Tag Archives: NYC

Five Things (28)

Posted in Bookish, Crafty, My New York, Thoughts by

What happened to September??

— Thing One —

One thing that I did for the first time ever – seeing a WNBA game in person at Barclay Center (my first time at that venue). I had an absolute blast at the game. While not a sports fan in general, watching a game in person is always thrilling and I always leave with an understanding of why sports fans are the way they are. Liberty won their match that night, and as of writing this, they are playing in the finals!

— Thing Two —

I finished two craft projects, the first is the blanket below – which came out so beautifully, and which I gifted to a neighbour. The next was the scarf I’ve been knitting, I finished the pattern but I may want to repeat it a few more times to make it longer, I’m still deciding.


— Thing Three —

I saw three movies recently, Barbie (at the end of August), A Haunting in Venice (which was so different than the source material!) and You’re So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah. I would recommend each of them to different audiences, but all were great.

— Thing Four —

I went out to four dinners with friends in September. We went to Lil’ Frankies – get their Spaghetti Limone, Jongor BBQ – sweet cocktails and amazing BBQ, Tea and Sympathy – always a fan, and always a fan of their sweet shop next door, and Tacombi – the location we visited had these cute little coatracks at each table for your coats and bags!

— Thing Five —

Five books mysteries that I’d recommend (including some read in September) are, The Enigma of Room 622 by Joël Dicker, Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto, Charlotte Illes Is Not a Detective by Katie Siegel, The Mountains Wild: A Mystery Maggie D’arcy by Sarah Stewart Taylor, and The Manners and Monsters series1 by Tilly Wallace.

~*~

1. Not a single book, but I read the entire series in August and September and it was quirky and I loved it.

… I’m free and I love to be free, to live my life the way I want… to say and do whatever I please.

Lesley Gore; You Don’t Own Me

Museum Mile 2023

Posted in Cultured, Gallery by

I can’t believe that the last time I did the Museum Mile Festival was in 2011, but here we are, twelve years later and I’ve finally made it out once more to the festival.

For a bit of background, there is a stretch of museums that runs along 5th Avenue between 82nd and 110th Street, this stretch was given the name “Museum Mile” and once a year 5th Avenue shuts down as museums along that strip open for free from 6pm – 9pm. I found out about the event in 2010 from a friend and wanted to make a tradition of it, but here we are 12 years later finally visiting the museums again!

The first year I went to the Guggenheim, and the following year I visited the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, and the Museum of the City of New York. This year my friends wanted to go to the Guggenheim and El Museo del Barrio.

I got to 5th Avenue first so I joined the line for the Guggenheim which wrapped around the block1! At 6pm they started letting people in and it took us 20 minutes to get to the front of the line. Given the layout, it didn’t feel very claustrophobic, but I have visited the museum during regular hours and it was definitely more packed. Along the spiral, they had work from Gego – a Venezuelan visual artist. The photo doesn’t do it justice, but her work was very geometrical and it appealed to my instinctual need for order. There was something genuinely relaxing about observing her work.

We also dipped into the gallery with the Picassos2 and visited the A Year With Children 2023 gallery which had art from public school kids. What an experience that must have been for these kids to see their art in a museum, it was a fun and colourful display.

Later we took a stroll to El Museo del Barrio, passing several DJs and bands along the way. At the museum we took our time walking through the galleries, the block print works were among my favourites, but then I saw this stunning work by Eloy Blanco3, it had tiny stick figures on the red background; I loved it.


The night ended at the Shake Shack, with good laughs and conversations. Let’s see if I do this again next year!

~*~

1. The end of the line for me was Madison and 89th Street!
2. Every time I posted a Picasso from that day online I added “Ok, I like it, Picasso“, and then found it highly hilarious when the Guggenheim liked one of my tweets. What is the internet?
3. Another Venezualean artist!

Cherry Blossoms in Brooklyn

Posted in My New York by


It’s been on my bucket list for over a decade, and finally, I visited the Brooklyn Botanical Garden for the first time this spring to see the cherry blossoms. I’m not really sure why I waited so long – other than my dislike for crowds – but I’m so glad I finally decided to go1. There weren’t a lot of people there, and getting to the gardens itself was so easy on mass transit.

It was peak blossom season so all the cherry blossom trees were blooming brilliantly. I know there’s beauty in the chaos of free-flowing gardens, but I love when gardens have symmetry, and the BBG did not disappoint with its lined walkways and symmetrical tree lines. My little perfectionist’s heart felt such a sense of awe and calm2. Outside of the cherry blossoms, we meandered around the gardens checking out most of the sections including the bonsai trees3, and tulips (my personal faves).

Despite the fact that my allergy meds were not working due to the amount of pollen in the air I had a fantastic time and would absolutely recommend a trip. I only wish I visited sooner!

~*~

1. Thanks to my friend who threw out the invite! I really don’t think I’d have motivated myself to go otherwise.
2. I almost asked my friend and her friends to do a version of the Wes Anderson trend that’s been going around on TikTok, but I held back.
3. I used to have two bonsai trees, but unfortunately, my lack of skills (and clearly non-green thumb) meant an early departure for both.

~*~

Harney and Son – Tea Time in SoHo

Posted in My New York, Plateful by

On Broome Street, just a few blocks away from my office, is a little tea shop called Harney and Son. They have a large collection of teas – in bags and loose leaf – for any type of tea lover. The front of the shop has tinned teas and a little tea tasting area where you can taste the teas that they have brewing, or shop for tea accessories.

Or, you can go to the back and sit for some tea and scones – and other treats. They have these large cups, and I usually get a small teapot which fills the cup about two times. The only downside to this is that you have to drink your tea quickly if you like it hot (like I do), or you have to pour it out a little at a time.

Their scones are pretty good, I’d count it up there in the “top 3 scones that I’ve had at tea shops in New York City”, and they come in pairs so you can share it with a friend.

I haven’t tried their ice cream yet, but I have it on good authority that it’s really good, especially the chai ice cream.

I love the utensils that come with the food, everything adds a woodsy feeling, like you’re picnicking outside, not sitting in the back of a tea shop. Of course, you can also order to go, but since it’s never really busy (or, I’ve always gone during quiet times) it might be worth it to sit and read or chat. I know that everyone that’s gone there with me has loved it! The next time you’re in SoHo, give it a try (and … um … invite meeee!!)

Il Laboratorio del Gelato

Posted in My New York, Plateful by

In lower Manhattan (near Houston street) you will find il laboratorio del gelato and its extremely long list of gelato flavours.

Try not to fill up on samples, you will want to have your own delicious scoop or two, or more! And definitely try to be a little adventurous, it might pay off.

I had a scoop of Choclate Amaretto Crunch and one of Honey Lavender, it was a bit of an odd combination but it was so tasty!

I love the consistency of the gelato, it has just the right amount of sweetness and flavour that it doesn’t overwhelm your taste buds.

If you’re in the area (or even if you’re not) you should give it a try! Especially on these last days of summer.

Enjoy!