Hi friends!
Last week was my spring break (spring break, woohoo!!), but I did not spend mine traveling to a warmer climate to sip Pina Coladas by the pool, I did something even better than that. My mom came to visit me here in Boston and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my break!
She came on the night of the Thursday before last and we had one day here in Boston together before we took the train to New York City to spend four days there with her fiancé Tore and his daughter Matilda.
They had arrived a day early so instead of us welcoming them they met us at the hotel where they had already checked in and managed to get me and Matilda separate rooms, which was probably good since I had Happy with me who can be a little tricky to stay with at a hotel, haha.
Since it was already mid-day and pretty cold and windy (I believe it might have even been snowing a bit) we decided to just walk over to Little Italy, which was only a 10-15 min walk from our hotel, to get some lunch. However, I had completely forgotten to pack a hat or gloves, so my ears felt like they were going to fall off from the cold wind, so we stopped at a very touristy shop (it was just the first one we saw) where me and Tore, who had also forgotten to bring a hat, bought ourselves some very fashionable NYC beanies. The only thing we cared about at the time was that they would keep us warm, haha!
We got lunch at a really nice Italian place and then headed up to 5th Avenue to check out the skating rink at Rockefeller Plaza and do a bit of shopping at Victoria’s Secret (which doesn’t really exist in Sweden) and my mom loves going to the Armani Exchange store, it’s always a must even just to look at the clothes, haha! At this point, it was snowing a bit more so we didn’t stay out too long but instead headed back to the hotel to rest up and get ready for dinner.
We ended up at a great Mexican place where we had some margaritas and then a delicious meal, and my mom who is allergic to garlic could order exactly what she wanted and even eat the guacamole! It was truly a hit!
The next day, Sunday, we went to Central Park since the weather was so much nicer and walked our way down to Times Square.
Even though I’ve been to Times Square many times now I’m always struck by how strange and amazing it is, it really is like nothing that exists anywhere else with all the huge billboards and tourists crawling all over!
In the evening we went to a Korean BBQ place for dinner. This was at the request of Tore since NYC really is a place where you can try pretty much any type of cuisine because they have everything! The food was really good, however since we went to a very authentic place the atmosphere was a little bit different than what we are normally used to at a restaurant. We had two speakers right above our table and the music was very loud and a little bit stressful, haha! But the meal was great and afterward, we went to a cozy bar and had some eccentric but tasty drinks.
On Monday I had made a brunch reservation for us. The restaurant is located right across the street from Grand Central Station so we took the subway there so they got to see this incredible place and then had some amazing pancakes and French toast. We definitely cleared our plates, haha, the food was super yummy!
After that, we took a little walk and ended up at the UN headquarters and then made our way to the Midtown/pier 79 location for the Staten Island ferry. It was a little bit windy but since the sun was shining and the temperature was up we were determined to sit outside and enjoy the nice weather in typical Swedish fashion, haha!
Out on Staten Island, we did some shopping at an outlet mall they have and then made our way back to the hotel to get ready for dinner in the evening. We had reservations at Red Rooster Harlem which was co-created and is run by a Swedish chef and the atmosphere at the restaurant was really cool! The food was great (a theme at pretty much every place we ate in NYC) and we got to try their salted caramel doughnuts with sweet potato cream and raspberry jam for dessert which was yummy but also kind of a weird experience, haha!
On our last day, we decided to walk the High Line, a public park and walkway that is built on an old historic, elevated rail line. You get a different view of the city and it’s a really nice walk! They have made it super nice with benches you can rest on, and tons of trees, and there were even some spring flowers blooming! This day we had the fortune of it being really warm so it was the perfect day to do the walk!
Our final stop before heading back to the hotel was to Milk Bar, a place I had heard about where we got ice cream. Matilda and I got their standard cereal milk soft-serve with corn flakes topping (it really did taste like a bowl of cereal!), and my mom and Tore got the limited time French toast soft-serve with French toast topping. It was a unique experience but actually pretty good. I also got a cookie (since those were what I had heard them get so much praise for) that my mom and I ate on the train later. It really was as good as I’d heard people say!
We said goodbye at the hotel and Tore and Matilda headed to the airport to catch their plane back to Sweden while my mom and I got on the train back to Boston. It was an incredible few days in a city that I love getting to spend time with people I truly cherish and am so thankful to have in my life!
After getting back my mom stayed with me in Boston for a few extra days, so we got to spend some time just the two of us. We mostly just hung out, did a bit of shopping, got to spend some time with one of my best friends here, she helped me get some things I needed for around the house, etc.
We did some Full Moon manifesting and I did a tarot card reading for her since I’m practicing and trying to learn the art of tarot. And we also got some wine and cheese and made it into a girls night.
On my mom’s final full day here we decided to go on a little day trip to Plymouth, the place where the first pilgrims came over on the Mayflower in the 1600s. We did not really have any expectations but it turned out to be a really cute town and the waterfront was absolutely stunning. The weather was also magnificent so we strolled around the town, got some lunch that we ate down by the water, and ended the trip with delicious ice cream in the sun. It was such a surprisingly amazing day!
Since it was my mom’s last night here we decided to go out for an Italian dinner in North End. As my birthday is coming up this was our early birthday dinner and celebration. We had good pasta and then went on to get a drink at a place called Whichcraft (I mean it couldn’t get more appropriate for me, could it? Haha) that had really fun drinks, or should I say potions, haha!
It was amazing having my mom here and getting to spend 10 days with her! It is always incredibly sad when she leaves but I think the more I feel at home here in Boston the quicker I recover. The last time she was here my anxiety got really bad after she left but this time I cried over some Ben & Jerry’s that first night and felt a little more anxious than normal, but I managed to get back into the swing of my life a little quicker and with a little more ease this time around, and for that, I feel proud of myself!
The next time I see her, and the rest of my family, will be when I go back home to Sweden in the summer and I can’t wait! I know the time will just fly by!
Until next time!
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