My Quick Jaunt to Midtown Manhattan

These past few weeks have been very busy, consumed with holiday preparations, events at my son's school, preparing for and taking our ill-fated trip back east (more on that later), and my growing preoccupation with what I'm going to do once both kids are in school. Typically, from Thanksgiving to Christmas there never seems to be enough time in the day, and this year was no exception.

My brief jaunt to NYC left me really refreshed. I don't know if it was just being in the city or the fact that I got more sleep in those two days than I've had in years. Funny how small children completely transform every aspect of your life. Before kids, I used to work very long hours, stay up late and then catch up on sleep on the weekends. That strategy no longer works since my alarm clock toddler yells at me at 6am every day. So let's just say that on this jaunt, I submerged myself in the luxury which is sleep. When not sleeping, I met up with friends and wandered the city to see how it had changed in the five years I'd been gone. It was a nice time to visit since the city was decked out for the holidays.

I visited one of my old haunts, Rizzoli book store.  This is where I first heard of Robert Mapplethorpe.  A part of me died that day - that tiny scrap of innocence left in my 22 year old mind.

 

I window shopped on Fifth Avenue and found a nice gift for my husband.   No, not at Cartier.  I just like their decorations.

Check out the lady walking in front of Tiffany - this is how I realized riding boots are back in style - where have I been?  Oh yes - in the sticks for the past few years.  No one cares about riding boots in the sticks.

I walked through F.A.O. Schwarz and was underwhelmed by the assortment and overwhelmed by the crowd.  Seems that these days they only sell teddy bears wearing F.A.O. Schwarz t-shirts.   Cater to tourists much?

I stepped out onto Fifth again and looked up at the Plaza Hotel.  I've probably looked at the front of this building a thousand times and always think of Barbra (the voice that needs no last name) and Robert Redford in The Way We Were, "Your girl is lovely, Hubbell."  Makes me want to weep just thinking of it.

I crossed to Central Park South and walked past the Oak Room, where in my twenties I tried to look sophisticated drinking cognac and smoking a cigar but probably just looked like an idiot.

I looked at the carriage horses with pity and breathed out of my mouth while doing so because they smell so badly.  Seriously.  How does anyone take a "romantic" ride in a smelly horse carriage?

Then I visited lovely Central Park and remembered countless summer Saturdays in my twenties spent stretched out on Sheep Meadow trying to look cool despite the humidity because it was a place to see and be seen. I don't think I ever succeeded.

Cruised past Radio City Music Hall.  Have I ever been inside?  No.  

Walked around the corner to Rockefeller Center.  I put my Liz Lemon glasses on and walked up to the door saying "Hey, nerds! Who's got two thumbs, speaks limited French, and hasn't cried once today? [pointing thumbs at self] This moi."  Well, no I didn't, but I had fun thinking about it.

Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center? Check.  Pickpockets?  Probably.

 

Is Times Square still crazy?  Yes, yes it is.  And I take pride in the fact that a souvenir vendor identified me as a New Yorker, not "some tourist."  Tactfulness is not on the vendor license exam.  But like most NY taxi drivers, souvenir vendors seem to have an uncanny ability to identify where people are from.  Years ago, I had one NY taxi driver identify exactly where I was born on the eastern seaboard.  And I think he was from Pakistan.  It's crazy.

Am I mad that St. Patrick's had to schedule exterior maintenance during my visit, thus ruining my photo of it?  Yes, I am.  It's freaking Christmas.  You'd think they'd want it to look special.

 

I left NYC on the Acela, just as I'd arrived.  Pushed my way through the crowd of i-bankers in the bar car, then sat peacefully with a glass of wine and read - another thing I'm unable to do when the kids are around.  I reunited with my family completely rejuvenated.  Two days well spent!