By Maiya Tomlin
There is no better way to decompress after the week before Thanksgiving break (arguably the busiest week of the school year) than going to the busiest city in the country.
This September, Zarin Sapra and Grace Schmidt texted me, Cate Turner, and Louise Biggs proposing the idea of going to NYC over Thanksgiving break with all of our moms. Cate and I replied “nuh uhh,” and “no way my mom agrees to that.” After all, were I the mother of a teenage girl with a shopping addiction, I would not be easily convinced to spend three consecutive days walking along Fifth Avenue.
Zarin and Grace were quite dissatisfied with our lack of hope and decided to go straight to the source: our mothers. And surprisingly, the five mothers complied, booked our hotel and flights, and we were going to New York City!
We spent a month preparing for our girls’ trip, making shared Pinterest Boards, trying on outfits, and shopping for a warm enough trench coat to face the unbearable NYC cold (can you tell we’re from hot-lanta?)
Not only were we going to be incredibly stylish, strutting the busy streets like Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City, but Zarin was determined to capture impeccable photos for our social media (something not even Carrie Bradshaw had to worry about in the pre-social media era of the show). She even texted us one night to voice her concerns: “If we don’t get good photos, I’m finding new friends,” which we’re choosing to believe was a joke.
Looking back, all the chaos in our planning was actually a blessing in disguise. Our trip became a real-life guide for how to do a girls’ trip to New York properly, from convincing our moms to say “yes,” to surviving outfit planning and last-minute dinner reservations. Somewhere between the Pinterest boards and panic texts, we realized the perfect NYC girls’ trip isn’t about being perfect at all. It’s about striking a balance between preparation and spontaneity, as well as embracing the chaos of the city. As I walk you through our itinerary, consider this your unofficial how-to guide.
After a week that felt like it lasted an eternity, full of AP Physics tests and American Studies essays, Zarin and I left school around 12:30 that Friday for our 3:30 flight straight to the LaGuardia International Airport. The five of us, along with our mothers, had to stagger our arrivals in the city due to factors such as Louise’s ACT tutoring and Cate’s babysitting endeavors.
We touched down in the Big Apple, hailed a cab, and zoomed through the Queens–Midtown Tunnel like true New Yorkers. Zarin and I checked into the SoHo Grand, right on the corner of West Broadway and Grand Street.
With only fifteen minutes to spare before dinner, we rushed to touch up our makeup and piece together outfits, beyond grateful for our Pinterest boards in our moment of crisis. We had reservations at a restaurant called Il Mulino, which was about a 5-minute stroll from the hotel. “The vodka sauce pasta actually revived me,” Zarin recalled, and I have to agree with her.
The next morning, with Cate and Grace landing around 9:30 a.m., Zarin and I filled the time by stopping at Apollo Bagels, my favorite bagel shop in New York. And with a bit more time to kill, I decided to take Zarin on a rite of passage, the subway. To which Zarin gave very high reviews. “Genuinely, it is so easy to navigate, and it’s so much more convenient than any Uber or taxi,” Zarin told me. “It gets you to where you want to go,” she said.
We rode the subway to Rockefeller Center, and on our way to see the ice-skaters, we passed a window that caught Zarin’s attention. If you read the article fellow reporter Kate Wood wrote about Zarin’s consumerist tendencies, you would see that Zarin had fallen victim to the Labubu, and now, she had fallen victim to the Sonny Angel.
If you are unfamiliar with what a Sonny Angel is, according to the sonnyangel.com “about” page, they describe the collectible as “a little angel boy who likes wearing all sorts of headgear.” Zarin convinced me to buy one, and we unboxed the blind boxes right in the middle of Rockefeller Center. Mine was wearing a little elephant hat, and Zarin’s had a cat one. Setting aside the fact that they creep me out just a little bit, I had to admit, they were kind of cute.
Finally, Grace and Cate had landed, and we “subwayed” back to them. As the four of our moms shopped in SoHo, we had gotten off the waitlist at a restaurant in Midtown called “Din Tai Fung.” Dining there was not a new experience for me, Zarin, nor Grace, but it was not for Cate. She remarked, “It is definitely something you should experience for yourself.”
We ordered boba, various kinds of dumplings, green beans, bao buns, and finally, chocolate dumplings for dessert. Grace wanted a whole plate for herself, and after I tried two, I debated ordering one for myself. What I initially thought was a weird combo quickly became a solid “don’t knock it till you try it” delicacy.
For the next few hours, we stopped in Central Park to capture Zarin’s much-desired photos for her Instagram, as well as hit up many shops in SoHo, such as Brandy Melville, Zara, Artizia, Farm Rio, and Dolce Vita. Cate described the SoHo Brandy Melville as “a war zone,” and I had to agree with her. Despite the overwhelming crowds, we managed to find some great items not available in the online store.
Finally, Louise and her mom arrived around 6 pm, just in time for a little bit of shopping and our dinner reservations. Before heading off to our reservation, we hung out with the moms in the Lobby bar of our hotel and debriefed all of our adventures. “We got to be so independent this trip, which was super fun,” Zarin told me. “Running around the city made me feel like we were in Home Alone,” she added.
We ate at another Italian restaurant, closer to Chelsea, and ordered all sorts of pastas. “I loved being with everyone and all of their moms and just laughing,” Louise told me.
And finally, the next morning, for my and Cate’s last meal in the city, due to our staggered departures, we ate breakfast at Sarabeth’s in Greenwich Village. I ordered a goat cheese and spinach omelette, and Zarin and Grace ordered just about the best pancakes I’ve ever had. “They were like lemon pancakes with ricotta cheese, it was an odd combination, but I felt we had to get them,” Grace recalled.
After breakfast, my mom called an Uber, and we were headed back to ATL. Despite only being in New York for around 40 hours, it was still just what I needed, spending moments with my best friends and my mom in my favorite city.
Louise and Zarin left a day after Cate and me, and Grace left another day after that. I asked Zarin to fill me in on what Cate and I missed. “We saw a show on Broadway,” Zarin told me. “And then I was group leader when I ordered for everyone at the sushi restaurant,” she added. The three of them also did more shopping (shocker) and rode the subway quite a few times.
And with that, our unofficial Girls’ Trip How-To Guide officially concludes: five girls returned home slightly tired, extremely full, emotionally attached to Sonny Angels, and already asking when we can go back. New York, we’ll see you soon.
