That’s right, 4! My awesome Dad paid for Stan and I to spend another night in New York. Explanation to follow!

Day 2, Monday, we slept in a bit and hunted for more vintage clothing and cupcakes. I didn’t really find any great pieces of clothing that really stood out to me, but that was probably because I was lamenting my lack of money. I had hoped I would have my tax return money before the trip, but, because I gave the IRS the wrong routing number, that didn’t happen. :( Of course, when I stumbled upon a tokidoki store, I didn’t think twice before buying a $100 messenger bag. I justify this with the fact that I didn’t buy anything else {other than food and Metro Cards} and my dad gave me $100 for the trip. {He isn’t usually this generous, but he just got his bonus! Yay for everyone!} Haha, thanks for sponsoring our trip, Dad. We also found more cupcakes to munch on. I bought this scrumptious and enormous raspberry swirl cupcake from Crumbs Bake Shop on Broadway. It was so huge I had to split it with Stan {and I’m not usually so generous, either}. We also had a late lunch/early dinner at Goodburger, home of the Goodburger! {If you don’t get the reference, I’m old}.

Day 3, Tuesday, began horribly. We checked out of our hotel, went to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), then realized they were closed. Nice one, Sami. They’re closed every Tuesday. I felt like this entire montage of Arrested Development Charlie Brown-esque sad moments. Seeing the Tim Burton exhibit was my sole purpose for going to the Big Apple! :( :( I called my dad, who was staying in New Jersey, to ask if we could camp out with him for a night, but we realized it would have cost more money in taxi fees just to get there and back than it would have cost to go home and come back another day. We hung up, grabbed our luggage from the hotel, and began our walk back to the train station. My dad called me a few minutes later and offered to pay for us to stay another night. Yesss! We had to check into another hotel, but we were very, very happy.

We acquired more cupcakes, this time from Magnolia Bakery, which has been in Sex & the City. I bought two: caramel, which was very sweet, and red velvet, which made my teeth look vampiric, munching on my latest victim. We shopped around a bit more and ate at Five Guys because Stan is addicted to their burgers. On our way back to the hotel, I spotted Radiance Tea House & Books. I’d never been to a tea house before, so we went in and ordered a pot of Spring in Kyoto, a flavorful mix of Japanese green tea, sunflower, and peony blossoms. I couldn’t resist ordering edamame, which I have become addicted to. Radiance describes themselves as “an oasis in the city,” and wow are they right. I didn’t ever want to leave that place, I was so relaxed. But, we did. Stan and I went back to our hotel, watched Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince on my MacBook, then went to sleep.

Day 4, Wednesday, we woke up, checked out of our hotel, and went straight to the Tim Burton exhibit at the MoMA. It was wonderful. If you’re a big Tim Burton fan, or even a little one, it would be a shame to miss it. The exhibit runs until April 26th, and you can check out a lot of it online here. There is so much of Burton’s work that went undeveloped and unpublished, and that alone is worth seeing, but it was amazing to see his preliminary drawings of characters that would appear in his movies, or costumes that were worn by Johnny Depp or Christopher Walken. It was very crowded, but still totally worth it. After the exhibit, we hopped on the train and headed home, exhausted.

…It was wonderful :)

Stan and I got into New York just before 1pm, and we were able to check in early to our hotel and walk around the city. We had plans to meet up with my city-dwelling French companion, Tibo, at 4 at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) to check out the Tim Burton exhibit, but it’s nearly impossible to get into on a weekend. You have to go really early and get timed tickets specifically for the Tim Burton exhibit, and by the time we got there, they were all sold out. So, we’ve decided to save Tim Burton until Tuesday when we see Tibo again.

So instead we shopped around a bit, ate some ludicrously expensive food (but this is New York), and like any good Apple nerds, we visited the 5th Ave Apple store. It was gorgeous. A little bit smaller than I expected, but I think that’s because there were so many people there. I got some shots of the front of the store and a shot from underneath the Apple while we were in the glass elevator:

We met up with Tibo around 5 and he took us to Shake Shack in Madison Square Park. We had to do a double-take when we saw the line — who would ever wait in a 30 minute line to get milkshakes? Tibo promised us that they were “the best shakes in New York,” and he was right. They were super creamy, sweet but not too sweet. Next time you’re in New York, I highly suggest stopping by. They have food, too, like your typical burger stand. If you go to the Shake Shack website, they also have a camera so you can check out the line before heading there. Very convenient, but I’d say it was worth the 30 minute wait anyway. We may go back for dinner tonight…

As we were walking around, killing time before we met up with Mish, we happened upon a little cupcake shop, Baked By Melissa, and of course I bought cupcakes. Now, Melissa knows what she’s doing. Her cupcakes are bite-sized which is great because you get to sample more for your money without getting stuffed. I tried three — cookie dough, red velvet, and tie dye. All were equally delicious, but I have to say the cookie dough was my favorite because I’ve never had a cookie dough cupcake before. I was glad we found Baked By Melissa because it wasn’t on my list of cupcake shops, though Tibo had heard about it. They’ve actually gotten a nice bit of press. Melissa has been featured in the New York Times, Vogue, People and Daily Candy.

After swinging by Carmine’s near Times Square and finishing off Mish and her co-workers’ leftovers, we went out in search for a place to spend the rest of the evening. Tibo brought us to a tiny hole-in-the-wall type wine bar that features live jazz every night. Fat Cat was the perfect place to end the evening, kicking back, playing pool, and listening to some killer jazz.

More adventures, shopping, and cupcakes to come!

Hi readers!

We are super pumped to share some awesome news with you! This weekend, from Saturday – Tuesday, Poor & Pretty will be hanging out in New York City! Mish is going for business and Sami is going for pleasure, but we’re both planning on having some fun. Check us out as we liveblog and tweet our search for budget-friendly fashion, hair tips, and of course, cupcakes!

Have any suggestions for shops, restaurants, or bakeries for us to check out? We’d love to hear them! Leave us a comment!

xoxo,
Mish & Sami