dispatches from quilt city

New York, New York

Nicholas and I had the most wonderful time in New York this weekend. We left early Saturday morning and took the Acela into the city (for free! - thank you Amtrak rewards). We had a little trouble getting our bearings at first. We went to the wrong Comfort Inn Midtown because apparently there are two. Then we went to the Upper West Side when we really wanted to be in the Upper East Side. Once we got it all sorted out though we had a great lunch at Le Pain Quotidien. It's this little French cafe chain in New York. Everything is fresh and organic and you eat at big wooden communal tables. Pretty fabulous.

Next, I went to Linda's Bra Salon for the best bra service I have ever had. Seriously, I felt like I was on the special bra revolution episode of Oprah. I left with two new Chantelle bras that fit perfectly and am super excited. (Probably about as excited as Nicholas was waiting for me in Linda's "trying to not look like a perv.") We walked around and shopped a little bit more after that. It's really not fair how even chains in New York are better. Isn't it bad enough they have all around better stores? Do they also have to have better selection at the stores we all have?

Anyway, that night we went to dinner at Bar Americain, one of Bobbie Flay's restaurants. It was absolutely fantastic. The best oysters I have ever had. I usually eat them with crackers and cocktail sauce but these were so goods I ate them plain with only the vinegar sauce they had. I also had souffle for the first time, which was divine.

After dinner, we went to see The Color Purple - the real reason for our visit. My good friend Laura's cousin co-wrote the lyrics and music and we were able to sit in her house seats. Absolutely amazing. I love the book (of course), love the film (of course). It's such an amazing story and beloved by so many people. I was a little worried about it being a musical, because it's not the most upbeat story. However, all my expectations were met, if not exceeded. The music is so powerful. It really is like going to church. All the performers were so amazing and the energy was overwhelming. Needless to say, I was crying by the end.

After the play, we took a pedicab back to the hotel through Times Square, which was a blast. We continued our toursity transportation the next day with a carriage ride through Central Park. The leaves are really starting to change and it was crisp and cold. A perfect moment... minus the horse smell of course. ;) Then we went to brunch at this little cafe on First Ave and to the Met for the afternoon. I have never been to The Met before and it was a little overwhelming but I really really enjoyed the Vollard exhibit. Vollard was basically the most important art dealer in history. He discovered Cezanne, Van Gough, Picasso, and Gaugin. Not a bad track record I'd say.

We went for a late lunch at a place called Eat near the Met, which is basically Madison Ave. Needless to say, the people watching is pretty out of control. I saw at least 12 strollers and all but one was Bugaboo. Unfortunately, our beautiful weekend came to an end after that and we headed back home.

Of course, I have to give a big thank you to my friend Laura not only for the tickets but for basically planning our entire weekend. There is a stark difference between when I visited New York before Laura and after. She writes up page long emails giving us several options for every meal before we leave. THEN is basically our on call New York guide all weekend. I will literally text her our location and what we are in the mood for and minutes later I have recommendations that NEVER (and I mean never) fails. She recommended every place we ate this weekend (and Linda's) and they were all fantastic. Of course she's pretty fantastic herself so I don't know why I'm surprised ;) And if that wasn't enough she and her boyfriend Daniel took care of Maggie while we were gone...And no you can't have her email - make your own big city friend!