Well hello there, happy Saturday!

We’re supposed to get our first snowstorm of the year today, and we’re getting our Christmas tree and setting it up as well … perfect timing! I feel so grateful to have both of the adult kids home for this holiday period, and although the middle kid has been on call (and had to leave to respond to numerous calls), it’s a treat to have none of us with scheduled work this weekend! We even got to go to Zootopia 2 as a family on Thanksgiving, and we all LOVED it ~ if you liked the first one, definitely don’t miss this one.

And now …

A Dream Stay in Midtown Manhattan

Guess what!?! The mystery adventure I told you about last weekend went off without a single issue ~ a travel MIRACLE! I mean, yes there were some little hitches, like my sister’s boot setting off the body scanner at the airport, and us not being able to find the parking lot at a train station, and a flight attendant very aggressively making us switch seats with zero explanation, but we got everywhere we wanted to go with no stress, and LOTS of laughter.

Where did we go, you ask?? We went on a whirlwind adventure to visit my niece in New Haven, CT combined with a trip into NYC on the train for an overnight stay! This was my FIRST EVER trip to the city, and my friends, I assure you that I am so grateful to have waited these 45 years to have the most magical, delightful, curated experience.

NOTE: Today I’m just sharing one part of the trip (where we stayed), but I’ll tell you ALL ABOUT ALL OF IT on Tuesday!

I built the entire trip back in August around my goal of staying at my dream location: Library Hotel. I first heard about this hotel via Sara Hildreth back in April 2024, and I have had it on my mind ever since. Given that my travel budget is quite small, I have kept it in the back of my mind for “someday when it makes sense and we could afford it”. Well… that time was NOW because my niece moved back to New Haven for med school nearby, and was now just a train ride from the city again!

That whole limited-budget situation made the trip revolve around 1) me traveling with no immediate family members (they cost more!), 2) getting a cheapish flight, and 3) the discount that Library Hotel so generously granted us** for this trip in exchange for me telling you all about our experience.

My sister and niece were MORE than happy to accompany me on the adventure, and indulged every single one of my literary whims along the way.

We headed into the city on Sunday morning, with my niece acting as chauffeur to the train station and tour guide for the entire trip ~ such a novelty for moms to get to sit back and be led around, and my sister and I thoroughly enjoyed not having to be the sole navigators of our families.

The hotel is just a few blocks from Grand Central, so we got off the train and immediately went to drop off our bags and pre-check-in ~ they happily held our bags for us while we headed out on adventures. I knew I was in my happy place right away when I saw all the books and the card catalog at the desk upon checking in!

I really do adore anyone or anything who goes all in on a theme, and Library Hotel does it right - the bathroom signs were the kind of tiny detail that made me so happy.

When I started planning the trip and corresponding with The Librarians at Library Hotel, I was delighted with getting to choose my room based on the Dewey Decimal number, and while they couldn’t 100% guarantee me my top choice, look where I ended up!!!

My sister and niece were in the room right next to me, and we had an entire little hallway to ourselves.

Our rooms were perfect, but our hands-down favorite part of our stay, was The Reading Room, a place we returned to often for snacks, beverages, reading and just hanging out. Complementary soda, sparkling water, bottled water, coffee (plain AND lattes, etc), tea, granola bars, nuts, fresh fruit ~ YES PLEASE. It was so nice to have a place to gather ourselves and replenish our energy even before being able to get into our rooms, and to utilize between outings even after checking out on our second day.

We never did make it up to the Bookmarks Lounge, but we did have a spectacular dinner at the on-site restaurant, Madison & Vine. Given our full day of train & subway rides and miles of city walking, we were grateful to not have to venture back out for dinner. This was my one meal spending-splurge for the trip!

I have prided myself recently on being able to travel while even on a pretty tight budget by being open to just about any kind of lodging, but that has meant LOTS of accommodations without beautiful bathrooms or tubs. I absolutely appreciated the gorgeous bathroom and tub in my room on this adventure, and took advantage of it for an extended reading bath before bed. With one bathroom for our whole family at home, that doesn’t happen often!

In addition to the amenities and lodging themselves, Library Hotel had something BIG going for it that added it to my travel bucket list ~ it’s RIGHT by the NYPL Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, which was of course, one of my dream destinations. You can even see it from The Reading Room!

I mean, the sidewalk has quotes about books and libraries, there are Library Way banners lining the way, and damn it, in a country that seems intent on killing the institution I believe in so very ardently, it was such a treat to see such honor being bestowed upon LIBRARIES.

Now that I have gotten to experience Library Hotel, my friends, you can be assured that I WILL be back, and will curtail other spending to make it happen! AKA more tent camping during the summer of course. I’ll share the rest of our adventures on Tuesday, but obviously I couldn’t do everything on my NYC to-do list in just a day and a half! Now I know exactly where I’ll be staying next time I’m in the city ~ and you can bet I’ll be picking a date when my precious Libraries room is available.

In Other News …

I hope you all had a little break during this holiday week, and have managed to resist the allure of the Black Friday email barrage or at least only got things you were already planning on buying. I actually created a Gmail filter to automatically archive any email with “Black Friday” in it!

I’m avoiding gift guides this year, and won’t be telling you how to spend your money, but I DO want to make sure you’re aware of the Libro.fm audiobook sale (through December 1) ~ I just grabbed 5 audiobooks for less than $20! Here’s what I stocked up on:

Stay tuned for the rest of the trip adventures in my Tuesday newsletter!

** full disclosure that my Deluxe Queen room including all taxes WITH the discount came to $238 for the one night we stayed. My sister’s room had the same discount. Room rates vary based on dates, but this same room for this Sunday night comes to $377.91 with the Black Friday / Cyber Monday Deal and taxes. You can see all room types and check prices here. My account of our stay was not influenced by the discount, but the discount did make the stay accessible at this time.