A Piece of the Whole

NYC-Bits & Pieces (no pun intended...really)

Just a few random pics......

1. Me and Reckless just starting out in Times Square.

2. Great world traveler pajamas from Tar*get that Reckless picked up for us just for fun!! There was, of course a great NYC place in the print making them practically perfect (a little Mary Poppins tip of the hat there!!). Yes, my thighs are quite a bit larger than hers, but did you have to bring that up?

3. After our spectacular Mary Poppins Broadway musical experience we needed something yummy & sweet hence the ice cream with sprinkles (gag....mine was chocolate and then chocolate dipped!) straight from a street vendor in Times Square.

4. Please do not comment about me being sacrilegious.  I love Jesus deeply and He loves me.  He is my Savior.  However, this very old and probably-famous-somewhere-painting hanging in The Metropolitan Museum of Art cracked. me. up.  Yes, it is a form of flattery when someone tries to paint a picture of what Jesus the Christ might have looked like, but come on.....really?  I am pretty sure this isn't even close.  I just imagine his voice kind of in a high falsetto saying, "Heyyyyyy....check this out!!"

Nuh-uh.  Still makes me giggle.  Maybe He's laughing a bit, too.

5. Ahem....don't laugh. This is art. For the sake of those with junior high humor like myself I had to cover his precious private parts that were really OUT THERE for all to view.  This is Perseus holding Medusa's chopped off head at The Met (duh....The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Get cultured, please).  Eeewwwe...snakes.  Good job P.

I saw lots and lots and lots of boo*bies and other private parts while observing the fine art here.  I loved the museum for about the first hour and then I was like a four year old who'd had enough and would rather go play at McDonald's.  My Reckless friend studied art a good bit in college.  She was in hog-heaven and I really wanted bless her so I was a good girl, well pretty good, and stayed to appreciate the art (where else was I gonna go?).   I thought I was going to die when she said we were headed to. the. second. floor.  Oh freak!!  It was all good and a great experience overall.

6.  Cute I ♥ NY mug I got for my girls.  They are actually about 1/3 the size of a regular coffee mug.  So cute.  They eat candy out of them.

7. I am so ticked that I didn't get a pics inside FAO Schwarz.  It was so cute! Terribly crowded.  We both had our pictures made into puzzles: hers was perfect as she posed as a cast member of all the Star Wars main characters for her son who is the hugest fan on the planet. Mine makes me very happy.  I have always said that if I could live anywhere else it would be The Hundred Acre Wood (Winnie the Pooh!!!) so my pic is me sitting at a table with Pooh, Tigger and Piglet having some lemonade.  Delightful. (Just for the record if The Hundred Acre Wood is full I'll be headed to Rivendell where the Elves live in Lord of the Rings and then if by some chance they aren't taking newbies then I'll be just as happy in Pixie Hollow with Tinkerbell and her friends......just in case you were wondering).

8. Crumbs Cupcakes.  Oh my.  Tons of calories and scrumdillyumptious flavor!! We each got a huge cupcake to celebrate our birthdays.  I can't remember what Reckless got, but I devoured my cookie dough cupcake filled with chocolate fudge in the center.....while sitting in Central Park.  Lovely.

Celebrity Life

Central park held various new sights and experiences for me.  After walking for...EVER....we searched out the typical street vendor for a NY hot dog.  It was no spectacular event, but was so fun to sit on a bench just outside the walls of the park to down our dogs.  Reckless was able to snap this pic just after having to look at her phone messages and noticing that there were many, many, many missed calls from her husband.  I looked at my phone at the same time seeing that PandaPop had called me EIGHT times! I thought there was some horrible emergency, called him and let him explain that Reckless' phone was purse-dialing her hubby a million times and staying on allowing them to hear lots of our jabbering throughout the park! All was ok and we returned to our pilgrimage with renewed sustenance.

We saw a couple of different sets of people with large video cameras and mics filming some kind of independent epic.  The one that made me roll eyes and want to rescue the star of the show was when I saw a beautiful brown cat with a ginormous collar on his neck, a large leash held by a man in a black pin-striped suit and fancy shoes, a college aged girl with a handheld device like Captain Kirk would hold and another college aged looking guy trotting alongside the trio holding the camera capturing every move of the kitty.  

I am a cat lover and have always had one or two of the little snoots.  I will tell you....that cat was not happy with his contract and was a bit ticked that no one was listening to his needs.  How do I know this?  He was struggling to get to the fence line where he proceeded to try and scrape the huge collar thing off, his tail was flipping back & forth in the "I'm ticked!!!!" mode and when he was drug along for more fun his whole demeanor screamed that he was NOT having the time of his life in Central Park like I was.  I am the kind of person to talk to strangers with no problem.  Curiosity was about to kill this cat-lover so I approached the girl and asked what they were doing.  Zoot Suit Man told me that this particular cat was well known and even famous in Central Park and on Columbus Avenue.  Well, well.....who knew we were in the presence of stardom?  The large contraption on the cat's collar was actually a camera so that they could record the journey from the cat's point of view. Hmph.  I wonder if they had a camera to document his contempt at the whole affair?  As I do with anything that I like, I asked very nicely if I could take a picture of him and was promptly told by Zoot that indeed NOT, but he handed me his business card and said that I could email him and he'd send one back to me.  Gee thanks, George Lucas.

I lost the important business card and goo*gled it instead.  Sad to say that nothing popped up when I entered "famous cat in central park"....or Columbus Ave.

People are crazy.

Including me.

Serendipity.....the movie.....is my all-time favorite chick-flick.  In my opinion the kiss between Kate Beckinsale and John Cusack is THE best screen kiss of all time.  M-m-mmm.  The movie ranks up there with You've Got Mail (which by the way my Reckless friend has.never.seen.  So sad for her!!!!!!!!!!! She didn't even GET it when I saw a dog just like Brinkley running through the park!) and Sweet Home Alabama.  Anyway....one of my goals in NYC was to visit Serendipity 3.  No, it's not the third store site they own.  There is some story on the website that explains why it's named that, but it escapes me at the present.  The place it tiny, but decorated in a fun, funky way.  We didn't even have to wait.  After the movie came out years ago I remember reading of three hour waits and reservation musts. Crowded, but we made it in after we downed THE BEST white pizza with sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms and fresh basil across the street at  Patsy's Coal Oven Pizza house that's been around since 1933.  I don't know if the pizza was really the best ever or if it was the fact that it was my first meal in New York City.  I was in heaven.

Below are pics from the world famous Carnegie Deli.  So famous that I'd never even heard of it, but my sweet friend who gave me her NYC tour book and map told me it was a must for us.  Apparently it IS famous because it was jam-packed and the walls were COVERED in signed celebrity photos.  I was hoping to spot someone famous but instead we had a French couple sit beside us who'd just flown in that day and were first timers to the USA and then beside them was the British family who were so giddy to be here that I had to giggle.  I get giddy over many small and giant things.  The large British man beside me in the baby blue rugby shirt was like a child in a toy store and couldn't contain his precious appreciation for a good pastrami sandwich.

Pastrami.  PAH-STRAH-MEEE.

The sweet French couple couldn't speak English.  Well, the guy could get out a few words, but the misses just sat there doe-eyed and mumbling things.  Clearly by the way they were ping-ponging their heads from our table to the Brits' they weren't sure what to order.  We were told what to order by a local from the street when we were a bit lost in trying to find the deli.  He said we HAD to have the pastrami on rye and the Matzah ball soup, but to split it because it was so freaking huge.

I thought I'd help in my sweet Texan way.

According to Reckless I was doing the get louder with my voice thing when trying to get Miss Frenchy to understand what exactly she should order from our Chinese waiter who clearly spoke New York.

It was a delightful time of international communing.  And I loved every second of it.

The brightly colored pickled was my first time to taste a half-pickle-half-cucumber, but it was so yummy along with the PAH-STRAH-MEEEE.

What great New York moments!!!

NYC-Part 1

I have a few minutes to post this pic and to say that NYC's Central Park was my most favorite part of the trip!!! I loved it!

I had no idea that there was so much beautiful architecture, stone work and masonry throughout the whole thing. Stunning craftsmanship and artistry was everywhere alongside the beautiful foliage that was just about ready to bloom. I would love to go back in about three weeks when all of the cherry blossom trees and all the green leaves are in full force. I'm sure it will be breath-taking!!

I will elaborate on our walk through Central Park in the next post. For now just enjoy the collage and anticipate the stories that will come with them...