29. The Subway
I've been to NYC many times, but as far as I can remember, this was my first trip on the subway. Felt very native--even though the couple we were chatting with on the platform was visiting from Ft. Worth, TX.
Mom loaded up an MTA card at 47th St. station and we were on our way Soho at Broadway and Prince St. That train was an older train (and the Yellow line felt like an older subway line), didn't see very many maps on board and it was hard to understand the conductor on the P.A. system but we made it just fine. On the way back uptown we rode on a different line and the train was all modern and had computerized signboards. Fancy. It was fast, felt safe, and had some nice underground scenery at the stops: mosaic signs with the station name. Once again, art is everywhere. And accessible for $2.25 a trip.
30. Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree
Yes, it was totally mobbed, wall to wall people. No, I didn't get a decent picture--although I did take one of a nice couple with their camera. It's a must see though. When you go to the side where you can see the skaters, the golden Prometheus statue and the tree all from one vantage point, it just says "New York City Christmas". Smile.
31. Saks windows
Based on the Saks book Twinkle, Twinkle Little Flake, these windows had some sort of tie in with the new Windows 7 operating system. We're a Mac family, so that was not a selling point, but they were cute anyway. I love the style of the illustrations and the snowflake is pretty cute (cutesy...) too. I get a Christmas picture book for Ebby, Will & Cuyler each year and this just may be the book under the tree this year...
32. The color of the Purl Soho shops
Based on how big Purl Soho seems online, I was surprised that the brick & mortar shops were so tiny. The yarn shop was so crowded that I dared not even venture in the door. Plenty of good stuff to look at in the window though. The fabric shop a few doors down was just as cozy, though not as crowded. They manage to fit a lot of fabric into a small space and it's displayed quite nicely. The shops themselves are a lovely aqua/green color--definitely unique and definitely charming.
33. Rachel Ashwell's inspiration board at Shabby Chic
After being hit hard by the recession and declaring bankruptcy in the spring of this year, Rachel Ashwell's Shabby Chic store is back in this smaller, more intimate location on Mercer St. They have one of Rachel's actual inspiration boards as part of the store decor. I could've spent an hour studying it! So many lovelies!
{Here's a great link to an interview with Rachel in the new store here}
34. Celebrity sighting in Soho
So, my mom and I were in the Shabby Chic shop. Just us and 2 sales associates. My mom was enjoying one of the overstuffed chairs and I was getting ready to pay for 2 shabby snowflake ornaments. Another sales associate came up from a roped off area downstairs followed by a female customer. They were chatting about a furniture piece the customer was considering buying. I was standing right next to this customer. After I paid, I went over to see my mom. I noticed the female customer (she was right next to the chair my mom was sitting in, still talking) and I almost asked if I could take her picture. She looked very New York to me: beautiful, fashionable, comfortable, effortlessly casual and elegant at the same time. Of course, I had no idea who she was. As soon as she walked out, my mom said to the sales staff, 'Is that someone we should know?' and the associate that was helping her replied, 'Yeeees, that was Julia Stiles.'
Are you kidding me?? I was standing right next to her, noticed her, and I still didn't realize who she was?? I've seen her in movies, I read celeb magazines while waiting in line at the grocery store. I'm so disappointed in myself. My mom even recognized her enough to know she was famous.
Epic fail on my part. However Ms. Stiles seemed pretty down to earth, I don't think it bothered her in the least that I didn't harass her for a photo. Next time though, watch out!
{Yes, I had to use a picture from the Bourne Ultimatum with Matt Damon--hoping to run into him on the street one of these days too ;-) }
35. Tin assemblage dolls at Bergdorf Goodman
I spotted these beauties not only in the holiday windows on 5th Avenue, but also upstairs in the Christmas ornament room. I loved them all! Altered art in Bergdorf Goodman, who knew?? I need to make one of these in 2010!
36. The elevator at MacKenzie-Childs
They are calling the holiday edition of the store 'Fantasy on West 57th'. That would be an understatement. The place was incredible. My mom is a M-K pottery collector from way back, so this place was a must see for her. Such a treat! We took the over-the-top elevator to the 2nd floor to see the over-the-top fantasy Christmas scene room that included a 9 ft. pottery chard mosaic Christmas tree. Amazing.
37. Santacon NYC
The two Harvard co-eds sitting next to us were discussing Santacon on the BoltBus on Friday morning. One of the girls was doing it for the first time and the other one had friends who were involved. I gathered that there was Santa garb involved. I thought it might be a 5k road race. Not quite. Santacon is (according to the website--warning, colorful language abounds there) "a not-for-profit, non-political,
non-religious & non-logical Santa Claus convention, attended for
absolutely no reason." It seems to be a cross between a bar crawl (which they say it isn't) and a canned food drive. All I know is we saw a ton of Santa attired 20-somethings weaving down the sidewalk in the West Village as we were headed for the subway. As the event started at 10am and it was 5pm, they were quite jolly. A couple of Santas even let me take their picture. The whole experience may have made me feel just a little bit old...
38. Peace signs
Again, it may have been that I was looking for them because it's Ebby's symbol du jour, but peace signs seemed to be everywhere: Tinsel Trading, Henri Bendel and the ever-hip Cinderella Club costume jewelry shop.
39. Goldbug Studio creations at MacKenzie-Childs and Bergdorf Goodman
Ashley's creations are amazing, a true inspiration for glitter-loving, vintage-inspired mixed media artists everywhere.
40. Live "mannequin" in the window at Agent Provocateur
The Old Navy super Modelquins are no match for this lingerie clad performance artist.
Untitled from Ebby Bowles on Vimeo.
{I'm attempting to embed a video clip from my phone, can't really tell where it's going to end up in the post...}
41. My favorite Christmas ornament of the weekend
It was a bird in a gold nest at Bergdorf. I was in such a hurry to get back to the hotel to check out of our room, I don't even know the vendor or how much it was. But I did manage to take a picture of it. Phew.
eta: upon further review, it looks like this is a Goldbug Studio lovely. Of course :-)
42. Fun with my mom
Thanks so much to my mom for a great weekend, we saw and did sooo much and managed to keep a smile on our faces (most of the time anyway...). It was an awesome birthday gift, even if I did have to carry all the bags for 2 days ;-) Love you Mum, can't wait for our next adventure (during which we will ask a 3rd party to take a picture or 2 of us together)!
Thanks for sticking with me through my 42 Things! If you can believe it, I have a ton more stuff I didn't show so I'm going to upload a set of pictures to my flickr photostream. Just not tonight.
If you have any questions about any of the places we went or things we did, just leave a comment or send me an email. I'm happy to share info!
