Tour the United Nations for sense of hope.

Yesterday I took a 45-minute guided tour of the United Nations. I highly recommend doing this if you're in NYC.

If you are EVER feeling despair about the world's problems and wondering if anything good is going on, just learn a few facts about this great organization where thousands of programs help make the world a better place.

I spent two hours this morning reading over their website. I actually signed up to donate monthly to their free rice project. Take a look at this interactive site that lets you compete on trivia games with others all over the world. As you progress, you also feed the hungry. I'm not sure how in the world that works, but I'm guessing it is funded privately. Anyway, there's no cost to you, and you can learn and have fun doing it: www.freerice.com.

Here's one of the pictures I took outside the UN. It says it all.

Don't be afraid, it's just a sample sale.

What is a sample sale? Today I decided to find out when I got my daily email from Daily Candy (here's the link for this site that handpicks daily things to do in certain cities: www.dailycandy.com) listing several that were happening today.

 

Sample sales are generally one- or two-day events that designers offer to get rid of production samples. They are not heavily advertised, so you have to be on a mailing list, hunt for them online, or run across a sign on a sidewalk. They are usually held in the designer's office, so I was a little intimidated going to my first one here in NYC. 

The first one was for fine Italian linens. It was held on the 2nd floor of a large warehouse-like building. Six-foot tables were laid out end to end and cardboard signs were set up yard-sale like explaining the items and their highly discounted prices. This particular one was cash only for purchases under $250 which would buy you a nice queen bed sheet set worth $1,000 retail.

Another was on the 17th floor of an office building where a doorman was keeping an eye on the building's foot traffic. It was for Elle MacPherson intimates, and they had two small rooms full of merchandise for very good prices. At a third sale, I peeked into their very plush office and was told the date had been changed. 

It was fun looking for these sales and going into some of the offices of the fashion district, but I was all over the city and my dogs are barking.

Poking Around

On my walk today I came upon a strange site -- people poking and punching these giant inflatables. It was a part of a new public play ground for kids and adults where colorful toy-like balloons tower over you making you feel like a little kid. This park just opened as part of the second mile of The High Line, an abandoned elevated railway that's being converted into a walking path/park along the Hudson. You can read more about the inflatables here: aolartists.com/rainbowcity/video. You can read about the High Line here: www.thehighline.org. I poked and punched a few of them -- apparently too hard because a staff guy told me not to get too rough with them. Whoopsie!

Visitors Here Verses the Suburbs

One difference when having company at your place in the city verses the suburbs is that you feel like you HAVE to have some special place to take them to eat that says, "I live here."

This place has to be a place that you "discovered" -- no tourists know about it yet, and only a few New Yorkers do. You have to have eaten there enough times to be recognized by the bartender who pours your drinks a little stronger than those of strangers.

In the city, you just want to prove to your visitors that you are not as stupid as you were when you moved here. Knowing one great place to eat in an obscure corner of town makes you look like you are at least trying. I'd better start looking for "my" restaurant. I have company coming.

You won't see this in Manhattan

I live in New York only part time. The rest of the time I'm still in the Midwest, and something happened today that you won't ever see in NYC. This adorable fawn had somehow found its way inside my fenced-in back yard and couldn't get back out. My neighbor alerted me to it when he was mowing his lawn. The little creature eventually managed to squeeze through two of the slats in the fence and head for the tree line separating my subdivision from another.

Later in the day, I was reading a book on my deck when I heard something behind me. It was the mama deer come to find her fawn! She had silently bounded over the fence and was standing about 15 feet away from me. This mama doe was not shy. She stood her ground as I slowly got up and approached her. She seemed to be accusing me of hiding her baby, she wasn't leaving without her. Minutes later she turned and hopped back over the fence but did not run away altogether. She lingered and made a grunting noise like she was calling for her fawn. Did you know deer produce sounds? I feel confident the two found each other considering the mother's courage and determination.

Private and Public Parks

One Saturday hubby and I were walking (and walking and walking and walking) around the Chelsea area when we came to this beautiful park enclosed by a lovely iron fence. But the gate was locked even though there were people inside reading, playing with their kids, etc. Apparently, they all had keys. . . keys to the park. This park was a private park accessible only to people who lived in that area or pay for access.

I guess in the city, you have to devise some way to entice renters to live in your building, so the landlords decide to offer a park that keeps you safe from "the public." I'm not sure what I think about this yet. Not something I have ever encountered in the Midwest.

By the way, here are some pictures from my recent visit to the Central Park Zoo which is open wide to the public.

You have to try the Macy's Fashion Consultant!

So my husband calls and says do I want to go to this benefit tomorrow night?

Off to Macy's!

After trying on 34 black dresses, I settle on one and head to the counter to purchase it. I asked the associate if there is a delivery service, and she says yes, but she needs to ask how to do it. She goes off briefly and comes back with Marcy.

Marcy is one of ten Macy's Fashion Consultants at the NY store. Apparently most Macy's have Fashion Consultants. Who knew? And I should have known! So I show her the dress and ask if she has an opinion about accessorizing it. (I love sales people with opinions. Really.) So she and I spend the next hour getting just the right necklace, earrings and handbag for it! A very nice service even if she does get commission on things I purchase. It saves me a lot of time, and I don't end up buying something that isn't right and never wear again.

She gave me her card and said to call her anytime I'm in the store. She even told me to use this private dressing room near her office when the store is busy.

This service is totally free!

To all my friends who like to shop with the help of someone with an opinion, you need to find this person at your local Macy's!