Leaving Warwick for the big city was a bit of a dismal exercise: everywhere we looked was foggy and grey. Here’s a good example of what I mean…would you believe this isn’t a black and white photo?
There was literally nothing to see except rain, fog….and heaps of traffic cones.
I’m skipping ahead a couple of chapters here (over the awesome hotel we stayed in and the National Stationery Show, both of which will get their own posts) to the next morning, when the weather miraculously cleared up somewhat and I was granted a Perfect Day.
It started over an early lunch with a dear friend, and escalated into a dreamy tour of the Ralph Lauren flagship store…at which we were very, very tempted to not leave. Ever.
When we finally dragged ourselves out of the store (after collecting my embarrassingly messy golf umbrella which had been, while I’d been gawking around, neatly folded and buckled up by an improbably-handsome doorman) the sun appeared just in time for our favourite sport: brownstone stalking.
On a whim, Adam and I decided to head to The Frick Collection where – would you believe our luck? – there was a Rembrandt exhibition on. Obviously there were no photos allowed inside, but the building exterior made for some gorgeous snaps as well.
There’s something so magical about private, walled gardens…even when they belong to a museum.
Buoyed by our luck at The Frick, the appropriate follow-up was obviously to window shop our way down Madison Avenue. To the relief of my wallet, the only thing we came away with was this photo of the fantastic door handles at Chloe. Is it weird that I know the exact store in Bangkok to get these duplicated at?
The crack of sun through the clouds meant that everyone was out walking their dogs and occasionally popping into stores with them.
I so wish there was a better dog culture in Singapore. If there’s one thing I miss about living in North America, it’s that I almost never had to leave Dolce at home. (I’m not exaggerating. He attended all my college classes with me!) Anyway, just as we’d left the last good store on the strip, we stumbled onto a sign advertising a public installation by Ai Wei Wei which just happened to be on across the street from where we were. How’s that for luck?
It was a 12-sculpture display of the Chinese Zodiac animals – each incredibly detailed and beautifully expressive.
You can click on this one to zoom in.
After I’d taken all the photos I needed for my panorama, we walked along central park for a while….
…and ended up at Magnolia Bakery for chocolate cupcakes, Adam’s NYC must-have.
I don’t think we could have had a better, more satisfying day if we’d planned it. My only, very small complaint? My feet were sore to the touch for an entire day after…despite shamelessly wearing UGGS in a Louboutin zone.
Ralph Lauren store photos from here and here (all other photos by Adam and I).
