In the city.

5/3/10: see correction below in italics

I only live a 40 minute train ride from Manhattan, but now that I don't work in the city I try to pack a load of things into any day I spend there. I definitely followed that credo yesterday!

It was a beautiful, if extremely windy, day--thank goodness I had leggings on under the dress I wore...otherwise I would have been giving a bit of a peep show to all the other people on the streets!

So, anyway, I started my day out at the Met. My plan had been to see the Victorian Photocollage exhibition, which I did, and then head my way downtown. But I ended up also seeing the exhibition of the Belles Heures and The Mourners. And a good thing I did; both were incredible! I want to see the Starn twins' Big Bambú but it can wait until my next visit, when I see the Costume Institute's new exhibition. Sorry, no photos; photography wasn't allowed in any of the exhibitions I saw. Oh, hey--I can post a pic from a previous visit to the museum:


On my walk back to the Lexington Ave. subway line I stopped in to Sant Ambroeus on Madison for some gianduja and caramel gelato, which I savored while sitting on the bench outside the restaurant, counting all the chauffeur-driven black Town Cars and SUVs trying to avoid getting tickets for double parking while their passengers were inside eating lunch or picking up a treat. The Upper East Side of Manhattan is really a world unto its own. A VERY wealthy world which I like to visit every once in a while.

Isn't this an amazing logo? It's so retro and so Italian:


Then it was on to Metalliferous in midtown, to stock up on more supplies for my Etsy merchandise, plus some new goodies. I could (and have) spend hours digging through the thousands of bins they have of all kinds of findings, charms, chains, and trinkets... it is such an inspiring place! And the staff there are so nice and helpful too.

Once again, back on the subway, this time the W train to the Prince Street stop. My main purpose of this portion of the day was a pilgrimage to the brand new Purl Soho store on Broome Street. And boy oh boy, was it worth the trip! I was in heaven... the prospect of so many potential projects was overwhelming. I have yet to work on any bigger sewing projects--I'm afraid to commit, to make that first cut in the fabric I want to use, but if I can ever get over my commitment issues Purl is the place that will help. They have such an array of amazing textiles: cottons, oilcloths, those gorgeous Liberty prints, linens, felted wool... just looking around at the colorful bolts was an experience. I do know I will be back to buy some beautiful yarns when I am ready to work on some colder weather knitting projects, though.

Besides being a beautiful place to wander around and find inspiration, the employees at Purl are all so lovely and happy to offer any advice you may need on your crafting. I can't recommend the store highly enough, and I know from the hundreds of posts I've seen on other sites that I am not alone. I was also pretty flattered that (corrected) Page, one of the owners, actually remembered me from the Martha Stewart Holiday Craft Sale in December! I really thought she must have confused me with someone else--after all, she must have met hundreds of people that day--but she reassured me that no, it was me. She even remembered the necklace I made (just seen in these photos) that I wore that day! Suffice it to say, I was more than a little flattered :)

Two quick photos I snapped with the okay of the Purl staffers:



Two of the ladies at Purl were wearing gorgeously simple earrings that I recognized as being by Ted Muehling and they mentioned that his shop was only a few block away. I had always wanted to see more of his work, so I headed over and spent a bit of time drooling over all the beautiful jewelry by Muehling as well as a nice group of pieces by Gabriella Kiss. I dreamt that I was the customer who was trying to choose one of several necklaces her husband was going to get for her and picking up a pair of earrings for one of her daughters as well. It must be nice!

photo from Ted Muehling website

photo of Gabriella Kiss jewelry from Quadrum Gallery website

A few more quick stops into Madewell, Muji, Pearl River Mart, and Uniqlo before my feet screamed at me that they had had enough. One final subway ride back to Herald Square, then it was back to Penn Station for my train ride home. I am nursing several blisters from my normally comfortable oxfords (not patent like these, though), but it was so worth it. Whew! What a day. I'm tired from just blogging about it!

An excellent day, indeed. Oh, and did I mention that I saw Hamish Bowles not once, but twice when heading into the Met? I'm guessing he was involved in some final preparations for the Costume Institute Gala on Monday.

Broken record time: Don't forget to enter the giveaway! The deadline has been extended to Monday, May 3rd at 9:00 p.m. EST. Enter! Enter! You have nothing to lose!