
The next day I was a big girl and rode the subway all by myself (yikes!) to meet Jason at NYU where he does vocal coaching and accompanies music students. I got to sit in on a lesson and it was really neat to be on the other side of the stress. It brought back memories of long hours in the practice rooms. Don't miss that! While Jason finished up his lessons, I wandered around the music buliding and snapped random photos.
(I took this from a window in the music building.)
It was fun to see Jason "at work" and using his amazing musical gift.Meanwhile, Jamie was hanging out with Sam at the costume design shop where she works. He took one photo.
I loved all the graffiti in the city. I thought it was sort of artistic in a way...And I took a random photo of this man because I thought he looked very "new york". I thought I was being sly and snapping this photo as I passed him, but now I realize he was looking straight at me. Sorry Mr. New York. (His name is probably Tony or Joe, right?)Jamie and I (well, our shoes) kicked back on the steps in Times Square... waiting for the Burrow's to get off work and come play.
The Greenwich Food Tour we went on was crazy awesome! Here is a photo of us getting ready to embark on our "three hour tour".
I realize now I didn't get photos of all the food we ate, but there was SO much more interesting stuff besides the yummy food. We learned so much about the culture and history of Greenwich Village.
I found my next job... 
Here is the building where "Friends" is supposed to be located (you see this building in the opening credits).
There were bicycles everywhere in Greenwich Village. I thought they were cool looking so I took photos of a few.
My favorite stop on the tour was to this Cheese Shop. Oh my! Amazing cheese and billions of different types. I could have stayed there all day.
We had samples at a gourmet Olive Oil shop which may sound weird, but it was SO good. We actually went back there after the tour and stocked up on some unique flavors of olive oils and vinegars. So fun!
Another highlight of the trip for me was going to B&H- a camera mega store! I was thrilled! 
They let you try out anything you want on your camera. Sam and I had a blast testing out different lenses that we will buy when we are millionaires.
Jamie. Not so thrilled.
The last day of our trip, we rode the bus to a local diner for a huge breakfast and mimosas. Perfect way to start a day.
Were were sad to think about our last day with Jason and Sam. 
I thought my huge blue sunglasses would hide my daily tears from missing Audrie, but now I realize I just looked like a big dork in them.
But it was a great last day in New York. We stopped into this adorable French Cafe called Parigot and everyone in there was actually speaking French. I said the five words I know, but it didn't get me very far.
I liked this bright pink graffiti we saw on the way to Chinatown so I had Sam snap my America's Next Top Model photo.
Ah, Chinatown! Miles of purses, jewelry, scarves, hats, everything a girl could dream of... for $20.
I'm embarrased to tell you how many purses I bought. And I'm not posting a photo of the HUGE shopping sack full of purses that we lugged around the rest of the day! It was hilarious in a not funny kind of way.
We ended up spending our last afternoon in Central Park again. It was almost 60 degrees that day and we soaked up the sun in the park. Sam also did some fun headshots for us... I'll post some of them later.
We already miss Jason and Sam so much. It was an amazing week and we can't wait to see them again. Thanks, guys, for everything!
