new york city.

new york greeted me with a swift kick in the face. longest ever passport control line, rude taxi driver, terrible afternoon traffic (no joke, was trapped in the lincoln tunnel for at least 30 minutes). by the time i lugged my huge suitcase into my hotel lobby i was already over it. how did i ever love this city?! 

one hour later i was wandering through madison square park, on my way to ABC carpet & home, with a fresh 15 dollar manicure and a huge smile on my face. seriously, we have to figure out a way to move back here. 

that’s new york city. one minute you’re standing in the rain, trying to hail a cab while juggling your handbag, an umbrella and a bursting bag of groceries, and hating every minute. the next you’re skip-walking through the upper west side, an iced latte in one hand and a barney’s co-op bag in the other, on your way to meet friends for brunch. the best city in the world!

i was in nyc last week for work, attending a conference. i didn’t have a ton of play time (sadly), but i managed to squeeze a few hours of fun into my four days. lordy, i love this city.

in my limited free time i walked & walked and then walked a bit more. the conference was held in the hyatt at grand central station, and my hotel was a straight shot west. so each morning i would walk past the new york times building, through bryant park, and wave hello to the empire state building to my right and the chrysler building straight ahead. it never, never gets old standing in a beautiful green park smack in the middle of this crazy, loud, bustling city.

i popped into grand central during one of the lunch breaks, and was reminded of how amazing and busy and beautiful this building is. the past few times i’ve been there it was to catch the metro north train up to CT to visit my sweet friend megan. on those occasions i was always rushing, always in a hurry, so i rarely took a moment to pause and take it all in. it’s really breathtaking. i sadly wasn’t able to make it up to CT this trip, but was so very grateful that megan made the trip into the city for dinner one night. such a treat to see her face and catch up. as always, we talked and talked and ended the evening with tasti d lite and a tearful hug. missing you, friend.

i avoided the west village, knowing i wouldn’t be able to resist the allure of a magnolia cupcake (or, even more dangerous, the marc jacobs store). so imagine my dismay (and delight!) to happen upon a magnolia cupcake shop at bloomingdales! who knew?! one vanilla cupcake + choc frosting = bliss. heaven. more, please.

an amazing surprise and coincidence was the arrival of one of my dear friends from home, kylie! she, too, was in nyc for work, and miracle upon miracle, we arrived on the same day and were staying in hotels on the same block. amaze-balls! it was the BEST unexpected gift to get a chance to see her. we grabbed a quick & noisy dinner our first night in town, and then met up again for breakfast at pastis on our last day in the city. pastis + a quick wander through the meatpacking district + bagel with lox (SO FREAKING GOOD) + sweet conversation with a sweet friend = lovely. so lovely.

i had a couple of hours on my last day before heading back to the airport, so i did a quick  whirlwind tour of some of my fave manhattan spots. the high line for a quick walk and a “hey, old friend!” wave to the hudson river. a ride on the 1 train up to my old ‘hood – i hopped off at columbus circle, walked across central park south and popped into FAO to buy a little something for the chicklets. i had a few minutes to spare before heading back to the hotel to catch my cab, so i indulged in 10 minutes at my favorite bookstore (assouline) in the plaza hotel. if only i had a bigger suitcase (or actually, a bigger apartment!) to bring all of these treasures home. i was super greedy and wanted EVERY SINGLE THING!!

this trip was super nostalgic for me. i guess it’s because we now live so far away, but my head and heart were filled with so many memories of the three years that wen & i lived there. during a cab ride i was thinking about the hundreds (or more?) of times i said, “turn left at 64th, please” when returning home to our apartment. sitting on the train i was remembering the summer that i was pregnant with piper, and i gave myself a mini high-five for being such a trooper and braving the train and the heat and the crowds, even when i was a huge beast of a pregnant girl. at columbus circle i thought about how wen & i used to say goodbye there every morning, him off to work and me off to a quick workout at equinox.

those were 3 amazing years.

they went by SO very fast. i wish i could rewind and do them all over again. if i could be guaranteed that we would end up in this exact same spot, i would totally go back to october 2004 and live those 3 (and the following 5!) years again, minute by minute. they weren’t perfect, but they were filled with adventure and growth and it was really where mr maxey and i learned how to be adults (well, sort of. we’re still trying to figure it out).

anyway, it was good stuff. both then and now. new york … a helluva town.

that said, i can’t tell you how happy i am to be back in our lovely apartment in nuremberg. sending much love from germany.