Caleb and I just returned from a blissful 48 hours in NYC, and by blissful I mean walking an average of 6 miles a day, visiting bakery after shop after restaurant and reveling in food, crisp New York weather, and each other. While we spent most of our time talking about how much we missed Harlow, it was thrilling to solely focus on each other, to plug back into the current that was us before baby and to be swept into the energy that is existing in the city. While Memphis offers its advantages, Caleb and I are, at our core, urban dwellers. We come alive in the presence of fast walkers, hurtling subways and sound. We often found ourselves nudging people out of the way, opening up our stride and just feeling giddy to be alive, fast, and free.
I didn't bring a camera. I wanted to be off duty and just soak up the city without feeling compelled to snap it, but I couldn't help myself. Pardon the crappy camera phone pics, but here are some images from the trip.
The weather was a perfect 55 degrees. We held hands in the park, watched the ice skaters, and indulged in fantasies over how we could manage a move to the most expensive city in the USA with a kid and a dog in tow.
Still dreaming about the food...
The architecture...
A late dinner at Gemma:
This was my second trip to Gemma, and I'm officially in love. It's the restaurant attached to the super hip yet super cozy Bowery Hotel, and it's the kind of place where you instantly become sexy by virtue of sitting at a table. It's not the sleek NYC sexy, more of the rustic wood and candlelight variety. Well honestly, an evening of free drinks at one's own book party can pretty much set the stage if not guarantee the whole world looks sexy, but the perfect, perfect mozzarella and prosecco sealed the deal. To my amusement, the only celebrities I saw were Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore, the same exact duo I met in the same neighborhood nearly 2 years before. I was too shy to say hello and just tried to convince myself I was really just too cool to say hello instead.
The Chelsea Market:
To anyone who puzzles over the fate of the old Memphis Brewery downtown, the answer to what it could/should be is the Chelsea Market. An old biscuit factory was converted into a Ferry Building-type establishment, the result a giant corridor of bakeries, shops and restaurants. Can you just imagine having a giant gourmet food court as a compliment to the Memphis Farmers Market? Lunch was a perfect bowl of matzo ball soup and a pumpkin and lentil salad at Friedman's, followed by a chocolate milkshake from Ronny's Milkbar.
Now I'm just dreaming of the next time we go back.
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