Do you know this place? It’s a dream.
An Italian market in New York City.
There is more delicious food than you could ever dream of.
Meats and cheeses.
Wine. Looooots of wine.
And sweets beyond belief.
This place is goodness.
It’s definitely crowded (what isn’t in NY?!), but totally worth it.
For a little while you can almost feel like you’re somewhere else in the world.
Oh, yes, it was goodness. Through and through.
Eataly.
200 5th Avenue.
(at 23rd Street)
NY, NY 10010
Spent the night cozied up with my favorite people.
A great night to end a great year.
(I know I’ve gone a little crazy with the end of the year posts, but whatevs. I’m getting fancier these days with my fancy cam and I just want to show my skills.)
The end.
Cheers!
One of the highlights over my week long vacation was taking the train into the city for the day. We have taken day trips into the city for as long as I can remember, and the excitement is just as strong as ever. I love entering the Greenwich train station and walking up to the ticket counter to buy that round-trip ticket. It feels a little bit old fashioned, like not much has changed in that station in the past 20 years. I’m thankful for that. It’s all too often you see ticket machines nowadays. They’re everywhere. But we bought our ticket from an actual man, who was sitting at a desk behind an old-fashioned ticket booth, wearing a uniform and a hat too.
And then the train came and we boarded, ready to glide into New York.
The train ride to Grand Central Station hasn’t changed either since I was a little girl. The ticket man still comes around to clip your ticket and the seats are still that cold, hard leather from so many years ago.
The ride is fairly short, but it feels longer when you’re as excited as I was to be in the most talked about place on earth and on the verge of meeting a new friend.
I loved when the train finally stopped, letting us off into the tunnel, until we finally walked into this:
Grand Central Station in all it’s glory.
Goodness, it’s beautiful.
It’s so beautiful it takes your breath away and you almost have to pinch yourself to make sure it’s actually real.
Takes my breath away every single time.
I made Meg help me look for the secret of Grand Central, which I read about recently over at a Cup of Jo. It’s not so much of a secret (there were tons of people there!), but it was a neat experience all the same.
After that we headed out to 5th Avenue, to the cold air and bustling crowds that is so undoubtedly New York City at Christmas time (or anytime, really). Before I even made it past the first block I bumped into someone (or they bumped into me) and I instantly thought, only in New York. Only in New York are you bumping into people all day long and are barely thinking twice about it.
(One time when I was about 12 and we were visiting the city for the day we bumped into my best friend from home and her mom in Saks 5th Ave. In the middle of this huge store, in this beyond ginormous city, filled with millions of people, we literally walked smack into my friend from Syracuse. It was crazy. And decidedly, an incredibly small world after all.)
We walked past the New York Public Library, past hundreds of classic yellow taxi cabs, and made our way to Rockefeller Center, home of 30 Rock, the famous Christmas tree and the brave tourists who’ve beared the crowds to skate on the famous ice rink.
Then finally, FINALLY! We met up with Molly.
Lovely, sincere, generous Molly who I am ever so glad to have found in this life.
I honestly believe this girl has a heart of gold.
I found Molly through Elizabeth’s blog, and in turn, Elizabeth told Molly about me. Thank you for connecting us, E! I am looking forward to the day we will meet as three.
The second I spotted Molly through the crowd I called out her name and wrapped my arms around that girl so quick.
She is everything I thought she would be and more.
Molly is a wonderful writer. She can touch your heart with her words and I feel so lucky that she connected with me. She reached out in an email that made my heart full, and here we are a short while later meeting up for the day in the city that she now calls home.
The thing about bloggers is that you can know so much about a person before you even meet. It’s nice to know someone so well the first time you get to share a hug. And an instant real-life friendship begins.
And so we spent the rest of the day together, checking all the things off on my list of must-see and dos…
First stop was Eataly, which will be getting it’s own post later this week.
We ordered panninis and grabbed a table for lunch, getting to know each other a little better. Asking real-life friend questions not covered on the internets.
The food was incredible, the space was warm and cozy, and chatting it up with Molly was perfect.
From there we bundled up to walk the streets of the city, heading past the Flat Iron Building and more yellow taxis to one of my favorite shops in NY…
I try and make a point to visit this shop each time I make a trip to the city, always buying a little souvenier to take home with me. Molly spotted an orange section of goodies and I knew the little patterned dipping bowls had to be mine.
Then it was onto Soho to do a little more shopping, take a coffee break and spend some time with my pretty friend Katie, a best friend from college and a lady of New York.
Dear me, do I love Soho.
I just get a feeling when I’m there, looking around and up high, like a kid in a candy shop. I love the old buildings and pretty shops and colorful apartment buildings. It’s busy with people, and filled with stores to pop into.
We stopped into Balthazar for some snacks.
Hello, that place is ADORABLE.
It’s bakery is suuuuuuuuuper tiny, but to make up for it everything is super delicious. I had a hazelnut hot chocolate and we split a chocolate chip cookie because it was large enough for four. Bittersweet deliciousness that stuck with me through the evening.
(I also picked up a chocolate donut, which was too much for me to eat at the time, but I saved it for the train ride home.)
Our last stop of the day was a little restaurant called Bread, where we stopped to rest and chat with Katie. The day was getting windy and cold so it was the perfect place to rest our legs and get warm. We got a pot of french fries and a couple of tartines and enjoyed the warm light and good company.
Then, it was off to the subway to make our way home.
Thank you for a lovely day, Molly. Thank you for being so wonderfully you, for being so generous and kind. Thank you for spending time with me and my sister and Katie. Thank you for showing us New York and for making our day a special one.
We loved it and we love you!
As we entered Grand Central for the second time that day I looked at that beautiful space with a happy heart.
Another day of memories to add to my New York memory book.
And this day was a glorious one.
(Oh, and that donut? I ate it on the train and it was perfectly delicious.)
Can’t wait to see you again soon, Molly! Boston awaits you!
How good are you at keeping in touch?
I ask because I strUGGle in this department. There is something about dialing a friend’s number that is so difficult for me. Even when I LOVE them to the moon. I’m a little better about emailing (if I do it right way. once it starts to trickle down my inbox chances are it’s going to get lost in the shuffle. just a fact.) And texting is my best bet with keeping in touch. Although, I can’t say I’m proud.
I’m simply a product of the 21st century.
This much I know is true.
And my guess is, you are too.
Sometimes I tell myself this blog is my way of keeping in touch with friends, and it is, although unless a friend has a blog too, it’s very one-sided. People I know in real life always seems to know what’s happening with me, but I rarely know what’s happening with them. It’s not even and it’s no way to keep up a friendship. But I also can’t blame my friends for not having blogs. I need to make a conscious effort to find out what’s happening in the lives of the people I want to have as a part of my life.
Yesterday, I actually called my very dear friend up on the phone. Like, out of the blue. JUST because. And I liked it. I really liked it. I felt spontaneous, and connected, and happy. And I know she felt the same.
Why don’t we use the phone more? Why is it so hard to call our friends, and even harder sometimes to call someone back once they’ve called you? Sometimes I feel like we’re so busy living our lives and emersed in what’s in front of our face that we easily forget those people we love the most. Those friends that made us who we are today. The ones who helped us, and laughed with us, and molded us.
I have lots of friends that I can say I love more than words, ones I can thank for turning me into the person I am, and I’d love to say I’m an amazing friend that calls to say thanks for being you, and hey!, and how are you?
I’m not exactly that friend, but I’m trying.
But I can promise you one thing– even though I’m not one to call much, I am that friend that thinks about her favorites often. And luckily, I’ve found good enough friends that even when lots of time has passed, and we haven’t talked or emailed, or texted– being together again after all that time, it’s like we never left each other.
The space between us is short, and the memories are long and good.
As the holidays grow closer and the year comes to an end, I’m thinking hard about the people that are important to me. Christmas letters are coming and a phone call is on it’s way. Because if there’s one thing I can give out to the people I love, it’s a friendly hello and a call to say I care. ♥
Have a lovely weekend, friends. Xo.
