It’s hard to know what to say when I’m posting photos from this trip. There are so many things I want to say but I can’t seem to find the words to articulate how important this was or what an incredible experience we had. Mostly I look at these images and then I close my eyes and hope that I will always be able to smell the fall leaves and hear them crunching under my feet as we walked down Wayne Street, past the yellow door, towards the PATH station. That I will always remember the late nights and the laughter shared with these two incredible women who push and encourage me to be a better person every day– no matter how many miles separate us.

I posted on Facebook the day after I got home that my mind and heart keeps being drawn back to that weekend. Isn’t it funny how we can hardly process what is happening in the moment, the 8 mile walks and the subway rides, the falling leaves and the laughter… and how we long for it once it’s over. It still rings so true. These images pick up right after our walk through The High Line“Took a bus to Chinatown I’ll be standing on Canal, and Bowery. You should be standing next to me.”I am ashamed by my unpainted nails.We were told by some friends we HAD TO get pizza at Lombardi’s. Definitely no regrets.Then we made our way across the Brooklyn Bridge.I never realized how very much bridges freak me out until we tried to walk across the Golden Gate last year. I think my problem is sharing the bridge with cars… but this was not my favorite part of our trip. [Although these pictures make it TOTALLY worth it!]After a quick walk through Brooklyn Heights [because when we got over the bridge we realized the sun was going to set soon and we still had MANY things we wanted to do before our day in the city ended] we took a train to Battery Park where we got on the Staten Island Ferry.The sun started setting while we were waiting to board the ferry, and I may have started freaking out because I wanted to be ON the ferry to take a picture of our last East Coast sunset. Once they opened the gate our little Country Mouse Jennie made sure we found a spot with an amazing view of the sunset. This will be hanging on my wall for sure. To the left of the sun is the Statue of Liberty.I stole this picture from Jennie. The pink skyline and the blue water? ♥ ♥Jennie was crying.I love these two.When we left our apartment that morning our “goal” was to be back with dinner and in pajamas by 6pm, so we could relax a little and be warm. That did NOT happen. But now, 2 weeks later, getting to see Manhattan all lit up from the water makes it totally worth it. In the moment, wanting to take my shoes off while waiting for Cuban food at 10pm… it did not feel worth it. 😉

Thank you all so much for celebrating my new blog and website launch over the last week! Your sweet notes and comments have been so loving and incredibly encouraging. Jack was too busy to draw a name this morning, you know, playing is important stuff, so Phoebe was my name-drawer. I am so excited to announce the winner of the Southwest gift card, I hope it takes you a step closer to an incredible adventure and amazing memories.