Magnolia Bakery

On my way to the theater district, I decided to pick a few things up from the famous Magnolia Bakery. I have heard mixed reviews about the bakery, but two of my co-workers raved about it so I decided that I at least had to try it. My sister also recommended to me the banana pudding and it was incredible! It is like a trifle of a light banana whipped cream mousse, fresh banana slices, and cake pieces. I got their smallest container and me, even being the sweet tooth that I am, I had to eat it in two servings throughout the night. It was REALLY good though. I am lucky that I tried a sample of their red velvet cupcakes in the store because they were GROSS. The cake was dry and the frosting was too airy but I knew that I still had to try a cupcake so I had one of their daily specials- pumpkin with maple cream cheese. Due to the intense richness of the banana pudding, I had to eat the cupcake for breakfast and it was still DELICIOUS. The cake was moist with the perfect amount of cream cheese frosting. I was given one of their bags for my purchase as seen on the right, and I felt like a New Yorker (or at least a tourist in NYC :-) I had the bag with me at the theater and one of the usher's stopped me to tell me to rave about the bakery and how she had one of their cupcakes the other day. At least for me, the bakery did live up to the hype with my purchases, although Sprinkles still has my cupcake heart :-)

F.A.O. Schwartz

Following my visit to the Frick Collection (I stayed until the kicked me out), I still had some time before seeing Spiderman (William had been busy all day and night with work meetings and dinners) and there is no real quick way to head to Times Square and the theater district from that area so I walked back along 5th Avenue and Rockefeller Center. On my way, I stopped at the redesigned F.A.O. Schwartz and was blown away by what I saw there- particularly the prices. I loved it so much that I brought William back here on Saturday so that he could enjoy as well.

The grand entryway from the 2nd level.

You could get this complete Noah's Ark set with all of the stuffed animals for only $2,400.

I LOVE this giant puzzle globe! They have smaller ones for sale that include a display stand for when you have finished assembling it. I wonder what it would be like to assemble . . .

But, the Barbie section of the store was completely over the top. This is the special runway (below) that they have. It is mechanized so that when each Barbie reaches the top of the runway, the others stop and that one twirls around to show off her outfit.

But, truly the showpiece of the Barbie collection was . . . . wait for it . . . a BARBIE FOOSBALL TABLE. I thought that this was actually kind of morbid, like someone's little brother wanted to torture the Barbies by ripping off their arms and sticking poles through them but apparently this is a collector's item. Any guesses on how much it might cost?

I took a photo of the price tag because I knew that no one would believe me when I told them that this foosball table could be yours for $25,000.

The other section of the store that I thought was fun was a place where you could design your own Muppet. They have several different body bases and you choose all of the other features and they assemble it for you while you wait. It was at a more reasonable price of $100. Needless to say, while we enjoyed ourselves immensely at this store, we walked out of there with only these photos and our memories as evidence :-)

Frick Collection

The Frick Collection is one of the hidden GEMS of NYC museums. In all of my many visits to NYC over the years, I had never heard of it until reading about it in my 1,000 Places to See Before You Die book. It reminded me of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, though with fewer- though still impressive artifacts. Gardner Museum has artifacts EVERYWHERE you look while the Frick has them a little more spaced out, yet some REALLY impressive art.

The space itself is amazing- unfortunately, no photography allowed and their gift shop closes earlier than the museum (I didn't know that so I wasn't able to buy a book or any post cards- William was slightly relieved that I didn't buy yet another book :-) It was their actual home, though the cloister type courtyard was added when the museum was created. With the price of admission, you are given a free audio guide that provides commentary to many of the rooms and major works of art. Most of the art that was purchased during the lifetime of steel tycoon Henry Clay Frick and part of his will included stipulations for building a museum where his works of art could not be loaned out. I was stunned to see that that the collection has THREE Vermeer's including "Officer and Laughing Girl". There were also a Rembrandt, a few paintings by El Greco- my favorite being "Purification of the Temple", Goya- "The Forge", Velazquez, Hans Holbein's "Sir Thomas More" which the photo does not do justice for the amazing red velvet and the vivid green curtain in the background- one you definitely need to see in person, Constable, Gainsborough- particularly "The Mall in St. James' Park", and those are just the highlights. The museum also includes furniture, tapestries, sculptures, all within this incredible ambiance. This is a MUST SEE for art lovers.

Doughnut Planet

Just a few blocks away from the Tenement Museum was Doughnut Planet. I had heard about this place from several food blogs that I follow and it did not disappoint. I did not wait in line at all for my doughnuts- apparently there isn't much demand on a cold Thursday at noon but it is reported that the lines can be long on the weekends. And let me say that this place lives up to all of the hype. The creme brulee doughnut is THE BEST that I have ever had! It is pictured on the left and it is a yeast doughnut filled with a light custard creme and then the top is bruleed sugar which adds an amazing crunch and flavor. The tres leches one on the right was good, especially compared to your average doughnut, but it was nothing compared to the creme brulee one. The tres leches was a cake doughnut that was filled throughout with like sweetened condensed milk and then covered with a light glaze. It was extremely moist and delicious, but the creme brulee one is truly worth the excursion to the lower east side. I managed to eat my doughnuts in the shop since it was cold outside and not crowded but there is only a small informal seating area- a bench covered with little ceramic doughnuts (too bad I didn't take a photo of that). Even if you are not a doughnut fan, do not make a judgment until you have had a creme brulee doughnut from this place.

Tenement Museum

Following our overnight flight to NYC (I was happy I actually got a few hours sleep! William wasn't as lucky- we were in different rows), dropping our luggage off at our hotel- Fashion 26, we walked over to the Google office. I was able to get a visitors pass and have breakfast there. They had an interesting display of all of these old computers- it was great fun to listen to William and his co-worker reminisce about which machines were their first and favorites. I then headed off on my own to a place recommended to me by my dear friend Lisa was the one who recommended the New York Tenement Museum and she was right- it was really great! The museum is on the lower East side and you have to be part of a guided tour to even make it inside the building. I went on the first tour of the day- the 10:30 am tour entitled "The Moore's" which focused on the overall history of the building, along with a public health angle, of the life of an Irish family. The photo to the left is the actual museum at 97 Orchard. At the time these buildings were constructed, they were not the "ghetto" but one of the nicer working class neighborhoods. The conditions were still quite cramped with families sharing a 3 room apartment and common outhouse toilets in the back. This was actually one of the cleaner tenements since the landlords used to empty the drop toilets if they became too full. But you did have to schlep your water up and down possibly 4 flights of stairs. At the time, the Irish were on the lowest rung of the social ladder and the museum presented us with some traditional Irish folk songs that illustrated the troubles that they experienced first in Ireland and then living over here in the Tenements. Our guide was great and extremely knowledgeable, as well as passionate about the topic. I think that while this is definitely not one of the main tourist attractions, it provides a different view of what life was like for a good portion of New Yorker's.

Hoover Middle School Dance Competition

My youngest sister, Sarah, teaches dance at a Hoover Middle School and her kids had their first competition today. I was there for about 3 hours and watched 3 of their dances. I didn't get the first one on video- it was choreographed by her high school teacher's aide.

My sister choreographed this lyrical number. Very elegant and beautiful



Two of her dance officers choreographed this number- I was quite impressed with the number. It was fun and you could tell that the students definitely enjoyed performing it.




Way to go Sarah!! This is her first year teaching middle school at the competition level and I think that she did a great job! I'm lucky that I live in the area and am able to attend events like this :-)

Amano Chocolates

We are so disappointed that we will not be able to attend the International Chocolate Salon this year in San Francisco like we have the past couple of years, but unfortunately, this year it falls on a Sunday so we won't be attending :-( We discovered last year about Amano Artisan Chocolates at the Chocolate Salon and they are actually based in Orem, Utah. We decided to visit their factory store and were not disappointed. They offered several of their chocolate bars as well as their painted truffles. But, the real winner was their toffee. I am not usually a huge fan of toffee, but my mind has been changed after having some of their deliciousness. It was so light, not overly brittle and had the perfect texture, as well as a mild dark chocolate that enhanced the flavor. We bought one bag and I wish we could have bought another one. But, we are happy that we did buy a box of their truffles- we haven't finished them yet, but so far I have mainly enjoyed the key lime one. Check them out if you are in the area- if you are a chocolate fan, it is definitely one that cannot be missed.