Tag Archives: NYC

Eye on NY

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Well, hello there!

My itinerary took me to NY recently where skies were blue and I had the extreme pleasure of spending time with my older son. The weather was stunning. Really hot, but not too steamy. In other words, absolutely perfect for walking from one end of Manhattan to the other.

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I flew on Virgin America, connecting from Santa Barbara airport via United.

In the off chance that you ever find yourself booking this itinerary, let me share 2 important details with you;

1) “Virgin America” is 1 of only 3 airlines “United” does not have a baggage agreement with.  Apparently they’re “Frenemies”

2) The “United” terminal is at the absolute opposite side of LAX than the “Virgin America” terminal.

I had 55 minutes to buy a cart, yank my bags off the carousel, run to the bus, pull said bags off bus, find another cart, check in to Virgin, recheck my bags, and go through security again.

If you’re a man, you’re probably thinking “Why did you even have 2 check-in pieces of luggage and a carry-on when you were just going to NY?”

What a silly question.

 Needless to say, I lost 3 lbs and a cocktail was required immediately upon boarding.

BTW,  Is “my other ride’s a spaceship” new, or did I just notice it for the first time? I love that! I needed a dose of humour by this point.

L1150338Happily ensconced in my lovely hotel in NY, all travel turmoils forgotten (as you just read, haha) I was happy to hit the ground running.

It seems almost every city block in NY offers a photo op if you’re keeping your eyes peeled

L1150337Speaking of peeling…a wall down by my son’s neck of the woods reminds that “Art” is always in the eye of the beholder

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We ate well, especially dinner one evening at Blue Ribbon Sushi Izakaya

Would definitely go back. (BTW, not just sushi)

IMG_5020Not sure if it was the heat, but I also decided to chop off my long hair. I will probably cut a few more layers still, but I was nervous to do anything too drastic all at once.

I don’t think the last 6″ were doing me any favours anyway and I’m loving how much easier it is to blow dry.

Just in case you’re looking for a good stylist in NY, I went to Chris Lospalluto at Sally Hershberger’s Uptown. He’s low-key and adorable.

IMG_5011There were a lot of these going on already, but I was more in the mood for walking than shopping.

L1150324That being said, I did drop into Barney’s shoe department which was like a hill of fire ants. I feared for my life. Not enough to leave mind you, but I was mighty scared just the same. Aside from the predominance of fluorescents, yes, still (upcoming post) I’m guessing there’s going to be a lot of brogues, saddle shoes, and flats in the coming months. Adorable if you can carry them off.  I saw Muiccia Prada in person recently and she was wearing a knee-length gingham dress, ankle socks and saddle-y brogues. Of course she is Muiccia Prada, worth 7 billion dollars due to her fashion sense and was on the cover of the NY Times Style magazine last weekend, but as much as I appreciate her iconoclasm, I have too strong a fear of looking like Betty Davis in “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane” to attempt this look at my age.

OK, maybe with some wide trousers…

L1150287One day, the designated meeting point with my son was at ABC Carpet down on 17th. Truthfully, I could have spent the day in there, but the weather was so divine it would have been sinful (and my son would have killed me) so we walked around downtown all day instead. Such great people/dog/window watching there, especially on hot days.

Back to ABC though-these gorgeous chunks of blue bottle glass caught my eye as they reminded me of the paths at Lotus Land in my very own Montecito. Wouldn’t a few of them be great just strewn across a summer dining table with tons of candles?!

l10307891You may read more about Lotus Land in one of my older posts HERE

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And in my latest “I LIKE IT. WHAT IS IT?” department;

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One of the coolest things we spotted were “My New Flame” LED “candles” in the Ingo Maurer showroom in Soho.

They are hard to explain but you can watch a really short video of how they work here

As you can see, the circuit board controlling the flame is visible in the taper of the candle. 128 LEDs on each side allow the “flame” to be seen from both sides. They  come in red or black and can either be hung from the ceiling in a cluster, or table mounted as they run by battery. So modern and talk about a conversation starter. I’ve had a pair of the Ingo Maurer “Campari” lights over my kitchen sink in Sun Valley for years and I love the warm glow they cast, especially during the winter.

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Lastly, I leave you with this bike, in my boy’s neighbourhood

IMG_5051 ”Art” once again, in the eye of the beholder.

( I told you “fluoro”‘s still hot. Can you believe people still litter?? For shame! )

xox SP

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Omg-It’s April Already!

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Did you think I’d run off with the Moroccan Circus?!

I do still have one or two Moroccan tidbits I’d love to share, but today’s post hails from NY where I had a lovely visit this week with Older Son,

enjoyed a little theatre (or perhaps I should  say big theatre)

and well, you know the rest…

photo 2there was some food involved…

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but first, the play

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Directed by two-time Tony winner George C. Wolfe and starring the boundlessly talented Tom Hanks, “Lucky Guy” is the hottest ticket on Broadway.

We were lucky enough to attend the opening night on Monday and it was truly electrifying.

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The last work of the brilliant Nora Ephron;

“LUCKY GUY marks a return to Ephron’s journalistic roots in a new play about the scandal- and graffiti-ridden New York of the 1980s, as told through the story of the charismatic and controversial tabloid columnist Mike McAlary, who won the Pulitzer Prize shortly before his untimely death on Christmas Day, 1998.” (via Luckyguy.com)

Screen Shot 2013-04-06 at 12.52.01 PMIt’s great fun to experience Tom Hank’s first time on the Broadway stage, in fact the entire cast is stellar

so if your plans include a trip to NY between now and June, I highly recommend it.

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And what’s a trip to NYC without a little window shopping?!

 IMG_3969My Instagram pic (following yet?) of the Celine shoes that are starting to grow on me

(no pun intended)

Screen Shot 2013-04-06 at 10.59.51 AMEspecially the “Birkenstock” version which FYI is already sold out in the black on black style.

I just asked.

L1150148Then there’s this casual little Walter Steiger heel for all you Crowns of Thorns, Thrones of Corns, Game of Thrones fans

(which I’ve yet to watch because I still haven’t started “Homeland” yet. You see the sacrifices I make for this blog?!)

I snapped the pic in Barney’s, slightly more civilized than the Bergdorf’s shoe department was on Friday

IMG_3985Where it’s every woman for herself (more crown-thorny shoes there too-not in my size :()

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And now’s the time for Vegetarians to shield their eyes

IMG_3892We enjoyed a hearty brunch at Il Buco Alementaria & Vineria

beginning with a most civilized selection of their house-cured meats.

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f2171f049a2711e2bee422000a9f14ea_7Then Son of Slim threw down with a short rib sandwich that quite frankly did his Momma proud.

Despite its girth, it absolutely melted in your mouth. Like buttah.

er, I mean his mouth.

I’m far too much of a Laaydy to be seen eating such a beast (at least in public-would that they have private booths)

This is definitely not a First Date Sandwich.

Il Buco is very buzzy and for the most part, dining is shared at communal tables.

8-14_085via Il Buco website

I will mention that the acoustics aren’t the greatest (upstairs seems slightly louder than down) We moved downstairs because I swear a woman at our table was talking to someone in another restaurant-and not on her phone. I felt like we were in a Woody Allen film, but let’s not be ‘Slim Cranky’.  The food’s delicious and service is great.

This was my second visit to Il Buco and I’d definitely go again.

img_3901The salted caramel gelato at Il Buco.

Yes, I did say brunch :-)

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And in the blink of an eye another NY week is over and it’s April already.

Wishing everyone a great weekend and a sweet & happy new(ish) month!

Spring is upon us and I hope to be posting with a little more frequency from now on. Really.

’tis the season of growth and renewal after all, right?

XX SP

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**The lemon meringue cake is at “E.A.T.” on upper Madison Ave.!

Both “Lucky Guy” play photos via Bloombergbusiness.com

The Night Before

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Blogging is an interesting endeavor.  Sometimes composing a post is as simple as pie (store bought), other days it’s not that easy. Today, I must admit, falls into the latter category. To say the least, it’s been a tumultuous 7 days here in the east. As you know, I arrived in NY just a day or two before Hurricane Sandy struck. We are all aware of the devastation the storm left in it’s wake. Although power has been restored to lower Manhattan and a good portion of mass transit, including many subway lines are in service again, a week later  there are still hundreds of thousands without power, water, gasoline, a safe place to lay their heads at night and even warm clothes. To add insult to injury in a most literal sense, the forecast predicts another storm moving  towards the east coast on Wednesday. My thoughts and prayers are with all those still struggling in the aftermath of Sandy and I’m sure that all of you, my wonderful compassionate readers, feel the same.

A friend sent me an email a few days ago in reference to my post about New Yorkers being incredibly resilient.

She included this photo with the caption “I guess this is what you meant about New Yorkers”

I loved the photo and thought, YES! This is exactly what I meant, and shared the photo on Facebook as well as Twitter. The response, as you would imagine, was overwhelmingly positive, but there were actually a few people who got darn right snarky about it. According to them, this photo was taken in New Jersey, not NYC.  Apparently, there are always going to be a few people who just miss the point, which I find a little sad. I thought the photo was about people being kind, resourceful and helping others,  not about a postal code.

And another thing…

Tomorrow, as we ALL KNOW is Election Day in the United States. I, for one, cannot wait for this, equally ugly storm, to be over. I don’t care to engage in political discourse on my blog, or even in real life to be honest-it’s just the way I was raised. I also like to think of “Slim Paley” as being a pleasant escape from the negativity we are bombarded with daily, so I’d just like to say this;  Whatever the outcome, by Wednesday morning 50% of this country is going to be very disappointed, many even devastated, which is also truly sad. So let’s all try to be compassionate and GRACIOUS on Wednesday. After all, it’s not arms and legs, it’s politics.

Back to “normal” posts in a day or two, I promise!

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Top photo of flower via HughStewartGallery.com

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Dispatch from NY #2

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A Vague Sense of UneaseWell then. How was that for timing??

And to think I didn’t check the weather (most unlike me) until the day I was coming to New York.

Rather incredible to be in the belly of the beast, so to speak, for “The Storm of the Century”.  To be honest, although it was ferociously windy and raining up here on the upper east side of Manhattan, we were very lucky as we never lost power. The hotel I’m staying in is very cozy. They kept guests regularly updated on the impending storm, distributed flashlights and apologized that room service and housekeeping would be on a limited basis only. They warned that in the case of a power outage the elevators would not be working. Which basically meant it would take the same amount of time it usually does to get down from the 15th floor in this charming but old building.

They also slid a letter under the doors assuring the bar downstairs would remain open :)

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All public transportation was shut down by 7pm Sunday night while through the day and into Monday the city, dripping with Halloween decorations, awaited the sinister storm. Sunday afternoon the streets were eerily quiet. I popped out and walked down to the “Archivia Bookstore” to see Heather Clawson from “Habitually Chic” and pick up her new book (which is fab and will post about soon)  Then, with plenty of forewarning from hyperventilating weatherpersons, I picked up as many last minute provisions as would fit in my mini bar and with nothing else to do really, I put on the television and waited…

"Blood tipped" manicure

A most surreal Halloween weekend

My NY Son’s apartment in lower Manhattan lost power, as did most of the lower part of the city. Thankfully we were able to be in constant contact via cell phones and his building, a very old one, sits high off the street so while dark, it stayed dry.  Not so dry was the bar next door to his place which also remained open. Neighbors brought a boom box and by the glow of candlelight  the locals watched the storm lash by outside.

My son’s girlfriend and their friends found a cozy spot in lower Manhattan to wait out the storm

Ground Zero last night

Probably the biggest story of the night must have been the loss of power at NYU Hospital, followed by complete generator failure, resulting in over 200 patients, including tiny ICU babies having to be evacuated to other hospitals throughout the city all night long. The efforts of the hospital staff and emergency relief teams certainly left me lump-throated and teary eyed. God bless those people.

Not quite sure how my son is going to get to work tomorrow as he takes the subway…

For all those in New Jersey, all along the coast and lower Manhattan, and they are millions, who’ve suffered power outages and water damage I truly hope that life will get back to normal for you very soon. No doubt the damage and disruption to life here in NY is going to be felt for weeks if not months to come.

photo via Habitually Chic

But if any city in the world is great at bouncing back, God knows it’s New York.

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The Barktorialist

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Meet “Shaq”, another of NYC’s finest contestants in my continuing “Barktorialist Series” :)

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We’ve been having a super fun time in NY

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But let me tell you; I was worried when we arrived the night JFK airport broke it’s all time record for rainfall…

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Would you want to go out in this??

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Slim Paley does Bladerunner

Of course one does have to strike out eventually to forage for sustenance

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“Cheek & Belly” at David Burke’s Townhouse  our favourite restaurant this trip

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Scallops at Townhouse

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and get into the office (Bergdorf’s) to get some work done.

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I also went to see a couple of movies with my sons-nothing that could vaguely be considered  a “Slim Paley” recommendation I’m afraid (still haunted by one choice) but I wasn’t getting a big show of hands on my “Sarah’s Key” suggestion.  Anyway, we had one of those moments where you just have to say “Only in NY”.  In a theatre about 1/3 full (a matinee) a gentleman behind us began to snore.  Really loudly.  After about 10 minutes of raucous nasal orchestration,  an extremely tall, completely bald and physically intimidating man rose up from the second row- walked up the aisle, stopped directly in front of the snoring culprit and smacked him right across the face!  Needless to say, Mr. Snorer woke up with a start and Mr. Smacker told him in no uncertain terms “Do not make me have to come back  here again”  (I’ve phrased that slightly more politely than Lurch did)  Can you believe that??!  I had to tie my younger son’s jaw shut.

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Eventually the sun did come out, and we were able to enjoy our favourite NY pastime which is walking, walking, and more walking…

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So glad I brought my trusty pedometer, so that when found ourselves at;

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There was no very little guilt involved

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Pickles made on the premises

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Fantastic Potato Latkes

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I also stopped by Fishes Eddy,  a shop I haven’t been to in years

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Still maintaining their NY sense of humour!

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Dishes for the realtor in your life

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Meanwhile, at the other end of the New York Stories spectrum, my husband got on a subway car almost entirely filled with pre-teen summer campers, in matching yellow t-shirts, having a rather riotous grand time on their day out.  At the next stop a Rastafarian busker got on the train car, pulled out his guitar and invited the kids to join in on a Bob Marley song. In moments, the whole car was filled with the beautiful voices of the children all singing “One Love”  Isn’t that great?! I really wished I’d been there.

Except for the subway part.

Just kidding! :)

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Central Park in late afternoon

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So all in all, another grand adventure, as is usually the case in New York.  A couple of restaurant disappointments which we won’t speak of as I’m not a food critic and everyone is entitled to an “off” night I suppose.

 Just glad to be here where it all seems relatively sane in comparison to my hometown of Montecito right now, where the “Kardashian Royal Wedding” festivities are just getting underway. Seriously?? WTF?!  I’m proud to say I’ve never watched the show and have no idea why in the world the world is enthrall of all this/them/whatever it is.  What say you?!

Wishing a Happy Weekend to All,

xx

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So we can all pretend we were there;

Bob Marley; One Love

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