more travels

took my final mini-break of the summer this past weekend. i attended a workshop in new haven, CT on friday, and then hopped a commuter train back to new york to stay with good friend martha and her boyfriend, thomas. being my first time in the city and all, i was treated to a very exciting two days of walking past famous/notorious restaurants. on the list: pastis, babbo (one of mario batali's), per se (one of thomas keller's), masa, jean-georges (i.e., vongerichten), and spice market (also belonging to j-g vongerichten). apart from this culinary landmark-spotting (or as thomas put it, gastric tourism), i adored the architecture and feel of the brownstones in chelsea and the west village, the sense that everyone walking down the street is on their way to doing something Incredibly Important, the tendency to relax on the front stoop of your walk-up with the morning paper and a starbucks as the garbage trucks and yellow cabs whip by, and all the boys dressed in their nice clothes. apart from chelsea, where i spent the few nights, i got to see park slope in brooklyn, where my other good friend anna is hanging out in a gorgeous studio/loft for the summer. sunday was spent lying around in the grass in central park, attempting the NY times crossword.



and now, back to work.