Foosball Barbies!

FAO Schwarz is a great place to spend an hour if the place isn't swarmed. There are musicians demonstrating the latest boxed magic kit and really patient sales people helping kids throw circular-flying Balsa wood airplanes. You can also get your photo taken with a very tall live toy soldier before entering the store. I wonder if he's also there for theft prevention like the Walmart greeters.

I was there on a Monday, and things weren't too crazy, but I am sure it's a madhouse most other days this time of year. Just so you know, I didn't see anything amazingly new. No matter how much imagination has been put into the toy design, the best play comes from using your own, in my opinion.

Bergdorf Goodman

The most amazing jewelry and handbags can be found on the first floor of Bergdorf Goodman. It is like walking through a museum of Beauty. It took my breath away. Every item on display felt like it was the only thing you should look at until your eye ventured onto the next thing. I spent two hours here just looking. My purchase was from the candy store- -$36 for a 16 oz. box of caramel toffee (roasted pecans and walnuts, sweet butter toffee, pink Himalayan sea salt and milk chocolate). Worth every penny.

Here's a very small section of one of their famous windows. This one was all paper sculpture and was stunning. Everywhere you looked, you found intricately designed objects made out of pieces of paper.

You can see their magnificent windows here.

Pose with a Half Naked Male Model at Abercrombie & Fitch

Do you see the man sans shirt through the window? This is Abercrombie and Fitch where two fully dressed male models flank the entrance to the Fifth Ave. store and also where . . .

. . .you can get your photo taken with a half-dressed one. There was a crowd of people just hanging at the entrance--I think watching this guy and trying to get the nerve to stand beside him. I did not get the nerve. . . yet.

Window Dressings

 

Isn't this a beautiful window display? There is a hint of Christmas in it without distracting you from that  awesome lamp. The building's brickwork adds a perfect frame for this scene, something I'm sure the window designer took into consideration.

New Yorker Comics on Mugs

 

What is funnier than a New Yorker comic? Here are some of the best ones on coffee mugs. I wanted to buy one for each person on my Christmas list, but who needs another coffee mug, really? The place is called Fishs Eddy, and it's full of brilliantly clever stuff that makes you think, "Why couldn't I have thought of that?"

Window Dressings

Toy Soldiers

Pictured here is only half of the display in front of a Park Avenue UBS office.

 My husband suggested I stand next to the display to give viewers an idea of the size of these guys. My salute is a little wimpy.

Must Have Caramel Corn

The singular purpose of getting out of my apartment today may be to purchase and consume caramel popcorn from Bryant Park.

We received our lease renewal notice and learned that our rent is going up $500 in February! That's per month, people!

Sooooo, we have been looking at other options. Now, just across the East River, the rent is 40% cheaper for 25% more space, and it's only a subway stop away from our current place!

Long Island City reminds me of Boonville (for those of you reading from Indiana) or Clifton (for those of you reading from Ohio). Mostly we saw young people, some with small children walking around and lots of pet-owners. No taxis. A beautiful riverside park.

After spending about 4 hours there, we noticed we were running into the same people, so that's definitely different than in Manhattan.

Bargain Eats in Long Island City

When the waiter brings you a Bloody Mary with three separate garnishes, you know they care.

The sugar for my coffee was served in a miniature cocktail glass. Love it!

The server couldn't tell us why there were playing cards on the ceiling.

My lunch was a scrambled egg wrap with Spanish rice and beans and white cheddar cheese. Must remember this for the next family get-together. The bacon was stolen from my husband's plate.

Our bill was delivered in this tiny woven basket and was half the cost of what we would have paid in Manhattan.

Remember Paper Snowflakes?!

I decided to decorate the apartment for Christmas, but I didn't want to purchase any new decorations I'd have to store after the holidays: paper snowflakes!

 

This autumn moon outside my living room window is partially framed by the 1930s style Tutor City complex and the modern United Nations building in the background.

New York Windows

 

This being Christmas time, I'll be posting some of the awesome window displays for which New York is so famous. This is just a tiny electronics shop on Third Avenue. I love how they have taken a small artificial Christmas tree, turned it upside down, and hung bright shiny red balls of various sizes on it like a bunch of hanging grapes.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

I knew we wouldn't get the best view by leaving our apartment at 8:30 a.m. to see a 9 a.m. New York City parade; the front line spots get snatched up way before 6 a.m. However we did find a place to sit in Bryant Park with a small window see the balloons. Here is a video of one of them coming through on 6th Avenue. We enjoyed being in the crowd, seeing little kids all bundled up in their hats and mittens, and sipping on Duncan Donuts coffee. Best seats were back at the apartment in front of the TV.

Governor's Island

This is the building you enter to catch the Governor's Island Ferry. It's located in the southern tip of Manhattan. My family and I took the 10 minute ferry ride with hundreds of others, many on their bikes, this summer. Governor's Island is a great place to enjoy grassy, rolling hills and learn a little history. There are many activities offered through the warm months that include art fairs and such. Next time I go, I'll take advantage of the bike rental. I highly recommend doing this, plus the ferry's free.

Not a good place to take a call. . .

This statue in front of Macy's is NOT a good place to take a phone call, especially at the top of the hour when those bronze figures start swinging their hammers at that bell. I won't make that mistake again. The best place to take a phone call on the streets of NY is at an actual phone booth. . . or a Starbucks. The former is not that prevalent; the latter everywhere.

Manhattan's Grey Dog Cafe

There are three Grey Dog Cafes in Manhattan. The one on 16th Street between 7th and 8th is the largest, most comfortable one--where you don't feel bad sitting a little longer and reading your newspaper. They are all near SOHO and all are populated with good-looking young people, some with little children.  

The Grey Dog Breakfast $12

You order by standing in a fast-moving line from a limited, but interesting menu, then find a table. Take your coffee mug to the counter where a sign says "free refills and love" whatever that means.

Veterans Day Parade

In New York, one may just be walking along and run into a parade like this one I encountered on Fifth Avenue on Veteran's Day. The police were allowing people to cross intermittently which I had to do. I crossed at about 12:30 p.m. Heading home around 3 p.m. the parade was just winding up! I learned it began at 11 and that over 25,000 people marched in it. Here's a link to more photos by the New York Daily News.

Here are my photos. As I was taking pictures, I noticed that several military groups were being followed by women, young and old, carrying pictures, probably of lost loves ones--which made me weep right out there in public.

Pumpkins in Pots

I love coming across sites like these giant pumpkins on display at someone's private residence.

Ohio Lawn Creature

The last time I was back in Ohio, I drove by this strange thing. I had to do a double-take. I turned the car around to get a better look. What is this? Why would someone put it in their front yard? It is so whimsical. I wonder if the person who made this was chopping a tree down and noticed this animal-like shape once some of the limbs were gone? It was right before Halloween. Maybe that had something to do with it. Here's my friend Ruthie's comment:

"I can see it's a very long-tailed mammal, although I notice that its teats are not in the normal spots.  It probably has young somewhere close waiting to nurse--or, if this one is the juvenile, I don't want to be around when its mama comes looking for it. It may be suffering from a mutation; it appears that the tail is far too heavy for the body, therefore it is stuck in this person's yard. Veeeerrrrry interesting!"

Three Heartwarming NY Moments

Let me tell you about three NY acts of kindness I've seen this week. As I crossed a busy street, a middle-aged vision-impaired man was working his way with a cane off the curb when he suddenly stopped as if he was unsure about whether or not to cross. He then said to no one in particular, "A little help, please?" Then another man in a business suit graciously took his arm and helped him cross over.

The second act was seeing a young man run up to a lady and hand her some piece of paper that she'd dropped on the sidewalk. It was obvious he had run to catch up with her. "You dropped this a while back." he told her. The woman was grateful.

Yesterday I noticed a little black dog who was tied to a tree by his leash in front of a small grocery store. The dog was barking like mad, trying to get his owner to come out. Then a person went up to the dog and tried to console it. The dog seemed quite happy to have someone pay attention to it; it jumped up on her, wagged its tail and barked even more. I told the dog his owner would come out soon, and he did.

Just Wondering Today

Today I decided to simply wonder around as far south as I could. I ended up in Union Square on 14th Street. There was a farmer's market! School was out, and there were lots of young people enlivening the scene with their outbursts of laughter and general rowdiness. The crowd was a little edgier than I was used to. I headed back north and decided to catch my husband before he headed home from work. Even though I was prepared to offer a healthy salad back at the apartment, my husband took me to a new restaurant where I had a cucumber martini along with several wonderful tapas. I have learned that "tapas" simply means small dish of food. But it's origins may have come from Spain when wine was served with a flat piece of bread over it to keep out the flies.

A Visitor Comes and Shows Me New York. Day 4.

Our first item of business was to visit Bryant Park which is lined with holiday shopping booths. I had caramel popcorn for breakfast. Very healthy. Linda had something not so healthy, something with spinach in it.

Linda read about this Swedish cottage located in Central Park that offered marionette shows. We were 15 minutes late because we took the wrong subway. The staff let us in anyway taking our word that we would pay the $8 admission fee after the show. I absolutely loved this! It was one of my favorite things we did. I'll certainly take my husband to the Christmas show.

To get to the Guggenheim, we simply walked across CP to the east side. The weather was sunny and brisk, and the path was just beautiful! We then toured the Museum. I cannot begin to describe the current exhibit, so I'll give you the link to read about it here.

A Visitor Comes and Shows Me New York. Day 3--Evening WAR HORSE!

War Horse playing at the Lincoln Center is amazing! I know there's a movie coming out with the same name, but nothing on film could compare to the horse "puppets" that took three people to manage on stage. For some interesting reading about these awesome creations, click here.

By the way, if you are going to an event at or near Lincoln Center, plan ahead! This place is like a college campus, and many buildings are not easily identified. Don't expect that one quick look at their website will give you everything you need to know about how to get there or where to find the ticket booth. And do start out early so you can walk part of the way in case the taxis are all taken.

A Visitor Comes and Shows Me New York. Day 3.

Prior to visiting St. Paul's Church, we saw this guy and his cat. I have seen him there before (and his cat). I wonder how much he makes in a day charging $1 per photo like he did with us?

St. Paul's Church, where George Washington worshiped and 9/11 recovery workers received round-the-clock care, was built in 1766 and houses displays that tell amazing stories of 911. We also toured the temporary WTC Museum just down the street. The 911 Memorial was already booked for the day when we tried to get tickets. Next visit!

We walked north to the SOHO area and ate at Mooncakes where three guys on bikes were kept busy delivering take out orders to the locals.

See the next post for our evening entertainment!

A Visitor Comes and Shows Me New York. Day 2.

 

Browsing the Grand Central Market, a foodie's delight.

We took the NBC Studios Tour where we saw the sets of several popular TV shows including SNL.

This guy wanted to charge us $225 for a tour of Central Park on his pedal taxi, but we talked him down to $80. He told us about all the movies that have been filmed in Central Park.

There were so many limbs down from the October snow storm. Ground crews were working furiously to get the park ready for the NY Marathon.

We got tickets to see The David Letterman Show purely by chance. A person on the sidewalk was trying to fill the audience for the 4:30 p.m. taping. This was really fun.  Condoleezza Rice was there talking about her new book!

I left my friend in front of the Half Price Ticket Booth to attend a benefit sponsored by Avon with my husband. My friend was able to get $70 tickets to see Jersey Boys. She loved it.