Sea of Swatches

One of the things on our agenda in New York City was to go to Mood Fabrics and play around in the store and look at all kinds of fabrics. Now, not being a sewer, I thought this would be boring and something I really wouldn't enjoy much. I was wrong!

We spent about 1/2 a day in the "Garment district" and it was really fun! I love the picture above of the needle and button - so cute!

I just love looking around the corners to see what I would find next!

I really didn't know what Mood Fabrics was - but I was educated on the trip. It's the big fabric store that is featured on the TV show "Project Runway."

I have never in my life seen so much fabric, so many buttons, zippers and apparel experts! It was absolutely mind-boggling!

Here's me entertaining myself with the 'props'......

A 'wall o' zippers'......

I don't sew and I really don't need any fabric, but there were just so many cool things that I felt like I wanted to buy some!

A sea of buttons......

The experts at work....

And here's Mayce and I playing around before we left....

How It's Made

One of the 'insider' things we got to do as part of our tour/trip to NYC was a visit to one of the jewelry designers that have offices in the garment district. We visited Grinnell Designs and even got to meet the designer herself (the woman in the blue shirt below - her name is Pat)!

We got to ask her questions - anything we wanted to know at all, she was AWESOME. And then we got to buy some of her designs - things that were commissioned by a celebrity, a company or just anyone. These were the samples and we got to buy them for $10 each! HOLY CRAP!!

I bought a necklace and 2 pairs of earrings - and I got to meet the designer that thought up the concept!!

After meeting with the designer, we got to go back to their work rooms where her staff actually make the jewelry - from casting the shapes and making molds, to actually connecting all the pieces, welding, cleaning, etc. It was so interesting!

All kinds of different shapes, sizes and styles all over the place:

It was such a neat process to watch - we got to see commissioned jewelry being made right before our eyes!

And to think, all of this fancy pants jewelry is being handmade in this tiny little workroom....

This guy had magnifying glasses so he can do some detailed work on a piece....

This girl was welding parts together - right at her desk with a mini-welder....

And this was some sort of 'agitator' or jewelry cleaner - it goes in there and chemicals go in with the jewelry and that determines the finish on the pieces - shiny, matte, etc.

This was a great tour - an insider tour of a little jewelry design company!

A Stroll Through The Park

A visit to New York City just wouldn't be right without a walk through Central Park, right?? So even though the weather was still pretty wet and cold, we braved it to do just that!

It was beautiful in there and amazingly, you really couldn't hear the noises from the city once you were in there. They did a great job of urban planning to make the sound disappear while you are relaxing in the park.

The whole park just looked like a movie set because so many movies have filmed in there. The picture below definitely looks like the set for a movie - but since I'm kind of a movie-idiot, I wouldn't have the slightest clue which one!

We saw lots of doggies being walked in there - a dog-lovers dream! It made me miss my Maggie.....

Oh - I loved this - horse carriage rides through Central Park! We didn't take one, but how cool would that have been???

And of course, we had to visit the Strawberry Fields area dedicated to John Lennon who was shot and killed nearby.

Here's me at the fabulous mosaic that was made in his honor. I used to have a poster of this when I was in college. SO COOL!

Overall, I was very impressed with Central Park - very pretty and peaceful!

Tour Around Manhattan

While we were in NYC, we had an itinerary, but because of weather problems (the power went out at the Statue of Liberty during some storms, so they shut down the ferries for 2 days), our plan changed several times.

One benefit of those changes was that instead of more free time in Times Square (which we really didn't need), Christina and Tony (our bus driver) took us on a bus tour of some famous sights - different neighborhoods like SoHo, TriBeCa, Greenwich Village, etc. and she pointed out where all of the famous people live and where important events happened (where John Lennon was shot outside of the Dakota Building). I LOVED the bus part!!

Anyway, on a more somber note - here are some pictures of the Ground Zero site:

We didn't get a great view from the bus, but it was amazing. And I guess there's a building next to where the Towers were that is empty and looks half-torn down.....well, it is....and it still needs to be fully taken down because of the extensive damage from 9/11. The reason for the 9-year delay?? They are STILL FINDING BODIES IN THERE as they do demolition! WOW.

For one of the nights, we had dinner in Little Italy at a place called Puglia's. It's an old restaurant that has been in business since 1919!

It had great atmosphere and the servers and employees were all Italian - very authentic.

Some of you might've seen the video that I had on my facebook page with people waving their napkins to a song - this is a picture of that little ditty. It was a song that the 'entertainer' for the evening is known for - The Napkin Song. So cheesy, but so funny as well.

Here's my dinner - spaghetti wth A meatball, but a very LARGE meatball!

I just loved the atmosphere - a small, Italian joint in the middle of New York City - how perfect!

And here's Jorge, the entertainment for the evening. I guess he's pretty famous around NYC - even has a proclamation from the mayor!

Another part of the bus tour was a little jaunt through Harlem. Below is a picture of Spanish Harlem - only one part of Harlem.

The rest of the pictures below is just "regular" Harlem. I just couldn't help but sing the Jefferson's theme song while we drove through this area.

Apparently this is an up-and-coming area and even Bill Clinton has rented space for his offices in Harlem. It's getting trendy to live here.

And we drove by the famous Apollo Theater.....