This summer, Bryan and I took a trip that we've been planning for years.  We meant to get ourselves over to tour Europe before we had kids.  And then we had kids.  (Oops)

One night this past winter we were talking and dreaming about this wonderful trip we should take someday, and Bryan just said, "We just have to freaking do it."  And he booked out tickets that night.  If you know Bryan, you know this is really not at all in character for him, but I was THRILLED!  We found the cheapest plane tickets we could get, which ended up being in to London, England and out of Naples, Italy.  We kind of figured that we'd sort out the rest later.  It was such a fun adventure!  

We decided to spend a night in NYC before we jumped across the pond.  We fell in love with the city when we vacationed there back in 2011 and couldn't wait to go back.  We caught Kinky Boots on Broadway (which was phenomenal!) and stayed up into the early morning hours wandering through Times Square with the crowd of tourists.

The subway is such an experience!  So loud.  So dirty.  So efficient.

The next morning, we got to meet up with my wonderful friend Christina for breakfast in Central Park!  She worked for ABC in the city, and we were so happy she made time to see us.

Christina had a very cool office mate, as you can see.  She promised us a tour of the building later that evening, so we said goodbye and headed off for a day of exploring.

We missed the grand opening of the 9/11 memorial by a month the last time we visited, so we really wanted to have the chance to see the museum.  It was incredible.  Wandering through it all was so emotional for both of us.  

The letters for this display are made from steel salvaged from Ground Zero.

This is a beam from the point of impact on the South Tower.  

This is the tree that survived the collapse of the towers.

After the emotion of the museum, it was uplifting to see the beautiful, completed Freedom Tower, surrounded by lush green trees.

One of my favorite things about NYC is how new architecture exists right alongside old, historic buildings like this church.

Bryan had to go pay homage to the bull on Wall Street :)

After a full day of walking and sight seeing, we headed back to ABC for a tour from Christina.

Bryan got to sit in the editor's chair ;)  Dreams do come true, folks!

Above:  Looking down on the set of 20/20

Below:  Hanging out with all those shiny awards!

NYC was like our little warm up for our grand trip.  I can't wait to share highlights from London next post!