Manhattan NY Day 1_ SO MUCH WALKING!

The morning turned out a bid rough for me as I was just having one of my mornings where I just crumble in the shower and it feels like the water is piercing every nerve in my body. 

Some how I managed to just start my morning checklist of what needed to be packed up as it was my day to go into the big city of New York.
From my friend's home in Westport, Ct. it was about a 1.5 hr drive to get into the city. The drive in itself was pretty interesting, but I won't divulge on the exciting car ride. I will just say we all made it safely into the big apple.
Some of the interesting things we drove by was the "G. Washington Br" which is the bridge that goes into Jersey and going by the Ports that had multiple ferries. My most favorite discovery was the "Intrepid" ship. This thing was a beauty from the car, I can only imagine what it looked like up close and personal, let alone looking at the airplanes up close. (one of my fascinations)

When we made it into the city, my first destination was my hotel. Luckily I only needed to walk a few blocks from where we had parked the car to get to my destination.

Staying at the "pod times square hotel". The room was pretty small..probably only 150 square feet, but had almost all my necessities of living...the one major thing it was missing was a coffee maker! :/ Bummer to wake up to no coffee, but I soon discovered thru my walk that starbucks was just down the next block! Thank goodness..!
Getting to my room..I discovered the lobby area was on the 3rd floor and my official room happen to be on the 19th floor!. 

My view in all directions from looking out of my window on the 19th floor!!!! The craziest thing about this view....is that I'm actually afraid of heights..and well..lets just say I keep a distance from the window as much as I can outside of taking this photo.  
The scenery itself is incredible though and I am fascinated by all the high rise buildings and the incredible amount of time it took to build and create all of them. 
As for the traffic...its not as crazy as I imagined, but it is pretty nose to nose type traffic with lots of honking. 

After unpacking my belongings and getting settled into my itty bitty hotel...It was time for me to brave the big city chaos and go and find some food! I was so hungry as it was after 1pm by the time I got to this point and the only thing I had all day was coffee.  
My first stop which happened to be across the street from my hotel was this place. When I walked by it..it looked quaint, and the pic of soup dumplings made me instantly cave. The idea of something warm and comfort food in my tummy...I couldn't go wrong.  "Ollie's" was the place...and I will admit...it was not what I had imagined and I sadly only ate about half of my soup dumplings before gulping down more hot tea and going back out in the cold. 

 Walking around Manhattan is a world wind of different sites and things to see. It was all so fascinating and I found myself lost in the world of busy crowds of locals and tourists. I walked around for a solid 4.5 hrs and let me tell you...my little leg are on fire..my face and hands are  a bit frozen..but all in all...it was totally worth it.

It seemed like everywhere I looked, I saw things I had always wanted to do and enjoy. I saw art that was amazing and weird and Christmas blew up..especially walking in the dark. All the Christmas decorations were giant sized and so bright and it made me think of how my little man would have loved seeing them. He always loved Christmas as much as me it seemed, especially all the colorful lights and I couldn't help but cry at thinking I wish he was with me. 
On the other hand...it would not have been a place for a little one to be..with the chaos, the loudness, the cold..my little one would have not done well and I would have rather had a movie night of snuggles in a warm blanket with him instead of shoulder rubbing with a bunch of strangers in a huge city.
I wouldn't necessarily call this part of New York magical by any means, but it was definitely interesting. Any person who loves being super busy, doesn't mind the crowds, and enjoys walking everywhere..I think would just do fine in such a big city. 

One of my stops along the many blocks of walking was the "Columbus Circle, Time Warner Center". This was a 4 story mall pretty much. It was was warm...which is why I decided to browse the inside.
A unique discovery I found were these light up ornaments. They changed all different kinds of colors and were almost mesmorizing to just look at.
All the shops were cute, mostly name brand and all super expensive and maybe if I had won the lottery before I came on my wonderful trip., I would have been on a shopping spree galore.

I will admit...my love of shoes, handbags, jackets...fell in love with NYC in an instant. 
My idea of shopping craziness all came so true staring at so many shops and it made me think about movies I had scene. 
At this time..it was "Sex and the City"..I continued to repeat the movie and what Carrie Bradshaw had quoted in the movies and I couldn't help but smile. Her fascination, obsession, and love with expensive things..mainly those involving a heel...made me realize..perhaps I should change my own name to "Carrie". 
Though her spending habits and cave ins to expensive things are something I would probably never do, it was fun to imagine myself as maybe a possible New Yorker...in another life.

Continuing on my adventure...I happened upon Central Park!.  A 7mile plus walk around the whole park to get to all the tourist traps and even an offer for someone to bike me around all those miles. But me, being me and having not much anything else to do, decided to treck it on foot. 

While getting in my exercise, admiring the scenery, and people watching...I kept thinking of the movie "Home Alone 1" with Macaulay Culkin. One of my all time favorite Christmas movies. Visualizing the places in person and where they had created the movie, and starting to feel a little like the lost child in the movie...wondering around, not having an idea of how to get home or where to start, or curious if a stranger will start to follow me around. For my own sake...I was hoping I wouldn't have to be stuck in the park in the dark...

Outside of getting lost in the park..I was surprisingly visited and surrounded by these little creatures.. They were so cute...and I was wondering how these little guys were ok being around so many people. They were pretty adorable though..and I think if I could have taken a chipmunk home... I probably would have..

The little birdies seem to stick in pairs and I thought how wonderful that must be...to be surrounded by someone you love and care for to go around traveling and enjoying good eats. 

The walk around Central Park seemed to be never ending and at this point..I could feel my legs start feeling like jello. Then unfortunately I came upon the iceskating rink...and while my heart wanted to go..my body was pretty much like "hell no"... and that sad answer popped into mind before I saw the incredibly long line of people. 

I did however manage to climb one of the any boulders in Park to get some really neat scenic pic of the city at dawn. The reflections again the building of the sky I think was the neatest thing about my photo on the upper left. 

And of course...I had to take a full body pic of myself in my wonderful warm jacket I had gotten as a gift a few years ago from my mother. Needless to say..I"m in love with this jacket for this trip..not only does it feel like I'm wearing a blanket..it pretty much covers my entire body...and yes..it does have a hoody (shown in previous pics). 

It's interesting..the weather said it was suppose to be in the 50s today? but with the wind, it made the air so much colder.

Tennis Shoes..are also a genius thing to wear when walking for miles....and luckily I had caved in a few weeks ago and bought some new ones for myself. Thank goodness. 

As the night grew dark..it was time for me to somehow make it all the way back to my hotel. However I needed to get food first.. "Red poke" was just a block from my hotel, so I thought I would try it. It seemed like a healthy affordable way to create an asian bowl my own way. 

It wasn't too bad.. a fast food place for a quick asian type meal. I did however miss the veggie factor..so before heading back to my room, I stopped by a small grocery store to pick up veggies, fruit, and chips.

Finally back in my cozy little room...and after setting down my things..I decided to give my legs the much needed rest they needed. By this time, I thought my legs were going to fall out of my hip sockets... how in the world I survived so much walking..I will never know. All I do know..is I am in terrible shape...and I guess I know what should get put on my to do list when I go back home to PDX.

Before I knew it...I fell asleep.

When I awoke...I started mentally creating my blog, going thru all my pictures and trying to create collages for all my pics. So much work...and I find it strange how I create work to do even when I have normal work off?

I guess it just feels good and normal to be productive, even if the productivity is being creative. 

While I stay busy, its not work...just a creative outlet that I'm hoping will help me heal.

To end the day's post..I thought I would share my "fortune" I had received earlier at lunch today. I'm not quite sure what to fully think about it...but its warming up to me.