There is nothing I crave more than a good adventure. Stumbling across the one of a kind eatery that could have easily been mistaken as the neighborhood illegal substance hotspot, yet finding the most delicious dumplings to which you have consumed. There is something about the lack of agenda that makes the experience that much more memorable. And for that reason I have always loved Chicago.

Loved how the city doesn’t ask before immersing you into its multicultural chaos.

Loved how at the turn of a corner you can go from one great people's history to a next. An experience that would otherwise take a couple hours of flying to achieve.

So when I booked my flight to New York, I was beyond elated.

I would finally have an opportunity to visit the “insomniac city”.

The city where opportunities flourish like Trump jokes on twitter.

And while my stay took place during a great New York snow storm, my adventuring didnt see to a hault.

Upon arriving at New York City on the night of the eleventh, my sister and I went to Cloister Café; a little hookah bar that was quite literally a paradise. As you approach Cloisters, the entrance appears to be an alleyway, but upon further investigation you will see that the little alleyway is actually a cobblestoned café that lay under a stream of lights. Its décor is referred to as “medieval”, however I understood it to be a Japanese sanctuary. So with our warm mint tea and fruity hookah we embarked on the first leg of my great New York City adventure.

The next day brought out the real tourist in me, as I dragged my New Yorker sister along with me to all of the places that come to mind when you don’t live In New York but think about it. We started our day off with delicious Acai bowls (if there is one thing that could make me vegan…. That would be it), and then headed over to the iconic times square. And let me just tell you, going to Times Square with a new Yorker is a must when visiting. It seems that after living in New York for over a week you are obligated to absolutely despise times square, and because of that I was put in an extremely satirical situation.

One where eye rolls seemed to linger for an astonishing 100% of the time as overwhelmed families in I Heart New York attire passed. Despite the overwhelming touristy vibe that I would have usually despised; had I not been a tourist myself, Time Square was kind of incredible. Especially when taking into consideration the incredible amount of life that has somehow been packed into the couple of blocks.

We ventured around times square getting offered photo ops with people dressed as Disney characters, salivating at the color coded m&m walls, and gasping as every other store was an I heart New York merchandise store. However perhaps one of the most magical moments of my life occurred as I walked up the escalator at the Disney store only to find myself right in the middle of the romantic tangled scene where lanterns were released into the deep sky. After resisting the urge to spend the rest of my time in New York going up and down the Disney escalator, we moved on to the Rockefeller center. Here I was able to connect with my deep love for “30 Rock” and the goddess that is Tina Fey.

Putting Tangled and 30 Rock aside, the hands down most beautiful part of my trip was visiting central park. Even on an absolute shit day (the day I was there) Central Park managed to obliterate any previous expectations that I had. I couldn’t take my eyes off of the skyline towering over the innocent nature scene, for fear that I would someday forget what it felt like to stand before such beauty.

And I sure as hell couldn’t take my eyes over the man dressed in a big bird costume sitting on a bench, who is supposedly know for scaring off central park tourists.

What an incredible experience.

My next couple of days in New York were spent buying the entire Chelsea market, tasting every pastry in SoHo, taking wrong turns in hope of stumbling across hidden gems, and taking the subway in the wrong direction for miles.

I think that it is safe to say that calling my trip a good one is quite an understatement, as it has been my greatest adventure yet.

Cheers to the next big adventure on the horizon.