This past weekend was my second NYC trip in a month. The weather was picturesque, although a little too warm for my taste. My days were filled with friends and fun activities. I couldn’t have asked for more.
My JetBlue flight on Friday was on time and very smooth. I had a delicious portabella and goat cheese sandwich from Au Bon Pain for dinner on the plane. I decided to take the subway to Brooklyn to save money, although I told my grandma I was taking a cab. She worries too much. Besides, the line for a cab at JFK is so long, I think the subway took only 15 mins longer than it would’ve taken by car and I saved $35.
I brought my mom and grandma presents (last week was my mom’s birthday). I got her a nice new loofa and Pearberry shower gel from Bath and Body Works, and a few nail polishes (she loves girly things). The flowers I sent her weren’t doing so well by the time I got there, but it looked like it had been a good bouquet.
Saturday I headed out to meet n.A and M for brunch, but got a surprise when T joined us! We were going to go to Republic in Union Square, but we felt like breakfast-y food, so we went to Chat ‘n Chew instead. Then we walked through the village all the way down to Chinatown. In the shade, the weather was great. Under the sun, it felt way too hot. Fortunately, I had lathered myself in sunblock that morning. We walked in to a few stores along the route to cool off and browse. T left us along the way, and M met us on Canal.
My goal was to find a larger purse/tote to bring on trips. As much as I love my backpack, I wanted something more classy. We must have walked into every store with purses along Canal. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was looking for, but it was one of those “I’ll know it when I see it” mentalities. I’m way too picky about purses, mostly because I think all purses are ugly. Some women see a beauty in purses which I totally lack. I’m more of a shoe girl.
As we were heading back towards the subway, we decided to walk on the opposite side of Canal than the way we had come before. The sidewalk was less crowded and it was in the shade. In one of the last stores we stopped by, I saw it! My new purse! Although I didn’t really want leather, the material on this one wasn’t as cheap or as ragged as others we’d seen. It has a smaller pocket on the outside, totally zips closed on top, and has compartments inside. I got it in a burgundy color. It’s perfect. A Big “Thanks” goes out to n.A who talked the price down for me!
With my new purse in hand I headed east on Houston to meet up with E and A. A and I had 3 Mojitos while E had 4. E and I also had 2 tiny fish tacos each, and picked from A’s plate of fries. I thought it wasn’t nearly enough food, but I actually wasn’t hungry for the rest of the evening. We headed up to Central Park to get a few more shots for the music video for Jon Stewart is God, by Dave Sesscler. Participants wore white, held candles, and sang by the lake. Jon couldn’t have asked for a better tribute. An article about the first weekend of the shoot can be found here. After wrapping up we headed over to the artist’s apartment for some wine and –to A’s and my surprise- video of a Sarah McLachlan concert.
Sunday I headed out to Astoria to meet D for brunch and shopping. We ate at La Belle Vie, which has a very good atmosphere, and a prix fixe brunch for 12.95. For dessert, not included in the 12.95, I got a delicious fruit tart (instead of the cheesecake), mostly because I thought fruit in a dessert makes it “healthy.” We then walked over to the east side for some shopping. I got myself a lovely lipstick from Bloomingdale’s, but that’s pretty much it. None of the stores have good petites selections, and Nine West’s shoe collection this season totally sucked. I was mostly in search of that elusive “little black dress” which I ended up ordering online yesterday.
In 4 days Alex and I will be on vacation in beautiful California with more friends, many of who we haven’t seen since graduation! Can’t wait.
