Last year for my birthday Darren and I spontaneously decided to spend a night in NYC and we had so much fun! I wanted to go to places I had only seen and dreamed about and screen shotted because of Instagram and this year I had a whole new list – including an art exhibit, bagels, and rose shaped ice cream in a waffle…I know! Dreams do come true.

I did a much better job using a map this year and planned our entire stay, where we’d eat, where we’d go, and what we’d do… There was one thing I was most excited for, to see The Color Factory, a San Fran gone NYC art exhibit that’s interactive, provides snacks, and includes a rainbow room, a macaroon conveyer belt, and a giant periwinkle ball pit! I thought I’d share all the details in case you’re planning a trip to the city too!

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We decided to stay at Arlo SOHO AGAIN because we just absolutely love it; plus, they happened to be having a “best of winter” sale, so we got a great rate, but also drink vouchers for the night. We checked in and headed straight out into the cold in search of tacos and margaritas.

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Last summer, we tried Tacombi on Elizabeth Street; not only did it have an authentic food truck, street fair, taqueria feel, but the food and drinks were delicious. This year, we went to the one on Bleeker Street, which I’ve seen so many times on Instagram, it has the very picturesque bar right when you walk in, with the blue and white chevron stripes. We had margaritas, chips and guac; Darren got tacos and I had a quesadilla. The food was even better than we remembered and we were officially one margarita in and ready to see some “art.”

Is it weird that as soon as we were done walking through the color factory I immediately wanted to buy another ticket and do it all over again? It was seriously that much fun. I was in awe, in every room, dazzled by colors, balloons, ball pits, spinning wheels, and everything else.

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The Color Factory was absolutely the highlight of my birthday. I loved every moment of it and so did Darren, we genuinely had so much fun; I felt like a kid, wanting to soak it all in, wanting to jump in the ball pit, and being so excited at every single turn, not to mention we had so much fun watching other people have so much fun!

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I had two favorite rooms, the one pictured above, which had spinning color wheels, and the one with the ball pit.

The ball pit was the last stop and they truly did save the best for last; we spent the most time here and took so many photos. We laughed, we danced, we jumped, I even temporarily lost my phone in it and it was still absolute magic.

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I promised details about where we ate, we grabbed dinner at Black Tap (which was so close to the hotel), and then woke up and went to Black Seed Bagel for breakfast, which was so yummy, but very crowded (pro tip – if there is an available table, one of you needs to grab it while the other person waits in line and orders food!) We also grabbed a quick coffee at Gimme! Coffee and then ventured off to find rose shaped ice cream in a waffle near Chinatown. This was maybe the best sweet treat ever, but even more fun was watching people trying to get the perfect Instagram.

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We even stopped for a few OOTD photos!

One of the things Darren bought me for my birthday was the box-set of the complete Harry Potter series, something I always wanted and never had, I told him, “when I was a kid, these books made me believe in magic, now you do.” It was the greatest gift in the world to share such a fun day with my favorite person and for him to see the magic in jumping up and down in a ball pit on repeat, while laughing hysterically.