My trip to New York City went by so quickly, maybe because there's so much to do there that there's just not enough time! My sisters and I flew into White Plains, NY and stayed with my Aunt in Danbury, Connecticut. We took the train into New York City and of course we did a lot of shopping! They have the nation's first and original Macy's, which is 4-stories tall, and the Forever 21 store was 3-stories! The individual shops on the streets were nice as well since you can buy jewerly that blings, watches and accessories all for a low cost.

NYC is not called "the melting pot" for no reason. It is totally diverse with people walking by you and working in the stores from Italy, Bangladesh, France, Brazil and just about every country of the world! I really enjoyed going to China Town and Little Italy since it looked like you were actually in that country and not to mention all the bargains they had. There are hundreds of shops back to back that it was hard for me to decide exactly what I wanted, but if a shop didn't have a color or the price I liked, I could always try another one next door! I racked up on purses and tops from all kinds of designers and was glad that I brought an extra empty suitcase!

So if If you're someone into fashion or just likes different and original things, know that New York is definitely the spot!

In Columbus, many students like to go to Easton as their main mall (www.eastontowncenter.com). A lot of the shops are outside and separate, which gives a New York type feel. I personally like to go to Polaris (www.polarisfashionplace.com) so that I can shop in peace and avoid the crowd. People think that it's so far from campus, but it only takes me 15 minutes, about the same time it takes to get to Easton. But if you can't get a ride to these places, the COTA bus can take you to the City Center Mall downtown, and High Street also has some really nice shops.

My family and I got to see the Color Purple (www.colorpurple.com) while in NY, but Fantasia was sick all week so we didn't get to see her perform in it, but none of the less it was still an outstanding show! A guy I went to high school with was actually in the show as a part of the ensemble! I didn't even realize it till I read the Playbill. We ate at the Blu Fin before the show, and I had sushi for the first time...pretty good stuff. After the musical, we had dessert at Junior's Cheesecake, (www.juniorscheesecake.com) you might remember this from P. Diddy's Making the Band 4 on MTV.

New York is certainly a spectacular city. I don't think that I could live there everyday though because it's so busy and crowded, but I think could manage a crowd every year for a visit!