My mom and I got back last week from a wonderful trip to NYC. We were able to visit Carolina and do a tremendous amount of sightseeing and home cooking. It was the first time our mom was able to see Carolina in her new home and I know it made her so incredibly happy to see my sister thriving. This NYC trip I quit being lazy and managed to bring the camera out with me every day so I’ve got quite a few pictures to share on the blog. Today’s post is part one of two, and focuses on some more detailed shots I took over the week long trip.

This first photo here is a snap of the delish croissant I indulged in from Bouchon. We spent the first day on Fifth and Madison. First on our list was checking out St. Patrick’s Cathedral since we knew my mom would love this. The cathedral was gorgeous and we lucked out and our mom was able to light a candle for the patron saint of Peru. Next, we headed over to Rockefeller center because a) our mom loves a good landmark and b) she watches the Today show ritually, so she was excited to see where they film it.

After some shopping at Anthropologie and Free People, we walked down to Bryant Park to take in the sights. We were able to walk our mom through the New York Public Library which was lovely because I’d never actually been inside. After a brief stint of relaxation in the park we made our way down to Shake Shack at Madison Square Park. And man, Shake Shack never disappoints! Afterwards we stopped by Mario Batali’s Eataly and picked up some lovely vegetables and hand made pasta. Part of the fun for my sister was that my mom cooked up one of her favorite meals each night!

Day Two. One of my favorite areas of Manhattan is Chelsea. There’s something about the cobblestone, the Highline and buildings that make me love it oh so much. We stopped by Billy’s Bakery for the first time and man oh man was their cake divine! But, it was their apple pie that was a show stopper, totally try it if you make it into the bakery.

After some time walking the highline, we made our way over to the Urban Space Meatpacking Market for some shopping and eating. My mom, sister and I picked up some gorgeous rings from a Brooklyn jeweler and indulged in some delicious empanadas from the La Sonrisa stand.

And finally we ended our second day with some delicious soup dumplings and noodles in China town. We had soup dumplings at my sister’s favorite place, and man was it cheap and good. Wrapping up this post totally made me realize that our second day was quite jam packed, filled with great sights, food and shopping. I’ll continue to post up outfit photos and sightseeing shots from our trip this week and next, so be on the look out for details Part 2.