NYC...Some Highlights

the lovely Molly at dinner...










the awe-inspiring shop Maryam Nassir Zadeh


I never fail to have a sort of topsy-turvy, "through the looking glass" experience when I visit NYC... It's one of the rare places where in one moment you can be ensconced in throngs of people all purposefully striding down the street toward some important unknown and in the next you could turn a corner and be totally alone on a leafy side-street, all sleepy and picturesque. It's total magic.

This time, the "magic moment" occurred when I found myself crammed into a cab with two complete strangers after the sky sort of cracked open out of nowhere and produced an awe-inspiring mini-monsoon. In what could have been an “every man for yourself" scenairo, the kindness of strangers prevailed, and the three of us bonded over our collective drowned rat state.

I also had the opportunity to be in the city completely solo for the first time, which may have added to the Alice-like sense of wonder. As much as I love experiencing things with Bryan and the girlies, there is something essential in occasionally embarking on adventures alone. There's an immense amount of luxury in being able to just meander at whim. The lack of wrangling or accommodating or compromising creates a sort of elastic energy... a sense of adventure and possibility. My (albeit brief) solo meandering resulted in a pretty excellent Monday afternoon, consisting of the ability to slowly observe every. single. item. in Canvas, No. 6, Sweet William, Creatures of Comfort and Maryam Nassir Zadeh, some highly satisfying people watching in Nolita and an immense amount of walking...

When I wasn't alone, I was counteracting any health benefits of the aforementioned walking by (literally) eating my way through the city with some of my favorite ladies... there was warm hummus with beet chips, duck pasta and bread and butter pudding with blueberries and grilled peaches with Molly at The Fat Radish, pizza, pasta and gelato with Erin at Eataly, and omelets served with thick wedges of toast (which I slathered with some immensely good jam and honey butter) with Joanna and Toby at Snack Taverna.

All in all I walked away feeling hugely inspired and (despite the whirlwind nature of the whole endeavor) a bit restored at a time when I’ve been especially needing some inspiration and restorative moments…don’t you love it when that happens!?


lovely cousin Erin before we (literally) ate our body weight in pizza and pasta


gorgeous confetti system curtain at creatures of comfort








joanna and toby rockin' the stripes...