Delicious Autumn!

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns." 
   George Eliot

Is there nothing better than sharing a special weekend with a very special friend?  As I’ve mentioned so many times, I am so blessed by the many Friends I am making in my new home town of NYC.  But, as that old song says that we sang a million years ago as Girl Scouts….”Old friends are gold…”

The Loeb Boathouse in Central Park

On that note, a dear Friend of the past 20 years whom I met decorating at the Milton High School All Night Graduation Party (which trained me for my one of my new “careers”!), came down to play on a picture perfect early Autumn weekend.  Arriving mid-morning on Friday, we sauntered over to my park.  Deciding to treat ourselves to The Loeb Boathouse for lunch (I had been saving that for a special occasion, what better time than this?!), we sat by the Lake for 2 hours sipping Prosecco and catching up.  Oh, was the wait ever worth it!  It was a perfect lunch on a perfect day in a perfect setting.  Does it get better than that? 

Dusk from the Boom Boom Room

Apparently yes!  Remember when I observed my new Boss teaching at the Standard West, a foo-foo hotel on the Highline?  Well, he got us a reservation in the Boom Boom Room for a sunset cocktail.  Oh, my, yet again.  It is not normally a “scene” I would like, or so I thought.  It is magnificent, with live jazz playing.  NYC expensive, but worth it for a special occasion.  I want to go back on a snowy afternoon for sunset and sit next to the fireplace again.  Thanks, Boss!

Saturday morning we had brunch with some NYC Ladies at a neighborhood Belgian Restaurant, Brasserie Magritte.  It was long, leisurely, and lovely.   That evening we headed to the theatre district to see a play that I got tickets at $4 each through my Theaterextras.   Billy Porter’s (Tony-winning star of Kinky Boots and Angels in America) play While I Yet Live which he touted as “..a love letter to my mother, my sister, and the women who raised me..” hit breathtakingly close to my home.  But, when my friend asked if I wanted to leave at intermission, I said no, as it was excellent.  I received one of the best compliments of my life after the play.  The final soliloquy was especially beautiful.  My friend said she had heard something similar once, from me!  (I am healing, thank God.)  We simply ended the weekend having a simple brunch at another neighborhood staple, Hi-Life.

Manhattan Cricket Club

One of my dearest friends in NYC, yet another gift from my Food Film Festival, invited myself and our Senior Producer from the FFF to a wine tasting at a restaurant he has a “piece of.”  Luckily for me it was directly across town from my Hx3 on the UWS.  Burke & Wills is a great little place, an Australian bistro, with great happy hours prices and food.  The wine tasting was held upstairs in a quasi-hidden room that is like a beautiful small library, and home to the Manhattan Cricket Club!  I will go back for a jazz/blues night.

A fellow Greeter-Guide and her Puppy

Getting my dog fix with Central Park’s Paws was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday at their annual Fair.  Unfortunately the weather wasn’t cooperative at the start of the day, but relented a bit to bring some people out.  Even on a rainy morning, my Park was beautiful in the early Autumn.  I’ve often said that I don’t need, nor want to be reincarnated, but if I were I wouldn’t mind coming back as a spoiled Puppy-head, especially in NYC, believe it or not.  Some of these NYC pups are better dressed than I ever could be!

From the Patio

From the living room.

Having enjoyed OHNY (Open House New York) last year, exploring some very cool spaces, I happily gave my time on a Sunday afternoon.  Oh, boy, I was not disappointed.  I got to spend the afternoon in an amazingly cool and beautiful space, a live/work Tribeca loft for Marpillero Pollak Architects, a very interesting and gracious couple.  God, I love finding hidden gems in my city!