Winter in New York

View of Empire State Building from our hotel window

Anthony and I spent last weekend in New York City.  It was the quintessential winter weekend, complete with hot chocolate, a cold night of walking through Chelsea and even a few flurries. 

We stayed in the flower district, walking through a maze of potted plants and flowers every time we left our hotel.  It was really a great location, cheery and central to so much.  We walked around most of the day and night, despite the freezing wind, and just enjoyed the city. 

Walking by Eataly, I decided we had to go in and check it out.  It was extremely crowded but I was still able to pick up some imported Italian pasta for us along with some candy bars for my parents.  The produce and cheese looked amazing and I think it'd be fun to visit again on a weekday afternoon or something when there is bound to be less people. 

Besides a really good pre-Valentine's Day dinner at a random Asian restaurant we found on Saturday night and an awesome breakfast at Markt, a Belgian restaurant near Madison Square Park, my favorite part of our visit was when we stopped at City Bakery.  Not only do they have the best chocolate-chip cookies ever, but their Hot Chocolate Festival is going on during the month of February.  Anthony tried the featured flavor of the day, Banana Peel, and I stuck with the Dark Chocolate.  This was the richest, creamiest hot chocolate either of us had ever had, especially with the huge homemade marshmallow floating on top. It was such a treat and I'll always remember leaning against a random building on 18th Street in the cold winter air enjoying our delicious drinks.