you never forget your first time in new york. you're nervous and excited and confused and worried that everyone will think you look like a tourist.
i have to say that i took new york with a little too much fervour last time, but that
doesnt mean i
didnt feel a need to memorize the subway maps and check for updates on
nymag.com on this visit.
This year,
gaby, mom and I are staying in a rented apartment in mid-east village. is quite lovely and super close to all the museums and
trisha is very much enjoying the close proximity to central park. Ive also decided that this trip would include going to as many museums as possible and to take hold of my inner new york foodie.
Day One
This is my mother walked up the stairs from our apartment. We arrived there at around noonish so that we had most of the afternoon left.We rented it from the funniest guy ever. He kept ranting on about saving energy and he kept closing his eyes as he spoke as if it pained him to look at us. He reminded me so much of kramer from seinfeld, looked like him too.
This is the neighbors dog, Rocky. He is incredibly cute and likes to sit on the balcony and wait for us to get home.
HOT AND CRUSTY!!! i love this place. So, the first meal we had in new york was slightly screwed. my mom and i originally decided to make a passive aggressive decision to go to "China Fun" but neither of us really wanted to go. We found this place and immediately decided we loved it. Cheap and good spinach pizza and the pastries were lovely too.
oooerrrr cupcake. this wasnt the best cupcake ive ever had, but it wasnt bad. it definetly had this weird texture, like it was made of cornmeal. though, it strangely melted in your mouth in a good way.
our new home is across the street from a elementary school. here is a girl waiting for her mom after school.
look whos looking precious on second avenue.
after lunch, my mom and i basically just walked around and got to know the east side. We stayed close to the theater district last time. Then we went back to the flat and slept for 3 hours.
okay, this was at a puerto rican restaurant called Sofritos i heard about from NYmag. it was AMAZING, i mean, the food was brilliant. The ambiance and decor of the place was stunning and the service was fantastic. The owner of the restaurant went around to every table to see how everyone was doing and they had these delavega quotes painted all over the restaurant saying things like, "this moment is more precious than you think" and "be mindful even if your mind is full."All the food was great, but the greatest part were these shrimp appetizers that came on smashed plantains...omgomogmogm it was great. and the papas fritas, dont get me started. Oh, and this is the first time i ever saw a waiter use a crumber, you know one of those stick things that looks like a metal log cut in half to scrape crumbs of the table. i was impressed.
ANNNDDD tasti-d-lite for dessert! oh come on, sex and the city applies to every part of my life. well, my life in new york that is.
back at the apartment! and the end of a good day.
Day Two
Le Pain Quotidien for breakfast, dont you wish they had one of these chains in houston. Gaby got hot chocolate, look at that cup. i love these cups, gives a good excuse to put your elbows on the table so you can sip it bowl style.
After breakfast we headed to the Whitney to see the Summer of Love exhibit, which everyone liked becasue everyone likes to look at hippie themed posters and listed to beatles songs on their museum audio players.
Later, we walked around for a bit and had a late lunch at Viand Cafe, which i had also heard about from NYmag.com. I literally had the greatest omelet of my life. goat cheese and vegetable with egg whites. at first i was turned off by the whole diner feel, but the greek owner and extremely good food reassured me that Viand was worthy of that nymag recommendation. After lunch, i left my mom and gaby to see the other museums as they played in central park.
Okay, i actually only went in the
Guggenheim to use the restroom. i
didnt really like the sound of the exhibit there, so
im going to hold off until its free on
friday. So i walked to the
Frick and took a break to watch the peeps at the Met.
i just like kids chasing pigeons. who
doesnt?
so these kids were playing in what appeared to be a drained fountain. however, penny searching is an extremely important exercise that must take place no matter what the circumstances may be.
This is jarred, hes pretty much a master at the whole penny treasure thing.
So i got hungry and got this dulce de leche thing at dean and deluca. it was not that good and the cashier woman as well as the coffee guy were both extremely rude.
before heading into the Frick, i took a short cut through central park and found these kids playing this water bottle explosion game. this is some of the boys trying to catch the water bottle after it is rocketed off the water spout.
I actually really really enjoyed the Frick Collection. the Vermeer, OH THE VERMEER! and the cezanne peach picture and all these french and flemish paintings and whatnot. el greco was there too.
more little kids waiting for their parentals. only this kid was azn and had a roly backpack so he gets extra lover points.
I waited, for pretty much ever for mom and gaby to get back from what was apparently, an uneventful journey to bleecker street. but thats what happens when you dont research where your going! They had to go see Spring Awakening (im seeing it later with a friend) so i was left to my own dinner plans. Although a nice russian man named Sasha asked me to dinner on 1st Avenue, i just decided to go the grocery store to buy the goods i needed for the next couple of days.
LOOK WHO WAS WAITING FOR ME WHEN I GOT BACK!
