Snow Day in NYC

This weekend brought us a ton of snow. I was actually pretty thrilled about it, since I really love seeing the city frosted in a fresh blanket of powder. I grew up in New England where a few feet of snow at a time is a pretty regular thing, so it’s always pretty funny for me to watch the reaction of New Yorkers when the city gets more than an inch.

The weather was the perfect excuse for me to lay low and enjoy the finer things in life, such as pizza delivery, excessive magazine reading, and cup upon steaming cup of hot tea.

We wandered a little on Saturday so that we could scope out the park and enjoy the snow before it got all dirty and melty (it didn’t take long!). The photo above is of Central Park, which I found to be looking particularly magical. Our only regret was that we were too late to buy a sled (literally, sold out everywhere) and join with our neighbors on the hill!

Something Old, Something New {Friday}

{Something Old}

Last weekend was the perfect weekend for a picnic! It was probably one of the last weekends of the year warm enough to sit outside in the grass for an entire afternoon. I met up with some friends in the Sheep’s Meadow area of Central Park, and we each brought something to share — cheese and sausages, a savory tart, and some delicious eclairs for dessert! We thought about bringing a bottle of wine to sip on as well, but I’m glad we decided against it — there were park rangers writing up tickets for public drinking left and right on that day (I didn’t realize it was illegal)! I have many fond memories of sitting with friends in this spot and sharing food and good conversation (and wine — but don’t tell the park rangers!).

{Something New}

With the swift arrival of fall comes one of my favorite past times: cutting the tags off the new fall clothes that I’ve been slowly buying over the past few months! Today, I’m debuting my new pair of Frye Engineer boots which I bought in an attempt to be more practical this year. Even though our winter was mild last year, I still wore my ballet flats far too often resulting in chilly feet all the time. This year, I’ll be rocking my boots with pants and with dresses and tights!

Have a lovely weekend!

Top photo by Christopher Schoenbohm via Flickr

10 Great (and Cheap!) Things to do in the Fall in NYC

Image via Flickr

Well, it has been a while! Sometimes life just moves too fast, and things like this blog tend to lapse. After what has been a very busy summer, I’m quite glad to wish everyone in this hemisphere a happy first day of Fall! I really love this time of year, and I especially enjoy it when we actually have that nice transitional time in the weather between summer and winter, as we’re having right now. Sometimes it can feel like summer and winter are the only two seasons we get in this part of the country. In honor of the new season upon us, I’ve compiled a list of ten great things to do in New York City in the next few months:

• Grab a hot beverage and walk through Central Park with one of your favorite people to look at the leaves changing.
• Rent a bike and take a ride! There are plenty of places to rent (rates usually start around $8/hour or $45/day) and the West Side Greenway is a protected bike path that runs the length of Manhattan along the Hudson River. Beautiful!
• Miss the back-to-school feeling? Me too. Try signing up for a class through Brooklyn Brainery or Skillshare and get yourself some new knowledge about something cool! Classes are cheap (many under $20) and on cool subjects like screen printing and making your own shoes.
• Camp out in the Union Square Barnes & Noble store and read up on a new subject or an existing passion!
• Take a stroll through the farmers’ markets in the last few weeks before they close for winter and bring home some fresh fall veggies!
• Arm yourself with cash and a few good Yelp recommendations, and hit the streets of Chinatown to sample delicious dishes, dumplings, and pastries.
• Pretend you’re in Munich for the annual Oktoberfest (technically it ends in the first few days of October, but I won’t judge you if you celebrate for longer), and visit a bier garden, like the popular Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden in Astoria or Bier International in Harlem.
• Take a class in lattes — Joe the Art of Coffee offers classes every month on various coffee topics, including Milk Steaming 101.
• Pick up a camera and go for a photo walk. That is, take notice of the cool everyday things you pass on the street and document them! Fall is a great time to do this, because the light at the end of the day is often shimmery and superb for taking photos.
• Chilly weather getting to be too much? Head over the the newly-renovated Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens. Admission is only $12, and they have lots of interactive exhibits to check out!