Girl Meets City: New York City, New York (Part One)

I think I missed my calling in life. I’ve found my true home, and it’s miles upon miles away. A place where the shopping is exquisite and come with a man bringing coffee in a tuxedo. A place where the food is varied and ranges from the truly ethnic to the most experimental farm to table creations. Where the cocktails are strong and unique.

I can’t believe this was my first visit to New York City.

I must ask your pardon, dear readers, as I did not bring my regular camera with me- so all of these shots are courtesy of my iPhone. ( I decided to travel light for once.)

I was only there for a short time, as my first trip to this city came courtesy of a video/photo shoot for Bastion & Co, and so I went ahead and visited my dear friend Carrie while there. I cannot thank her enough for her hospitality and letting me crash on her spare bed.

Our first night would consist of dinner at Northern Spy, Carrie knows me well and knew I would love their farm to table styled menu. We *may* have already had a couple of glasses of wine at her apartment, so I was hesitant to order a cocktail here but decided I might as well- after all it’s taken me this long to get here anyway! I opted for their custom Orchard Fizz cocktail with draft cider, quince syrup, and mead from Enlightenment Wines out of Brooklyn. It was not as sweet as I was afraid it might be and I very much enjoyed it.

 

 

We would order a variety of items from the menu: the everything crackers with whipped butter, these INSANELY good pork sticky rolls with parsnip glaze, duck fat fries, and pumpkin gnudi.

 

 

The pork sticky rolls were EVERYTHING! Omg they might have been the most clever food creation I have had in some time. (Pictured above.) I can hardly wrap my mind around them still: it was like the best cinnamon roll from Sunday mornings but savory instead of sweet. Their memory lingers with me even now.

 

 

The duck fat fries were good but the pumpkin gnudi was even better: not gnocchi or pasta of any kind, these were a spinach, mascarpone, criminis and brown butter creations of utter goodness. I actually had to refer to Google to find out that Gnudi is described as a “pasta like dumping” typically made of ricotta cheese. Good. Lawd.

 

From there, we would move on to a Girl’s Night wine party at a friend of a friend’s Upper East Side apartment. I did not take pictures inside, I thought that might be on the edge of being tacky, but I was astounded at how roomy this one bedroom one bath apartment was. In fact, that was something that stood out during the whole trip is how New Yorkers make their limited space work so well everywhere. (But I did take pictures of the framed pics of the building in the hallways!)

 

 

The next day we would spend the whole day on Fifth Avenue: no time for tourist stuff when shopping is on the agenda! I did all of the typical NYC shopping: F.A.O.Scwartz, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany’s, Henri Bendel, the NYC Library, all kinds of small shops, Starbucks (of course), and the pop up shops at Bryant Park.

 

For those of you not aware, F.A.O.Scwartz is a total kids play land. I was actually really glad I didn’t have my kids with me- but I did have to laugh that the same 2 pound Reese’s Cups I saw at a gas station in Valdosta, Georgia. And I did get my kiddos a couple of souvenirs.

 

 

Louis Vuitton is beautiful and I felt like I was in a museum, but Tiffany’s made me feel completely at home. I’ve detailed here before about why I will always love Tiffany’s and when I first fell in love with them, but this trip just sealed the deal even more. On the 6th is Customer Service with Men’s and Ladies’s Lounges, and a gentleman in a tuxedo who asks if you would like coffee or tea, complete in beautifully large teacups.

 

 

And for anyone who thinks New Yorkers are rude, this was not the case in Tiffany’s or Henri Bendel, these ladies must have known that I felt completely at home. I would leave with gifts for all, including myself.

 

While in Bendel we would, sadly, learn that they no longer have their headband room. I was looking forward to having my own Blair Waldorf moment, but I still stepped away with a bejeweled crystal headband! Bendel is pretty much any girly girl’s paradise.

 

 

Just walking along 5th Avenue made me feel like I was where I was destined to be, the streets weren’t terribly crowded- perhaps this was because it was early afternoon, perhaps it’s because the streets are so big anyway.

 

And oh! I forgot to mention that we went in the Plaza first, and were sure to stop in the Eloise shopping area. There’s all kinds of other shopping and food there as well. I could have spent an entire day just in the Plaza alone. Someday when I have all the money in the world, I will have an apartment there- just to visit. My daughter will have a field day here, someday.

 

We did get to see the Christmas Tree in Rockefeller Center, although it was covered up. Still cool to see it!

 

 

We also got to see a wedding taking place! That was adorable:

 

 

And then there were the skaters at Bryant Park, and the carousel, and the children’s library outside of the carousel.

 

 

By this point Carrie and I were absolutely freezing, and made our way to the subway to meet friends for a cocktail- but not before stopping in to Kiehl’s, one of my favorites! Then off to grab cocktails in the East Village at The Winslow, which reminded me a lot of a speakeasy/Dovetail combo. The Winslow is a gin bar, and thanks to my on-again boyfriend I have been drinking more gin as of late. Of course, I asked our server for what he would recommend: The Brooklyn Gin, described as “citrus heavy, with mellow juniper and rosemary add to this elegant gin”.

 

 

 

We would meet Carrie’s “boys” here, who provided loads of entertainment on their own. After cocktails, we would grab what Carrie called a “good, cheap” dinner at a Polish restaurant located where Williamsburg and Greenpoint meet. And she was right, the food was good, filling, and indeed cheap in price.

 

 

Stuffed cabbage with meat and other goodies, mashed potatoes, some kind of salad, and cheesy goodness Blintzes. I was really surprised at how much I liked it. I think comfort food is comfort food, across cultures, and many times it’s similar. It reminded me of meat loaf and potatoes at home.

 

Saturday would be spent at the Brooklyn Bridge Park in the freezing cold, shooting for Bastion & Co, but I have to say I think it will be well worth it!

 

 

The view was incredible, and I got a really cool panoramic shot- but WordPress isn’t cooperating and won’t let me post it her. #Fail

We wrapped up early, and Carrie and I would head over to Egg in Brooklyn for a brunch that keeps people willing to wait in the cold for: mimosas, coffee, eggs of all kinds and even grits from South Carolina! Those in NYC are fascinated with Southern food and culture, as I learned, because that is all the rage right now.

 

 

 

 

I would order the Eggs Rothko: easy-cooked egg in a slide of Amy’s brioche, topped with Grafton cheddar, served with broiled tomatoes, side of kale or meat. I choose the homemade pork sausage. We also got their buttermilk biscuits. And a mimosa, and French press coffee. Note: no laws about no drinking before 12:30 here! I took full advantage.

 

After that, we would continue to shop in this Williamsburg neighborhood. I was SO excited to check out one of the boutiques I follow on Instagram: Catbird. They were teeny tiny and PACKED. Oh my gosh, they don’t have over 100,000 Instagram followers for nothing.

 

I did buy a lovely little brass bangle topped off with a freshwater pearl and embedded in druzy stone work. Love!

 

 

Then we would stop in this really cool indoor flea market type of place, except some of those shops were more permanent than others. I found a ring which pretty much perfectly matches my Tiffany necklace, and I may or may not have felt obligated to buy it after another one of the rings literally jumped from the display and in to my bag and I couldn’t find it to save my life until much too long for my comfort later. I was mortified.

 

After that we would stop in the new Williamsburg Starbucks, which is apparently a big deal. It was rather large in size and oh by the way- they have nicer salads there!!!

 

 

 

And then it was time to go. I had been away long enough, my bags were already packed and loaded in Carrie’s car. Getting through JFK proved easier than Hartsfield, at least when departing, and the sun gave me a glorious setting as we prepared to leave.

 

 

Upon arriving in Atlanta I still had an adventure, or perhaps misadventure- I realized I would be landing at 7:45, the shuttle left at 8:00, and there wasn’t an 8:30 shuttle- the next one was at 9:00 which would put me home at 10:30 and that much later seeing my sweet babies. The plane would land at roughly 7:30 and I made an intense mad running dash to claim my bags and dash off to the 8:00 pm shuttle with literally 5 minutes to spare.

 

I hope to return to NYC soon, I didn’t really do any of the touristy stuff, although I had no desire to try the crowds at Times Square- it would be nice to go to some museums. So therefore I say, this is only Part One. New York, you have captured a part of my heart, and I shall return.

 

Love to all y’all,

 

Molly