One day in New York City without kids, stroller, husband, or busy agenda. What to do?
8:30 AM: Enjoy freshly made waffles and breakfast at the home of my good friends and their two sweet boys.
9:30 AM: Catch a ride to the subway station in Brooklyn. See a disoriented man fall onto the subway tracks, and be helped out by several kind New Yorkers, luckily before a train approaches (never in my 10 years in NYC did I ever see someone actually fall!)
Pop out of the subway at Canal and Broadway, start walking North. The weather just happens to be perfect, bright and sunny, but not too hot. I have to remind myself that NYC is only like this about one week out of the year.
10:00 AM: First stop: the MUJI store. I've been a fan of MUJI ever since I spent a semester abroad in London. Purchases: City in a Bag (drawstring bag full of NYC blocks, like little cabs and skyscrapers), colored pencil set, a perfect canvas tote bag, pencil sharpener.
10:45 AM: Walk up to Pearl River, a huge Chinese import store. Purchases: a small coin purse for Bee, a tin rocket for C, some pretty packages of rice candy.
11:15 AM: Continue up Broadway, almost walking right into the actor Aaron Eckhart, who I see near the corner of Spring Street. (Act nonchalant, because that's what New Yorkers do.) Stop in at Dean + Deluca to grab a raisin scone from Sarabeth's, just because I can.
11:30 AM: Walk up Sullivan Street so I can wave at Liesl, who's teaching a class at Purl Patchwork this morning. Peek through the window and see Liesl sitting at the sewing machine, right in the middle of explaining something to a big group of students. Decide against interrupting her.
Cross Houston and head towards the West Village, my favorite neighborhood in the whole city, to meet some of my oldest and dearest friends for brunch.
12:00 PM: Brunch at Tartine. We don't mind waiting for our table since there's lots to talk about and catch up on. Plus it's one of the prettiest blocks around.
1:30 PM: My friend Renee talks me into walking up to the Gagosian Gallery to see the Picasso exhibit, which closes this weekend. We wander up through the Chelsea Market, grabbing an applesauce donut from Amy's Bread (I used to live around the corner from their Hell's Kitchen location). The Picasso exhibit is worth the detour, a huge wonderful collection of paintings and etchings from his later years.
We walk over to the E train and take it north, to the 53rd Street and 5th avenue location so we can walk across the street to the MOMA.
3:00 PM: I haven't been to the MOMA since it's redesign, so I love walking through from floor to floor. Some of the paintings hanging there seem like old friends, and I'm so happy to see them once again. There's an interesting exhibit upstairs called Tangled Alphabets (on display through June 15th) featuring the works of Leon Ferrari and Mira Schendel. I love all the hand drawn type. Purchases: two small windup metal bugs for Bee and C from the museum gift shop.
5:15 PM: Walk down 5th Avenue to visit the Kinokuniya Japanese import store near Bryant Park. Wave to my old office as we walk by the Martha Stewart offices on 43rd Street. Purchases: new Japanese sewing book I haven't seen before, some beautifully packaged pastel crayons.
6:00 PM: Wander through Bryant Park (the most beautiful day!) admire the newly refinished NY Public Library and then hop on the F train to my old neighborhood in Brooklyn, Carroll Gardens. Meet up with my friend Sara who is getting a pedicure before we meet up with friends for dinner. Soon I am getting one too.
7:00 PM: Walk through my old neighborhood to the restaurant Alma, which has the most beautiful view of the city. By the time we sit down to eat (lucky us, we get the table with the best view) the sun is setting over the city, dinner is served, and I'm surrounded by my old friends.
10:00 PM: Drive back to Fort Green where I'm staying that evening by way of First Place, our old steet. Wave at my old apartment, where JR and I dated, were newlyweds, and formed our little family.
12:00 AM: Rest tired (but pretty!) feet. Fall into a sound sleep.
Things I wish I could have fit into my day: a stroll through Central Park, a visit to the paper stores down on 18th Street, some fabric shopping in the garment district, a walk down the Brooklyn promenade, and a cupcake from Magnolia Bakery. But there are only so many hours in a day.
Note: I've put together a little Google Map of my day, with addresses and phone numbers for the stores and restaurants. You can easily swap out the Met for the MOMA, and then get to see some of Central Park as well.