birthday cakes, smoothies, and the beach

The cake survived the trip and Retta got her wish: me and Mark singing happy birthday while she blew out the candles on her Sanders cake. :) Yay! Happy birthday, Retta.

Yesterday was an unexpected sunny day in LA - the forecast had been for rain. Retta and I took advantage of the weather and drove the Stang to the beach, but not before a stop at Jamba Juice. Happy with our juices, we motored our way towards the PCH and stopped at the Will Rogers beach. By the time we got there, the sun had gone away and the wind kicked up, and it wasn't exactly the beach experience we were hoping for. Oh well! We spent about a half hour sitting on the sand (albeit bundled up) and listened to the ocean. mmmmmm...


Smoothies make me happy!

my sweet ride

So I take a flight to LAX, carrying a Sanders colonial buttercream cake 2500 miles to my sister for her birthday, endure the egg salad sandwich and ranch dressing smells of my travelling neighbors, read many pages of the worst book I've read in a long time, wait in line at Hertz for half an hour, get to the counter and the guy says "How would you like a Mustang?" "Umm...... ok.......... What color is it?" "Red." "Ok." Weird. I never imagined myself driving a muscle car, but for a week in California, what the heck?

the ice storm

After a week in New York city, I returned home to an icy wonderland. It was a beautiful site, if not a little alarming. Lots of tree branches were down or split and hanging on for dear life, and when I drove up my own driveway I realized my pink dogwood was having a struggle. This is a tree I've always considered quite delicate. I don't know if that's really the case with dogwoods, but since they're ornamental trees I feel like that somehow implies that they are more fragile than the larger oaks and maples. In any case, to see half the tree hanging down under the weight of the ice caused me some concern, but it appears that as the ice melts the tree is rebounding nicely.

I'm not a big fan of winter, but I must admit that it is nice to see the snow finally. It's really quite pretty.

it takes a village

Just a quick post before I head back over to Javits today. I took the subway down to the West Village this morning for a quick walk through. It's cold and windy today, but I managed to get a little shopping in after a quick bite at a cool little coffee shop called Doma. Bought some cupcakes at the famous Magnolia bakery. Their prices aren't posted which is a sure indication that they are pricey. Whoa mama! But they are yummy!

Also came across a memorial for 9/11 victims.

go, Helen!

Helen Mirren just won the best actress Golden Globe for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth in "The Queen." Some of my friends know I'm a big Helen Mirren fan and not only because of her superb acting, but because she is an extremely well-spoken and classy woman. On top of that, she always dresses really well at the awards shows. We dig her! (That is, the royal 'we.')

Chicago in new york

Tonight I went to see the revival of Chicago, which is playing at the theater directly across the street from my hotel. Bebe Neuwirth is currently playing the role of Roxie Hart. I enjoyed the show, but I have to say I was a little bit disappointed with Bebe's performance. She seemed to perform best in the pieces where she had a little help from the ensemble. Her solos seemed to lack any real pizzazz.

I did really enjoy the performances of the women who played Velma and Mama. They were natural and fun. Overall, not a bad way to spend an evening.

these boots were not made for walking

After having breakfast with Linda this morning and sending her off to the airport, I headed to Javits to take care of a few work things for the show. Then I headed south for a bit more shopping. I was on the prowl for some black boots. The DSW in Union Square was calling me, and I answered. But first I went one subway stop too far, and that turned out to be the best mistake I've made in a long time.

I ended up at 8th St (Astor Place), and when I came out of the subway station, the first thing I saw was a Gap for women only. Awesome! (There was also a Gap men's and kids nearby.) Even though I didn't buy anything there, I loved what I saw as it was way more hip than what we saw at the Gap on 34th St on Friday.

Across the street was the most beautiful Barnes & Nobles ever: creaky hardwood floors throughout, wood banisters for the stairs, wooden bookshelves reaching 10 feet in the air, and the smell of all that old wood making me feel like I was in rarefied space. Wonderful!

But since I was on a mission to get to Union Square, I headed up Broadway. I came upon probably one of New York's best book stores, though I'd never heard of it before. The Strand. Their claim to fame is 8 miles of books. Indeed! What a cool place. They sell used as well as new books. Too much fun looking around in there, weaving through the crowded aisles and finding nooks and crannies of shelving in the stacks. More wonderful stuff.

A few doors down was a cool clothing shop called Mavi where I fell in love with a short rusty brown blazer. On sale for $89. A little steep for my tastes so I left it behind in the hopes of coming back for it, if I decided I could part with the dough.

Getting closer to Union Square and DSW, I came across a chocolate shop called Max Brenner. Heaven! It's a cool little restaurant that serves chocolate desserts. You can also order a little something for takeout, which I did. OK, $7 is a lot for a mocha frappe (low fat, even!) but it was worth it!

The frappe did the trick and I found some sweet boots at DSW for 40% off the already discounted price. Sweet deal.

Because I knew the PETCO in Union Square has kitties for adoption, I stopped in there to see what kinds of critters they had this time. Cuties of all ages including a grey tiger kitty who was so handsome I thought he should come home to Ann Arbor with me. :)

SoHo

Saturday, Linda and I headed to Soho for what turned out to be a long day of shopping. We brunched at Balthazar first, sharing the brioche french toast (delish!) and the eggs florentine (ehh). Balthazar is a rather famous restaurant done in the style of a Paris brasserie. The ambience and decor are great - you really do feel as if you are in Paris. Afterwards, we stopped at the Balthazar bakery next door for some take-home treats. The pastries on display were so beautiful! Sadly, we weren't allowed to take any photos inside. argh! So we made do with one just outside the door.

In other food excitement, we stopped at Dean & Deluca. Gourmet food heaven! Beautiful food in beautiful presentation. I almost snapped a pic of the produce display but was smacked down by the security guard before I could push the button. (damn!) I know these places want to protect their 'brand' but I want to share the beauty with others!

After walking many miles through many stores, we finally returned home in the early evening, took hot baths and called it a day.

the entire state building

Tooled around a lot this afternoon after Linda's arrival and ended up doing a lot of shopping. Including a pic of Linda on a very old (circa 1930) escalator at Macy's.

But the real miracle on 34th Street for us wasn't that the old escalators worked, but that we made it to the top of the Empire State building! What a production - we were herded through many lines and ticket offices and elevators before we finally arrived on the observation deck. But it was worth the hassle (and the steep ticket price). A lovely view of the city from all points was had on a not too chilly evening. There's a peaceful calm up there on the 86th floor, with a dull roar from the city rising from below.

feet

After a long afternoon yesterday at Javits setting up the Fry booth for our trade show, I tromped back to the hotel carrying my handbag, a laptop, and a tote bag full of Fry stuff. That was a mistake! As a result of an afternoon on my feet and then a mile walk back to the hotel in these certain black shoes I have, I developed blisters on the bottoms of my feet. ow! No worries, though. That is not going to stop me from having a good time!

I met an old friend, Heike, for dinner last night. We went to a small Ethiopian place not too far from the hotel, then continued to walk around Times Square til it was time for Heike to catch her train to Westchester (where she lives). She commutes about an hour and 45 minutes each way to the city and takes the train from Grand Central. Gorgeous!

Well, Linda just arrived and we're about to head out!! Fun!

ready to take a bite

I'm heading to New York city tomorrow - woohoo! Going for work and play - spending 6 nights. I've already plotted out various sightseeing spots and made restaurant reservations, but most important, located all the Jamba Juice locations near my hotel (there's one a mere 2 blocks away!) . This is what happens when you're a smoothie fiend and there are no JJ franchises in MI. *sigh*

Stay tuned for tales from the Big Apple.