Sunday, August 10, 2008

A Couple of Bites out of the Big Apple

I am just back from four fun and fab days in New York City. My husband and I went to visit our son Morgan, who moved to Manhattan the middle of May.

While bonding with him, we saw a long list of shops I NEEDED to visit. We stayed in a hotel I would highly recommend, the Hotel Belleclaire on the upper west side. Every morning I walked just three blocks to get our coffee and breakfast treats at Zabar's, a longtime gourmet, but down to earth institution. Our first day was low key - walking around our neighborhood and Central Park and spotting this splendid chair set out with the trash.



Day two was the heavy lifting day, as Morgan so accurately described it. We jumped on the subway and hightailed it to ABC Carpet & Home. It exceeded my expectations by a mile.


A dreamy window display.


A chandelier (one among hundreds and hundreds) that made my heart beat faster.


Wood stumps with polished tops surrounding
a chair that looked like the cat had had its' way with it.

And what was directly across the street but Fishs Eddy - a shop I had read about time and again, that carries vintage and reproduction sturdyware, as they describe themselves - restaurant dishes, railroad ware, practical with clean aesthetics stuff. When I asked them if I could take pictures, they said no. So the picture of this window display conveys an inkling of what waits inside.



We walked (and walked) west on Broadway visiting Dean & Deluca, Kate's Paperie, and had our lunch on a bench outside of Balthazar Restaurant. The people watching was as entertaining as the shops.




Here's a picture of my guys - hubby Raoul and son Morgan. Fed and rested and darn cute!

Our afternoon stops included Paula Rubinstein on Prince Street, where I coveted a large and extra wide vintage cloth tape measure, but with a price of $110, it went back on the shelf.

But I found quick shopping solace at this quirky antiques shop on Houston Street - Billy's. Six very nice rhinestone brooches jumped into my hands for a total price of $20. They'll be coming to the studio one day in some assymetrical necklaces.


Our final destination was John Derian's store. It was a real treat to see tables filled with his hand signed decoupaged plates, pedestals and paperweights. By then, I was as tired as my guys look in this picture.




We splurged on a taxi and headed to the West Village to meet up with Morgan's girlfriend, Eileen, and share a very memorable meal at The Little Owl restaurant.

More NYC adventures tomorrow - the garment district and my favorite find of the entire visit! -- Beth

1 comment:

paris parfait said...

Bonjour from Paris! Looks like fun, fun, fun - and great pic of your hubby and son!