Yaaaawn! It's a slow morning for me on this first day of October. Yesterday, I caught the train into New York to meet up with my twin sister, M., and her boyfriend, P. I always have such a great time hanging out with those two. M is always on the go. I swear, there's a little jetstream behind her when we go on our walks - I know 'cause I'm always trailing behind her, whining, "sloooooow dooooown!" P provides a pleasant balance. I can count on him to say, "Count me in!" if I need to wheeze myself into a chair and order a latte.
I met M & P first at their hotel near Grand Central Station where we picked up artichoke salad, camembert cheese, a loaf of french bread, smoked salmon, fresh figs, bartlett pears and our much-needed lattes in the market section beside the trains. We headed down 5th Avenue to Bryant Park, just behind the beautiful New York Public Library, for a picnic. It was such a gorgeous day to be in the city and the park was full of people. Everyone from young children running on the grass to individuals sitting on a cafe chair, reading the Sunday paper were there.
After our picnic, we caught the subway down to the West Village and window-shopped through the little stores. We met a 20 year old dove in one of the shops. 20 years old! Can you believe that?! Neither can I. We discovered the best little shop called Kaas Glassworks on Perry Street. It's a teeny little shop filled floor to ceiling with handmade decoupage and other small objects. M and I oohed over a little dish filled with tiny wooden hands and I eyed the felt birds in a small metal tree.
We continued walking through Greenwich Village and then into Soho where we found a bench in front of Balthazar's. If you visit NYC, you must go to Balthazar's even if it is only to try their banana and chocolate tart - which is what we did. Across the street from our bench was a young woman selling polaroid transfers to tourists. M and I walked across the street and ended up getting this little polaroid transfer (I'm on the left, M is on the right):
Here's a snapshot of M's cute leather handbag that she found in a vintage shop, along with these shoes (if only we shared the same shoe size...)...
On we walked...through Chinatown to the eastern side of Manhattan...where we caught a perfect scene between the Manhattan Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge...awww...okay, enough kissing you two...I said enough!
We eventually made it to Fulton Street where we found a little Italian pizza place among the seafood restaurants...
Thanks for the perfect day, M & P!
