Darren and I just got home from Bermuda last week, which I’m still crying over; we had so much fun there and decided to give ourselves an extra day on the way down by staying in the city the night before getting on the cruise ship. I always keep a note on my iPhone with places I want to go in the city, whether I see them on Instagram, or watch NYC vlogs on YouTube, I always have somewhere cute we need to go and this time was no exception! I’m breaking down where we stayed, how to get the cutest ‘grams, where we got breakfast, and the bagel place we stopped on our way to Grand Central on our trip home! Read on to add to your list of NYC must sees!

Our Stay At Arlo Soho

This hotel was so incredibly cute. I had considered staying at the hotel we had stayed in for my birthday, NoMo Soho, which was also an adorable boutique-esque hotel, but really wanted to try something new. I found this one while browsing hotels on Google, I specifically searched for boutique-style hotels, and then went to their Instagram and knew it would be perfect! They gave an incentive for booking through their own site directly, a $25 drink or food voucher, and their pricing was more affordable than any of the big hotel booking sites. The thing that absolutely sold me? They have a rooftop bar that serves frosé and an adorable mural with the quote, “Every night should end with a good story.” Unfortunately, there was a private event up there, so we missed out on one really cute pic, and on the frosé, but we made the best of it. The hotel lobby has an outdoor area with twinkle lights, another mural, and cute little tents set up with chairs inside too; we grabbed a drink from the main bar, I had a delicious lemon something and white wine spritzer, so good! The lobby was adorable; they have a mini Dylan’s Candy Bar, and the atmosphere was very young, hip, and up and coming. They also have bikes outside that you can use to get around the city; the hotel was easily walking distance from Nolita, including the breakfast spot below, and Milk, which I wrote about here! We got a room overlooking the lobby courtyard, and it was too cute. Darren and I really enjoyed our stay and would definitely book again!

Early Morning Walk on Mott And Allen Street

Darren and I headed over to Allen Street, as I had read a blog about all the cool murals there and had a list of ones I wanted to see, unfortunately all the ones I was looking for had been painted over, as I didn’t realize the blog post was older! They do have a lot of cool murals worth checking out, but I was a little disappointed that the ones I had written down were already gone! We did get some cute pictures walking to breakfast. These were taken on Mott Street, where we saw quite a few cute murals, and photo opportunities. This is right outside Pietro Nolita, a pink Italian restaurant in Nolita.

The Butcher’s Daughter For Breakfast

Almost all the food places I have saved in my phone are breakfast and brunch places; since Darren and I work weekends, we barely ever get to have breakfast out, so it feels like a real treat when we’re on vacation. I have been following The Butcher’s Daughter on Instagram since our last excursion to the city, where we visited Egg Shop for my birthday, which I wrote about here. This is basically right across the street! Their menu is gluten and dairy free, as well as vegetarian; Darren was apprehensive to say the least. I got eggs, toast, and an avocado smash, whereas Darren got the weekend waffle; mine was good and exactly what I was in the mood for, but I would be a liar if I said I didn’t try to get Darren to trade breakfasts with me…his was AMAZING! It had a berry butter and fresh fruit and oh my god, I’m hungry just thinking about it. The inside was adorable! Everything is white and yellow, with plants everywhere. The staff was nice and we definitely would go back!

Ess-A-Bagel And Our First NYC Line

Sorry guys, no pictures for this one! I just couldn’t get a cute one, between waiting in line, the massive crowd inside, and all the steam from super fresh bagels my pictures just didn’t turn out, but thank goodness the bagels did! I heard about Ess-A-Bagel on the episode of Chef’s Table I wrote about in my Milk – Inspiration And Ice Cream post! In the episode, Christina Tosi, founder of Milk, stops there for a quick sandwich, and ever since seeing how fresh those bagels were, I had to have one. Darren and I took an Uber there from the cruise terminal, and when we arrived there was a huge line, but thankfully an employee came out with samples and let us know that there was an express door, for those who just wanted an un-cut, un-toasted, and un-topped bagel, which was fine, as I planned on doing a half-dozen and a container of cream cheese to take home anyway! These bagels were so fresh and taste nothing like a grocery store bagel. They’re amazing, toasted, un-toasted, I could eat one every day for the rest of my life. Carbs are life.

Until next time!