NYC with the In-Laws

New York City September 2012 with Mama Swan and the Swanberg Sisters

Mary was lucky enough to be assigned to President Obama's "international event" at the United Nations in New York City this year.  That means she was staying in the fanciest hotel in New York City--The Waldorf Astoria!  We were invited to spend the weekend with her and got the chance to live like the 1%.  Luckily, it worked for all of our schedules and we had our first "Swanberg Girls Weekend" complete with wedding dress shopping, cupcakes, and many bars!

Going into this, I knew it was going to be really hard to keep our little secret from Mme. Andrea all weekend.  It would be pretty obvious that I was not drinking any alcohol.  I also knew that Mary would be an adult beverage "pusher" and make a big deal out of my not partaking, drawing even more attention to it!  Caleb and I agreed that we had to enlist Mary's help.  All I did was text Mary, "Can you Skype right now?" and I immediately got the response, "OMG, are you pregnant?".  I can't believe she guessed it right off!  Caleb and I let her and Ian in on the secret.

On our first night in NYC, we all went out to the Marriott Marquis for drinks in the rotating restaurant.  There were great views of Times Square, although, our stomachs were all a little unsettled by the spinning.  Mary sneakily ordered me a virgin drink which I took a picture of!  It looked legit to me!  Hopefully Mama Swan didn't look at the drink menu too closely and realize that it was a nonalcoholic beverage!

Other memorable events from our first night in NYC include:

1.  Taking a picture with a random cartoon character on the streets of NYC.

2.  Seeing a naked person playing guitar.

3.  Having some drunk guy hit on all three of the daughter-in-laws by singing "Champagne Supernova" by Oasis.  He had his arms draped around all of us.  When he started talking about taking us into the bathroom with him, we dropped the bomb, "Have you met our mother-in-law?"  His reaction was priceless.

Day 2 I decided that I couldn't tell Mary and not Lisa.  The picture below was taken when we woke up Saturday morning.  This was either right before or right after I told Lisa the news.  Caleb called Seth the same day.

First order of business on day 2 was to head to the Bronx to go wedding dress shopping with Mary!!!  Yay!    Here we are waiting for our train in the subway station.

Once we arrived in the Bronx, we had some navigating difficulties.  We ended up roaming the streets and Mme. Andrea got sucked into buy a tiny, half-full glass of tap water from some kids on the side of the road for $1.  Mary took the picture below which definitely looks like a paparazzi photo.

Finally we found our way to "Gowns by Louise".  Needless to say, Mary looked gorgeous in every single dress she tried on!  I will not post any photos of the dresses (obviously) but I WILL post a picture of the owner, Louise DeLucia's, wall of fame.  This is basically where she has framed pictures of herself with various celebrities.  People of note were Joan Rivers and Dr. Oz!

On our second night in the city, we were able to meet up with Hollis!  It was great but involved yet another bar.  I was proactive and offered to get everyone the first round!  I asked the bartender for something that looked alcoholic but wasn't.  He gave me a tonic water with a lime and two little straws.  Again, it looked legit to me!  Hopefully it fooled Mama Swan!

This was a wonderful, memorable weekend!  I hope that this is not the last time all four hens have a girls only getaway.