Earlier this month, I had the extreme pleasure of spending 4 days in the great city of New York with 17 other photographer friends – the 2nd official Pinkle Toes Photography workshop reunion! It. Was. Amazing. I can honestly say we finished that city, packing in everything we could possibly do in just those few days…so much so, that I needed about a week to recover.
We did it all!
Our first evening together was spent laughing until our faces hurt playing “Heads Up” in our amazing apartment we all rented out in the heart of the financial district. By the way, I want to send a huge thank you to Nicole for getting our housing arrangements all sorted out for us for the weekend, by the way. It was really hard to believe that most of the girls were meeting for the first time that night and it did not take long for old friendships to be rekindled and new friendships to form. And we had some delicious New York pizza delivered to us to much on that night…the look on the delivery guy’s face when he walked into an apartment full of women was priceless!
The next morning, we headed out to visit the beautiful fountains of the 9/11 Memorial . It was a humbling experience for sure…not a dry eye around as we each tried to comprehend the level of devastation and the majestic monuments that have been constructed. It was a difficult experience, actually…conflicted between the pain of the emotions tied to that horrible day and the beauty of what they have been able to create from that destruction.
Eventually, we left the memorial and started a LONG walk toward The High Line. It was long in distance, sure, but it was compounded exponentially by the fact that we were a group of PHOTOGRAPHERS who are compelled by their very nature to stop and take pictures of everything– especially each other taking pictures of each other (I am allowed to say that because I am probably the #1 offender ;-). But it’s okay. We understand this need. We forgive each other for it. Thank goodness we had our magnificent and capable “tour guide” Lena to expertly lead the way and patiently keep us on track.
The High Line was so much fun! Not only was the weather so kind to us that day, but I could not get over all of the beautiful tulips in bloom (we don’t really have much of that going on here in Texas) and I loved the whole idea behind the High Line (read about it if you don’t know what it is). Super cool place and we had a great time!
Dinner that evening was at The Park in Chelsea. Um. Wow. Now that was some delicious food and thank you so much to Kami for selecting this beautiful spot and coordinating our big group meals during the reunion!!!
After dinner, we hoofed it over to 30 Rock where our whole group got to go straight to the front of the line (GO ONLINE RESERVATIONS!!!) to make our way to the Top of the Rock. I think that may have been most everyone’s favorite part of the trip. We managed to get there at dusk so that we could see the entire city from up above during daylight and then we stayed until after a beautiful sunset to see the city come alive with lights. I don’t know if I’ve ever taken so many pictures of one thing in my life!!! It. Was. Magnificent!
Okay…now that was just the first day so here’s where things start to get fuzzy. I *think* we went to Times Square that night, but maybe it was the next day. I truly cannot remember which night that was, lol! Yes…it was that night because we didn’t stay very long at all…we were completely exhausted, lol!
Early the next morning, I went to do some location scouting for an upcoming session at the Brooklyn Bridge and I gotta tell ya, I was quite taken with the bridge. First of all, I couldn’t quite comprehend that we were actually able to walk to the bridge from our apartment and secondly, wow…it is spectacular at sunrise! The views are just so amazing and I feel so fortunate that we got to see it all lit up later that night on our cruise.
And then came the FOOD TOUR in Chelsea! This little tradition started back at the Chicago Pinkle Toes reunion a few years ago. It was the highlight of our trip back then and it was easily the highlight of this one! Our tour guide, Cindy, was super and we had so many yummy, yummy treats and learned so much about Chelsea. I think I spent all of my allotted spending money at O&Co (the basil olive oil is just beyond all words). Again, thanks to Kami for putting this together for us…and also for sharing my LOVE of FDNY 😉 (We were pretty lucky to get a little surprise visit in the meat shop of all places ;-).
Okay, what next? Oh yes, The Harbor Lights Cruise by Circle Line. We were treated such a beautiful sunset just as we passed by the Statue of Liberty. Could not have been more perfect timing if we tried. But my favorite was the views of the bridges lit up at night.
Sadly, the next morning, it was time for people to say goodbye. I think we were all excited to get home and see our families (and rest our poor, tired bodies), but it was tough to see this trip come to an end. Some of us managed one last hurrah in Central Park and I’m so glad we made the trek. I honestly could have stayed in Central Park for hours and hours and hours…I just never realized how big it was and how much there was to see. The cherry blossoms were breathtaking and I couldn’t get over the juxtaposition of the beautiful gardens and the buildings jutting out like promontories.
And then it was all over. We all went back home via planes, trains, and automobiles (okay, I will admit I did get an extra bonus that night of that super fun photo session with Lena followed by a very tasty meal at Acqua with her family and Minnette and Chantal). I should also note that while we were still all trying to recover mentally and physically from that whirlwind trip, it was Kelly (who was instrumental in planning the activities for us on the trip) who was already asking about when we were doing the next one. She is hard core, people, lol!
All in all, this reunion far exceeded my expectations and I was completely blown away by the fact that #1 we all managed to survive it 😉 #2 no one got lost #3 the people of the city (minus a couple of cab drivers and a security guard who didn’t quite understand electricity) were SO INCREDIBLY KIND! Really, this experience in New York City was much more delightful than my first trip there years and years ago.
And I think I owe that to the group of ladies that were there with me. It’s pretty refreshing to be around so much talent and people who share the same interests and passions as you do. People who don’t find it odd that you drop to the ground to take a picture of a puddle. People who appreciate both the “touristy” things and the adventures that you find off the beaten path. People who love good food and are willing to try new things (even if that means paying to be yelled at in a restaurant, right gals?). I was only able to post a few of the bazillion pictures that I took on this trip (be sure to search #pinkletoesnyc on Instagram for a bazillion other fun snaps) and I cannot WAIT to see what everyone else got. Absolutely fantastic time, ladies! Thank you, thank you, a million thank you’s! Can’t wait to see where we end up next!
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Make certain you check out my friend Kerri Davis with Images By Kerri to get her take on the trip and to see more pics: Durham Region Family Photographer. She’s got another link to another attendee’s pics on her post and so on. I am incredibly excited to get all the different perspectives from the trip!
