New York, New York

Lauren and I just completed our annual New York City Adventure. We stayed at the Cambria Chelsea again this year and had another wonderful experience. It's so accessible from Union Station, and we can never get over the fact that we don't hear the usualy sirens and street noises in our rooms.

And there is the added bonus of getting to walk through the wholesale Flower District in the morning.

Our first afternoon we spent exploring the neighborhood adjacent to Thompkins Park Square … lots of used book stores & thrift stores to check out. And cool public art.

And some possibly unintentional art.

And of course we had to wander through The Strand … the best book store of all.

We enjoyed a Malaysian supper at Laut … we enjoyed the national dish of Malaysia Nasi Lemak … such a fun combination of flavors.

On Thursday, we did a 3 Museum Day … starting at the Basquait Exhibit at the Guggenheim … I never tire of being in the Frank Lloyd Wright space.

Next stop was Russ & Daughters for Smoked Fish … and a Chcolate Egg Cream in honor of my Mom (who always talked about them from childhoos) … sort of tasted like water Chocolate Milk, but now I can say I've tried one. And as always when you're with Lauren, we met some strangers at the table next to us and had a nice visit.

We finally had the chance to explore the Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum. By far our favorite experience was the interactive boards where you could draw your own wallpaper and have it projected on the walls.

There was no line, so we got to play twice. I couldn't decide which of these two were my favorite.

And of course, Lauren drew the best Mandalas.

After resting our feet for a bit, we headed to to The Museum at The Fashion Institute. First stop was the tribute to Michael Katz that was inside the lobby of the school itself. The vibrancy of his painted silk clothing was breath-taking … truly one of our favorite experiences of the trip.

In the FIT Museum there was an Exhibit on Paris Capital of Fashion.

And a second Exhibit called Minimalism/Maximalism … lots of fun fashion flashbacks … I miss my wide shouldered jackets from the 80s … and these awesome colors from Peter Max.

For supper we tried Pondicheri… and when we walked in the door and saw #livespicy we should have taken notice (we later translated the hashtag into #musthaveicecreamtocoolthefire). The flavors were delicious, but much two spicy for the two of us.

So our next stop was Kaylee's Creamery to cool off … Salted Caramel for Lauren … and Black Tea with Chocolate Toffee bits for me.

This morning before we headed out to New Jersey for our annual two-person art camp, I picked up a fun new pair of Danskos at Shoegasm … soft black leather wtih gorgeous silver floral designs on each side.