Oh The Possibilities

Even before your bags are packed you can feel the excitement New York City has to offer.

This excitement can quickly turn into an overwhelming sense that there won't be enough time in the day to see, visit, and eat all that the city has to offer.

This sense isn't a figament of your imagination.

It really is overwhelming. 

And you won't be able to get it all in.  At least not in one trip.

After you hit all of the must-see tourist spots here are a few to add to your list.

Eataly on 5th Avenue. 

I'm not sure I can even describe this place. 

It's a market of all things kitchen and cooking. 

It is a grocery store of all things fresh. 

And if that isn't enough to peek your interest, there are several restaurants mixed in between all of that food shopping experience.

It's Mario Batali's vision of putting yummy and unusual things under one enormous roof.

I've never heard of a Pepino Melon but I wanted to eat one.

And then there's the Stand that has been on Jenna's list. 

I blame chef Michael Symon, who listed the marshmallow milkshake from the Stand on

 TV Food Networks "The Best Thing I Ever Ate."

The restaurant sits between Union Square and Greenwich Village and the real name is Stand4.

We went to the Stand for Jenna's birthday.

Jenna and I have a small "thing" for Michael Symon. 

Afterall, he is an Iron Chef. 

And although we've never tasted his food, we are sure he has good taste.

So, we dug in to hamburgers and fries.

They were good.

And then the anticipation of tasting the milkshake, Chef Symon's recommendation.

It was all a little bit overwhelming.

I should mention here that when he gave this particular milkshake as his pick it was for the Sugar Rush episode of the "Best Thing" and during the filming he drank three of these bad boys.

Scott wasn't sold on any of it.  He is a self-diagnosed food snob.

I'm a bit of one myself but Michael Symon pushes my food snobbery to the side.

Milkshakes can be amazing.

And this one didn't disappoint.

It was delicious.

It was a marshmallow milkshake that will never be forgotten.

The greatest part about the eating experiences in New York that differs from say, Los Angeles, is the mere fact that you can leave your hotel or apartment, walk a block, and be dining at a fantastic place.  

In LA you need to pick the place, get in your car, sit in traffic, and then be at a fantastic place. 

GiginoTrattoria was my pick for dinner one night.

It's in Tribeca and it has amazing food.

I had to hold back on taking too many pictures because our table was in the center of the restaurant and our server thought I was crazy.

So you get one picture of the place.

I think the woman sitting at the far table wearing the Santa hat was a little more spectical than I was.

Food.  Glorious food.

Because Snow is on Your Mind

The mere mention of rain in California, possibly turning into a bit of snow fall, reminds me of a post that has been written in my mind but not yet put in print.  Until now.

If you ever find yourself in a beautiful spot with the perfect snow this information will be useful to you.

I think I may have been deprived as a child.  I was never exposed to Twinkies, Cap'n Crunch Cereal, I thought it was an ostrich who went yodeling and I never, ever, was taught how to build a snowman.

Everyone must learn how to build a proper snowman or snow-woman, as the case may be.

 

We found ourselves in Central Park unable to ice-skate because of the hundreds of people standing in line.

Literally, hundreds of people.

We did the next best thing: throw snow at each and other surrounding people.

After a bit of messing around we got down to work.

I was stoked to build a snowman.  I sort of started packing snow around in a semi-round shape. 

 Not really having a vision of how the bottom of my snowman was going to magically turn into a ball, you know, like a round body with a round head, I looked around to see what other people were doing.

  Did people use tools to make the round shape?

Um, no.  David is just pushing a ball of snow around.

The snow was the perfect consistency.  Not too fluffy.  Not too icy.  It was perfect.

After seeing David I immediately stopped with my shenanigans.

I just stomped on the weird shape I had made.

Instead, I took pictures and threw snow at people.

Alec knew exactly what to do.

You start with a little snowball and the more you roll it around the bigger it gets.

Preferably roll it down a hill. 

Then, when the ball is super heavy and extremely large, you enlist other, much stronger people, to help you. 

A snowman must be graduated in size. 

The larger snowball on the bottom. 

A medium for the middle and a smaller-sized snowball for the head.

This is one of the heads.

After some packing and possibly repairing, you get two beautiful looking snow people. 

If you find yourself intimidated at all by the snow, you can just stand around watching other people play in the snow.  Eventually the people who learn how to build snowmen have to leave them.  Leave them in the park where they found them.  Leave them for the lazy bystanders to line up to have their picture taken with your snowman.  Possibly claiming it as their own.

It's okay. 

 I didn't throw snow at those people as we left.  We know the truth.

And now the seven people I was with that day know the truth too.

It was my first real snowman and snow woman building experience.

Happy Snow Day to you.

I Seriously Like What's on Your Head

In the words of P.D. Eastman:

 "Do you like my hat?"

"I do not."

There are hats and then there are hats.

The only time a Californian has an excuse for wearing a hat in the Winter is when they go to the snow.

Which of course is only 25 minutes away. (wink)

But seriously. 

 Hats can be a huge fashion statement.  We enjoyed walking past the various fashion statements everyday. 

These guys clearly knew I was taking their picture.  But I'm positive they were unaware of why I was capturing their beauty.  What are their hats saying to you?

A classic. 

This is my favorite one. It speaks volumes to me.

And if you notice the guy on the right doesn't have the same happy look.  It's the hat. 

Secretly wish I could wear 180s like these. 

Jenna told this guy that she really liked his hat.

She's brave and amused by me taking his picture. 

I captured a lot of fur donut hats like this one.  

We saw many sock monkey hats.

 So many in fact that we had to hunt one down on Canal Street for Jenna's head. 

Wow! That's a huge pom pom. 

No fashion here.  Just getting the job done. 

There's a funny thing that happens as a photographer.  As you are looking for that certain something or someone to take a picture of those somethings and someones usually just fall into your view.

Take for example this guy. What do you think he's looking at in his hand?

As I have him in my scope I realize that he's rolling a joint in the middle of Central Park.

Nice hat. 

There was a trend among the old and young to wear hats resembling animals. 

I'm not sure what the viking hat was all about but it made me laugh so hard when I saw it. 

Fluffy. 

When taking pictures of other people and their, shall we say uniqueness, sometimes it's just best to be stealth about it.  However, sometimes you get caught. 

This guy was pleasantly surprised I was taking a picture of him. 

I declined a ride on his guided surrey bike.

But I did tell him that I liked his hat. 

"Hello again.  And now do you like my hat?"

"I do. What a hat! I like it! I like that party hat!"

A Note About Your Coat

Winter in New York is cold.

One must take certain precautions to dress appropriately because the elements are brutal.

So, as you can imagine, packing for below average temperatures can be problematic for a family from California.  Problematic for the family who believes in wearing one hundred percent cotton and flip-flops.

Packing for Winter weather is big and bulky. 

I brought clothes for everyone to layer.

For example: a coat on top of a hoodie, the hoodie on top of a long sleeved shirt, the long sleeved shirt on top of a short sleeved shirt.... you get the idea. This is all topped off with a scarf, a hat and gloves.

There is a rumor that people who live on the East Coast have completely different wardrobes to take them from Summer into Winter. 

 And that these wardrobes are sometimes kept in storage units just waiting for the right season to emerge.

 This is clearly not a rumor.

It's obviously the size of the coats being warn that warrants a much larger closet than a Manhattan apartment allows.  By the dozens of animal fur we saw everyday it was glaringly obvious we weren't in California anymore.  And that some New Yorkers go for fashion and function over being politically correct for all of the animal lover's. 

Enjoy the warmth.

Some of these coats are clearly not real fur but desperately want to be. 

This is a real fur being worn by a real man. 

 Whatever works for you - cotton or fur.  It's necessary to bundle up.

And in the meantime, be aware your Winter fashion may or may not end up on a random blog.