A New York minute

Last week, I spent a few days in NYC with my mom. That is, after I got past my almost 5-hour delay on Frontier that was caused by weather but then airline error. Whatever. I got a voucher, so that's nice.


We had a couple days there, days we spent walking/cabbing all over the city seeing cool stuff. A lot of it was food-related, but a lot wasn't. Like this awesome Barbie foosball table at FAO Schwarz. Price tag? $25K. Supposedly because there were only 10 name. I think some scissors and glue could do relatively the same thing.


We just stumbled on a Crumbs Cupcakes on our way to Fifth Avenue. There were SO many choices, like cookie dough, Irish cream and the whopping blackbottom cheesecake brownie, complete with 1090 calories. Yikes! I got that butterscotch one right at the front, which was a vanilla cake with butterscotch frosting and chips. Definitely tasty, and not overwhelming.


I ate it in Bryant Park, where Fashion Week used to be. It had beautiful trees, a great juxtaposition to the skyscrapers behind it.



We spent a fair amount of time on Fifth Avenue, and like I said, spent some time in FAO Schwarz. If I were a child, I would be in heaven. Three floors of toys, ranging from Sesame Street stuffed animals dressed in New York outfits (I may or may not have gotten Cookie Monster dressed in an NYPD uniform) to Harry Potter toys to the giant piano from "Big." On my way out, I saw this wall of Muppets near a station where you can make your own Muppet. If only I had $100 to just waste on this sort of thing. It made me think of my friend Spencer, though, who does puppetry as a profession. So neat. I think I might go watch Muppet Treasure Island now...


We eventually made our way to Dylan's Candy Bar, which has the coolest stairs ever. It's kind of like a little slice of heaven. Every candy imaginable is in this store...I could spend a long time there.


Then we headed down to Serendipity 3 on Lauren's recommendation. The place was very hole-in-the-wall, with lots of Tiffany-style lamps hanging up. The place is famous for its frozen hot chocolate, but we went for the sundae, New York-style, instead: the Forbidden Broadway Sundae. Chocolate blackout cake, vanilla ice cream and yummy hot fudge. No, we did not finish it. Later that day we met Mary down in Soho for dinner and Asher for drinks. Great time seeing both.


We visited Jackie O the next day at the Met. I love me some Warhol.


Then we headed down to Little Italy per on my boss's suggestion. Dennis said to go to this place, Positano, in the heart of Little Italy. It was legitimately the best pasta I'd ever had. Vodka penne? Awesome. Finished the whole plate, and I NEVER do that when I eat.


Then on down the street, after a quick shop at a street vendor, to La Bella Ferrara, another place Dennis said to go. He said the cannoli was the best he'd ever tasted, but the whole spread was pretty darn impressive.


But I followed Dennis's suggestion and got the cannoli (which, I'd like to point out, is a dessert my mother had never heard of. Really). It was also amazing. Perfectly fried outer part, great pastry cream inside. Mmmmm.


Then we walked a few blocks north to Papabubble, a place I saw on Food Network's "Kid in a Candy Store." It was so worth the walk. Look at all those different kinds of candies!


They were making candy when we were there. They combine the different stripes into one big log, which they keep on the reddish table, which is warmed to keep the candy malleable. They were putting it through that machine to cut it, which if I remember correctly is the only machine they use for candy.


This is what they ended up with: strawberry-flavored candy. I got a container of various flavors, and it's already gone. Now if only they had one of these in Kansas.


While we were walking in Little Italy, we saw some observant kitties. Had to take a photo, of course.


We also made the trek to Mood Fabrics, which is a place "Project Runway" devotees know well. It's where designers on the show shop, and it was three floors of fabric goodness. Definitely amazing.

Last on the list was Broadway, and we went to see "Wicked." I'd seen it before in Chicago, but nothing beats Broadway, and this show held true to form. This is the stage before the show, which is easily one of the best I've ever seen. No one makes mistakes on Broadway.

All in all, it was a pretty fun trip. We covered a lot of ground in a couple days, and ended up with very sore feet at the end!