Pittsburgh & Pearls: NYC Recap: I'm in a New York State of Mind

If you follow me on Instagram (follow my BLOG Instagram here) or Twitter, then you will know that I recently went on a trip to one of my favorite cities in the world... New York City. I've been there a few times, but for some reason, going with a bunch of friends and being able to explore what NYC really has to offer is much more exciting. I kept referring to it as "living like a local", which in fact, probably made me look like even more of a tourist than before. I have so many amazing pictures from this trip with some pretty fun backstories that I just needed to share!

Day 1: From PGH to NYC

We started the day ideally. Waking up early to -5 weather with an even colder wind chill, however riding a train all day to your favorite city makes it much more bearable.

Annie & I finally sitting and documenting the warmth of our cabin on SnapChat

Finally in our hotel room! Everyone was so excited to be able to finally use a Snapchat filter.

We spent a majority of the evening exploring Times Square: eating, shopping, and just enjoying all of the things the city has to offer. Oh, and the fact that we skipped 2 days of classes for the trip, since we went with our school's Women In Business club.

The most adorable bite-size cupcakes in the whole world

p h r e s h ; we enjoy red lipstick & hershey's hats

So, disclaimer: it was Annie's first time ever in NYC. I loved the idea of exploring the city with my best friend!

My favorite bikini in the whole wide world. Scalloped detailing + a high waisted bottom = one very happy Sarah. You can shop it here (top & bottom) from Aerie! I actually bought this for my Spring Break trip with my tennis team that was happening the following week, so more to come on that soon! (Oh, and American Eagle's headquarters are based in Pittsburgh!)

My friends and I were all a Instagram -- Alexis takes amazing pictures. Follow her on IG @alexis_satterfield

There's something so magical about NYC at night.

Day 2: Bloomberg & NASDAQ

#ootd

I wouldn't mind waking up to this every morning.

We spent the rest of the early afternoon touring Bloomberg LP.

Who wouldn't want a photoshoot with your best friend with the perfect view?

The view from the top floor of the Bloomberg building.

After the tour finished, my friends and I decided to head over to Bloomingdale's where we decided to check out some of our favorite designers and brands in all of their glory!

#artsy

I'm not going to lie to you... we did end up getting kind of lost on our way to NASDAQ from Bloomberg. We pit stopped in EXPRESS to charge our phones, get warmed up and of course re-apply our lipstick.

She's my favorite.

After the tours, we decided to head back out to get our shop on. I still can't get over how gorgeous NYC is at night.

At this point we were starving. Annie's cousin just moved to the Big Apple, so we decided to meet up with him in Little Italy for some dessert.

Pepe Rosso Social is gorgeous. It reminded me of something that I would see on TV. Chic young millenials gathering around a fantastic (yet still cheap!) meal on a Friday night with their best friends. Talk about dream life, huh?

I highly recommend stopping at Pepe Rosso Special. While waiting for a table, we asked some locals what to get for dinner. They recommended the Nutella Tiramisu! Honestly to DIE for.

They taste even better than they look!

I am so in love with this // Little Italy

Another selfie with the girls from the day

Day 3: Gossip Girl Tour & Exploring SoHo

My new favorite lipstick! (Diva from MAC) & a peek at my #ootd

Annie and I originally hated the idea of taking the subway everywhere, until we realized how expensive taxis really are. From that point on, we fell in love with the convenience and utilized them to the best of our abilities. So, funny story. On Saturday morning, my friends and I decided to embark on the Gossip Girl Tour that takes you around the Upper East Side to check out some of the cool filming locations. Disclaimer: you have to be on time for the tour at the Palace Hotel or they will leave without you. Our subway was about 10 mins late and we ended up sprinting 6-8 blocks. We ended up taking taxis to meet up with the tour.

A true Gossip Girl fan will always take pics on the stairs of the Met. We called this, "You can't sit with us".

One of our favorite stops along the tour was at Dylan's Candy Bar. I highly considered spending all of my money there. Everything just looked so good and tasty. And I'm really not a dessert person!

But first, let me take a selfie! // The Empire Hotel

"As much as a BFF can make you go WTF, there's no denying we'd be a little less rich without them"

Express Love!

The most gorgeous bathrooms in the entire world! // The Palace Hotel

Annie's favorite person in the entire world.

So, because we missed the beginning of the tour, one of the security guards gave us a behind the scenes tour of some of the private areas of the Palace Hotel that are usually reserved for events and VIPs! We even got to tour the penthouse, where Lil Wayne and Drake had stayed just weeks before

The view from the penthouse! We thought that we escaped the snow when we left Pittsburgh, but to our dismay, we were greeted with an awful snow storm on our last day. It left so much slush everywhere.

Serena's Season 1 Hotel Room // The Palace

View #2 from the Penthouse! Such a dreary day.

After touring the Upper East Side and Midtown Manhattan, we were STARVING. We were originally going to explore SoHo for some more shopping, but decided to sit down and relax, get warm and away from the storm from a few hours. We went to DeNico's in Little Italy, which is FANTASTIC.

We ordered 2 pizzas for appetizers, which might've been some of the best I've ever had

I ordered the chicken parmigiana (my favorite!) and I can't even tell you how good it was. I don't remember the last time I ever finished an entrée before this.

And of course, dessert!

Day 4: From NYC to PGH

It's the most depressing feeling when you're about to leave NYC. It was the perfect long weekend, but I would have loved to spend a little more time there. It was pretty depressing having to go back to classes the next day, but I was so glad to have gone.