Back to New York City

After my amazing trip to New York City last fall I never thought I would actually get to go back! Lo, and behold, I did! I didn't have my biscotti job anymore but I did have air miles that have been sitting around for six years and landed me a free ticket. And Michael kindly said he would watch the kids again.

So off I headed for a Mon-Thurs trip to New York. It was delightful! My friend, Christy, and I had so much fun. Here are some of the things we did:

Enjoying lunch at a little Italian restaurant in Christy's neighborhood:

Grilled vegetables with mozzarella:

Used book shopping at the local Goodwill:

A visit to St. John's, which reminded us of Paris:

We took a 3-hour boat ride around Manhattan, including the Statue of Liberty!

A glimpse of the new tower being built near Ground Zero.

The bridges were beautiful:

More views toward Ground Zero:

The building in the center of this picture is where Martha Stewart has a floor for coming up with all the stuff that goes in the magazine.......

Dinner at home one evening: salad with salmon

Breakfast on my own at Le Pain Quotidien:

Greek yogurt with "rawnola":

I loved the inside of the bakery:

And then we went window shopping and popped into this amazing store where I wanted to take everything home:

Anthropologie was a must!

Probably the highlight of my trip was going to Jo Malone. I first heard of this perfume 10 years ago in Scotland and ever since have dreamed about buying some. I am so sensitive to perfumes that I figured Jo Malone may be the only one I could wear since it is very natural.

The sales associate was extremely patient as we each smelt every single scent and then some all over again. Then we had to go away for a tour of St. Patrick's while trying several scents on our skin before we went back to re-smell and actually buy our perfume. 

All the work was worth it!!! I am over the moon with my scent and am rationing it to once or twice a week. I chose French Lime Blossom which smells something like Lily of the Valley and Lilacs mixed together.

Last time I went to NYC we had tea at Alice's Teacup. This time we went back, but to a different location. 

They certainly have yummy food!!!

And a mile-long list of teas to chose from.

My "bread-less" sandwich was so good!!! It was a smoked chicken reuben in which the chicken had been smoked with tea.

Then we were off to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and reminisced about other travels we had been on together, namely Greece and Turkey.

The museum was so enormous we could only see a few things, but they were all lovely!

It was fun to see the "Crossing of the Delaware" in person!

And how about a gold piano for Christy? (She is a pianist by profession)

One of my favorites by Renoir.

Final dinner was had at another Italian restaurant and it was fabulous!!! Just these little "hole in the wall" places seem to turn out amazing food!!!!

Then we had to take a walk to the heather gardens and check out the progress of the heather, which was blooming nicely.

A glimpse of the George Washington Bridge from the heather gardens.

The all-important Jo Malone purchase!!!

Thursday morning we took a walk on the HIghline -- a converted train track which is now a nice strolling park.

We came upon a little playgroup enjoying the green grass in the middle of the city.

And some window boxes spilling their cheer onto the side of the building:

Roses in bloom:

And all the while we were towing my suitcase along with us so I could head directly to the airport after lunch.

A bit out of order, these pictures are. Wednesday night we watched an outdoor performance of some little vignettes in the heather garden. It was interesting, and we almost got into trouble with a skunk!

I used my new phone to take pictures in NYC and it was fun to see the different effects one could get:

The subway is the way to get around in NYC and some days it was quite crowded!!

We stopped in Chelsea Market to get lunch on my last day.

We found amazing gluten free crepes!!! Christy had Brie and apple and I had cured Italian beef with asiago and goat cheese and salad greens. AMAZING! We had to have a banana and nutella crepe for dessert.

Oh yes, here we are on our little jaunt to Versailles via the Metropolitan......

All in all it was amazing to have the chance to go back to New York!!! This time I won't say I'll never go back. :) But now it is back to real life and lots of school!