My dad has been living on the northeastern shore of New Jersey for a while now. He's actually just a short ferry ride from New York City. And uh - I'd never been to New York nor New Jersey, so I figured - it'd be a great time to check out the city at a cheaper rate.

So Kari and I flew into NYC last Saturday and took a cab from the airport to dad's friends' place. As soon as we left the airport, I started to realize how giant NYC is - it's ridiculous. I mean, I'm a huge fan of Chicago and think of it is a huge city… but the difference between Chicago and New York seemed like the difference between Des Moines and Chicago. The size and amount of life amazed me. I really didn't expect it to seem so much bigger than Chicago, but it really is... and we didn't even leave Manhattan.

Anyway, while we were in the city, we stayed in Harlem with dad's friends, Joe and Eve, who were crazy nice, great hosts, and gave us all the inside NY info.

So Saturday we came in, hung out at Joe and Eve's for a bit, then checked out Times Square before having cocktails with a bunch of Dad's friends at a little place called Monte Blanc. Afterwards, Kari and I met up with an old High School buddy (goch), he showed us around to some various bars in the lower east village. We checked out Angels and Kings, The Library, and Welcome to the Johnson's. Welcome to the Johnson's was like walking into someone's basement - hilarious. It was awesome to run around with Goch for a bit.

Sunday we woke up to Eve making us a fancy/amazing brunch, then we headed out to explore the city some more and see a show. Kari really wanted to see a broadway show while we were in NYC, but the only show we really agreed on was Stomp. So we checked that out, then went to this indian restaurant my friend Katie suggested. In fact, here was her exact suggestion, "Milon Indian Restaurant. SO SO SO FUN. you'll see it, there are 3 different restaurants, decorated like you've never seen. they have indian people outside screaming at you to come into their place, but go to the top right hand one, you'll know what i mean when you see it. good, cheap indian food.. and you HAVE to tell them its your birthday, you wont be sorry."

She was pretty much right on - except the top right one wasn't Milon, it was another one. So we walked up the steps and toward the top right restaurant while indian dudes from each restaurant are yelling at us to come to their place instead. We got into the restaurant and realized it was the wrong one. So we left and started to go to the top left restaurant, which sent them into a rage, yelling even more. Kari even got flicked by the manager, haha. So we finally got to the correct place, sat down and had dinner. The place was decorated like none other, the food was good, and it was cheap. And when I told them it was Kari's birthday, some birthday club music came on, lights started flashing, and we got some dessert. It was an awesome time.

After indian food we shopped, explored more, and checked out the empire state building. The inside of the building is beautiful and the views from the 86th floor are amazing.

Monday, we went out and explored some more, walked through Central Park (which is ridiculously not small), and paid a visit to Tiffany for Kari's birthday. The Tiffany in NY is a bit out of control - 6 floors. While we were there we got our rings polished, and got Kari a new necklace. She obviously left smiling.

After Tiffany we walked around more, grabbed some BBQ, then met my friend Alexei for a beer before heading to Dad's place, which is a 45 minute ferry ride away. It was definitely cool seeing the whole night skyline and statue of liberty while boating across the bay. There is so much life right there; it's incredible. (and really hard to photograph)

Tuesday was Kari's actual birthday. So Kari and I woke up then went for a bike ride up the Jersey shore to a little restaurant for lunch. It was a really nice time except for the part when Kari broke her new necklace on her bike seat, haha. It was kind of a bummer, but we kept on going, checked out a lighthouse, then ended the day by going out to get some seafood.

Wednesday, we drove down the Jersey shore, checking out some crazy houses and parks, and also went into the lighthouse we visited the day before. And luckily, there was another Tiffany just a couple towns over from dad's place, so we went and got Kari's necklace replaced, had a nice lunch then came back home to chill for the evening.

So yeah, that was our trip to NY and NJ... we stayed busy for sure. My favorite part of the trip was just exploring unfamiliar territory and seeing new things.

Here are a ton of photos