Nick and I have always talked about spending a weekend in New York City during the Christmas Season. And with Nick's birthday on December 23rd, I figured what better way to celebrate than by surprising him with a trip to New York City. So we were off, for a festive New York City At Christmas weekend.

A Festive Weekend In New York City

It's funny because just before our trip, I asked Nick what he wanted to do for birthday. And he joked that all he wanted was cookie dough from New York City's cookie dough bar, Cookie DŌ. So here we were, off to New York City to eat cookie dough for Nick's birthday....and of course to do all kind of other fun things.

We arrived in New York City and checked in to one of our favorite hotels, the Conrad New York. After flying red-eye the night before, we were ready for a quick nap before we started our adventure in the city. After a quick power nap, we looked out the window and snow was falling and blanketing lower Manhattan. It added to our festive weekend.

If you read our blog and follow us on Instagram, you already know where our first stop was. We of course couldn't resist the Chobani Cafe and both indulged in a delicious bowl of yogurt for lunch. We explored Lower Manhattan, enjoying the fresh coating of snow blanketing the city. And of course coffee was a must, so we grabbed a snack and latte at Blue Bottle Coffee.

That first evening in New York City, we had the opportunity to attend a private concert with Grammy Award Winning Artist Beck hosted by Hilton Honors. Beck isn't one of our favorite artists, but he puts on one helluva concert. And the fact that it was a private concert with free drinks and appetizers, it was simply an incredible experience.

The next day we moved hotels and checked into the JW Marriott Essex House. The location of the Essex House, overlooking Central Park, can't be beat. Central Park was absolutely stunning with the fresh coat of snow. It doesn't get more festive than a fresh coat of snow in Central Park right before Christmas. We enjoyed a nice long stroll through the park, of course snapping pictures along the way.

Now back to that one thing Nick wanted for his birthday. Cookie DŌ. We explored Soho and had Chobani Cafe again.....it felt like the healthy thing to do before we indulged in cookie dough. And the cookie dough, brookie dough actually (a mixture of cookie dough and brownie dough) was incredible.

Later in the day, we ventured over to Rockefeller Center to check out the Rockefeller Christmas Tree. The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is decorated with over 50,000 lights and is seen by more than a half million people each day while it is on display, according to Rockefeller Center. Needless to say, it's incredible, as is the lights display at Saks Fifth Avenue.

And we ended the day eating some incredible Mexican Food at El Centro in Hell's Kitchen. The food, seriously incredible. Put it on your list of places to eat!

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel and then enjoyed coffee at Little Collins, an Australian coffee shop that we originally visited in Melbourne. Their coffee is out of this world good.

We spent the morning browsing the holiday themed window displays on Fifth Avenue, shopped at Barney's New York and Saks Fifth Avenue and eventually ended up at the Bryant Park Winter Village. The Winter Village at Bryant Park is incredible. It has a 17,000-square-foot ice-skating rink and more than 150 shopping kiosks and food vendors.

Later that day, we culminated our New York City at Christmas trip with tickets to the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. If you visit New York City around Christmas, this is a must. The show was incredible and completely we left in a happy, warm, festive mood. The Rockettes Christmas Spectacular was probably one of the highlights of our trip. And we finished off the evening with an amazing Italian dinner at the Aria Wine Bar and Kitchen in Hell's Kitchen.

A weekend in New York City during the Christmas Season was everything we thought it would be. It was magical, festive and made our spirits bright. And Nick got his Cookie DŌ for his birthday.