New York, Departure day

On Monday, we were all scheduled to leave, some by plane, some by car, and some by train.
We were staying on the East Side, so with the short time we had left, some of us whipped over to the MoMa, and had a quick trip through.

There is always so much to see there.



These are the brick side walks that line the outside of Central Park.



And then we gathered to say good bye.
We spent a minute going around the room deciding on what our highlights from the trip were. And everyone's choices were a wonderful memory.


And then we were off.

They say that Americans are obsessed with real estate. I would believe that assessment.
This place was two doors down from where we were staying.



It was charming, and smaller in scale.
And it's for sale.
111 East 77


Thank you Vicki. Thank you.
Thank you.

New York Day 3

Sunday in New York, we were bound for Brooklyn.
Right before we left, we were issued ominous warnings about how the cabs do not line the streets, and the subway can be unpredictable. Did we have the name of a car service? We might not make it back for hours. These were from loving people with insider local knowledge. And they were given serious consideration.
But, in the end, armed with our new 'picture', we headed out.

Our first stop was to the Williamsburg Flea Market.

The market itself is almost on the water, so the views of the city in the background are amazing!

There were some clever displays, and some great food stalls.

What you can't 'see' is that the temperature is about about 87, and hazy and humid. I am melting faster than a gelato on the sidewalk.
We headed back towards the subway stop, the way we had come from, and wondered in a charming little kids consignment shop, the Flying Squirrel. The owner was a lovely woman (with great taste in clothing) and when she heard about our adventures, she called a car service, and a car was sitting outside the shop before she hung up the phone. And Grandma bought Amelia a wonderful magic wand, which is her souvenir from NY.
Our next stop was a yarn and fabric store I have read about on-line. The Brooklyn General Store. Not that I "need" more fabric and yarn. But I wanted to see this place for myself, and see another neighborhood in Brooklyn.
It was fantastic. Small. Well edited. Wooden floors, and shelves and a library ladder to get up high. AND. Sunday was the first day of a BIG sale. Hurrah!
Mom got fabric for another dress for Amelia.
She will copy one she made this summer, which is her most popular right now. "The Bah Bunnie Dress" That way, there is some chance that Amelia will actually WEAR this new one. (she is very picky about her clothes right now. In some very strange ways.)
Once our selections had been finalized, we were ready to head back to the city. We heard the ferry was about a 10 min walk, and FREE on Sunday. So we picked that option.

We ended up on two ferries, one to Governor's Island, and then running for another ferry to the city.

The views and the breeze off the water was enough to keep me going.

As hot as it was, this journey was such a highlight. The ferry ride was probably the most 'local' thing we did. There were all kinds of families out for the day on this ride. Including whole families of Orthodox Jews. They are dressed very conservatively, and that means, for the little boys, undershirts and dress shirts, and the long black side curls under their yarmulkes. It was a scene so unlike what I see in my neighborhood. It is the real fabric of another city to see how families spend time where they live. And the picture was quite wonderful.
(Out of respect, I did not snap a bunch of pictures. Even covertly with the i-phone. I did not want it to appear that I was mocking. I was just delighted to see a family structure, and clothes and customs that are so foreign to me.)

Back in the city, we decide to try to take a bus, so we could see more of the sites as we traveled. This ended up being a FABULOUS choice because the bus was huge, new, clean, and gloriously air conditioned!
And we ended up going directly past the Ground Zero site. This was 2 days before the 10th anniversary of the attack. The place was SWARMED with people. I did not realize what a tourist destination this was. There were a MILLION tour buses, and 400 million tours, foreign and domestic.
The site itself is still mostly a construction site. That said, there is a real presence there. The tension is palpable. The buildings that surround the site are still scarred. It is horrifying to see the marks that the debris and explosions left HIGH up on the buildings. I stood scratching my head thinking "what could have torn the paint off that building way up there...?" knowing the full weight of the answer.
The "Federal" building here is on the corner of Church and Vesey. It is one of the corners of the site. I liked the juxtaposition of the the huge "Federal" letters, and the permanence of the stone work so close to a site that seemed 'permanent' and large just 10 years ago.


The bus made a detour for "The Brazil Day Festival". The What?
Later, on our way to dinner, we came to learn that "the Brazil Day Festival" looks like a huge frat party with everyone wearing yellow nylon soccer jerseys. It was a horrendous, hot, smelly, loud, commercial affair.

(picture by fellow Flickrite)
Nutty.

Dinner that night was at a great Indian restaurant.
We all caught up a little bit on everyone else's adventures.
And then, we went to see Billy Elliot.
The Director of the show came out, and let us know that three of the cast members would be performing for the last time tonight; the Father, the Grandmother, and the boxing coach.
At the end of the show, there is a good-bye scene that is quite moving. But for the 11 year old Billy, the good-bye was quite real, as he would not be performing with this 'Dad' and 'Grandma' again. Either he is a Tony Award winning actor already or he was extraordinarily close to his stage Dad. His tears were real, and there was not a dry eye in the house.
The show was just amazing, and well worth the money.

And then, back to our penthouse for the evening debrief

Excellent 'Day in the City'.

The Dancer

Ballet/Tap Class
She is technically 'too young' for this class, so we were just going to give it a try to see how it went.

Before we arrived, we talked about listening to the teacher, and following directions.
When the teacher called the dancers over, here is what she did.


The 'cute' could just choke me (in the good way).


Here we are doing "big arms".


Seriously. I will never get tired of this. Never.
So proud of my little (potty trained) dancer.

NYC Day Two

To review, I got on a plane Thursday night at 10:30, landed in the city 6:50am Friday, and stayed up until 12:30 am Saturday 'morning'. There were 2.5 hours of 'sleep' on the plane, and a 35 minute disco nap in the afternoon.

I am not as young as I used to be. Wha ha.
I went to bed, and did not move until 9am the next day. I slept like a ROCK.

Saturday, we headed to the Garment District.
This was a day devoted to Project Project Runway. We went to Parson's New School for a photo op, and then to Mood. (for all delicious details, go to Just Crafty Enough)

Then we headed to the Chelsea Market.

I had never been there, and the place blew me away.

The mix of reclaimed industrial, and functioning market place was amazing.
(to go on a virtual trip there, visit the Flickr group.)
We went outside to see the 'new' High Line.
This place was unbelievable. The landscaping, and the thoughtful space planning was so 'outside the box' that it was refreshing. The architecture all around is wonderful, and the perspective of being up off the street, and seeing the city from just two stories up is completely different.

Saturday night, we had Greek food all together. And then we went to Wicked. I know, it is not the newest show to open, but I had not seen it. And I was properly impressed. The costumes were stellar.

The energy in Time Square is contagious.


After the show,

we made our way back to our apartment. How lucky are we? We stayed in the penthouse apartment on the Upper East side. I enjoyed a glass of wine on the terrace. And then, it was time to crash into bed.

New York: Day One!

For Christmas, I was given a trip to New York City!
How very lovely.
This was our weekend!
I flew in on a red-eye, just to milk the most out of the time-on-the-ground during the weekend.

It was a harsh choice, but certainly the right one.
We made our way into the city just after dawn (at 4 am west coast time, after about 3 hours of sleep sitting up.) We greeted the lovely ladies, brushed our teeth, and took to the streets!
Our first destination was the SoHo neighborhood. The goal was generally to see Purl SoHo, of fame and lore!

In SoHo there are still some streets paved with brick. I find them charming.
We found our way along the streets stopping at possibly the biggest Starbucks in the world, and then went to Purl.

Only to find that it was closed, and didn't open until noon!


We were there at 11:30. There were 6 of us standing outside, pressing our noses against the window. The rolling gate inside was 1/3 of the way up, and 3 or 4 people were inside working already. But they didn't come open the door. While we were standing there, 3-4 other shoppers came by, tried the door, but nothing happened.
Let me just say, with the utmost respect for the savvy of Joelle and her management and marketing skills... if I had customers peeking in the window, I would open the store (and take their money.)

We cooled our heels outside. (and by 'cooled our heals' I mean tried not to melt into sticky balls of goo in the heat.)


Once inside, we were faced with a barrage of loveliness.

I was shopping for the yarn for one specific sweater, and I really only found one option, and it would have had to be from the on-line store, and it was about $230 total.

We all had lunch together


And then carried on walking. We were headed generally in the direction of Lady Mendl's Tea House.
We passed a tiny, well cared for set of planters that counted as a 'garden'.


And a beautiful tree lined street.


The actual High Tea was a wonderful, air conditioned luxury. The service was lovely. And the scones with clotted cream were exceptional.


That evening, we went out to the Bowery to a hidden restaurant. This place was SO great. It is on the end of an alley, and is not marked.

We had a local who helped us to pick out that place. What a treat!
By the time we made it back to our penthouse - I passed out.
That was day one.
Stay tuned for day two.

green fur on the runway

This week, there is some green faux fur on the runway.

See the full story here, on Just Crafty Enough.

Fruit

Here is the smallest taste of summer


And my reward


I'll head to the grocery store for more.