As if I didn’t already know but recently I have been reminded that I have the best friends in the world. I really do.
I have the most supportive, joyous, wonderful friends a girl could ask for. No one can make me laugh the way these special women in my life can.
I am reminded of this even when it takes weeks of phone tag for me to hear the sweet voice of my Paige.
MARDI GRAS- NOLA ‘09
Or when my dear Courtney comes all the way from Brooklyn to the UWS late one night to see me for a night of catching up and wine. Because even though we live in the same city times get hectic and schedules get crazy but we are always able to find the time for each other.
HALLOWEEN- NYC ‘09
Or when I can talk to Anna for countless hours about everything we have missed in each others lives over the past six months when I was abroad but yet it feels like just yesterday that we spoke even though it had been months.
BACHELORETTE PARTY- CHARLESTON, SC ‘08
Special men have come in and out of our lives through out the years but this special bond we share has not diminished in the least, it has only become stronger.
It is these amazing bonds and relationship which give life their true meaning and which makes every joy and every sorrow that much better or easier to handle.
I just had to write a little something short and sweet about how thankful and special these women are to me and without them I don’t know where I would be.
DC’s visit to NYC was a weekend of firsts for me. First time to bike in NYC and also the first time to walk the Brooklyn Bridge. It was also the first time that DC and I have spent time together in my town, NYC. Long distance can be tough so when you have a weekend to spend together you want to make the most of every second.
We had such lovely weather when he was in town and we did our best to take advantage of being outside and exploring the city by foot and by bike.
I think for this post I will let the photos do the talking….
Setting out for the morning coffee in tow after a walk down the Bowery….
a stop in little Italy to see a friend….
On to The Brooklyn Bridge…
Next stop Meatpacking for some great sights and some cocktails…
The Standard….
The Highline…
Off to dinner through Washington Square…
As you can see we covered a lot of the city but it was at a very enjoyable slow pace where we soaked it all up, wandered the streets, stopped for cocktails and just had a lovely weekend finished by a walk in the park the next day…
When DC came to visit of course he was eager to hit the streets on NYC by bike and that is exactly what we did one lovely afternoon. He is a Dutchie after all 
I was a little hesitant at first, I have been this way since I had my first bike spill in Amsterdam. I was definitely a little nervous to bike the streets of NYC because they are crazy and in my opinion there is not much respect for the bikers on the streets. But I quickly became comfortable and set out….
Cruising along
We didn’t bike along the streets the whole time, we headed to the bike path along the Hudson River which was really beautiful.
- I am all ready to go in my Cycle Chic gear aka every day clothes
It was a great experience, I loved gliding through the city streets. I can’t imagine a better way to take in a sunset either.
And after biking around the city for a couple hours what better way relax than with a glass of wine and a view of the city….
Recently while DC was in town I had a revelation about NYC. DC and I spent 3 days walking around this magnificent city and I loved every little and big street we walked down.
We met with friends, enjoyed wine and great dinners, walked the Brooklyn bridge and took it all in. The one thing that was missing and the first time I really realized it is the lack of cute quaint cozy cafes and bars in NYC. We did come across one or two but with the amount of places we walked by those odds are not very good.
While you are in Europe you walk by and stumble upon the most wonderful places where you know you just have to step in and sit down for a bottle of wine and snuggle and cuddle with the one you are with. They call to you. They are on every block to say the least. The lights are dim and they are incredibly inviting. I have spent MANY a hours in these cafes enjoying every leisurely second.
I mentioned this to DC to see if he felt the same way and he did. He said Europeans pride themselves on these types of establishments.
I didn’t want to continue to make assumptions so I also brought this topic up to my aunt who has been living in Manhattan for 30 years. And she too seconded this notion of mine. She said all those cafes and all the leisure time often made her crazy when she was traveling to Europe for work. Her thoughts are “what are those people doing for hours at those cafes? Don’t they have something to do, somewhere to be? How can they waste all that time?” She said this is not the way of a New Yorker.
I tried to explain to her that that is just the thing! Americans are always in a hurry, always have somewhere to be, they hardly ever allow themselves the time to stop and smell the roses. This to me is no way to live and as if I needed any more reinforcement it makes me realize even more how much I love Europe and the cafe culture and a world where people take the time to enjoy each day and know that life is worth living not just running from one appointment to the next.
But let me tell you, this does not damper my love for NYC for one second. What it may lack in my opinion in cafe culture it makes up for in leaps and bounds in other areas.
I have two groups of friends I would say or better yet..friends I can put in two groups. I have dear dear friends that I met at school, work or just socially and then I have my friends who I have met while living and travelling abroad.
The latter group is one that I can really identify with because we all love the feel and the taste of travel, we love the education, are fascinated by different cultures and we relish in what is it brings to our world and we love the fact that we will settle for nothing less than everything.
These friends of mine tend to be very open minded when it comes to meeting new people in unique ways and letting new people in to our world and this openness is just one of the many things I have in common with them and one of their many beautiful characteristics. We all feel that the people we meet along this journey of ours no matter how big or small all contribute something whether we realize it or not.
Recently two of these good friends of mine have met their currents loves in the most unique ways…I too have personal experience in this and of course these 3 loves of ours all happen to be from another country than our own.
I tell you what, once you have been bitten by the wanderlust bug the love bug is not far to follow.
One met her Serbian lover on a bus ride from Washington DC to NYC, the other met her Italian beau as she was dining in Paris and he was a the table right next to her. I met mine through my love of Amsterdam and my fascination with their chic biking culture.
But the whole point of this post is the fact that my friends are so happy, they have amazing people in their lives who enrich their lives daily and this would never have come about unless they were open to the world around them. They chose to take risks, to meet people in unexpected ways and last but not least they chose to live a life that suits them, they follow the beat of their own drum and because of this they have attracted like beautiful people into their world.
People that have enriched their lives and at the very very least put them on cloud nine and a million smiles on their faces and tons of fluttering butterflies in their stomachs what more can a person ask for?
As I mentioned in a previous post I am having three straight weekends of visitors in a row. The first one stayed with me, the second is hotel-ing it and for the third weekend we are renting an apartment downtown NYC which has me giddy for many a reasons.
I love many parts of Manhattan but my favorite areas are below 14th street and I live on the upper West side so I don’t get to experience my favorite part of the city on a daily basis. I can’t wait to wake up down town, walk out the front door to a local coffee shop and let the weekend of leisure begin.
When we first started looking for a place to stay we were checking out all the hotels in the city with my only guideline that the hotel be downtown..well you can imagine my amazement at the prices of hotels for just one night. I am telling you we could find anything for less than $35o a night which is obnoxious and ridiculous. It quickly became apparent that hoteling it was not the way to go in our case. We wanted location and a great place to stay and paying $350 a night to stay neat Times Square aka Tourist Central was absolutely out of the question.
We quickly decided that another path was necessary. This summer when I was traveling I stayed in three types of accommodations…a friends or family’s home, a hostel or hotel OR a rented apartment. I quickly grew to love the 3rd option. When I travel I like to feel as much like a local as possible and in my mind that includes accommodations and location. It is so nice to have your own little neighborhood, corner shop, coffee shop and the list goes on.
I started checking out apartments on Craigslist which honestly just frightened me. There is no guarantee, no reviews, fuzzy pictures and just seemed sketchy overall. So then AIRBNB was introduced to me and I haven’t looked back. The website it super easy to navigate. You can pick the areas you want to stay in, if you only want to see options with photos and reviews and AIRBNB is the 3rd party vendor in which the funds go through so you are not standing there in the apartment you are renting and handing over hundreds in cash…you go through paypal.
There are options to rent your own apartment or you can stay in someone’s guest room. I have done this in Paris and I wasn’t the biggest fan of this option…I like my own space. I don’t want have to think about going to the kitchen in my pj’s to make coffee or feel awkward about lounging on the couch.
So the process…I literally went on AIRBNB for many nights in a row (it became a mini obsession of mine..I would find the perfect place 
and surfed all the options and just started shooting messages to all the homeowners to see about the weekend we wanted and the homeowners over all were really great and got back to us right away. We decided on a great little pied-a-terre in a killer location and for $150 a night for your OWN place, in my mind you can’t beat that. The apartment has photos and reviews but I guess until we walk in the door we won’t really know what the place looks like but I have a good feeling about it all.
Who doesn’t like feeling like they are on a vacation in their own city and this is exactly what it will be like!
Unlike a hotel we get to check in at anytime we would like (keys will be left with the door man) and we can check out late too! Even better!
The only pesky thing is the cleaning fee but at $150 a night we were able to spring for it…BUT I recently received a great tip from the NY Times journalist The Frugal Traveler (by the way I could totally do his job…I have lived it) that coupons for AIRBNB can also be found online!! Just google them! Thanks for the tip! And the best part is that AIRBNB takes the hit of the coupon, the homeowner is not effected!
So I still have a couple weekends until my AIRBNB experience but I am totally pumped and I will let you all know how it goes!
But to let you know this will not be my first AiRBNB experience…I just did not know it at the time but this venue was also used to find the fabulous apartment I stayed in while I visited Amsterdam earlier in the summer and if that experience has any merit on this experience I am sure it will be wonderful.
Let the vacation begin!
I have become such a day dreamer. Maybe because I am now working again and my life has settled a bit but although my life has settled my mind and my dreams have not.
I will be at work or walking down the street and something will trigger my memory and I am immediately taken back to Siena, scooting along the street in Tuscany, to a bar in Berlin enjoying a great beer wonderful people watching and even better company, to the cobblestone streets of Paris, to a crazy night in Monaco finished up in a beautiful villa overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, to eating cheese in Vondelpark and cruising canals. I may not have been “settled” when I was having these experiences and making much money but damn was I living and that is more than anything money can buy you. You mention it and my mind takes me right back there and I revel in these memories of mine.
I lived the most amazing life this summer, one that keeps popping up on me reminding me of all there is out there in the world. A summer that really makes me think you can have it all, you can make your dreams come true. I love that I have had a taste of this life because it gives me something to work towards. I feel I am exactly where I am meant to be right now with my eyes straight forward on the future and the things I want to accomplish.
I may have “settled” meaning I have a job and I have unpacked my bags for the time being but that sense of wanderlust is never far away and it rears its beautiful, glorious head at all times reminding me of the world that is waiting out there for me.
I like the wanderlust bug that I have been bitten with. To be honest I can’t imagine a better bug bite.
These days I can not get enough of Electronic Jazz music. I tell you this music just soothes me and makes me so happy. Whether I am at work and just want a sweet melody to move along to, sipping wine with friends while catching or blogging. This is my music of choice and just sets the mood so well. I don’t know if it is the turning of the weather or just my mood in general right now but something about this music sounds oh so good.
I recently purchased a couple albums on Itunes…one by Lemongrass and the other by Stephane Pompouganc. I am really enjoying them both and looking to further add to this collection. So if you have any suggestions please pass them along my way.
Last weekend kicked off 3 weekends straight of visitors coming to NYC.
The first visitor was none other than my mom and we had a fabulous visit together. We hit the streets in good and bad weather, went to a comedy club for a good laugh, walked the High Line and enjoyed some of the great dining that NYC has to offer.
Although she was here for 5 days the time flew by and by the end of her trip all I could think was there just wasn’t enough time but thus I had to get back to the daily grind.
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- FELIX
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- BOOM
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- BOOM
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- The High Line
On Saturday for dinner we ate at the cutest little restaurant right on W. Broadway and Spring Street called Boom and we were immediately transported to another world…just the way I like it we were taken to a mix between Italy and Spain…. The lights were low, the wine was flowing, the food was great and the ambiance was even better.
But this was after we hit up Felix on W. Broadway for a Parisian cafe vibe, some wonderful people watching and to die for cocktails.
All in all the weekend was amazing. At the end of it I know we both felt there was still so much left to do, so many places in which to shop, so many cuisines left untasted but yet we are the type of people that really like to enjoy every moment, every detail and that is exactly what we did.
So here is until next time mom…..
One of my favorite things about living in NYC is the fact that two of my dearest friends live here too. I met them both in two very different ways…one in 6th grade and the other in Italy but none the less I love these girls and having such great friends soo close is priceless.
Whether it is meeting up with one of them at a wine bar in Greenwich Village and spending hours with her and her darling boyfriend.
Or running into the other randomly on the street in the Meat Packing district or heading over to her apartment after a full day of work and evening at the gym to catch up on all that is going on in each others worlds over wine, hummus and talk of Halloween costumes.
After traveling around so much over the past two years you really come to appreciate what is important in life such as these bonds, family and relationships built with friends abroad.
Just today I received an e-mail from, Giulia, probably my favorite person I met this summer in Italy. It was just a sweet and simple “checking in” with you e-mail but it meant the world to me. I think about her and her sweet sweet family all the time.
I still feel most alive when I am thinking about being abroad or when I talk with the people I met abroad who touched my life so.
My thoughts change day to day while I am here in NYC but the one thing that has held constant is my love and desire to live in Europe and experience that type of living for more than 6 months at a time.
I know this dream of mine will come true one day but as it is right now I am quite enjoying my time and my relationships here in NYC.
xoxo
