‘Merry Chrispies and a Happy New York’
I had decided to hit NYC to look at the One of a Kind show there in it’s first year way back last year while doing the Chicago show. A not great year meant my other half and I couldn’t really afford the whiz bang trip we had planned and he had to stay home and work so when my friend Margot Miller asked if I wanted to go I jumped at it. She is a seasoned traveller and suggested the train out of Syracuse, a two hour drive from Kingston…. but oooooh so cheap! The five and a half hour trip seemed like a dream to me after two shows and party prep. Five hours to relax, snooze, work on my laptop, stare out the window. We prepared by my filling a thermos with soup and getting munchies from the bulk food store, some fruit and Margot made a huge salad. This meant we had a great lunch on the train wile watching the scenery roll by. It was so relaxing not to have the hassle of airports, screening, packing properly etc, then landing a $30 cab ride from your hotel! We had a five block walk from Penn Station.
We high tailed it over to the show on Pier 94 (memories of doing the NY Gift show with another artist back in the 80’s flooded back for me) and ran into all sorts of folk we knew. It was a small show, about 250 and high end like the Chicago show. We were there for VIP night and got the royal treatment including bubbly and snacks. The fashion show was great and we ran into Patty Stewart VP of the OOAK TO who Margot hadn’t seen in ages. We chatted and caught up our way around the show for two hours, then met up with friends Jeff and Susan Watson Ellis for a bite to eat.
We went to Five Napkin Burger for great eats. I had one of the biggest bowls of French onion soup while the others wrapped themselves around burgers. The atmosphere and food were great, getting a cab back to our hotel was difficult, Thursday night they were all full and whizzed by us standing on that cold, windy corner.
Here I am lost in a tiny room off to one side full of skeins of the different yarns Habu imports from Japan. Silver was one of them!
We made our way down to Soho to visit Purl, a knitting shop I keep seeing advertised in my Selvedge magazine. A tiny store with the usual lovely yarns but I was interested in the bits and pieces around the counter and on display. While Margot got lost in a Rowan magazine with pictures of England I poked through notions, accessories and all those wonderful things you find at any checkout counter. I came away with a Knit Kit and have never regretted it. I now have every tool I need when hand knitting (with the addition of a tapestry needle that I put in), all in one chic case, do check it out. I wanted the white with purple but was told they only make black now.
I discovered Margot eats more often than I need to so, at the recommendation of my Nurse Practitioner the week before, we sought out and hit Once Upon a Tart on Sullivan St (same street as Purl). We got a cup of tea (sorry, take out cups, now pots and china) and a delectable pear chocolate tart, yum!! There were pics on the wall taken over 100 years before when it was still a food establishment. Next door the deli take out part had great sandwiches we got a Goat Cheese sandwich to take on the train the next day… also yummy.
Here’s Margot lost in the fans I think. Note she is wearing my Noro knit shawl and got so many compliments I wore it the next day. It did look cool though, with her yellow purse and black leather jacket!
Well, we walked home that evening through Washington Square and saw the tree there. We later were invited to the National Arts Club by her old friend Ward who writes about the theatre and had to take off to do a webcast broadcast.
We hung out at the club and availed ourselves of the munchies being handed out and with a couple of glasses of wine. We had planned to head to Rockerfeller Center but decided to do it the next morning before our train. We did and the rest of the world was there.
We’ve decided that a hit of the Big Apple is necessary for artists and artisans. We visited FIT the following morning (we squeezed a lot in before our train at 3pm Saturday) and took in two wonderful exhibitions: American Beauty and Night and Day (with an instructor in tow by coincidence!). It had been too long since I was there and going with a girlfriend/colleague that likes to walk fast and loves the city streets on cold windy days is key!