The Hopewell House

On our last day in NYC, we decided to live it up during out last few hours.

One of the top things on my mom's "to do" list was to have an actual New York Style Bagel, preferably a bialys. 

For those of you who don't know [I didn't until this trip], a bialys is a combination of a Bagel and an English Muffin, and it is super delicious.

So, to make for a happy mother, we woke up bright and early on Sunday to go out and grab a yummy breakfast before we hit the city.

Thanks once again to Urbanspoon, we found a great place with that NY type of feel at the Ess-a-Bagel.

The place was fantastic, the food was good, the people working there were great, and the place was hopping the whole entire time we were there eating.

[& Oh gosh, now I'm craving another bialys]

 After we stuffed our faces over our breakfast, it was time to work it off.

My last check to mark off my list was taking a tour through Central Park. 

There's just something about a park in the middle of a city that gets me and Central Park is by far the best kind of wonderful, especially on a bright blue cold type of morning. 

Thanks to Jane, we were able to get the full Central Park tour without the cheesy tourist feeling. 

We climbed the rock, stopped to watch the ice-skaters, walked by the zoo, admired the fountain, and enjoyed the gorgeous scenery.

And my favorite thing?

Taking a cheesy touristy picture with the Imagine logo at the Park:
[contradiction, eh?]

Honestly, 

I could have spend my entire day here.

I just love Central Park!

For our final day in the city, my mom had one last request.

She wanted an authentic NY Hotdog. 

See, my mom is a Food-network junkie and had heard about Papaya King from them, so in reality, this trip was a must in her book.

Me being a vegetarian?

Yeah, I could care less, but we all know that life is better when Mother is happy,

So we ventured to Papaya King.

I decided that since the name was Papaya, it was only fair to try their fresh Papaya juice and boy, was that the best decision I ever made.

While my mom and Ash downed their hotdogs, I munched on fries, enjoyed my juice, and tried to figure out a place  to eat that would be nearby and convenient.

Urbanspoon directed me to The Shake Shack where I happened upon their Shroom Burger.

OH my.

This was by far the best Portebello burger I have ever had.

Instead of being overly greasy like most of my other shroom related burgers ventures, this mushroom was fried like a giant mushroom popper and topped with this incredible Shake Shack specialty sauce.

So while we sat in the warmth of the restaurant, we only deemed it necessary to buy some milk and down the remainder of our Magnolia cupcakes.

[BTW: Ashley did not notify me that this was a cute photo, not an "attack your cupcake intensely" photo]

&&&

Oh my gosh guys,

I'm so sorry.

I think I'm starving right now, hence my detailed descriptions of all of the food feats we accomplished over our short NY weekend.

Anyway,

After eating until we nearly barfed, 

It was time to say goodbye to the beautiful city.

I must say, this was probably one of my most favorite trips.

There's just something about taking a girl's weekend away from it all with two of your most favorite people in the world and just simply taking time to enjoy life with them.
So much laughter & so many good memories!

NYC you will be missed,
I hope to visit you again soon.