In today’s post I am rounding up our entire trip in New York City during New Years. You might’ve noticed on Instagram that my sister and her fiancé James visited us for 4.5 days from Ireland. Last year, we spent New Years with them in Ireland, with a trip around beautiful Northern Ireland, and spending the actual New Year’s Eve in Dublin. We had such a good time that we decided to make it a new tradition. Lauren and James arrived later in the day on the 29th with just enough time to take them out to dinner. We brought them to one of our favorite Indian restaurants called Babu Ji.
Outfit Details:
On Julia- Bonpoint Coat (similar, less expensive here and here), J.Crew Turtleneck, Theory Pants, Golden Goose Sneakers, Senreve Bag
On Lauren- Khaite Coat (on sale)
The 30th was the first full day that our guests were with us. Naturally, we had big plans for the day. We started with brunch at Two Hands, an Australian breakfast and lunch spot with multiple locations in NYC. Next we hopped on the subway and made it out to Central Park where we took them on a walk through our favorite winter scenes. In addition to the many digital and film photos we took, we stopped by an older man who was doing photos and got a vintage polaroid taken, a process which yielded 3 blurry, out of focus and overexposed photos. After 15 minutes of trying, we eventually gave up, walking away with nothing but a funny memory and a polaroid that was the best of the shots. Ice skating was next on our plans, but we balked as we observed the size of the crowd on the ice and waiting to get on the ice. Instead, we watched for a moment and then carried on…
My sister Lauren, an incredible artist herself, was really hoping to check out Ashley Longshore’s artwork installations all throughout Bergdorfs. We stopped in the cafe on the basement floor for some hot cocoa, cakes and cookies. After our sweet tooths were more than satisfied, we headed back home to get ready for our next activity, a Broadway show!
With so many options to choose from, we had a tough time deciding on what we wanted to see. Eventually we picked Pretty Woman, which actually ended up exceeding our expectations and we all really enjoyed the show. Every time we go, I’m always reminded how much I love to see live shows. Afterwards, we were equally hungry and buzzing with energy, so we decided to grab a late night bite to eat. We brought Lauren and James to a Mexican restaurant we have been dying to try called Lupe’s East LA Kitchen. The food hit the spot. I know my sister especially enjoyed it since the Mexican food where she is in Ireland can be very limited.
Outfit Details:
On Julia- Gucci Coat, Gal Meets Glam Collection Viola Dress, Ferragamo Bag
On Lauren- Miu Miu Coat, Gal Meets Glam Collection Dress
With big plans for later in the night on the 31st we decided to keep it pretty easy during the day time. We walked around Soho and did some shopping. For breakfast, we took a break from sit down meals (they can start to add up with family in town) so we stopped in to Black Seed for some really incredible bagels. So good in fact that we had to go back for one more bagel that we all shared between us. Afterwards, we stumbled on an independent bookstore called McNally Jackson. We spent plenty of time searching through and finding fun books and magazine for us to read in the new year. We popped into Outdoor Voices and bought a few more workout outfits, of course we had to set ourselves up to look great as we were about to start fulfilling our New Year’s Resolutions the next day.
Finally, we went back to our apartment and got ready. We started our evening with dinner at Tribeca Grill. While we had plans to make it to another bar before our big reservation, the weather had other plans for us, as it was absolutely pouring down rain. So we made the group decision to be unfashionably early for our 10pm reservations at The Boom Boom Room at the Standard Hotel. Booking plans for New Year’s Eve can be a little stressful. Most great nights out start with dinner reservations and then you see where the night takes you, but when everyone is going out, spontaneity might mean spending your night waiting in line to get in somewhere, or being turned away at every restaurant. I spent a good couple of hours researching what to do this particular night and it wasn’t until I discovered that the Pointer Sisters were performing at the Boom Boom Room that T and I decided this was exactly the kind of NYE we wanted!
Outfit Details:
On Julia- Gal Meets Glam Dress, Apparis Coat
On Lauren- Gal Meets Glam Collection Dress, Fuzz Not Fur Coat
As we arrived, we were one of the first groups there but the room quickly filled up with men dressed in suits and women in their sparkly holiday party dresses. It was definitely the fanciest NYE crowd we’ve ever been around. We settled into our table, enjoyed a bottle of celebratory champagne and before we knew it, The Pointer Sisters were on stage and 2019 was 15 minutes away. I was so excited that I just couldn’t hide it! The sisters as energetic as ever, had a short but sweet performance, we danced and sang for hours and finally, after we had enough, we grabbed our topcoats and headed back to our apartment. But not before stopping off and grabbing a slice of pizza at a late night spot, another tradition we started last year.
Having left plenty of time to sleep, our New Year’s day started off with brunch at Locanda Verde. A loaf of Monkey Bread was naturally the first remedy we tried to cure our bodies from the previous night’s overindulgences. Leaving very full from our brunch we decided to walk and enjoy the crystal clear blue sky day. We ventured out onto the pier at Hudson River Park, and feeling inspired, we walked to the World Trade Center and eventually stopped in at The Oculus.
In the early evening, we wanted to show James and Lauren more of the city. We thought it would be a great idea to take them to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. Apparently, everyone else in New York had the same idea because it was jam packed with pedestrians, so many that it took us about 30 minutes to walk from the base to the middle of the bridge, a walk that normally takes 5 to 10 minutes. After breaking free from the crowd, we finally got to enjoy the bridge as the sun set behind the tall buildings of downtown Manhattan. Instead of turning back and returning through the crowd of people, we decided to keep walking all the way across the Brooklyn Bridge, into Dumbo and back along the water. Tired and a bit cold, we eventually took the subway back home, racking up over 20,000 steps during the day. We had big plans for dinner at one of the top new restaurants in New York City, but as we got back to the apartment, we were incredibly hungry. We all agreed that a “snack” would hold us over until our 10pm reservations. Two pad thais, a couple of curries and rice later, we were pretty stuffed, but still determined to make our dinner. As we went back to freshen up, somehow we all ended up falling asleep, missing our reservation.
Outfit Details:
Max Mara Coat, Ann Taylor Faux Fur Stole, Illesteva Sunglasses
On our final full day with James and Lauren in town we headed to the Met. My sister is an artist and I knew after she visited on the last trip to New York, it was something that she would definitely want to repeat. After all, the Met is so big you could never experience it all in one trip.
After seeing plenty of art for one day, we were due for our next meal and expected in the office later in the afternoon for some meetings. So we decided to head out and grab some lunch. Unable to make a decision, we finally settled on Urbanspace Vanderbilt, a food hall close to Grand Central, our next stop on the tour. James and Thomas got Indian street food, Lauren got dumplings and I got nachos. This is one of our favorite tucked away dining spots with lots of quick and easy, but delicious options. While James and Lauren had been to New York City before separately, neither of them had ever seen Grand Central, which is such a classic spot for any tourist.
After touring around we hopped on the subway and headed to our office so that we could show Lauren some of our upcoming dress collections. With the experience of our missed reservations still fresh in our mind, we decided to be realistic and cancel our 10:30 PM reservations at Don Angie and settle for 7pm at BoCaphe, our favorite Vietnamese restaurant, which is always a good idea when we’re craving either pho or vermicelli noodle bowls, especially on a cold day. To finish the evening we went to Django, which has quickly become our new favorite jazz club in New York City. This underground almost speakeasy club is modeled after a French jazz club, the music is great (we love Jazz in our family) and they also have a great selection of cocktails, if you’re interested!