the england clan

meet the siblings

                       

while my family was here in new york, we crossed off quite a few things on my nyc bucket list. it was fun showing them where my stomping grounds have been for the past couple months. and i was good to have my closest of friends with me. sometimes we all need a little lovin.

here are the highlights from the trip:

they loved max soha, quite is a great little place by my house. this time i ordered la pugliese, which was so tasty. shell pasta with brocolli rabe and spicy italian sausage. 

on sunday, robert comstock came to talk to the singles ward. which was really great. i am glad my family had the opportunity to hear from him.

we also got to go to a yankees game, we arrived a bit late, which was perfect timing for me. i didn't even have time to get bored. and the yankees won, so thats a plus. 

for my mother's birthday dinner, we enjoyed some indian food. the vindaloo was so yummy. and in the morning we suprised her with a piece of german chocolate cake from harlem's make my cake. 

on monday morning, we rented a car and took a road trip up to niagara falls. the falls were beautiful but the town was a dump. we took a boat ride under the falls and it was amazing how strong that water is. we were all soaked. 

while we were road tripping, we stopped at palmyra, where we were able to see the hill cumorah pagent. we also had the chance to see the palmyra temple, the smith farm and home as well as the sacred grove. 

thursday evening, when we were back in the city, we had a pizza taste test. we went to two different places i have been wanted to try: bleecker st. pizza and joe's pizza. joe's wins hands down no doubt about it. do not be seduced by bleecker st. pizza's signs proclaiming them the best pizza in nyc. whoever declared that was not a pizza aficionado. joe's pizza is a pizza by the slice kind of place. but instead of a warmed up greasy mess. the pizza was the perfect combination of greasy goodness and fresh fantastic.

to finish up our dinner feast, we got three slices of cheesecake from rocco's on bleecker st. we got a chocolate cheesecake, a s'mores cheesecake, and an original cheesecake. i still can't decide what was my favorite. but man it was good.

on friday, we got tickets to go see wicked. i was so excited to finally see the musical. all of us kids have had all the songs on the cd memorized, but had never seen the show. it was great to finally pieces the story together. and of course i was bawling when they sang "for good"

on saturday, my sissy and i went to see harry potter. it's crazy to think how much we have all grown up since i first picked up harry potter and the sorcerer's stone. we then indulged in a little shopping and some cookies from levain's bakery. i have decided that i would rate these suckers as the best cookies i have had in new york. 

we also made our way over to the guggenheim, where we were able to see lee ufan's exhibit and enjoy the architecture of that building. 

then it was off to brooklyn, where we walked over the brooklyn bridge and got ourselves some grimaldi's pizza. grimaldi's has a location in scottsdale, arizona of all places, which my family frequents often. so we thought we had to try the one that started it all. the pizza was great. i think it might just be the best i have had. i would put eataly and south brooklyn up there with it as well. the crust was thin, fresh and not burnt. the tomato sauce, was not overly seasoned, but the natural sweetness of the perfectly ripe tomatoes was the predominate flavor of the sauce. the mozzarella was yummy and the basil wasn't too raw nor too cooked. i made three pieces disappear so fast. for dessert we got some ice cream from brooklyn ice cream factory. the strawberry ice cream topped me off perfectly. we took the water taxi back to manhattan. it was perfect timing and we got to watch the sunset over the city. it was a perfect last evening with my family.

i think shan is going to be craving another bagel from absolute bagels in the next few days. and i also converted her and my momma to instagram. you can tell i like it a little huh?

i will miss them, but will get to see them again soon. my little brother can always brighten my day. he is the sweetest little guy. 

my brother's cuter than your brother.