Dancing in the Rain

There aren't many places that can rival the wonder that is Central Park.

At every turn, you find another lovely thing to enjoy or discover.

Another interesting person to observe.

I love this fountain. Probably my favorite thing in the park.

It just feels like New York to me. I'm guessing from the heart someone drew on

the column next to it, that I'm not the only one who adores this place.

I love sitting here and people-watching.

You'll find a lot of little Jackies in these photos. Sort of a Where's Waldo...

The last time I saw this lake was when we ate at the Boathouse for lunch a couple of years ago.

It  was frozen over. I really love seeing the park come alive with Spring.

I loved seeing the people rowing boats on the lake.

I wanted to rent a boat but a certain someone didn't feel like it...

We spent the morning wandering around the park. Drinking it all in.

I intended on having a picnic there, we even stopped to buy coffee and croissants for

the occasion. But we had a lunch reservation at Jean-Georges that we really

didn't want to miss. I'll say freely that I'm a big Gossip Girl fan. I've loved the

show since the first season and have watched every episode. I've gotten

quite a few restaurant and location-to-visit ideas from the show and this

restaurant was one of them. The view of Central Park from

our lunch table alone was breath-taking and worth the trip

and the food was extremely good. I would definitely go back here.

 

 

Interesting little tidbit:

When we went to Gramercy Tavern the night before, we ran into an older lady.

Clearly a rich woman, she was buying her grandsons dinner the night before

and wouldn't you know it, we were sitting next to her again at Jean-Georges

where she was brunching with her granddaughters. I thought it was pretty cool to run into the

same person twice in two days in such a big city with so many restaurant options!

One thing I absolutely wanted to do while I was on this whirlwind trip
was to cross another item off the Bucket List... and I did it, # 94 CHECK!!

Wouldn't you know it, as soon as we started our
trek across the Brooklyn Bridge it started to rain.

I didn't care though.

Walking across the bridge.

This photo was taken after I made Jaclyne dance in the rain with me.

I always throw around the quote about life not being about waiting

for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain. But I had never,

ever taken the time or even thought to actually dance in the rain. Until now.

It wasn't a flash mob or anything extravagant. A booty shake and a twirl and

a belly laugh like I havent had in a long time. It felt good.

 This trip was a dance in the rain trip. I had a million things to do at home

that probably should have come before going to the Oprah show in NY.

But amidst the storm, dancing in the rain and seizing this opportunity

felt really good and I am beyond glad that I did it.

Even the flowers in Brooklyn were beautiful.

I had only ventured into Brooklyn once before, for pizza if you can believe that.

It was scarier in my mind than it was in person for some reason. It's beautiful there.

It's not Manhattan, but that's what made it appealing. The unique little shops and the

old brick buildings were beautiful in their own right...

Even the graffiti was cool to look at.

We made our way down to the hidden gem, The River Cafe.

It's a little pretentious in there but gorgeous by all means of the word.

This is what you walk into when you enter the restaurant!!

Suits and ties were required but we sat in the less fancy 

covered patio to enjoy drinks and light appetizers.

 That moment will always stay with me.

We sat on the river. In front of us was a movie-like view

of the NY Skyline. If I looked slightly to the left, there stood the

Statue of Liberty.  Above us, the constant drum of the rainfall, mixed

with the buzz I had from the wine made me really feel the moment.

I felt alive.

Our view

My slight left. Jaclyne had to tell me to stop saying, "I'm sitting here, having wine, just chillin'

with the statue of liberty. I cant believe it..." But I kept saying it, because really, how often

does one get to have a drink and enjoy looking at Lady Liberty at the same time??

I love this shot and my drunken self was quite proud of it...lol.

There's me and J on the big screen in Times Square!!

This poor guy had a really crappy job of delivering a ton of balloons on a really windy day.

It made us laugh.

I love NY. If you've never been, GO. Run. You're welcome.

Next up, Oprah, Martha and the SuperNanny...

What a combo, huh?