I had a birthday last week, and if you look at the clever title of this post, you can probably figure out how old I turned. My birthday turned into a 4 day long Birthday Fest, one of the highlights of which was a 2 day trip to the Big Apple, a wonderful gift from my mom.
Since we did soooo much in our 30 hours in the city, I thought a list post might be in order. I've seen a few of these NYC lists floating around blogland and I love reading them.
Here we go, in no particular order...
It's not just a mode of transportation, it's an adventure. Especially when it's your first time and you have no idea which route your driver is taking. Hello, New Jersey! Thank goodness for my GPS equipped iPhone, I knew where we were at all times. Phew.
2. The Ribbon Guy on W. 38th Street
Not his actual name I'm pretty sure, but fitting. The shop is nothing fancy, more of a tiny warehouse really. He's got some great ribbon in there though, and he loves to give the suburban tourists a good deal. What a hoot to watch him measure out yards of ribbon, just pulling it off the spool--and then just giving us the whole spool. We love it! And he knows we'll be back ;-)
3. Bergdorf Goodman holiday windows.
In a word: incredible. In several words: the best in the city, over-the-top amazing, stuffed with intricate details and a visual feast befitting a Manhattan shopping queen. Phew. The theme this year is 'Compendium of Curiousities', inspired by Alice in Wonderland. It's difficult to capture the magic of these windows with a camera--especially with a small point & shoot during the day with a big crowd around. There are some excellent pictures (in 3 parts) on this website: Another Normal . Scroll down to see the pictures of the windows from this year. My favorite was the window made completely out of paper.
4. Celebrity Blogger meeting: Jenn Hayslip of Sweet Eye Candy Creations.
I still can't believe this actually happened. My mom and I were in Tinsel Trading on Friday afternoon. As we were browsing around, I noticed a woman taking a picture of one of the displays. I looked at her face and then at her {beautiful} brown hair. I was pretty sure I recognized her from the photo on her blog. So I went over to her and asked her if she was Jenn, the Sweet Eye Candy Creations blog author and createur extraordinaire. She was. I introduced myself (what a way to de-lurk!) and mentioned my blog. She remembered that I'm one of her flickr contacts as well. Jenn was as sweet, nice and lovely in person as she is on her blog. We chatted for quite a while in TT, and when my mom heard Jenn's husband wouldn't be flying in until late in the evening, she invited her to have dinner with us. And she did! We met her again a few hours later at Anthropologie in Rockefeller Center and had dinner had a cozy, elegant restaurant nearby. Though the food was lacking a bit, the company and conversation wonderful! Bloggers in general (and Jenn in particular) are such nice people and the internet really does make the world a little bit smaller :-)
5. Beautiful cast iron architectural details in Soho
I guess the tip off was that my hotel concierge map said 'Cast Iron Historic District' right over the section of Soho we walked through. Beautiful stuff with great lines and patinas.
6. Cupcakes from Magnolia
I had read that they weren't nearly as good as the hype would have you believe but there was one right there next to the NBC Studio store at Rockefeller Center. How could I not sample them?? I had a basic vanilla cupcake with pink frosting. The cake part was pretty good. The frosting was too much--as in too much shortening and too much quantity. They were cute though. Eat and learn...
7. People camped out in line for Saturday Night Live tickets--on Friday night in the freezing cold.
They had sleeping bags, blankets, chairs, and laptops. It was about 25 degrees. They were on the street. Once I saw that Taylor Lautner was hosting, it all made sense. Now if I'd realized Bonjovi was the musical guest, I might've been right there with them.
8. My mom and the hats
Our first stop after stepping of the bus in NYC? The Bag Man. Even before we found a bathroom, my mom found a shop and was trying on hats. She bought one for 99¢. Note the bright orange price tag I had to remove. On Saturday, she bought another one on the street in Soho. And she tried on several in between--at a craft fair, department stores, more street vendors. I had no idea she had such a great love of head-wear.
9. Nice people
When I think of the South, I think of nice people. When I think of NYC, I usually think of people in too much of a rush to be concerned with being nice. But guess what? Pretty much everyone we had an interaction with in the city, was nice. Security guards, transit workers, shop owners and workers, hotel employees and even people on the street. Nice job New York, way to polish up your image. They must know that Santa's watching.
10. The chairs in Herald Square are the same lime green metal chairs I have on my patio at home
I thought that was pretty cool.
11. The Herald Square side windows at Macy's
They were whimsical, colorful, and full of letters to Santa. What's not to love? Check out some excellent pictures here on
Another Normal (again).
12. Ruffle trim at M&J
I didn't buy anything at M&J this trip, but I did drool over the ruffle trim. So luscious.
13. Riding by Dylan's Candy Bar on the bus ride home
And thinking how crazy my kids will go when we take them there :-) {photo is from some Dylan's candy for sale at Macy's}
14. Song that will always make me think of this trip: Ke$ha's TiK ToK
It's one of Ebby's current faves and it was playing in the store where I bought her a New York shirt. In fact, Ke$ha was in NYC on Friday as part of the Z100 Jingle Ball concert
In some further evidence of serendipity, when we got of the bus at 8th Ave & 34th St (in front of the Tick Tock Diner no less) there was a long line of people waiting to get into a free Z100 Meet & Greet. Among the singers scheduled to appear: Ke$ha.
Part 2 tomorrow.