NYC 6-25

Sometimes life throws funny little things one's way. Not long ago my friend Amanda (who lives in Idaho) came out to Vancouver (the town next to where I live) to help her friend Alison (who lives in Rhode Island) with her art installation as the artist in residence at Clark College.

I was lucky to get to spend time with the two of them when they were in town, and even luckier that Alison and her family live within easy travel distance of New York, a city they have lived in and are in the process of moving back to. And so it happened that our third day of our NYC adventure was spent with Peter and Alison Owen. Shaun knew Peter a bit from the Biola days, but only just barely. Isn't it nice when people are willing to take a chance on you?

Shaun and I slept in frightfully late and met up with the Owens in the afternoon. We took a stroll through a corner of Central Park before Peter's sister came to pick up their (delightful) son Mac for the night. Then we went our separate ways, the girls to do girl things and the boys to do boy things.

Central Park peek.

Girl things: We visited the Union Square Greenmarket, where we bought apples, sugar snap peas, and apple cider doughnuts. Before eating any of that, we decided we needed a real lunch after all, and stopped for a falafel sandwich. We visited an honest-to-goodness thrift store (ten degrees hotter than it was on the street, which was really hot) and then some to-die-for "thrift" stores that consisted of carefully selected collections of vintage clothes, prints, paintings, furniture, and what-not. I have not ever encountered exactly that kind of shop in any of the states I've lived in. It was pretty much my ideal retail environment. I should have taken notes on their names, because I know some of them sell their things auction-style online. Perhaps Alison will be kind enough to chime in on the comments.

We also stopped by the uber-famous ABC Carpet & Home (the home part), which did not disappoint. Such a prosaic name for such a magical place. And they have heart-stoppingly beautiful jewelry. Who knew?

The boys: They walked furiously through most of the neighborhoods in the southern half of Manhattan, stopping in at several bars along the way. Peter's day job is bartender, so, obviously, their outing had a strong bent towards research. I'm not posting Shaun's pictures from his walk, so please bug him to do so.

After a few hours of fun, we all met up again in Brooklyn. Where we had more fun. Can't you tell?

I think the Brooklynites are on to something...after all, they're the ones with the best views of Manhattan.

We girls were so good. Here's Alison showing us her one purchase of the day. And I didn't get anything.

We roamed the streets for a bit, trying to think of a place that had outside seating and wasn't too fancy or far away. As we walked, we happened upon a place that looked like a bit of a pit, but the sign outside said that the rooftop was open.

We soon found ourselves in summer beer-drinking nirvana at Berry Park.

The sun went down over the Manhattan skyline.

And here's how it looked when we left.

A late-night subway ride home.

How lucky are we?