[WishUponAStar]

Wow, well yesterday was an unexpectedly exciting day for me! Just when I thought I was going to spend a quiet day at home, peacefully recovering from the strep throat that ruined the rest of my week... guess what, I was wrong!

This is how it all started (picture the scene)...

It was fairly early on a Saturday morning and I was [uncharacteristically] still sleeping soundly. Daniel nudged me saying "JESS JESS, I am going to go to the gym but I want you to rest until I get home." OK, NORMALLY it's "JESS... GET UP, TIME TO GO TO THE GYM... NOW!!!" I figured he was just giving me a break because with the meds & recovering strep I was not about to go work out. I actually woke up about 20 minutes later feeling TOTALLY fine & with only a slight congestion left.

Daniel returns home, plops himself on the couch, & says "Do you want to go to a movie today?" Ehhhh, not really. "What do you want to do?" Ehhh, I don't care. Then Daniel says, "Well, I'd REALLY love to go to the Nintendo World store in NY, & get lunch at our favorite BarBQue place, and we can go to the World of Disney store if you want."



OH OK then, now you're talkin'! He THEN informs me that we'd be able to catch the 12:25 train if I hurried up & got ready. IT WAS 11:20 , we'd have to leave the house by 12 noon to get to the train station & get tickets in time! ACK, I hadn't even showered thus far, & let alone get ready for a day in NYC!!! For some reason I just threw all panic to the wind, hopped in the shower, threw on whatever clothes I found, & grabbed a sling purse [I hate carrying things].

While I was getting ready Daniel kept insisting on "getting my purse ready" [he knows I'm a regular Mary Poppins carrying the well-stocked carpet bag at all times ]. "JESS, JESS.... what do you want in your purse???" After the list of cough drops, tissues, inhaler, tylenol, hand sanitizer, lip gloss, bottled water, etc.... was accomplished I was done getting ready.

We rushed out the door & Daniel said, "MAKE SURE YOU HAVE EVERYTHING BEFORE WE LEAVE THIS DRIVEWAY!" I opened my purse to check & [besides the laundry list of pharmacutical goodies] THERE WAS AN ENVELOPE...

WITH THESE.....


PS: I took this pic later in the evening that's why it's dark Also, because this was a very impromptu trip for me I had NO CAMERA, only my cell. So please excuse all the cruddy pics )

[jk8]

Oh, boy!! This sounds like a great little report coming on!!!!

[cinderbella]

AWE!! What a cute little man!!

[DisneyTeacher]

Good job Daniel!! I can't wait to hear more.

[WishUponAStar]

We were on the train in no time & I did start getting a little agita. I was thinking "GOSH, we're going to see a SHOW tonight & I am wearing JEANS . I can't wear JEANS to a show [shudders], my hair is a mess, I still look sick, we hardly have ANY cash on us, I have NOTHING to read or do on this hour train ride, & we don't even have any plans for the day at all really." Not to mention this is the point where I realized I had eaten NOTHING at all yet & already took my meds . NOT GOOD, I needed some sort of food fast!

Something just kinda made me say, "Ehhh, whateva'." I decided not to care at all & just enjoy myself, I was SURE that there were be plenty of families in the theater dressed casually, & we'd just go with the flow.

We arrived in NYC & Daniel was get worried that I still hadn't eaten & took meds. We walked STRAIGHT to our FAVORITE barbeque restaurant & were ready to chow down. I didn't take any photos inside but this is their website.
Dallas BBQ - NYC's best!

OK now, I would never normally suggest doing ANYTHINg besides a show in Times Square (I really do hate it there) but this restaurant is UNBELIEVEABLE. EVERYTHING we've eaten there has been ABSOLUTELY top of the line barbeque & rotisserie. It's 100% YUMALICIOUS. Good corn bread, fall off the bone ribs, juicy chicken, great sides, & it's CHEAP! LOVE THE DALLAS BAR-B-Que!!!! Oh, and they DO have other locations in NYC if you are smart and never want to go to Times Square in your life.

I found some photos on the web of their food (NOT my photos):

[woohoo]

Awww- Jess that is awesome! The closest I get to surprises like that are when Ed planned to tag along on a valentines date to NYC to see some concert for some guy I have never heard of and it was horrible...all because his friends were going...ugh! I wish I had that type of a romantic guy...

[WishUponAStar]

Originally Posted by woohoo

I wish I had that type of a romantic guy...

hehe, Daniel DOES pull one out of the woodwork every once in awhile. I do give him A LOT of credit. I think this one was a combination of feeling bad that he gave me a REALLY hard time about wanting to go to DL for my 30th birthday & our 5th wedding anniversary. He really was not into the idea & I think feelin' bad b/c he KNEW we'd end up going anyway. Also, I had asked for Little Mermaid tickets for Christmas but because there was a Broadway strike right before that he was waiting, so I knew we'd go at some point later on!

He did make such a wonderful surprise out of it, I am a super duper lucky woman! He's the best, REALLY!

[WishUponAStar]

After leaving the heavenly Dallas BBQ with full bellys the next stop was the Nintendo World store!!! It was fun, actually a lot SMALLER than I expected. I loved looking at all the old Nintendo stuff from the early 80's-90's b/c that's when I grew up, as part of the "Nintendo Generation." I saw my old original Game Boy, the Power Glove, etc. It was cool.

Daniel played with some gadgets, I checked out some fun Wii merchandise, we played a couple games on the demo floor, and just hung out there for a little while. Daniel actually had his DS in his jacket pocket so he checked to see if there was any free downloadable content floating in the air for being in the store. Sure enough there was. He DLed some stuff to his DS & we were ready to leave.

Both walked out empty handed but the store itself was pretty cool, I loved seeing all the old stuff. Every person that worked there was really friendly & didn't make you feel uncomfortable if you were obviously not a gamer (like me ) Definately something to check out if you have a fan in your family.

PS: I talked to an employee there who told me they STILL continue to sell out of the Wii EVERY morning!

Once again these are NOT my photos ():

[tiggerlover1971]

Awe what a wonderful Man ... and wonderful suprise ... Darn that bbq looks and sounds awesome... wish I had that restaurant here ... We have bbq places but that place looks awesome ..So how did you like the little mermaid show ...

[WishUponAStar]

We couldn't help but stop & watch the ice skaters in Rockefeller Plaza for a little while. The ice was actually fairly empty, as well as the Plaza itself.

We REALLY debated on whether we should just 'knock on the SNL door' and BEG BEG BEG them to let us into the taping that evening b/c it was the FIRST live show since the writer's strike & I REALLY wanted to see it.

Figuring we'd probably be kicked out before they'd EVER let us in to see SNL we decided to move on to the World of Disney store!!!

Here are a few pics from Roc Plaza, these ARE my photos

[WishUponAStar]

Here I am Lookin' "not so swift" as I normally would to go see a Broadway show!

[tigger]

Blue Smoke is NYC's best BBQ...sorry it is true

(if you haven't been you need to hop back on the train...)

I miss those days we would just hop on the train an do Manhattan...I am so happy to read your TR.

[DisneyTeacher]

Originally Posted by WishUponAStar

After leaving the heavenly Dallas BBQ with full bellys the next stop was the Nintendo World store!!! It was fun, actually a lot SMALLER than I expected. I loved looking at all the old Nintendo stuff from the early 80's-90's b/c that's when I grew up, as part of the "Nintendo Generation." I saw my old original Game Boy, the Power Glove, etc. It was cool.

Daniel played with some gadgets, I checked out some fun Wii merchandise, we played a couple games on the demo floor, and just hung out there for a little while. Daniel actually had his DS in his jacket pocket so he checked to see if there was any free downloadable content floating in the air for being in the store. Sure enough there was. He DLed some stuff to his DS & we were ready to leave.

Both walked out empty handed but the store itself was pretty cool, I loved seeing all the old stuff. Every person that worked there was really friendly & didn't make you feel uncomfortable if you were obviously not a gamer (like me ) Definately something to check out if you have a fan in your family.

PS: I talked to an employee there who told me they STILL continue to sell out of the Wii EVERY morning!

I had no idea there was a Nintendo store--my son would that.

[WishUponAStar]

After meandering around the Plaza we made our way a few blocks north to YAY, the WORLD of DISNEY store!!! I had been sort of preparing myself to battle the notoriously HUGE Saturday crowd but thankfully they weren't there! ACTUALLY, I had never seen the WoD store SO empty on a Saturday afternoon! Maybe everyone was there LAST weekend for the long weekend?

I wasn't complainin'! I was a little dissapointed that there were no real character meet & greets going on. This is one of my FAVORITE things about the WoD store in NY. They usually have about 2-4 characters set up in the "Friendship Room" for you to take Photopass & personal photos. The settings are always beautiful & they never rush you. The only thing going on yesterday was the "Pirate Tutorial" & Captain Jack Sparrow. We checked it out but never got our photo taken WITH Jack b/c there were SO many families waiting.

Daniel looked at the Disney media stuff & art while I shopped around all over the store. I knew I didn't have a lot of $ but I DID end up getting the 2008 Disneyland Birmbaum guide (with awesome coupons in the back) & a NYC Tinker Bell pin! . I was a happy camper! Now I'd have something to read on the train home & help me get MORE excited for our June trip!

We were in WoD for a little over an hour when we realized, "WOW we should be headin' back to Times Square to get ready for Little Mermaid!"

Here are some WoD Store pics

Daniel contemplating my birthday gift maybe???

[WishUponAStar]

Children participating in the "Pirate Tutorial"