Girls' Day

I went to NYC Saturday with my group of close girlfriends - we had a super time! Nine women went - no kids, no husbands - which meant we got to do whatever we wanted! We shopped, snacked, laughed, and saw the sights without having to wipe any noses, tie shoes, change diapers, or listen to whining. My purse was even empty - water bottle, camera, wallet, sunglasses - so simple! We decided to not venture up to the typical sights that we all always see. We stayed south of Times Square the whole day. It was neat to see these other areas of the city, and it wasn't even crowded.
We took the Staten Island Ferry in (which was great and free!). Then we strolled through Battery Park and took the subway up to Ground Zero. It's still so moving to see the site of such destruction seven years ago. The last time I was there was about 6 months after 9/11 when there was a crater where the towers used to stand. Now construction is underway. It was nice to see the plans drawn up for the beautiful memorial that will stand there someday soon. Oh, and we had to take a picture with some NYC firefighters behind us.
From here we rode up to Greenwich Village. We shared some gourmet sandwiches (we wanted to try a few different ones) at Peanut Butter and Company. My personal fav was "The Elvis" - grilled P.B., bananas, and bacon - Yum-O! There was a street fair nearby, so we wandered and perused at our own pace with no one putting any pressure on us to move on. Some of us bought sunglasses, or cheap jewelry, or Christmas gifts, while others preferred to eat their way through the different yummy stands (not mentioning any names...). We stopped at Starbucks, the Union Square Farmer's Market (gorgeous this time of year!), and a store that Beth Moore recently recommended on her blog (apparently she's way more hip than any of us - we couldn't even imagine trying anything on!). The day was chilly, but beautiful!
We ended up down by Pier 17 and the Brooklyn Bridge - a great photo opp. Then had dinner at South Street Seaport before catching the ferry back to our cars. I had a great time and we all made some new memories together. I love you girls!