Mr. P had some work in a show at a museum downtown so we decided to fly in for the opening and reconnect with some friends, see the sights and maybe head upstate to visit his family afterward.

To say I was pretty excited to see the Squid and Whale exhibit would be an understatement because other than the opening itself, I focused my entire trip around it. But maybe even more than The American Museum of Natural History, I was looking forward to a real fall, with crisp, colored leaves, a slight chill in the air and everything. Plus, a dose of East Coast attitude would do me good, I was looking forward to a whole week without organic juice or a some self-serving, misguided protest craping up commute to work.

Anyway, we flew into Kennedy and made it to our hotel on the Upper West Side. I hadn't been to New York in years. The last time I visited I was traveling with a friend on a post-graduation trip with her mother-of-loose-morals who would encourage us go to CBGB even though we were painfully under aged. Oh but long gone are those days. It turns out that what I revel in now, in my post-30 days, is not the stale sweat of the gritty and tortured poets of all things punk but instead the joys of the 310 count Egyptian cotton bed linens of a fine hotel and a heated Italian marble shower. Because believe me, I enjoyed all those things so very, very much. European goose down duvets are so not Punk Rock and that's okay. I've come to terms with my inner Upper West Side maven. Plus the hotel, it was steps from Central Park and of course The American Museum of Natural History.

Our hotel, I'm guessing the blond is not included at the "standard" level.

Our room

For me the trip was book ended by some marathon sessions at work so I could spend a week away and a few freelance jobs tossed in to pay for the trip. So not only was I exhausted but my end of the trip was woefully under planned except for the whole taxidermy diorama part. Mr. P, however, did a great job of actually contacting his friends to let them know we were coming and when/where the show was going to be. Myself, I guess I was relying on psychic energy to carry me through or something because I just called everyone I knew from the hotel the day before the opening. Anyway the opening was good. We went, drank the white wine, Mr. P worked the room and then we when out for dinner and drinks with some of his friends.

The rest of the trip was kind of a blur for me, I know we went out for dinner and drinks a few times, once at the swankest little place that had been an old subway station. It had really, really good whiskey and cake. (Hmmm cake and whiskey.) We ate at a cute bistro whose logo was a cannibalistic loaf of bread.

Columbus Cafe

Let's see, then I got to visit Neil and his new baby on the Upper East Side who was verging on toddler-hood by the time I got to see her.

Neil & Gilby

Of course I went to the museum, which gave me a heart attack because the day we went they had closed many of the exhibits, but luckily it was only a one day thing so we came back the next day. Uhm, then I think I slept a lot on the 310 count Egyptian cotton sheets. Then Mr. P's parents came to town, we had lunch and drove back upstate for a few days before flying home.

So yeah, New York City, loved it. I'd live there in a second if I could afford a classic pre-war six on the Upper West Side and find someone to walk my show quality Maltese on those days when I get caught up at the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life.

A view of my classic six from the park