New York In January

I was in NYC for five days in January. Here a few images from my wintry adventure.
The approach to the Queensboro bridge. I actually meant to be going west instead of east but the view of the bridge was worth the extra walk.The photo was taken a day or two before Mayor Koch passed away.
 

Once I was headed in the right direction I came to the Plaza Hotel with its wonderful architectural details. Did not see Eloise. 

Near the Plaza is the charming Paris Theatre. I saw the movie Quartet there, which is also charming. 

I walked down Central Park South. The view into the park was a wintry delight but the walking was a bit slippery. 

Heading towards Columbus Circle. Love the shades of gray with the green and gold. 

Columbus watching over his Circle. 

 

The hotel where I stayed is in Chinatown Lots of glorious Asian details and a very busy place. 

 

 

The police department building in SOHO. I'm trying to figure out if it is still used by the police department or if it has been renovated into residential spaces. Either way a beautiful building.
Being in NYC was wonderful. I had a great wintry excursion.

NYC Window Shopping

I was in NYC for a few days and covered a lot of ground. I thought a good way to share some of what I saw would be through window shopping, a near perfect past time, big on inspiration and low on cost. My first stop was ABC Home and Carpet on Broadway at 19th St.

ABC Home is styling heaven. They do such an amazing job starting with the display windows. They are great at mixing new and vintage.

Love the crisp white with the berry red rug. 

 

Even the sale signs are fun and creative.
 

 

Then it was on to Bloomingdales and Louis Vuitton where the windows are imaginative and chic.

Betty Boop and Lancome make a charming, whimsical marketing team.

 

 

The Chinese year of the snake makes an appearance in this Bloomingdale window.
More creativity and energy from LV. 

Bloomingdale's windows on Third Ave all belong to Scalamandre and their new line of dinner ware.
The dinnerware is made by Lenox, sold by Bloomindales and features fabric patterns from Scalamandre. The first pattern is a Chinoiserie toile in brown.
So Beautiful.
 

 

Next is the striking Stravagante pattern. 

More of the toile. 

 

The iconic zebras make a stunning table setting. 

The charming stemmed floral pattern, Bouvier.  

The soft and lovely Love Birds. 

The entry to the Scalamandre showroom on Third Ave and the display windows on either side. 

 

Later that day... the windows of Bergdorf

Love the yellow, the mix and the arrangement of it all.

Bright and beautiful on a cold winter night.

The next day I was in Soho. The windows are from a print/graphic design shop.
Amazing

That's all for now.
Enjoy

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

I just returned from a trip to Charlotte NC. I was visiting a friend. I also feel I made a new friend, Charlotte herself. What a charming and friendly town. Charlotte has a beautiful downtown area with an amazing greenway running through it for walking, running, biking or just hanging out. Public spaces are wonderful, green, artsy and plentiful.
Charlotte's location is kind of great too. There are a lot great towns and places to visit that are only an hour or two drive away.
The weather was steamy while I was there, 100's most days, it was steamy almost everywhere that week. There was still plenty to do and I discovered the secret to summer happiness, wear a hat...

This charming park is near downtown and is part of the greenway winding through the city.

A beautiful cityscape.

The path through the park is lined with birdhouses constructed with cement and decorated with bits of plates, cups, shells and whatever else worked for that particular creation.

Love the pink rose on this one.

The house seems to be an ode to MacKenzie- Childs.

The park is a great mix of form, function and creativity.

A nearby neighborhood was filled with wonderful restored homes. This neutral color palette is stunning.

The front yard garden scape is perfect for this house.

Love these colors. Wonderful details

Great scale and proportion.

Cobalt blue, now that is color confidence. Wish I could have seen the interiors.

On a day trip we went to Blowing Rock. Great views and a charming, friendly town.

I don't know who lives here, but I would like to look out their windows.

It was a beautiful day.

This is a section of the greenway winding through downtown (uptown?) Charlotte.

Another day we went to Gold Hill NC, a small town that is a combination of old time and artsy.

These buildings are the shops and studios of local artisans. I'd like to go back to Gold Hill for the amazing Fall Festival they have each year.

Quaint, rustic, appreciated...  I had a great summer vacation.

I found Charlotte and the towns of North Carolina to be charming, friendly and interesting. I would definitely go back.