I always say “California is the best STATE, but New York City is the best CITY in the US.”

Google songs about New York and the lists are endless.  No, seriously… check it out.  I gauge the awesomeness of a city by it’s lights… and New York has one of THEE best skylines ever.  When I hear Alicia Keys sing on Jay-Z‘s “Empire State of Mind” my body fills with excitement.  It’s been doing that to me for years.  I love the ease of traveling from borough to borough and how Manhattan is a simple grid of streets and avenues.  Everything you could ever need is a subway stop away or down the street (I got a toasted bagel and cream cheese for a dollar, A DOLLAR, at the little store around the corner from where I stayed).  Sure, you might live in an apartment the size of a closet, but do you know all the adventures waiting outside your door?  A friend of mine and I attempted to move out there once and some how we ended up in Las Vegas instead?!  I don’t know, don’t ask!  I still hope to call The Big Apple my home one day… even if for as short as 6 months (cause let’s face it, I loath being cold).

Most of the week I was there, the weather was beautiful.  My friend said I brought the Cali weather with me.  I almost extended my stay… until the last day I was there and the temperature dropped.  It was possibly going to snow the next day (it did, but not in the city) and I realized I most definitely did not bring appropriate clothing for an actual winter season.  Yes, we Californians are most definitely spoiled.

Every day I left my friend Jill‘s place in Brooklyn and hoped on the subway to just wander the city.  I went to Cosmo‘s Fun Fearless Weekend at the Lincoln Center, wandered around Chelsea Market, Central Park, Prospect Park, walked the Brooklyn Bridge, got my nose re-pierced on Saint Mark’s Place, met up with old friends and new friends, and ate some amazing food.  My only complaint was that the sun went down too soon (I shoot with natural light) and actually didn’t shoot as much as I had hoped.  I also discovered I prefer to shoot people BUT the breathtaking colors of fall on the East Coast definitely lessened that void when I was solo.

Until we meet again, NYC….

Xoxo, Gossip Girl…  Francesca

(Picture in beginning of post is in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan)

The ceiling in the David H. Koch Theater, Lincoln Center

John Gerrard‘s art installation “Solar Reserve,” Lincoln Center

Philip Johnson’s “Time Sculpture” at Dante Park, Manhattan

Somewhere in Manhattan

The skyline from Ph-D, the bar atop the Dream Hotel, Manhattan

Somewhere in Brooklyn

Below are brownstones in Park Slope, Brooklyn

The remaining pictures are from the lower east side of Central Park.  Every trip to NYC, I never have time to wander the whole park during day time.  Le sigh.

Guess Big Bird enjoys Central Park, too