Day 2 in NYC. We start the day...well I have to get everyone out of bed first...with breakfast at Annie's which was great and uneventful, went over to the FedEx Kinkos and sent our shopping loot home, and then started our day.
Off to Rockefeller Plaza where we watched the skaters on the ice rink and then went to the "Top of the Rock." What a great view of the Central Park and the Empire State Building. We could see the Statue of Liberty in the distance, but that is exactly what it was...distant. After getting a birds eye view of our surroundings we embarked on further adventures of SHOPPING.
Our first stop on 5th Avenue was at Saks where I visited the Trish McEvoy counter to pick up a few essentials and then over to Sissely to pickup my favorite perfume lotion and body wash...Eau du Soir. Valerie and Erin plant themselves in chairs and proceed to tell me that "we don't shop at counters like this." BULL Sh--T. They just didn't know what to ask for. Interestingly enough, the Sissely counter was demonstrating a new fragrance, Valerie fell in love with it and now she plan to go back and "visit" this counter to pick it up. Oh what a day makes.
After doing minimal damage at Saks, we then walked down/up (I can't figure out where I'm at) 5th Ave visiting St. John, Cartier, Louis Vitton, Nike Town, Trump Tower and Bergdoff Goodman. I'll tell you why New Yorkers stay relatively slim...they walk everywhere! Those city blocks make for a wonderful workout. It is definitely not a place to shop in heels though. After stopping in Cartier to look at the ring Valerie would like to get as an engagement ring (that is another long story), we made a side stop in Nike Town where I picked up a pair of shoes for Ron. On our way out, we saw the cutest walking shoes and boots. Val got the boots and I picked up the black & gray walking shoes. Decided to trade in the boots I was wearing for the walking shoes. Now I can keep up with Val hustling through the streets of NY. We stop in Trump Tower for a sugar fix at Starbucks and have to get a little assertive to gain some seats. I learned that "Sorry" is a universal language as we grab a table right from under the noses of a family from India. Saarrrrrieeeee.
I never knew that going to a public bathroom could be an experience until we decided that we could do better than standing in the VERY long line in Trump Towers by going across the street to Bergdoff Goodman. WOW!!!! Not only is Bergdoff the new stardard for power shopping (WOW!) but any other public bathroom is substandard compared to this. Even the Ritz Carlton has nothing on Bergdoff. An attendant, private stalls, wonderful products to wash your hands with (the milk scrub was absolutely divine), hand towels and more. It was well worth tipping the attendant. I am absolutely in love with this store.
Erin wanted to do some last minute shopping in a store that she could afford so we hop on the subway to go over to Macy's to find a little black dress for Erin. Valerie picks up a pretty red dress but, ALAS, it is not in her size (4), so instead of deciding to try the 6 - OH NO - she picks up the size 2. I said "Wow, Val, that's aggressive." In my head, I'm like BEEYACH! She's says,"Laugh if you want to - watch my smoke - I'm getting in this." And she did get in it - BEEYACH - but what you don't know is that she couldn't sit down, exhale or eat. It is not getting it on that is the problem, it's getting it off. After finding a cute little dress for Erin, we raced back to Val's to change for the dinner & theater.
We went to dinner at the Firebird Russian Room. It was great. Once again, we had wonderful food. Of course, we were the only black people in the entire restaurant. Doesn't anybody try different food - where are all the black people. Always makes me go Hmmmmm. After dinner we went to see The Color Purple. The play was well done and I just had to get the "Hell No" t-shirt. My new phrase for 2007. HELL NO!
After the play, we met a few friends of Val's at a hotel called Dream in their Ava lounge which overlooks Time Square - awesome view. We drink until about 2:00 am - whew! its been a long time since I hung out that late - and then went back to Val's to crash. Gonna take me a bit to recover. Another great day in New York City.
NYC Lessons Learned...
- FOCUS...on where you are going or you could easily get hit by a bus or white panel truck. Yeah it almost happened as I look around like a tourist crossing the street.
- You can walk yourself thin.
- Saks sucks - Bergdoff rocks
- There is such thing as a wonderful public bathroom
- You can get awesome theater tickets 5 minutes before the show.