NYC Part 4 of . . . (my 40th bday!!)

NYC Part 1, Part 2, & Part 3 . . .

Once I woke up, I thought, holy crap, I'm 40.  40.  FORTY.  I lay there for another ten minutes and then thought IT'S MY 40TH BIRTHDAY AND I'M IN NYC!!!

I got dressed and headed into the kitchen to get coffee and this is what I found . . . how sweet is this!!

Once I enjoyed my breakfast my first stop as it should be was Tiffany & Co.  And I knew just what I wanted.  Originally, I was undecided between the Tiffany bean necklace and some pearl studs.  Then I got the Tiffany bean for my birthday from family so that narrowed down my NYC purchase.  Pearls!!  It was pretty busy in there being the Saturday of the busiest shopping weekend there.  I didn't have to wait long for a salesperson though.  She was super friendly and asked what & who I was shopping for. I said "for me for my 40th birthday because a trip to NYC just wasn't enough".  Hehehe.  She laughed and asked when my birthday was and I said TODAY!!  I told her my price limit and she pulled out the pearls that were in my range.  I was kind of expecting to go with the biggest ones within my limit but I didn't.  I actually liked the smaller ones better.  I paid and then remembered that I wanted to buy some cleaning solution and cloth for my necklace so I asked for those and she came back with them in a bag and handed them to me and said "happy birthday!".  SO NICE!!!  I LOVE birthday freebies!!!

From here, I wandered a little bit and then took the train to the mall at Columbus Circle to pick up my race kit (yes, RACE KIT!!) for the Riverside Park Hot Chocolate run the next day.  

NEW YORK RUNNING COMPANY!!

After this, I had to race to the 9/11 Memorial to meet my friends from the Circle Line.

It was emotional being here.  The sheer size of the memorial ponds is impressive.  And even though I was glued to the news during 9/11 and after and I was aware of how many people died and all the firefighters and paramedics but seeing all of their names on the memorial was sad.  My dad is a firefighter and my brother is a paramedic so to see all the rows of different fire halls and paramedic stations hit close to home.  

From here, I headed back to the apartment to change and get freshened up for the rest of my birthday evening.  The plan, Times Square, maybe a show, and more birthday freebies!  While I was at the apartment I got this little video from my niece and we got to FaceTime.

Once I'd gotten ready, my plan was to head to Times Square and check out the TKTS booth to see if there were any last minute tickets.  I had previously looked up tickets for my birthday but because it was the Saturday night of the long weekend, tickets were SO EXPENSIVE and weekday tickets were much more reasonable so I'd booked all weekday tickets.  I had heard horror stories about long lines at TKTS and I walked up and ever window was just four people deep.  I got a front row ticket to Little Miss Sunshine off broadway!!  

With some time to kill before the show I went to Sephora at Times Square to get my free birthday gift.  Then I went to Starbucks to get my free birthday drink!  I also get the NYC Starbucks mug because it is so damn cute.  When he asked for a name for the cup I said "happy birthday Michelle".  The place was packed and then the barista calls out "I've got a grande caramel latte for happy birthday Michelle!" I ran up to get it and the group waiting for drinks kept wishing me happy birthday.  Bahahaha!  It was so awesome.  

Once I was appropriately caffeinated and had taken a million pictures of Times Square again, I walked over to the 2econd Stage Theatre to see my first off-broadway show!!  My first Playbill!!

The show was AMAZING.  I loved every minute.  They were all fabulous and I'm amazed at what they did with so little on the stage.  After the show, I was starving.  I hadn't had much to eat and on the walk home I was considering some 99 cent pizza and then I came across a diner.  All of a sudden I just wanted a big burger.  And that's what I had.  A fantastic burger (I love when they ask how you want it done) and fries and a beer.  

Beny & Wes's apartment had a calf massager in front of a chair that looked like a throne and with all the walking I was doing, I took full advantage.  This is how I spent the last few minutes of my birthday, hahahaha!!