Our Little Life: Catching up...trip to NYC!

!!Warning - Extremely Long Post!! I thought of splitting this post into a few separate ones but knowing me I would never really get to it so here it is all at once. I won't be offended if you want to turn back now. On the plus side (for me anyway) there are lots of pictures.

As I have already mentioned Matt and I went to New York City last October for him to attend a conference. {Just a side note: I strongly maintain that early October is THE BEST time to visit New York (and actually D.C. too). The summer crowds are long gone and the weather is still good. Just trust me} Anyway, we had a great time and here are some of the things we did.

NYC skyline from the taxi.

First up...a Yankees game! We were so excited to see the new stadium and it did not disappoint! Matt really liked it and so did I but I miss the cozy-ness of the old stadium. I love this shot of the train whizzing by the stadium.

Matt inside the great hall where they had pictures/banners of all the great Yankee players past and present.

The famous Yankee Stadium facade.

Part of the gigantic scoreboard. I heard someone say that they have the largest HD screen in the world. Not sure if that is true but it is really big.

Matt in our seats. We were kind of far from home plate but the view of the whole stadium was great.

Derek Jeter. Love him. I know I may get some boo's from some of you but really, he is awesome.

I think this is Mariano Rivera pitching. Love him too.

Here we are. We loved the game and were happy to see our Yankees play again.

This trip we stayed in a hotel in Chelsea and more specifically, in the Flower District. I was not familiar with the flower district so I was happy to learn about a new area of the city. It also was a very convenient place to stay. Here is the view down from our room on the 23rd floor.

One of my most favorite things to do in the city is just to walk around for hours and hours. My most favorite area to walk around in is SOHO/Chinatown/West Village. Here is a cute cobblestone street in SOHO.

This is a never miss for me in Soho. The Scholastic store. I discovered it when I went with my girlfriends a few years ago and now go every time I am in the city. It is hard not to leave with a zillion books for my kids.

This is a new gem I discovered -- Pearl River Trading. It is so cool! Tons of cool, well-priced asian stuff that was too heavy or big for me to take home.

I liked this door but was too chicken to photograph it right in front of the guy. This shot isn't too bad though.

This store is a new one for me too. Muji sells great simple items for your person and home.

Another of my favorite things to do (anywhere actually) is to eat alone at a restaurant. Not all the time just once in a while. I know that's a bit weird but that's just me. This is a street pic taken from my table by the window. I love the light blue chairs.

That night after Matt's conference was finished we tried to go to our favorite restaurant Frutti Da Mare (see previous post) but it was no longer. Following a disappointing meal at another nearby restaurant we went to see Billy Elliot on Broadway. We both decided it was ok. We didn't love the music but I LOVED the dancing. The boy that played Billy was a brilliant ballet dancer.

The following day I wandered around midtown and wasted some time in the M&M store. It was really lame but I thought the walls of M&M dispensers looked cool.

This pic was taken when I was fooling around with my camera while waiting to meet my cousin for lunch. I really liked this one. My cousin Ben (who lives there) took me to a great Cafeteria/Diner/Burger Joint called Schnippers. Oh it was so good. It was also great fun catching up with Ben whom I don't see nearly enough.

Later that day Matt and I explored another area we were not familiar with - the Flatiron District. Here are two pics. The first of the big insurance company buildings and the other of the Flatiron building. It was a nice area.

Matt thought the Challa bread looked good.

Here is my MOST FAVORITE shop in all of New York. Fishs Eddy. They sell anything related to anything that you eat with. Flatware, Dishes, Serving Plates, etc. It is PACKED to the rafters with such great, well-displayed stuff. I just learned that they have an online store where you can buy their great items but you really should go to the store for the full experience.

This is an interesting scene down by Washington Square Park.

I loved this papered wall.

Matt was on a crusade to eat at as many NYC pizza places as possible. He did quite well. I am not sure how many he ended up with but one of the days I think he ate pizza four times. Good thing we did a lot of walking.

I have to mention a little restaurant in the West Village that is quickly becoming one of my favorites. It is called Westville. The place is tiny -- it has like 6 tables which are just about 10 steps away from the smallest kitchen imaginable. It is the kind of place that you would pass right by if you didn't know better. When you walk in you think - ok the food here can't be that good. Well it is! They have lots of comfort food items like meatloaf and macaroni & cheese but my favorite thing is to get is a plate of veggies. They have a list of about 20 veggies that you can order and they are tasty. Especially after a few days of eating lots of pizza. Here is Matt with our appetizer -- the BEST corn I have ever tasted.

Matt's meal - chili dogs and a salad. I didn't taste it but I think he liked it.

Matt digging into my veggies. You gotta try the beets and the brussels sprouts. YUM!

Wicked. Our favorite. We had both seen it before but I think it was even better the second time. In fact we will probably see it again...and again.

Matt and I with my East Coast family members. We met for brunch and then went to Ben's teeny little apartment in the West Village (we are completely blocking the view of his kitchen). He lives across the street from Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick. Oh and also down the street from Magnolia Bakery -- dangerous!

Baseball game #2 for us was to see the Mets at their new field -- Citi Field. We had great seats in right field. It was a great park and a fun game but it got rained out. Bummer.

One of the stores near our hotel in the Flower District. It was fascinating to see those stores completely morph from morning to evening. They all sell flowers wholesale. In the morning they all would get their shipments and completely fill their stores. By about 3:00 p.m. the stores were totally empty and closed up until the next morning when it all happened again. It was kind of fascinating to me.