NYC!!

We're in New York City! I feel like I should try not to get too far ahead of myself and talk about Boston and the Sox game and the rest of our trip there before I jump all over how crazy and cool this city is - or seems to be... so, Boston. The Sox game was SUPER cooking - we were sweating like nobody's business packed in that stadium like sardines, but despite the fact that we couldn't stop overheating, it was awesome. We got hooked us up with some better-than-way-out-there-in-the-bleachers seats behind home plate, and loved - LOVED! - the atmosphere in and around Fenway. There were so many people and so much energy, and everyone was wearing their Boston gear; there were beer stations and hot dogs and there was just such a genuinely American baseball game vibe – I mean, of course there was… it’s the Red Sox (!)– and vs the Yankees! Anyways, so we got there early-ish, found our seats, I sweat it out in a line-up for ball park franks and soda, and then game on. The first several innings of the game were a bit snoozer (despite the charged energy and expectant crowd), but things got going pretty quickly, for the Yankees at least. It ended up being a bit of a blow out (final score 21-11 or something), but we stayed to the bitter end… all the way to the last strike-out. It was really great to be able to go to the game, and also to meet up with left-fielder J-Bay after for a few beers. I emailed him (10 years ago email address - we went to Gonzaga together) and it just worked out that he had time to meet up afterwards for bevvies. It was nice to catch up, but also strange to see him as a celeb; a woman came up to him in the restaurant and said, “thank you thank you” … and, J-Bay: “thank you for what?” Just a bit strange. Anyways! It was a great night. Saturday morning we worked out, went for breakfast (croissants from a recommended bakery - so good), shopped a bit, walked around a bit, and then caught the train from South Station (just across the street from our hotel) to Penn Station, NYC! We watched Entourage the whole way here, and decided that we’d take a cab to our hotel, even though it was only a few blocks away…. or so we thought. For the duration of this entire trip, the universe has been – how do I say – just in synch with our plans? We walk up from the subway depths to the street, and literally… right across the street is our hotel, shiny and bright! And so… NYC…



… is awesome! So far, I love it here too. It’s definitely more busy busy than Boston, and the vibe is a more big-city-pretentious… but it’s awesome. We dropped our bags off at the Affinia Manhattan, which is an awesome hotel – we booked on Priceline or Hotwire or something for $100 a night (!!! AND there’s a kitchen!) and went a’walking. Up to Times Square and down to a Whole Foods for snacks before heading back here to meet Venus, the trio completer for the NYC leg of the journey. The three of us got ready, talked about how excited we were to be in the big apple, and then headed out to the Stanton Social House to meet some of Jen and Venus’s mutual friends for dinner and drinks. The vibe was, as I said, a tad pretentious, but we were just so excited about everything – the cab ride, all the other yellow cabs, the buildings, the busy-ness, the people, the outfits, the shoes – that it didn’t really matter. (I will say that we were seriously thankful for having eaten at the hotel beforehand – portions were miniscule.) We hopped around to a few other bars and called it a night around 2:30 – back to the hotel and it was sleep time. This morning we met up with Katie again (a Vancouverite who is now living in NYC and loving it) for breakfast at a beautiful boulangerie in SoHo – how cool does that sound? I never knew that SoHo stands for South of Houston (street) – so there you go, in case you were also in the SoHo, NoHo dark. She took us to a few shopping hot spots, a mini cupcake window that had the most delicious little treats, and a soap/body place called Sabon (definitely a highlight of my day), where we got to wash our hands with exfoliator and then moisturize, all at a big copper sink. We walked up to Dos Caminos, a place famed for its guacamole (it was amazing) and margaritas (YUM!), and then on to Greenwich Village where, among other things, we visited a store/café devoted almost exclusively to peanut butter… no joke. They have flavours galore – Might Maple (PB and Maple Syrup), The Bee’s Knees (with honey), Dark Chocolate Dreams, White Chocolate Wonderful, Cinnamon Raisin, and The Heat is On - spicy PB… it was amazing. I sampled the white chocolate spread and it was honestly to die for… just like the nutritional information. Somehow I resisted, and managed to get out alive, sans PB. YUM. We were saying throughout the day, that a trip to the city could be done with almost any focus in mind: art, fashion, food, architecture, shopping, museums, and to try to do some of it all in one four-day trip was a bit sickening/mind-boggling/impossible. After PB heaven, we strolled through a super cute neighborhood a la Sex and the City, and made our way along the Hudson River to Chelsea Pier, where we drank a bucket and a half of Coronas at The Frying Pan, an on the river boat-bar with fantastic views of Jersey, the Statue of Liberty, Chelsea and more. It has been a fantastic day. We have an agenda for the remainder of our time here (hammered out over beers, recorded on the back of a shopping receipt), and plan to do as much as possible – we are going to take advantage of it all. And so, on that note – it’s time to get ready to get out there and see some more…

the night-time view from outside our hotel...

drinks at The Frying Pan this afternoon

out last night

mini cupcakes this afternoon - so good!

lunch! pre-guac and margaritas...