flyin' the coop to NYC

When @JetBlueCheeps came through my Twitter feed a few weeks ago boasting $20 tix to NYC from Burlington, I was on that like Tiger Woods and Jesse James on... well, everything. Sorry, can't help it. It was a Monday and the flight was for that Saturday. We decided to live in the moment and take a spontaneous trip to New York! Jay had never been to NYC and my handful of trips have always been with a specific purpose (to see a show during high school or for work functions), so I've never spent much time just exploring the city.

I really need to boast for a minute about what a powerful tool Twitter is. First off, it's the way I found out about this stellar deal and secondly, when I tweeted out into the Twitterverse that I was looking for affordable accommodations in Manhattan, I can't tell you how many immediate responses I got. And I'm not talking spammy responses. These were honest-to-goodness people out there just waiting to help somebody. It was swell.

The best tip, however came from a local tweep @MissMagpieFGS. She recommended I check out airbnb. Never heard of it? I hadn't either, but wow, am I ever glad she told me about it. airbnb functions as a sort of house swap service, except you actually rent out people's apartments, houses, spare rooms, tree houses in VT (no lie!) or even... air mattresses ("airbed-n-breakfast"). Most popular in metropolitan locations all over the globe, I felt like I hit a goldmine searching for places in Manhattan. airbnb's slogan is "travel like a human" and my goodness, we did.

After some trolling for the best location and deal, we settled on Kelli's "Charming Apt. in the Heart of NYC" and we're SO glad we did. Kelli was uber responsive and so nice. It was her first airbnb experience too and I think it worked out well for both of us. After staying at her place and admittedly checking out her bookshelf (I've got many of the same books), I think we could be friends! :-) Now wouldn't you rather stay here than at some overpriced, stodgy hotel where you're just a number checking in and checking out? I could do a whole post (or two) about her great style and eye for design... maybe I will another time. For now, enjoy this little peek!

:: She has these sweet elephant trays in several locations...

I adore them! ::

We stayed for two nights and two very full days in New York. We walked everywhere but down to the Financial District and I had the blisters to prove it. You'll see in the slideshow below some pretty new Pumas that I had to buy to get through day 2. I consider them my souvenir!

We did many typical touristy things like Times Square, the Empire State Building, saw a show (Avenue Q - AMAZING!), Macy's, MoMA (*swoon* - Tim Burton exhibit rocked our socks), visited Ground Zero & Battery Park, cheesecake, pizza, hot dog street vendors, walking, walking, subway, walking, and walking. We also made a point to visit a few stores we don't have here in VT like Whole Foods, Pinkberry, Sephora, and Kinokuniya Bookstore (where I scored some washi tape... yay!). Jay was really impressed at how clean and friendly the city was. I have to admit, it's not the same New York City I used to visit as a kid. Go Rudy!

It was so nice to get out of the daily routine and spend some fun time enjoying new adventures with my hubby! We only took a teeny tiny bite out of the Big Apple on our short trip, but we savored the taste and can't wait to go back again!