I was excited, but I was also nervous before going to New York City for a long weekend with the Tyler Girls.

We had two Broadway shows scheduled, but what would we do with the rest of the time?  Should I book restaurants or should we “go with the flow”?  Do they like museums?  Or is that boring?

When my neighbor heard this, she laughed.  “Don’t worry,” she reassured.  “Those three girls will show you New York City.”

And that, they did!

The Tyler Girls are daughters of my college roommate, Karen, who sadly passed away in March 2006.  Unfortunately, I didn’t know Karen’s girls as they were growing up in Florida.  It’s been a real gift to have had them visit us in LA last year with their father, Chip, and meet us in Italy for a ski week last March.

Spending the weekend with Sarah, Kate and Lucy in the Big Apple is a BIG FIRST for me.  It is the First time I have ever been alone for three days with three young women without another adult in my life!

And it was FABULOUS!

From the moment we arrived, the mood was set for Fun, Fun, Fun.  We started out Thursday night and hit Times Square on our way to dinner at Hell’s Kitchen.

Here are Lucy, Kate and Sarah in Times Square.  Aren’t they beautiful?

On Friday, Sarah booked us on the “Sex and the City” Tour.  This was sightseeing at its most entertaining!  We drove through Manhattan, (as Carrie and her gang screened on TV monitors) passing all the prime locations of this popular New York sitcom.

We went to Carrie’s front stoop.  We ate cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery.  We stopped at the Pleasure Chest (let’s just say “rabbits” are a little much for Lucy?.)

(No, I don’t feel comfortable explaining.)

And we drank Cosmos at Scout’s Bar.  All this before 2:00 p.m. (What?  I was a responsible influence….most of the time.)

Then we were off for shopping in SoHo and dinner at Balthazar before seeing the musical sensation, “Wicked”.

Unfortunately, the stagehand strike started on Saturday so we weren’t able to see “A Chorus Line”.  The girls didn’t seem to mind, as they got in more shopping on Fifth Avenue, Chinatown and the Village before dining at Pastis on Saturday night.

On the way back to the hotel, Kate and Lucy asked, “Cherry, would you consider…if not every year, then every other year, planning a trip like this?”

Wow.

I could have scooped them up and hugged them so hard.  Their presence in my life is filling a void I never knew existed.  I absolutely cannot articulate it.  I just know I love being with these three girls.  And as sad as it is that Karen is not on the planet with us, I can’t help feeling she’s very present in all of this.

“Of course,” I smiled.  “I’m already thinking Vegas.”