An Adult Snow Day in Manhattan

Due to the forecasted snow in New York City with a weekend trip planned months in advance, I left behind Tampa’s 83 degree sunshine to fly up to the Big Apple a night early.  It felt like Christmas morning when I woke up and looked out the window — it was snowing!

Maybe it was playing in the snow or the amazing breakfast sandwich I munched on, or the super causal morning I spent with one of my former students from Santa Clara University, Kaitlin Fuelling, but I was so happy!

Borrowing Kailtin’s Hunter boots (I need a pair), we dressed in many layers and went for a walk in the snow.  The green boots kept me nice and dry!  Kaitlin has lived in New York City for 3 and a half years so the joy of snow has worn off after growing up in sunny Southern California, but she was a trooper.

I haven’t been in the snow in years. My mom told me as a child I loved playing in the snow. I felt the same way today!  I made a video just so I would remember what it felt like coming down on my face!

As bloggers, we stopped and took a lot of pictures of the snow day.  We chatted about her job, what she wanted to do moving forward, where I was with my own job search in Tampa, my husband, and how our house remodel was coming along. We talked about new friendships we had made and some that we had lost.  We laughed about dating in a big place like New York City. She told me a lot about her running group, the November Project.

We talked a lot about our blogs and how we come up with ideas to write about (no politics!). Kaitlin was my inspiration to start DaysUnplanned, as she has her own blog. It’s terrific — check it out!

We walked by Union Square and on to Gramercy Park.  The movie Notting Hill stole the idea of Gramercy Park for its movie.  Remember this scene from the movie?

Only those with a special key get in to Gramercy Park. There are just 383 keys, only for residents of the immediate neighborhood.  Read this article here to learn more about how to get a key.  The Park is more than 185 years old!  It was a perfect setting for the snow to fall in.

It looked really different in the summer as compared to the winter, as shown in the photos below!

There was also a movie made in 2009 about the hotel that overlooks the park, entitled “Hotel Gramercy Park”.  Read more about the movie here.

We continued our walk, stopping to take a few more snaps along the fencing.  It made for some really cool Humans of New York type photos.

After our walk, we stopped by one of Kaitlin’s favorite places for a breakfast sandwich. I ordered what she ordered, so I could be a cool New Yorker.  I put mine on a New York bagel. It was even better than it looked.

We stopped for a few minutes to play in the snow.  With the help of the Boomerang app, we filmed a couple humorous videos of us pretending to be Mary Tyler Moore.  I think MTM would have been proud!

After we finished our breakfast, we went back to her apartment to log a few hours of work.  While we worked on our Macs, it was nice to sit and relax without any interruptions, just catching up on life.  Over a period of a few hours, we talked about everything from her training to run the Paris Marathon in April, to politics, to my workouts at Orange Theory, our careers and just simple stuff, like toothbrushes.

Finally, I peeled myself off the sofa, put on 10 layers, and got my stuff together to head to Times Square, where I would be staying for the rest of the weekend.

I can’t say enough about Kaitlin, and so many of the students I have kept in touch with over the years.  I never had a child of my own, but I realized as I matured, that the students I worked with helped fill any hole in my heart.  It was so refreshing to sit down and have mature conversations.

Thanks again Kaitlin for serving as one of New York City’s wonderful ambassadors!