I Love New York

There is a feel to New York City that I just love. Even after visiting the city about 7 or 8 times, I fall in love each time my feet hit the pavement and I hear the sound of taxi drivers blaring their horns. I love the constant quick pace that fuels people forward. I love that the people that are speed waking down the street have purpose. They are going somewhere. They have the passion and drive to be the best_______(insert occupation here). This is just one of the millions of things I love about the city. More to come later though.

Anyway, last Monday, I went to NYC for a short 3-day trip with one of my good friend and her mom. The main reason we were going was for the blow-your-mind-absolutely-crazy-amazing Alexander McQueen exhibit at the MET. Again, I will write about the exhibit later. So, at 6am, we got on the Amtrak train and got to the city at noon. My friend and I had planned the whole trip ourselves. I found a cheap and chic studio apartment in Columbus Circle area, near the Times Square District and the Upper West side. The place ended up being great and located super close to a major subway terminal. We learned a major lesson the first time we hopped on the subway on the way to the MET though; we didn't look at what letter the train was. We wanted the A train and we got the F train. It was more like the "we are f-ed" train. We got off in the middle of nowhere (which is REALLY hard to do in the city but we somehow found literally nothing where we were). After a frantic turn around and looking like a super tourist by asking for what train to take, we got back to where we started. The McQueen exhibit was set for 2:30 and it was already 2. We had lost almost an hour and a half because of our subway mess up. My feet were killing me, I did wear heels the whole time of course, and we were going to miss the exhibit that was $50 a ticket. We hailed a cab, screamed at him to floor it and got to the MET at 2:33. Fashionably late for the McQueen exhibit, how appropriate. After spending two hours at the exhibit, which again was breath taking beautiful and deep, we went back to the apartment and walked around the quiet and nice little area where the apartment was. We got dinner at this great little hole on the wall pub kind of restaurant and walked around more after dinner. Of course as all of the city is packed with shopping and food, space to build is precious and the sky is the limit. So even in the smallest of stores we went in, most had at least 2 floors and a basement too. The excitement is that you never know what you are going to find when you turn the corner in the city. There is something extremely intriguing about not knowing exactly what is so close to you under your feet or up in the air in the buildings that touch the clouds...

Later that night, we went to a nice restaurant in Tribeca called Thalassa. It was restaurant week while we were there so they had a great prix fix menu and we meet one of my friends, friend’s aunt who has lived in the city for 20 years. It was great to talk to her about the city and how it is to live there since I plan on transferring to Parson’s next year anyway. She was super nice and very informative and truthful about living in the city. Obviously, it is not going to be easy but then again, easy is no fun. Challenges are what make you stronger. After an amazing Mediterranean seafood dinner and chocolate lava cake that was divine, we walked down to one of the piers that had recently been transformed into a “sports pier”. The place was beautiful! Visiting that was what sold me on wanting to live in the city. There was a skate park, a mini golf course, 4 beach volleyball courts, a track and a star gazing area all on this one pier!!! It was awesome!

Before we left on Wednesday, we went down to SoHo and shopped. One of my favorite stores in the city is Scoop and they are located in SoHo so of course I had to go there! The designer clothing and up and coming designer’s that are featured there have beautiful and stunning luxurious clothing. All of it was to die for! Finally, on a long ride home on the train, I was happy that we were able to go on the trip. I had an amazing time and was so inspired as a designer and even as a baker. The lyrics “concert jungle where dreams are made of” could not be more true for me.