I love it so.

More photography to come. Fall has been very stressful for me with moving, my accident and work. But a walk through Central Park with my dogs - after 3 weeks of gimpiness (and my foot elevated) - is soothing to my soul.

Thank God I didn't miss it. It is so beautiful it brings tears to my eyes.

Bike riding away...

$400 bike - $80

$300 doggy trailer - $50

Afternoon among the trees - priceless.

Loving Central Park -- Summer 2010!

A fabulous picnic with turkey and avacado sandwiches, hummas with toasted pine nuts and bell peppers, fruit, cheese...OH MY. A little paddle ball and relaxing...such a nice time with my friend Jessalyn.

I remember.

Walking through SoHo this evening - I look up to see this.
It's September 11, 2010.

9 years later I'm assisting the project manager for the World Trade Center site. My office is only a couple of blocks away. I've talked to my coworkers who were here in NY or in THIS office that day. Unbelievable. I have watched countless hours of tv programs that go over all of the details of that day...I'm still so shocked by the events. I remember, still, where I was that morning.

I'm hugging NYC today.

Summer Delights

Visiting with Gina...13 years after college!

Gina arrive Friday evening. So fun to see this girl that had become so familiar over Facebook. Although we were dorm mates in college 13 long years ago...we had not kept in touch. Only in the last few years had we become reacquainted with each other and shared stories and updates and common interests. She wanted to see NY from a local's prospective and I said come on up!

A walk with coffee through Central Park (of course!)

Gotta hand it to Gina! She can hang with the early birds!

About 11am we read online about a lottery for $27 tickets in the first two rows of American Idiot on Broadway held from 12-12:30pm. So jumped on the express train and we RAN there to make it before the drawing. Our GPS led us to the WRONG THEATRE -- AAAAH! But luckily, we were only one street away! We arrived in time to put our two names in a basket.

There would only be 20 tickets sold. So we crossed our fingers as about 12 names were called. 2 tickets remained...Gina, being the friendly lady she is, was chatting it up with this young boy toward the back of the small crowd. Just :10 seconds before the last ticket was drawn and the lucky name was called - he said to Gina:

"If I win, I'll give them to you!"

THEN THEY CALLED HIS NAME!!!!!

Amazing. I was in shock. And very thankful to this teenager (his sister's name had been called - so they already won their tickets.)

We ran over to Junior's for a totally yummy lunch. Hot Ruben and Chocolate mousse cheesecake. OMG. So fantastic.

Gina is a huge GREEN DAY fan so she loved this show. I too love all Broadway experienced this one included. I found it captivating but since I don't know the lyrics to the songs, I found myself a little lost. Of course, it could be that I was too distracted by the spit flying out of the singers mouths onto the front row! LOL! Joking aside, a warning to all - the language is crass and contains an startling and unnecessary sex seen. (Overall, I wouldn't recommend it)

We meandered over to Bryant Park and visited the NY Library.
Isn't it glorious? It really IS that green! And so much going on...ping pong, reading, people on their laptops.

Who's that hot chic on the street? That's our girl!

The NYC Library is on the East half of the block behind Bryant Park.

And then we happened upon THIS woman. She was amazing. That hair...the outfit...the rouge of her lips and THOSE glasses. I stopped dead in my tracks and took a photo.

The Library ceilings are pretty great:

Saturday night: how much fun is an outdoor movie in the park? SUPER FUN.

Oh Woody...Manhattan isn't Manhattan without you!

The next morning we walked the dogs once again and visited the fresh farmers market. Today we were in for a surprise - Gina was delighted with the street fair on Amsterdam practically outside my front door. The street was shut down for blocks and vendors lined each side with their goods. I was delighted with the spices! So pretty...wish I knew what to do with them!

A brunch at Citrus (see my past post) included none other than a bloody mary! They're pretty and strong. I didn't finish mine. But gimmie those cheesey GRITS baby!

And before we realized it, we were about to miss our Sex In the City Tour!!! So we jumped up to pay our bill and RAN for a taxi. After a crazy ride across the park, we met in front of the Plaza Hotel. WE MADE IT. Shrew!

However, Gina felt sick the entire tour. I felt so bad for her :( She tried her best to put on a happy face...

A drink at Scout! Cosmos of course...and on the house since their credit card machine was down. Yippee!

OH NO YOU DI-N'T!!

That evening, Gina stayed at the house in an attempt to rest for a moment and feel better.

She felt better when I returned home and we said our goodbye's the next morning. It was a fun weekend and I'm so glad she finally came to NYC! I'll be expecting her to move here within the year :) Hint - hint!

I kept our dinner plans since they were with a friend in from London. LIZ! She didn't bring her dog Hilo - whom I've dog sat when they lived 2 blocks from me, but I sent him love with Liz upon departure. And may I just say that AGAIN, Rosa Mexicano is amazing.

Weekend #77 in NYC

Saturday I ventured out for shopping and brunch. I stopped in a few shops before landing at Citrus on Amsterdam Avenue at W. 75th. The place was surprisingly relaxed with only 1/3 of the tables taken. The windows were opened and the air was fresh.
I sat just inside the open patio and asked the server what was most popular...taking his advice and enjoying the Albuquerque Melt. A toasted English muffin with poached eggs, avocado, tomato salsa cruda & melted jalapeno jack cheese for $13.75 included your choice of bloody Mary, Screwdriver, bellini, mimosa, champagne, orange juice or grapefruit juice & coffee or tea. If you've brunched on the UWS, you know this has the potential to be a good deal. And because it was fresh and tasty - it WAS.

Just as the server pointed out, it's all the things he lovedtogether - it was yummy and just what you'd expect. However, the "oh, I'm sooo coming back for this!" moment came with the tasting of the cheddar grits. HEAVENLY. A sticky, cheesy blend that I couldn't get enough of.

All this and a bill under $15 - I'm SO going back. And just a note: the service was very pleasing. Partly due, I'm sure, to some empty tables, JD was still an exceptional server - attentive, pleasant and more than happy to replace a poached egg (I like the white cooked) without my even finishing my sentence!

Saturday evening was a blast meeting up with Gretchen. We got Pinkberry, went to the movies to see SWITCH and then to one of my very favorite meals at Rosa Mexicana at Lincoln Center. After laughing and crying to a really fun movie - we savored fresh guacamole with warm white corn tortillas, short ribs along with a side of sweet plantains with cream & cheese. It may actually be my FAVORITE dish in NYC!

Sunday it rained - but I'm proud to say that didn't keep me from taking the 1 train all the way down to SoHo to volunteer at God's Love We Deliver. http://www.godslovewedeliver.org/about_home.html

God's Love We Deliver's mission is to improve the health and well-being of men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other serious illnesses by alleviating hunger and malnutrition. We prepare and deliver nutritious, high-quality meals to people who, because of their illness, are unable to provide or prepare meals for themselves.

We spent 3 hours peeling and chopping carrots and bell peppers and for me, I couldn't have enjoyed it more. The time flew by and I was so happy to be there.

A good weekend.

I love NYC.