Pizza, Art, Automattic & Fireworks in New York City

One of the perks of my husband Dave’s really amazing job is that he gets to travel to meetups to work with his coworkers. This was my 3rd time I’ve tagged along with him. I’ve gotten to go to Santa Cruz and Tokyo which were both amazing. I just got back from a week in New York City and since I’ve blogged about my other two meetups, I thought I’d make this a tradition. Dave does work for the Mobile team at Automattic so he goes on the meetups. The Mobile team is very spouse friendly so I get to hang out with the team and other spouses more than I would on other meetups.

This was my first vacation trip to New York City. All the other times I’ve gone, it’s been for work. When I was there I had only a day or two to explore the city. I intentionally didn’t plan any business meetings because I wanted to just enjoy myself.

First stop was the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I walked around the Met for FIVE hours last Monday. If you haven’t been, GO! I’ve taken quite a few art history classes while in school, which gave me a great appreciation of what I saw. I had only seen things in a text book so it was so wonderful to see it in person. The two highlights of the Met for me were the Egypt and Greek/Roman wings. I just couldn’t stop taking pictures of everything.

Here are some photos of the Egypt wing. Look at the design and colors. INCREDIBLE.

In Art History I, I just fell in love with Greek sculpture. They just captured the form of the body in such a breathtaking way. This was the first time to see Greek sculpture in person. It was just simply amazing. I am so thankful I got to see it.

I shopped so much on the second day of our trip because the next day was Dave’s birthday. I stopped by MarieBelle to pick up Dave a tin of Iced Chocolate. Ahhhhmazing! Also picked him up some Sugru at MoMA. That night I went out with a few Automatticians to a moving party for one of Dave’s coworkers.

The next day I visited the Frick Collection in the Upper East Side. I can’t stress how incredible this museum is. I was BLOWN AWAY. They don’t allow you to take any pictures in the museum so you’ll just have to look on their website. It was the home of the Frick family. Then they turned their home into a museum with their collection of art. I loved how intimate it felt. I told Dave I felt like I was viewing art like it was meant to be viewed – in a beautiful home.

Matt Mullenweg (WordPress creator and CEO of Automattic) invited the Mobile team and other Automatticians to his apartment in SoHo for pizza. That was just such a treat for me because I have been wanting to meet Matt. He’s a celebrity in tech/internet world but he is so nice and personable. He grew up in Houston, Texas. He lost his accent a bit, but didn’t lose his Southern charm.

After the meetup was over, Dave and I visited the Museum of Natural History. Then we went to Brooklyn to see the fireworks on the 4th of July. This was highlight of my trip. It was simply incredible to watch. We were on the East River at Pier 2. We could see the Statue of Liberty, Freedom Tower (World Trade Center), Empire State Building and the Brooklyn Bridge. The fireworks shimmered off the buildings and river creating this magic I’ve never experienced before. I am telling everyone that it’s worth the trip to go just for the fireworks.

Here’s a few food recommendations for you!

Shake Shack  Ahmazing burgers!

Totto Ramen Tasted just like it did in Tokyo. GO.

Ladurée Incredible Macaroons. I bought a box for Dave’s “cake”

Dean & Deluca I know it’s a chain, but they have an amazing Tres Leches Donut I just loved.