A Day of Possibilities

We purposefully left the day completely unplanned. I explained to the girls as we drove into the city, "The day is like a blank page just waiting for us to fill it up!"

With Karen's encouragement, we went on a GREAT DOUGHNUT QUEST which led us to Chelsea. I dropped off Karen and the girls at The Doughnut Plant and circled the block (I was only honked at once!) Karen came back to the car with a cardboard box holding a baker's dozen. The first one I tried (yes, I tried more than one) was their most popular creme brulee. They "torch" them so that there is a crunchy crust before the soft dough. And the filling! Oh. My.

My other favorites (yes, I tried more than two) were the coconut with coconut cream filling, the strawberry one with fresh strawberries in the frosting, and the chocolate which was like biting into a moist, chocolate cake (okay, okay, I tried five different doughnuts!).

Now I like doughnuts and have enjoyed my fair share of them throughout my life. But these doughnuts were amazing - truly. "Gourmet" doesn't do them justice. They were so good that I will go out of my way to return to The Doughnut Plant the next time I'm in NYC.

Here's Karen echoing all of our sentiments: "These are SOOOO good!"

The day was too beautiful to not go to Central Park. The girls jumped, slid, and climbed all over the giant rocks. Madi commented, "I remember them being...bigger." Ahhh, she's three years older and much more grown up. But they all managed to enjoy themselves immensely.
My wish list item? Watch the Tartan Parade on the Avenue of the Americas. My Scottish roots made my soul soar as I listened to the bagpipe music. Men in kilts - am I the only one who finds them sexy? And our favorite site...the street full of Scottie dogs.
We hadn't planned on seeing a show. But by the afternoon we decided to try our luck at the Wicked Lottery. At 5:30pm the odds were NOT looking good. There were over 100 people entered in the lottery with only 13 lucky names to be drawn. We crossed our fingers and I'm sure a couple silent prayers were uttered. Name 11 to be chosen: MEYA!! We whooped and hollared! It was so perfect that for Meya's first time in NYC, hers was the name chosen. We made a quick decision. Karen and Meya went to see the show (front row for $26.25 each!).
Which left Madi, Leasie and I with decisions and possibilities. We decided to try to find a good deal for a show. We went to three different box offices looking for last minute deals, we rushed to the TKS window, and finally with only 10 minutes till show time, we went back to the Phantom box office. The nicest man with a head of distinguished white hair, checked and checked looking for three open seats. Finally he gave me a deal I couldn't refuse...front row seats at the cheapest ticket prices in the house. Yes, on the front row, we saw the chandelier fall, we saw the tears on Christine's face, we made eye-contact with handsome Raoul, and we saw the spit fly. It was wonderful!
A couple more memorable moments/quotes:
* Madi: "We're pottying our way through NYC!" (yes, I think we visited every public restroom in the city).
* The salad lunch at Rockefeller plaza was nothing short of divine!
* Me: "Now if we could just hear the organ" (the St. Patrick cathedral organ began to play "You Raise me up"), Karen: "Now if only we could hear someone sing" (a soloist began to sing). Miraculous!
* Three girls asleep before we reached the Lincoln Tunnel.
* Karen and I sneaking a few more bites of doughnut on our drive back to the hotel.

That blank page? We filled it up front and back until there was no room left.