Monday, May 3, 2010

I HEART NY...

Ahhhh...getting settled back into reality, after arriving on a 12am flight from NYC this morning. I'm in a bit of a daze, reflecting back on the whirlwind weekend we had...

We jetted out for a 3-day get-away in the big city...stayed at Le Parker Meridien in midtown (sister of The Parker in Palm Springs) where we had a breathtaking view of Central Park...


Stayed out a bit too late on our first night, starting with dinner at one of our favorite spots, Stanton Social on the lower east side...french onion soup dumplings...all ya gotta say. Then had to find one of the only taxi's in town who knew where the newer ACE Hotel was...took 4 tries. Had drinks at the ACE in the low-pro bar upstairs while all city-goers and "scenesters" flooded the bar below us at one of New York's latest hot spots.

Spent the rest of the weekend creating the typical NY war-wounds on our feet...blisters and sore heels from sauntering down Madison Ave. on the upper east side, taking things south for brunch at the always-busy Pastis in the meatpacking district and strolling the cobblestone streets and charming neighborhoods that are tucked all throughout Greenwich Village. We spent the afternoon laying on a crowded grassy knoll perched along the Hudson river, soaking up the sun, meanwhile trying to catch up on the 4 hours of sleep we missed the night before.

We found our new favorite spot to spend a sunny afternoon in the city...the "biergarten" at the Standard Hotel in the meatpacking district. This is a must on your next trip to NY...sitting outside, sipping 16 oz beers that you pick up with tickets you've purchased from smiling St. Pauli's girls. Oh, and the girls also carry around gigantic pretzels and sausages to quench your day-drinking munchies! How do we not have this is So-Cal?!?!



We saved the madness of Soho for our last day where Matt was actually the one who splurged, treating himself to a gorgeous grey John Varvatos suit for our wedding (and for the next 30 years!). We did a quick lap through the crazy Soho streets littered with street vendors and eager shoppers and ended our day at a great little Latin bistro on West Broadway - Ideya - always a comfy place to unwind over a glass of wine and their chewy homemade jalapeno cornbread...perfection!
Oh...and yes, we were there for the attempted bombing in Times Square...stuck in a cab, impatiently trying to get through midtown back to our hotel. Crazy...but I still feel safe and content no matter where I am in the city...perhaps it's the never ending buzz that illuminates the sky every night...an energy that you only get in NYC.