So, for all of you that don’t know… I went to NYC last weekend for my bff’s birthday! We had a blast. I’ve known her since elementary school and it was so fun to be able to reconnect.
I went to a lot of trendy eating spots and coffee shops. Not only am I going to tell you about where I went and what I did each day, you get to hear my crazy and stressful Airbnb experience!! It was so weird!!
Now, where to begin… if you want to hear the Airbnb story and skip all the other stuff, scroll down to where it says “Airbnb Experience”
Let me start by saying, traveling stresses me out. But, not as much as it used to. If you’ve read my previous blog posts about my fight with motion sickness and travel anxiety, it was no joke. I would become unable to function when I had to travel. Now, I am free of anxiety and nausea and love every second of my traveling because I can actually be a human being. I learned how to use the subways and path trains during this trip and traveled with ease. I was super proud of my body for waking up day 1 to go meet my dad and not getting lost, or sick, or anxious, or anything. I know it sounds so juvenile, but I really used to suffer when I had to think about travel and being in a new place not knowing where I was going, especially early in the morning. I owe it all to my gym (Basecamp Fitness). They’ve trained my body to be able to handle anything that’s thrown at it and strengthened everything so that I can take on the world. Too cheesy? Nah..
Anyway, let’s begin.
Day 1
Day 1 I spent with my dad in the city. My friend had to work on the first day so my dad took a sick day and we went into NYC. Our first stop, World Trade Center. This was my first time seeing it! It’s so cool looking. My dad says it looks like we’re inside a whale, LOL. I saw there was a Bluebottle there! One of my faves. We had oat milk cappuccinos and I showed him what I did for work. Then we walked around the memorials and chatted. We headed north on foot to just see the city and ran into this little CBD shop that looked enticing. (I can do a full post about CBD and it’s benefits soon) I told my dad about CBD when he told me he was having trouble sleeping and relaxing. CBD really helps me with my anxiety and flight troubles. We sat and chatted with the lovely sales consultant and got him some CBD. Then we walked back to WTC and went to Eataly. For those of you that have never been, you should check it out! It’s a whole floor that looks like an Italian farmers market. There’s everything there. Cheese, panini’s, pizza, prosciutto, restaurants, wine, and a bunch of imported cookies. Oh! And gelato, of course. We had some panini’s and espresso and then it was time for me to head back. It was so fun seeing my dad and I was so glad I was able to catch up with him.
Day 2
Day 2 was my friend’s birthday day. We started off the day getting our nails done. Moved on to brunch at The Cheesecake Factory. Then we went to get her and her friends some tattoos. I didn’t get one because I know I’ll change my mind in a week and decide I don’t like it. So, no permanent stuff for me. Then my bff, Katie, met up with us and we went to dinner at The Roman Nose. It was SO GOOD. Their Italian food was out of this world!!! We ended the night singing karaoke at her apartment and dancing. Little did I know, that was not the most action packed part of my night. Which brings me too…
The Airbnb Experience
I’m not going to name exactly what airbnb this was because it had nothing really to do with the host and I don’t want him coming after me for a bad review haha. I got my friend and I an airbnb for the night so she didn’t have to take the train back to CT late at night. When we got there around 2am, we went inside and were not impressed. The vibe was weird and the place was kind of rundown. The photos were kind of misleading. Nevertheless, it was one night. We weren’t going to die. Katie goes to brush her teeth, and the bathroom sink handle straight up falls off. So, we use the kitchen sink and get ready for bed. Once we got in bed, you could hear EVERYTHING going on around us. Every single noise, voice, movement, car, horn, train, monkey, spider, chinchilla… everything. Every creature was stirring… let me tell you. Not to mention, there was an air conditioner in the window so it was super drafty and didn’t help with the noise. Luckily, the bed was warm and comfortable. Here comes the incident…
It’s 4am, “BOOM BOOM BOOM!” I’m startled awake to a banging at the door. I was hesitant on if I should open it because I was a random girl almost alone in a random apartment in a random city… ya know. So, I opened it (meanwhile Katie is still out like a light) There were 5 cops outside my door. I was like… “hello?” The officer proceeded to tell me that someone had called from this apartment and said they needed help. I explained to him no one made a call and that we were sleeping. “Are you alone?” He asked me. I said no, I was with my friend and this was an airbnb and I had no idea what was happening. He wanted confirmation Katie was alive and okay, so I yelled at her to say hi. She half asleep yells back and says hi. Then I asked the officer if I should be worried about anything and he said no. He got an address check and the person that called said this same address… No one knew wtf to do. He said sorry for disturbing us and went back outside. Naturally, I couldn’t sleep for like an hour after that because I was so paranoid. I could hear people outside and kept checking out the window to see what was happening. The police went into another apartment and, I guess, the lady that called didn’t know where she was… Thank you random lady… I finally woke up at 9am and had made it through the night. All I wanted at that point was to get the effff out of there. So, we packed up and headed to the city.
Day 3
After all this craziness, I didn’t care what an Uber was going to cost or where I went, I just wanted a coffee and to be relaxed. We, of course, stopped at Bluebottle for some avo toast and coffee. Then, I showed Katie Eataly. We decided we wanted matcha and took the subway to Cha Cha Matcha in Little Italy. I love Cha Cha. I go there in LA and it’s soooo yummy. She got the lavender matcha with CBD and macadamia nut milk and I got the regular matcha latte with almond/coconut milk. We sat there for a while and then headed to Sweetgreen, my fave salad place. After we ate, it was time to call it a day. I headed back to Jersey City (where I was staying with my birthday friend) and she headed back to CT. I ended the night hanging out with my lovely bff that I’ve known since childhood and reminisced on the elementary school days by looking at old year books. I’m so lucky I got to come down and see her. She is an angel woman and I love her so much!!
Now, I’m back in LA safe and sound after getting up at 6am, taking the path from Jersey to WTC and (of course) getting Bluebottle before hopping in an Uber to JFK. It’s crazy how you can see people from different places so quickly nowadays. Technology and machinery has made anything possible. As I said before, traveling stresses my body out… but, not as much as it used to. I’ve become way more able to travel and roll with the punches. For all of you who are used to the NYC train/subway systems, bravo. This was my first time trying them out alone and I was so proud of myself when I was able to use them seamlessly. Also, I was proud of my body for being able to wake up early and hop on shuttles, trains, subways, go to new places, all without throwing up or even getting an ounce of anxiety. Thank you, body lol.
Next time I’m back in NYC, where should I go? Any hotspots that are NYC only that I should know about? I just went to what I knew was good in LA. Which was fun, but I would love to see more NYC based stuff.
Signing off. I hope you had a great weekend and that you never have to be woken up in the middle of the night to a cop banging on your door.
Ciao for now,
