My sister and I took an early 7 a.m. flight to New York for her birthday. The night before, I had put on a new Dexcom, but just as I was leaving for the airport, I got a notification telling me to remove it immediately because it was defective. Cue me frantically trying to replace it without crying—definitely not the smooth start I’d pictured.
At the airport, I somehow ended up at the wrong gate while my sister was at the correct one. I went through security alone and made it to what I thought was our gate, waiting by myself for about 20 minutes… until my sister called, annoyed, asking where I was. She thought I was running late and was now rushing through security, while I was already calmly sitting at the actual gate, ready to board.
We finally met up, I apologized for the mix-up, she forgave me, and we grabbed some coffee. Caffeine in hand, we headed back to board—only to discover we were surrounded by a group of about 20 teenagers on a school trip to New York.
My sister and I aren’t morning people—and we’re definitely not kid people. These teens were loud and full of energy (understandable, but still overwhelming before 8 a.m.). We were just hoping for a quiet, smooth start to our own little New York getaway. Our seats ended up right in the middle of them. It was… an experience. Thank goodness for noise-canceling headphones; I genuinely don’t think I would’ve survived that flight without them.
Once we landed, we got off the plane as fast as possible. The weather was cool and crisp—and that’s when I realized I’d forgotten my jacket in the chaos of the morning. I was freezing.
We ordered an Uber to the hotel. Don’t even get me started on the cost—it was expensive. We had originally planned to figure out the train into the city, but with all our luggage, Uber felt like the easier option… just not the cheaper one.
We tossed our luggage into the hotel room and immediately headed back out in search of food. We were starving and exhausted, but determined to dive straight into the city. I would’ve loved a nap—but nope, no naps on this adventure.
We definitely ate way too much, but we still managed to explore the city afterward. We made our way to Bryant Park, where the Christmas market was all set up for the holidays. Everything was festive and charming… right up until I started regretting all the cheese I’d eaten.
We decided to call it an early night since we had big plans to wake up early and take in as much of New York as possible the next day!
Saturday was a whirlwind of activities and sightseeing—and it also happened to be Sissy’s actual birthday! We wandered through Chelsea Market, Starbucks, the Harry Potter Store, and what felt like a million miles of shops, hopping on and off the subway all day. We even made it down to Canal Street, where we indulged in amazing Italian snacks and made a few questionable purchases from street vendors.
I’d recently watched a YouTube influencer buy a designer bag for just $50. I hadn’t done any real research on it, but I mentioned it to my sister—not realizing we’d actually end up on Canal Street. If I’d looked into it more, I definitely would’ve been better prepared for what we were walking into. It was definitely an experience I’ll never forget.
That night, we had dinner at Gaonnuri for Korean BBQ. It was delicious and incredibly expensive—but absolutely worth it. And the city view alone made the whole experience unforgettable.
On Sunday, we headed out for brunch and squeezed in a bit more shopping. By now, we were getting pretty good at navigating the city via subway. But the highlight of the day was yet to come—we were finally seeing a Broadway show: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, featuring Tom Felton in his Broadway debut! Aside from celebrating Sissy’s birthday, this was one of the main reasons we decided to come to New York—and it just so happened to fall on her birthday weekend.
With the show starting at 2 p.m. and our early start to explore the city, we had to stay in our Broadway-best outfits all day while roaming around. Riding the subway at 9 a.m. dressed for a show definitely made us look a little out of place—but this is New York, and no one batted an eye.
Hands down, the show was incredible! Tom Felton’s performance was amazing, and it was undoubtedly the highlight of our trip. If you’re not a Harry Potter fanatic like my sister and I, you might not get it—but we loved every single second.
After the show, we stopped at a cozy little pub for dinner and drinks (mocktails for me!). The place looked like Christmas had exploded everywhere—which only added to the high of coming straight from the theater. We still had a bit of time for some sightseeing, visiting a few spots we had marked on our maps, before heading back to the hotel to pack up our bags and squeeze all our new purchases into our luggage.
Monday we woke up bright and early, ordered another expensive Uber back to the airport, and headed home.
At one point, I wasn’t even sure my sister would be able to board the plane. We discovered that her driver’s license had expired on her birthday, and she didn’t have a “current” form of ID. Thankfully, she was able to board, so she didn’t get stuck in New York alone while I went home—lol, just kidding, I would never have left her behind! That said, I was definitely ready to get home, so there may have been a little bit of resistance on my part.
Places & Links from Our Trip:
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The Gardens Sonesta ES Suites New York: Sonesta
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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Lyric Broadway
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Harry Potter Shop New York: Harry Potter Store
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Gaonnuri Korean BBQ: Gaonnuri NYC
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MoMA Design Store: MoMA Store
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Balthazar: Balthazar
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Casa D'angelo New York: Casa D'angelo