Notes From The Road: NYC

I’m spending six weeks traveling through Ireland/Sweden/Poland/Iceland/NYC visiting friends and clients and bakeries. You can read about past travel adventures here or learn how I manage long-term solo travel here and here.

orange dress in top photo c/o Lily and Violet


Oh, New York.  You charmer!  You really pulled out all the stops this time, didn’t you?

I quite like New York City. But this trip?  I loooooooved it. My college roommate lives in Manhattan with her charming husband and two awesomely snurffling dogs, so any time I spend there is sure to be stuffed with great conversation, amazing food, and poking through boutiques we can’t afford.

And it’s always lovely!

But for some reason, this time was nigh-on perfection.

Blue sky days.  $22 mani/pedis.  Bagels and Pinkberry and Shake Shack and pretzel croissants and roasted Mexican corn.  Pawing through Kate Spade bags.  Emma Watson spotting.  Dean and Deluca deli treats.  Eves-dropping in the Jonathan Adler store (Mom to 9-year-old “When we redo your room, do you want this footstool in blue or yellow?” Said footstool was $700.) Reading F. Scott Fitzgerald in the park.  Watching rollerdancers on the sidewalk.  Seeing my NZ bestie not once – but twice!  Drinking limencello on a 23rd floor rooftop.  Dancing to 90s era Whitney Houston in a hipster basement club.  Being mistaken for a local (it never gets old!). Strolling through the High Line at night.

I’m not sure that I could ever live in New York long term, but gosh it’s lovely.

Have you ever been to New York?  What do you love/hate about it?

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19 Comments

  1. auroralapetite

    You look amazing in that orange dress, Sarah. The colour is stunning.

  2. lindsaymarie

    i'm glad you enjoyed! i've lived in new york for a little more than 3 years now. i love that there are so many choices for amazing food, so much to do (in 3+years, i still have only been to 3 museums – i must make this a priority!), and the fact that people here, in my experience, seem to be pretty ambitious. people who come here usually do so to become better at whatever it is they do, and it's not an easy place to live so you have to do it deliberately. this also can be a downfall, as it took me a while to not feel guilty about taking a day or weekend every so often to just relax, and not brunch-and-then-a-movie-and-then-this-event-and-maybe-stop-by-a-show because it's new york, and one stereotype that is true is that people are always GOING. now, on an average weekend, i don't leave brooklyn and instead of running around town, enjoy a walk to the farmer's market, a beer on the balcony, and some homemade food.

  3. Sarah Von Bargen

    Auroralapetite,

    Thanks so much! It's extra awesome because it has an elastic waist and is incredibly comfortable 😉

  4. Stefan, Sarah and Lukka

    I went there in high school with a number of my friends, and loved it. I wanted to buy a book about NYC by a New York author and ended up, with "The Happy Hooker". ha!

    Sarah M

  5. Ashley Wilhite

    Like I said on twitter, thank you for introducing me to these gorgeous (and comfortable!) dresses. I can't stop looking at their website. So pretty!

    I lived in NYC for 2.5 years for grad school and would have stayed another year if I had found a job. Unfortunately, that didn't happen, so I moved back home to Texas. Of course, I don't miss the lack of air conditioning in the Big Apple, but the energy and life in that city totally make up for it. 🙂 My favorite thing to do was spend Sunday afternoon sitting in Central Park, reading and people watching. It never got old.

  6. margosita

    Where did you get that awesome dress? I'd like to know, too (so cute)!

    I've been to NYC a few times, to visit friends in college and on a weekend when I was living Upstate. It always feels like as soon as I get comfortable, I have to leave. But I've also somehow always had nice weather and good luck in the city.

    And everything they say about the bagels is true!

  7. Anonymous

    I've only been to NYC twice, but both times I loved it. I knew by my teen years that I wanted a city life as opposed to a suburban/medium-sized-town one, so I moved to Chicago 7 years ago.
    Chicago's a very, very manageable-sized city – walkable, yet drivable too, if you need to drive. Every time my family members visit, I am reminded of things I love about it that they don't necessarily like, coming from car-oriented suburbs — buses and trains to get you everywhere, a nice twenty-minute walk to dinner, sometimes-narrow and sometimes-wide sidewalks, lots of motion and maneuvering between pedestrians and cyclists. The beers, artisan burgers, and stage tickets can get expensive quickly, but for me, all of these are fair trade-offs when faced with a pretty skyline, lakefront hangouts, Milwaukee Ave, Clark St, and South Halsted.
    In my mind, New York is like Chicago on steroids and multiplied by a thousand. That's why I want to visit more often. But I also know the window has closed on me moving there. I love my new hometown too much.

  8. Jackie

    Love your dress and your photos! I just got back from a trip to NYC myself, and I share your sentiments. It might be hard to live there long-term, but there are few better cities to spend a long weekend in. Sounds like you made the most of it! Did you get the pretzel croissant at City Bakery?

  9. Abigail

    That is such a fabulous photo of you! And your observation of the 9-year-old in Jonathan Adler is priceless.

  10. Katy Cousins

    Firstly that dress looks FIT! Amazing colour on you.

    I spent a few weeks staying with a friend in Brooklyn at the start of my RTW trip and I loved NYC. I think you'd have to be dead in the soul not to. The best thing was the unpredictability. I'd be all, 'Lets just have one drink and then head' and somehow it'd suddenly be 5am and we're watching the sunrise from a roof garden in Tribeca/eating pizza in the park/giggling over the last round of cocktails with some awesome women we just met and in between having a million conversations with a million different people from all over. Just amazing.

    The worst – the insane street harassment. I'm actually going to write about it, because it was so, so much worse than anything I've ever experienced in London and it definitely started to get to me. You should be able to traverse a city without multiple instances of sexual harassment. Eugh.

  11. Sarah Von Bargen

    Katy,

    You're totally right – on both counts! It really does feel like a place where anything can happen 🙂

  12. Rachael

    Your post and pictures have me excited because I am heading to NYC for my first trip there as a grown up! Just a few more weeks now 🙂
    Love the picture of you in the orange dress, so lovely!

  13. Renée

    I lived in upstate New York during college and it was a nice escape to visit the city. I love just how much there is to do and see in New York – you never run out of adventures!
    That said, having been born in Oregon and raised in Idaho I definitely need my SPACE. That many people on that small of an island is terrifying.

  14. Our Dear Lady Expatriate

    I feel so silly to have traveled through a lot of Asia, and yet I've never made it to NYC, which is only a few hours away from my hometown of Toronto! Ridiculous, really.

    I'm so curious – what F. Scott Fitzgerald were you reading? I've added it to my list of birthday goals to read all of his books by next year. Actually, I mentioned you in my birthday goals post as one of the inspirations! Here's the link if you have time to check it out, Sarah. It would be such a lovely birthday present to know you visited my blog!
    http://ourdearladyexpatriate.blogspot.com/2012/09/26-adventures-to-keep-party-going.html

    Cheers, my dear!

  15. Sarah Von Bargen

    ODLE,

    I was reading a collection of FSF's short stories. I think I was reading the one about a diamond as big as the Ritz? Super creepy!

    And thanks so much for the link love!

  16. Kaileigh

    I'm going back to New York in November and I can't wait. It's my favorite city – hands down. I'm looking forward to some delicious pizza. And that dress you have on in the first picture looks amazing on you!

  17. Rachel

    oh no…now I need to go back to New York. I spent nearly every summer there growing up and many a thanksgiving or christmas as well. Bagels, my grandpas jazz band, the subway, central park and all the great museums…gosh I miss it all. It's been too long, nearly eight years now, since I've been back.

  18. Cassie

    goodness sakes. you've got me longing for a nyc blast of a time! my bestie lives there. we went there on our honeymoon. we need to go back, stat!

    hope you're having a great time during your travels!

    x

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