Working in New York

So after less than a day in LA, I took off to New York for a work project. This work project was a little different than usual. I actually worked during the days, and had one day off in between my scheduled project days. The work went well, but the play time was even better. The first night, I was able to meet up with Beth for dinner at Don Antonio's Napoli style pizza. The food was delish and the company was even better. I always love catching up with Beth - we have lived across the country from each other since we were 6, but haven't gone more than a year or two without seeing each other!

On my day off, I caught up on some much needed sleep and exercise. I then walked down to Mandy's new apartment - which happened to only be about five blocks from my hotel. I didn't get my housewarming present in time to give to her on my last visit, so I surprised her with this beauty upon my arrival - and put it right next to her and Scott's bed :) I just can't risk being forgotten.

Mandy and I took off to Soho for a little shopping and lunch at Mercer Kitchen (corner of Mercer and Prince), which we had just stumbled upon and ended up loving. After lunch, Loni met up with us for the rest of the afternoon. She happened to also be in NYC to do some publicity for her new book, "You're Perfect and Other Lies Parents Tell." We did some more window shopping and then headed over to East Village to one of my favorite New York specialties, Doughnut Plant. This place is Heaven... no other description will really do it justice. We ordered FIVE doughnuts. That's right, three girls, five doughnuts (three of which were like double size doughnuts). Didn't matter. We took them down. No shame. Totally worth it. Peanut butter and blackberry jam is still my favorite, but the other big hits were the carrot cake, gingerbread, coconut cream and the peanut butter with banana filling. You really can't go wrong with any pick.

After our doughnut party, we walked up to Union Square to see the holiday bizarre and another New York fave of mine, Joe Fresh (a Canadian retail store that only has stores in NYC, and no online shopping, but is soon to open a store within a store at JCPenny across the country in January - super excited about that - their clothes are really cute and so affordable.) Loni had to take off then, so Mandy and I continued to walk around until Scott was off work and we could meet him for dinner (what? you think we were full or sick of food after lunch and doughnuts - ha!). We went to a New York favorite among locals, PJ Clarke's. We walked in to a bar packed wall-to-wall with young business guys hanging out after work. Mandy and I squeezed through the herd and made our way to the restaurant in back. Luckily it was a little less crowded, and less noisy there. It was fun to see Scott and spend some time with him too. He's such a good guy and I'm so happy for him and Mandy to actually be in the same place again... even though it took her away from me... I know they'll be back to the West Coast soon enough.

The next day was another full day of work. I ended up getting done a little earlier than expected and before getting on the train for the airport, I was able to catch up with Loni and my dad, who had just gotten to town that morning! Seriously, for as much as my dad, Loni and I got to New York for work, this was the first time we were all there at the same time and got to see each other. It was only for 45 minutes, but was still fun nonetheless. Loni took us over to a shoe store where they had the full spectrum of Hunter colored boots. I love all the bright colors, but was drawn to the charcoal grey. 

After getting our boots, we walked over to the subway station and said goodbye.

Love this guy.

The train to JFK was successful and a far better route than taking a cab on a rainy, Friday night. I took the 8:30 pm flight and was back to my mom's house around 1 a.m. Just in time to wrap Westin's birthday presents, make him a birthday crown and get to sleep around 2. Unfortunately, the overly excited birthday boy was ready to start his celebration at 6 a.m. Made for a long day, but I loved every minute of it. 

TBC