There’s so much of NYC to see that no matter how many times I’ve been there, the unfamiliar always trumps the familiar. Manhattan elicits the same excitement whether I’m seeing it for the first time as a college freshman on a miniscule budget or as an executive many years later on a less restrictive business account.
It does not matter if I’m eating cheap pizza from a takeout joint or schmoozing clients at the swankiest places.
It is the same whether I’m window shopping in Soho as a twenty-something or power shopping at Chanel as a former twenty-something…
The joy of New York is to simply be in the city, regardless of wherever I am in my life.
To experience Manhattan, all I need are my two feet, a subway pass…
and then I let the city happen to me.
And once in a while, when the timing is just so, fashion and travel intersect right in front of my eyes:
And that’s why I blog.
Tags: Chanel, Manhattan, New York City, subway
What I thought were allergies turn out to be a full fledged cold.
At least I hope it’s a cold and not the (swine) flu.
In any event I feel worn out coming home to a very smoggy LA.
No amount of meds can make me feel better right now, so indulge me in showing off the little one for at least one more blog entry…
then I promise to take you back out to the streets–by the way, how far do you suppose you can get on such little feet:
So this is what it looks like to be drunk on milk:
And this is what it’s like to be drunk on baby:
Like I said, if I could keep them like this forever I’d like to order one or two for myself!
After four days of hanging around my sister and her newborn daughter, I have to give serious props to all the moms in the world, particularly today on Mother’s Day. And especially to my mom who was brave/masochistic enough to go through motherhood three times over.
Sleep deprivation, hormonal uproar, emotional overload, and physical fatigue are just some of the joys of motherhood. Even in this state, moms go on auto pilot to feed, comfort, and care for the baby. Whatever precious minutes they may get for catnaps are all taken with one eye and both ears open. It is fatigue beyond fatigue. It is bootcamp for the ages. And I haven’t even mentioned the poopy diapers. Whereas I get to hold her then leave in a couple of days and catch up on my sleep, new moms are in this for the long haul. I don’t know how you moms do it, whether it is full-time or balanced with work outside the home.
All I can say is, every day should be celebrated like Mother’s Day.
The first night I arrived in NYC, my brother-in-law asked me if it was weird to see my baby sister be a mom. I answered that it wasn’t because I always knew she’d be a mom; she’s very patient and nurturing. But it wasn’t until I overheard her refer to the baby as her daughter that it really registered with me. I wasn’t weirded out as much as startled; the baby of the family is no longer a baby, and the baby has a baby. OK, it is a little weird.
This year and every year for the rest of her life, she will have the designation of mom next to her name. And she gets to join my other sister and my mom in a very special club.
Happy Mother’s Day.
Tags: Mother's Day
I decide to walk some 38 blocks today down to Columbus Circle and by the 2nd block I have to remove my scarf and cardigan. It’s a warm, cloudy Spring day and as there’s no such thing as walking in pedestrian-unfriendly LA, I try to go everywhere on foot while in NYC, no matter how far. Much to my delight, not a single driver gives me the finger when I dash across the street…in fact, they even wait for me to cross without revving the engine. Imagine that!
As soon as I’m done with the shopping at Columbus Circle and step inside the ubiquitous Duane Reade to get a bottle of water, however, the rain comes pouring down. Lightning and thunder make their appearance as well. A small crowd gathers anxiously at the front door and most brave their way back outside. Work or lunch beckons. With a newly purchased umbrella in hand (now it makes total sense why there is a Duane Reade on every block for your every need), I walk out and then come right back in. My OCD self asks for a plastic shopping bag so that I can “waterproof” my purse; the plastic bag then goes inside my paper shopping bag. For all you purse fanatics out there, you feel my pain, right? I know the caviar leather is the best defense in the worst of all weather challenges, but c’mon, I’m not leaving anything to chance. We Angelenos do not trust rain. We don’t see it often enough and in a big downpour, we think we might melt right into the puddles forming beneath our feet.
People say there are 10 million people with 10 million stories in this city, all unfolding at the same time. That explains the energy in Manhattan, and it boggles the mind how many stories intersect then multiply each time you meet someone on the street. The permutations are endless. For example, while I am waiting inside this drugstore for the rain to stop I have a wonderful conversation with a lovely doctor who tells me about his two adult children and his numerous travels around the world with his wife. We bond over our love of travel and art. So for half an hour or so, the unpleasantness of an unexpected rain brings forth a very pleasant conversation between strangers. That’s rain and the city for you.
During my trek of the 35 blocks back to my sister’s place, I slosh past the Theodore Roosevelt Park. It’s lush and romantic looking in the rain. We have the fantastic Griffith Park in LA but New Yorkers really knows how to do parks. I’ve blogged about the park surrounding the Meiji-Jingu Shrine in Tokyo as being one of my favorite walks in the world, but I could probably wander around Manhattan’s many parks for days. Anyway, if I were to spend a day at Roosevelt Park, I’d have to cross the street to go to the Shake Shack (http://www.shakeshack.com/) where I had the best veggie burger the last time I was in the city. I’ve basically tried every veggie burger in the world and most unfortunately encourage me to become a carnivore again.
With the rain I haven’t been able to take too many pics but even if I had been able to, it wouldn’t have done me any good. I’m having some technical difficulty downloading them to my laptop so the fuzzy one from my blackberry today is as good as it gets. I know it’s no fun for you to read about traveling without the photographic evidence.
Tags: Columbus Circle, Griffith Park, Manhattan, rain, Shake Shack, Theodore Roosevelt Park, veggie burger
Para celebrar el Cinco de Mayo, visitemos El Pueblo donde comenzó Los Angeles…
The city of Los Angeles was born out of a settlement forged near the Los Angeles River in 1781. It was there that some 11 families built a community now known as El Pueblo de Los Angeles (http://www.elpueblo.lacity.org/elpueb_gi2.htm), a historical landmark in downtown LA directly across the street from Union Station. The area’s Olvera Street (http://www.olvera-street.com/index.html) was a much shorter street and known by another name way back then. Today it is a vibrant, touristy marketplace filled with little shops, restaurants, kiosks…
and buildings of historical significance. Near the entrance of El Pueblo is a stately building currently housing the Instituto Cultural Mexicano de Los Angeles:
There is a mural called The Blessing of the Animals, which is an event that has been taking place each Easter Sunday since the 1930s, on the side of this building. On this particular day, a clown motions for me to take his picture as he walks in front of the mural:
The building is then connected to a church…
but this church is not to be mistaken with the famed La Placita, a parish church built for the settlers:
In the middle of El Pueblo stands Avila Adobe,
a house built by a successful ranchero. Admission is free to walk through the house and courtyard:
Another interesting museum is the Plaza Firehouse that showcases firefighting equipment and “engine” from the late 1800s-1900s:
There are a few other buildings of note, but my hands are sticky from the churros so I take only a few photos of the plaques that actually make an interesting read:
OK so you’ve already visited three distinct cultures within a very small radius of downtown LA in my last few blogs. When I come back from NY next week I’ll show you why we Angelenos are obsessed with the concept of fusing indoor with outdoor living. For now I’ll close out with some sights and sounds from the Cinco de Mayo festivities. When I can have this much to see and do on an afternoon I’m thrilled to say esta es mi ciudad.
Tags: Avila Adobe, Cinco de Mayo, El Pueblo, La Placita, Los Angeles, Olvera Street, Plaza Firehouse
