New York!

Well, it took me a while, but here are the pictures from our New York trip. Oh my goodness, there were so many; I think I've managed to narrow it down to the best, but it's still a lot, so bear with me :)

We stayed at a really great little place in Harlem just near the top of the park, Margot Guesthouse. It's an old brownstone apartment building that's been turned into a little hotel. There are only six rooms, two on each of the three floors, and the owners live in a little apartment below the first floor. The details in this place were so fun!

Here's our room! The bathroom is around the corner across from the green door.

And from the other side. This place was huge. So many of the hotels we looked at had itty bitty rooms... I mean you could stand in the middle, stretch out your arms and touch both walls. It was so nice to have a real "home" to come back to each night.

The day we got there, we got settled into our room, immediately found some food, 'cuz we were starving, and then did some walking through Central Park. Probably a little too much for the first day, since I ended up with shin splints... ouch! Let me just tell you, six months pregnant, record breaking temperatures for summer in New York, and smothering humidity... not exactly relaxing. However, we did make the best of it, and I really fell in love with this city. We will definitely be coming back when I'm not pregnant and when the weather is much better.

We didn't go in, but here's a great view of the Guggenheim from outside on the street. Just one of the amazing museums along museum row on 5th Avenue. We only had a few days in the city, so we didn't want to spend the whole time indoors. We did however make it to a couple necessities...

We started off day two (the only day I remember clearly, so the rest of this will be in absolutely no particular order) by taking a bus ride up to the Cloisters, an extension of the Met, and walking through some of their incredible gardens.

I just couldn't get over the hydrangeas. They were everywhere! I wish I could show you pictures of the museum. It was an incredible compilation of rescued pieces of architecture (doorways, windows, entire cloisters, etc.) that had been brought over from Europe and reassembled naturally into the museum as they would have originally been used. It was like walking through an old monastery in Europe. I did take some great pictures, but was told that pictures were allowed only for personal use, not to be published. So, you'll have to go check it out for yourself sometime!

Once we got finished up at the cloisters, we rode the bus back down, grabbed some lunch, and headed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I've dreamed of coming here for so long. It was such a thrill to finally be here. We seriously didn't even scratch the surface, but it was great just to walk through.

Other familiar sites included Grand Central Station (sorry for the poor exposure)...

... a night view of Times Square...


...a quick look into the lobby of The Plaza...

...Washington Square Park...

...where we were entertained by a seriously gifted pianist... seriously...

... and the Brooklyn Bridge from the Brooklyn side.

We even stepped into Bloomingdales's to take a look around. Ok people, seriously, this place was ten, I repeat, ten stories high... AND took up an entire city block. I kid you not. Only in New York, I guess. The first floor... perfume and cosmetics. The second floor... ladies' casual. You get the idea. I believe the only proper response to this monstrosity is laughter. I enjoy shopping occasionally, trust me, I do, but really?

So, much of this trip centered around food. There were so many restaurants to choose from, and we wanted to sample some of the best. You would think, with all of our choices, we would never eat the same place twice, but we did. That's right, folks, we made a special trip back to Serendipity... and here's why:

The wait was somewhat ridiculous (this is just the line to put your name on the list), and we did end up waiting the entire 45 minutes the first time we went. The second time, we lucked out a bit. Apparently, the secret is to actually wait around, which we did the first time as well, but the second time it really paid off. We had just checked in and were hunkering down for the long 45 minute wait when the waiter steps outside, yells one party's name... no response; yells another party's name... no response; yells a third party's name... no response; huffs a bit, then yells, "Anybody out here a party of two?" We wait a second to see if any of these poor people who've been waiting for who knows how long speak up; when no one does, I yell back, "We are!" He waves his arm and says, "Come with me. I like people who wait." And that, folks, is how we managed to get into Serendipity after only a five minute wait!

This place is filled, and I mean absolutely filled, with crazy junk. It's a bit of a visual overload.

And THIS, people, is why we came back. Really. Need I say more?

Another of the few restaurants we had on a must-visit list was Once Upon A Tart. Remember this book? After cooking my way through many of it's incredible recipes, I just had to visit the original source. Sadly, to my disappointment, the owners were not present, but the food was just as wonderful as I had imagined it would be. And I must say, I think my renditions have come out just as tasty! Whew! I passed the test :)

And right next door to this little gem was another item on the to-do list: Purl Soho (or where Purl used to be, rather.) They actually had just moved about a month prior.

And here is their new location. Oh how I love SoHo and Greenwich Village!

As you can imagine, if you know anything of my love of sewing, we spent quite some time in this little shop. And I did walk away with some gorgeous Anna Maria Horner finds for the makings of Olivia's baby quilt. I can't wait to get started!

And just down the street from Purl, was ANOTHER glorious treasure! Kate's Paperie!

We may have spent more than a little bit of time at this location as well.

And before anyone starts to feel too bad for poor Luke who has been so faithfully following me around on my pretty-art-things tour... he did manage to find a few treasures of his own. Here he is outside the entrance to the underground Apple store on 5th Avenue, though he opted not to go in... don't ask me why.

THIS location, however, he did not pass up. His eyes lit up like a 5 year-old on Christmas at the sight of this two-story Nintendo World.

And that about sums up New York. We had a great time and can't wait to go visit again!