Hi!


I'm Shay! I’m a cookbook author, lifestyle blogger, travel agency owner, wife and mama who loves making every day special for my family.

Read more

Mix & Match Mama

Fall, Shay, Travel ·

NYC 2015: Part One


The Shull five decided to take a little fall trip to NYC last week.
We’ve been talking about doing this for years and decided this year was the year.  We wanted to walk the city, stop for yummy food, see the sites, enjoy a show, eat more food and just spend a little quality time together.  Mission accomplished :).
The entire time I’m in NYC in the fall, I think about You’ve Got Mail.  I was just sure I’d see Tom and Meg strolling hand and hand too. #lovethatmovie
Here we are bright and early Thursday morning at the airport!  We arrived at 6:00 AM (whew!) and ate a quick breakfast before boarding our flight.  If you’ll notice, kindergarten has taught Smith how to use bunny ears in every.single.picture he’s in.  
We left really early because we wanted to arrive in the Big Apple before lunch.

We arrived, checked into our hotel and headed to lunch at Serendipity.  We wanted the kiddos to be really excited about their first meal in New York…and burgers, fries and gigantic sundaes are exciting to my kids!

Love these girls so much!

Even his gigantic sundae gets bunny ears :).

Her eyes say it all!

I mean to tell you…our sundae was unbelievably good!  That’s black forest cake underneath the ice cream, fudge and whipped cream.  Oh my.

We walked down the street from Serendipity and stopped by Dylan’s Candy Shop for some goodies to take home.  I love that it was decorated for Halloween!  (Two out of three are looking…I consider that a win.)

After lunch and the candy shop, we walked to Central Park.  By the time we arrived, little Miss was fast asleep.

The big kids played and played!  

I love this guy so much :).

My kids are perched up there on the rock.  Climbing and sitting on the big rocks were their favorite part of the park.  

After spending time at the park, we headed to dinner at Tarvern 29.  We read about this restaurant before our trip and made reservations…and it was so good!  We had the deviled egg appetizer and then Andrew and Kensington had burgers while the rest of us enjoyed pulled pork flat breads.  Holy delicious!  Our table was right by the window and overlooked the city…it was the perfect way to end our first day.

And as you can see…even Grace came :).

This girl makes everything more special.
 Here we are the next morning relaxing before our busy day.  For this trip, we stayed at the Grand Hyatt on 42nd Street.  This was our first time to stay here, and we picked it for several reasons…it is right next door to Grand Central Station (which made jumping on the subway simple), and it was within walking distance to Midtown and the Upper East Side.  Our room was on the 30th floor, so we were hoping for a great view…it was of a brick wall ;).  Oh well…better luck next time!
We set out like troopers for the day because we didn’t think we’d go back to the hotel all day long and they were calling for major rain in the afternoon…
 Rain boots, check. Jackets, check. Four umbrellas, check. Stroller cover, check. Gratitude that we have a stroller to haul all of this stuff, check, check. (What am I going to do when all of my kids can walk without a stroller???  Carry my own stuff??? Eeks!)  
We began our day at the bottom of Manhattan and worked our way up.  First stop, we checked out the Statue of Liberty (see it behind them).  We decided not to go all the way over there and see it up close because we didn’t have time to do that and everything else.  We just appreciated it from across the water.

We walked from the Statue of Liberty up to the Freedom Tower and 9/11 Memorial.  

Just amazing,  They did an amazing job with this memorial.

Three happy campers!

 From the 9/11 Memorial, we headed to China Town and then Little Italy for lunch outside.
Love this boy.

 After lunch, we walked over to Georgetown Cupcakes for perhaps the best five minutes of my life :).
Smith and Kensington picked Halloween cupcakes, Andrew had chocolate birthday cake and Ashby picked a vanilla one with a flower on top.  I picked…

…Pumpkin Spice. #ohmygosh #mylovelanguageispumpkin
And then out of nowhere, I hear two girls squeal my name…

…and it was my friends Stephanie and Laura!  What in the world?!?!  There we are on some side street eating cupcakes when two of my friends happen to cut down this street on their way to lunch.  Steph moved to NYC about six months ago and Laura lives in Dallas.  I’ve known these girls for years.  They’re besties with Sean and Catherine.  Here’s a throwback for you…
…we were all three bridesmaids at Sean and Catherine’s wedding.  Such a small world!

After our cupcakes, we headed to the High Line for a little walk and playing.

And then we popped into Chelsea Market which was extra fun because it is totally decked out for Halloween!

Look at them looking at one of the Halloween displays!  Smith is holding on so tight!

The kids wanted to head back to Central Park for an hour before dinner…so, here they are again on the big rock.  I’m pretty sure they want Santa to bring them a big rock. #notgoingtohappen
 We had to leave Central Park because it started raining!  Me oh my!  Ashby under her stroller cover was the luckiest Shull!  We took the (very crowded) subway to dinner at Carmine’s and then ran 5 blocks in the pouring rain.  You know what warms you up after being soaked?  A bunch of yummy Italian food :).
We’re smiling because we’re about to dive into Italian heaven.

This is Smith’s “just feed me” face.
After dinner, we ran to the theater to see Aladdin.  It was raining and we were running through Time Square like a bunch of crazies :).

During intermission, Andrew got us M&Ms and we took a few pics.

Three girls at Aladdin!

Ashby LOVED it!  We didn’t know what she would think…but this girl totally loved the show!  She paid attention, clapped and laughed right along with the audience.

Now, the coolest part about Aladdin is that the actor (Adam Jacobs) who plays Aladdin is my friend Katie’s brother-in-law.  So, after the show, we got to go backstage.  Adam could not have been nicer to us!  He insisted we go check out the stage and see the props.  How cool is that?!?  This show is so good (whether you have kids or not!) and all of the acting is outstanding!

Me with the coolest guy in NYC!

Adam was showing us the props backstage.  Where is Smith? He was literally looking inside the Genie’s lamp :).  Such an extraordinary way to end Day 2.
To see Day 3, click here.
And then there’s this…
…my Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Cupcakes.
  Yes.  
You need these in your fall.  Click here for the recipe.
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

You’ll Also Love

June Book Review
Bryan’s Birthday
Time Management PART 1

Comments

  1. Kimberly says

    Wow! You packed a lot of fun things into your trip. Your kids sound like excellent travelers. I agree with you – You've Got Mail is a great movie. It makes me want to visit NYC in the fall too!

    Kimberly
    Very European

  2. Erika Slaughter says

    Now that rock thing makes sense!! Smith told me his favorite part was a "big rock" and I had no clue what that meant! Ha! :). Glad you guys had a fabulous trip!

  5. Melissa says

    So, so, so fun!!! I love NYC in the fall and can't wait to take our boys back soon. You hit all my favorite places Central Park, Dylan's, Serendipity, and Georgetown…yum! Aladdin was a great show and perfect for the kiddos I'm sure. The costumes, sets and music were spectacular! I can't wait to see the rest of the pictures : )

  9. Lyndsey Parks says

    My hubby has never been to NYC and this post makes me want to take him that much more!! I almost want to go just for the food! Is Andrew wearing a side satchel thing in these pics? Does he usually carry a bag like that for trips? If so would you mind sharing which one? Thanks! Look like y'all had the perfect little getaway 🙂

    • Mix and Match Mama says

      He does! When we're out of the country, he carries our passports and then on all trips, he carries money/sunglasses/maps/umbrella/anything small we might buy/a drink for the kids…you know, all of that stuff you need when you're out and about. He bought that bag years and years ago…I think from American Eagle??? I think.

  11. Jami says

    I just got back from Disney and this trip is making me exhausted. I know what you mean about strollers, my husband asked what will we do when we come back to Disney without strollers, and I'm thinking what will we do with all our stuff?

  12. Love on the Lake says

    I love You've Got Mail!!! I watch it every fall – "bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils" gets me every time 🙂 Looks fun! Next time try Ollies – legit amazing Chinese food. It's near Carmine's – we went there because Carmine's was running really late on our table and we were hangry. Now we go specifically for Ollies

  15. SarahN says

    How fun was it to get backstage at Aladdin?! (I'm the one who sent you our pic with Aladdin too) I hope he didn't tell you how the Magic Carpet flies because he wouldn't tell us, haha. Adam is the nicest guy – his wife is from our hometown in WI and both her and Adam have worked with my daughter in some major theater productions. He actually bought our tickets to the show and we had a 5th row seat. Nicest people ever. I hope you met Genie and Jasmine too! Fun trip 🙂

  21. Dianna says

    Wow I love this recap. It looks like you had so much fun and I love feeling like I am there! Thank you for taking me on your adventure 🙂

    • Happylife38 says

      Dark navy/ white plaid shirt is by Rails. Available on Free People's website. The shirt is called: Draped in Plaid Shirt and the color is cadet blue. Nordstrom sells Rails too, though I haven't seen this specific one there.

  24. Jenna says

    Wow! How great is it that you are able to travel with your kids so often! What great experiences for them! I hope they grow up knowing how truly blessed they really are to be able to do that and never take it for granted. My husband and I are currently trying to save up for a trip to NYC so these pictures make me very excited!

  25. Amy DeVito says

    What a fun visit! I'm from Long Island (currently living in the South) and I always loved going into the city for fun adventures. All the food and cupcakes look delicious! You took some great pics. It looks like the kiddos had so much fun. That was so cool that you got to go backstage at the show! What an amazing experience.

    And I totally agree with you, pumpkin is my love language too!

    I can't wait to see the rest of your posts about your trip! 🙂

    Amy @ http://befilledwithj0y.blogspot.com/

  26. Candice Ibarra says

    Love seeing these pics! I from New York and my absolute favorite place to eat is Carmine's! Best italian food in the city!!! Where did you eat in little Italy?

  27. {Hi Sugarplum!} says

    Pumpkin chocolate chunk cupcakes AND the darling Shull family, all in one post!!!?? It's yumminess overload! Such a happy crew, and love everyone's outfits! xo

  29. Kara says

    Georgetown Cupcakes are my fav! I totally plan my trips around them whenever I visit a city where they are located. Last time I went to Boston, I even brought a dozen home to freeze and eat later.

  30. Kendra Petrellese says

    Oh my gosh what a fun trip y'all had!!! One of my favorite things about you and your family is the ability to find gratitude and something positive in every situation! You'll remember running through the rain to catch the Aladdin show forever!! Thanks so much for sharing!

  31. Sunshine says

    Love the NYC recap! Would you mind sharing the link for your black/or navy plaid shirt? Not sure if it was the LOFT one from a few weeks ago. Thank you!

  33. Lindsay at Lindsay'sSweetWorld says

    Oh how I adore NYC! We've been there three times and the last time we went in early December when everything was decked out for Christmas… it. was. amazing. I can't wait for our kids to get a little bit older so we can bring them along next time!

    • fisher says

      we are going this year in December. Can you reccommend a place to stay. Traveling with 3 kids under 6

  35. Full Time Wife Life says

    I've stayed in the Grand Hyatt every time I've visited NYC because it's connected to Grand Central Station – couldn't do NYC any other way!

    I'm most impressed by the fact that your kids are in the same clothes even after those giant sundaes…good job! My kids would have needed a change of clothes and a bath hehe!

  36. Melissa says

    Hi Shay, great pics from your NYC adventures. Is that Umpire Rock in Central Park? We are headed to NYC in early November and would like to find it. Thanks.

  37. Morgan says

    Shay, your timing of this is perfect! My husband and I are taking our almost-3 yr old to NYC right after Halloween. We were hoping to get away without a stroller, and maybe just bring a hiking backpack though — what are your thoughts? Can't wait to hear about part 2!

  38. Aubrey says

    Ooooh! NYC is amazing in the autumn! Your focus on food makes me incredibly happy. I drooled through every order, but the Georgetown cupcakes were just plain cruel. The cupcakes for Ella Mae's first birthday party were from there and they were to die for. So glad the kids loved the show and their backstage tour! What a treat!

  40. Eric Zhang says

    Looks like a good trip! Love NYC. Next time you guys should visit Martha's Country Bakery with locations ranging from Forest Hill to Bayside. Everything is based off of Martha Stewart, and the cheesecake is really good!

  41. Kathy Olson says

    We went to NYC for the first time last October. We actually took one afternoon to visit some of the filming sites from the movie, "You've Got Mail." It was so much fun!!
    We are going again next month to take our 18 year old daughter to see all the sights of NYC:)

  44. Amy says

    NYC makes you think of You've Got Mail, but those rocks in Central Park make me think of the snowball scene in Elf….best Christmas movie ever!!!

  46. Camris says

    What a fun get-a-way! Loved all the pics! Once again you and your fam look all fashionable and cute! The kids playing in central park totally reminded me of that scene with the crazy bird lady in Home Alone 2. Hopefully you know what I'm talking about ;)xoxo

  47. Megan says

    Yay!!! Your trip looks so fun!!! I love that Smith uses bunny ears now. Ha!!!! And Aladdin looks amazing. That's it the Butlers need an NYC trip!!