First time to NYC

So I finally made it to NYC and back in one piece, with the kids along for the ride (they made it back in one piece too!) and I had a total blast in NYC, and spent too much money on shoe’s (never shop with a toddler, you will buy something ridiculous due to distraction and frustration) I’m not sure why I have to keep learning that lesson over and over again.

My husband was speaking at a conference, so we hitched along for the ride. I loved the City and wish I had more time to explore. We made it to the Cloisters (part of the MET) and saw the Unicorn Tapestries (the set with the blue backgrounds), Central Park, Times Square (not what I thought it would be), Mood, Purl Soho and I was super happy to pass CHANEL and Anthropologie on my way out of Soho. Just for fun I got some black nail polish at CHANEL, and boggled over the $2,000 purses that seriously did not seem worth that amount, however I do feel all fancy with my little nail polish bottle and I must say I really loved their sunglasses (around $200-$500). I thought those might actually be worth the price, but the purses just seemed silly. Not knocking a good purse, I was just not impressed. NYC is about shopping and restaurants.


Cashmere wall in Mood

We found a tiny hidden bar in Hells Kitchen that is popular with the Broadway crowd, who knows, maybe the people in their with us were stars! I have no idea, but I do know the waitress thought we were idiots, she was totally shocked when I said I didn’t like the $12 Martini (I’m not a vodka or gin kinda girl) and asked for a margarita instead. Guess I’m just not classy enough for Broadway! 😀

Taking the girls was not nearly as hard as I think people imagined it would be, and I was actually really happy they came. I am sure I would have enjoyed myself more without them, but I really felt like they had a great time and loved being in the city. BG could have walked the streets of Manhatten for hours, and did. She got loads of blisters from it and still trotted on. A low moment would be after ridding the R train for nearly 30 minutes, we had to get off. She did not want to, and I had to haul her off so we wouldn’t miss our stop. She had a tantrum right there on the ground, tears streaming down her checks, mixed with the nasty black dirt from the ground as she rolled around. She was in a skirt and it rolled up to her hips during all the scuffle and there she was showing her diaper to the world, screams and all. That was certainly a low moment, but we managed and went on. I took her to a fun little Alice in Wonderland Tea house, and she got a pair of fairy wings (that she has not touched sense we got home, of course!).

She really loved walking, we even took a boat ride to see the State of Liberty, and they had a DJ (part of the conference) and a dance floor with lights and she danced the night away with her dad. LG had a great time too, she loved all the people, and sat back in her stroller and went to sleep anytime we walked more then a few blocks, she loved roaming around the hotel room and opening any drawers she could find (and somehow she always makes a bee-line for the under neath part of a toilet, which I will never understand).

One of the hotels we stayed at was right next to the WTC site, and BG loved watching the trucks move dirt to and fro, having no idea of any of the sadness that lay below.

I learned that given enough noise, people and entertainment, kids can make it through just about anything. They adapt quickly when given no other choice. My home is not very loud, drop a fork in the kitchen and seriously, it wakes the little one up. They were so exhausted and off schedule in NYC that they fell asleep any were there was an opportunity. Kids are resilient and flexible, if given the opportunity.

In a fancy restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen, we took both girls and BG entertained herself by moving a dozen skinny breadsticks in and out of her water goblet, and by transferring ice from one cup to another. My husband wanted to stop her, fearing it would annoy people. Yet there she sat quiet and contented, and really ice can only make so much of a mess on a table cloth. We left her alone and enjoyed a very nice meal, and eventually she ate some caesar salad and a bit of mashed potatoes.

It was a crazy 3 weeks with all that travel, and I am very happy to be home. I’m preparing for the trip to TNNA in June, and very excited about meeting so many of my online buddies for the first time, fellow designers, teachers, knitters and yarn geeks. After that I am seriously hoping for a nice slow end to the summer, with very little travel, and maybe a few picnics and pool visits thrown in for good measure.

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