Tuesday, February 13, 2007

NYC: The Final Installment

Day three began with another trip to Ess-A-Bagel so that Oz could share in the deliciousness. He actually finished his entire bagel. We took the subway to Ground Zero and then headed to Central Park, checking out Strawberry Fields and a snowboarding event. For some reason I had it in my head that I should check out the Museum of Modern Art rather than the Met (since one museum every four days is my limit), so we'd agreed to do that next. First we had lunch there at Modern, which was ok. I had sausage, and he had gnocchi; so it was a strange lunch. None of the desserts grabbed me, so I put that off for later.

The museum had a few Monets I liked and some other artists I'd never seen and liked, but a lot of it was crap for lack of a better word. I'm sure that betrays my ignorance and inability to appreciate "art," but if it looks like a child sribbled all over a white sheet of paper with his pencil I'm not going to "ooh" and "aah" over it. And a shovel hanging from the ceiling isn't going to impress me either. So MOMA was in large part the wrong museum choice for me:)

Afterwards Oz returned to the room, and I set out for a good bakery. I found one thanks to a nice Ann Taylor employee--Buttercup Bake Shop where the motto is "Life is uncertain, eat dessert first." Sounds good to me--when I was leaner and younger, I often had to eat dessert first to make sure I had room for it; I've since "stretched" my stomach out, I guess. Since I only eat the top half of cupcakes, I figured three was a good number--two with the sugary buttercream icing and one with cream cheese icing. Then I retired for a nap and a really good workout, and Oz and I went to Sparks (a steakhouse) for dinner. I wanted cheesecake for dessert, so a return trip to Roxy's followed.

On our last day I took a nice long stroll to Hunter College to attend Redeemer Presbyterian's service, and it was awesome--a definite highlight of the trip. Finally hearing Tim Keller speak in person was such a treat, and the sermon was on point. It was interesting to hear his arguments against the common refrain I hear from people about how they "just can't believe in an angry God" and choose to just believe in a "nice, friendly, happy God." Afterwards, I grabbed a pepperoni roll for lunch and ended up making friends wtih two cute cops. They offered to give me a tour of their neighborhood, but I had to pass since my flight was leaving soon. Not too soon to grab one more cupcake though. So all in all an excellent trip; I'd love to return.

In other news, I finally met one of my mystery note-leaving neighbors (remember the Christmas tree offer?) because I came home early today after a meeting. He's my age and friendly; maybe I'll meet his live-in girlfriend one day. And I am going to respond to my very first Myspace message from a stranger; one of Aaron's friends wrote me. Aaron gave him a slight heads up, so the grammer and spelling usage is all correct:) Happy Valentines Day!!

18 comments:

ella said...

You do look bundled up there!

I've never been to Buttercup Bakery. Did you like the cupcakes there more than Magnolia Bakery?

Aaron said...

Happy SAD! (Singles Awareness Day)

Am I the only person with crazy MySpace stalker friends?

GreenLineBoy said...

Sounds like an awesome sermon. We often forget that if we are not aware of our sin we have no need of a Savior.

DCVita said...

I seriously envy you for your consumption of sweets. I look at a cupcake and gain 5 pounds. But at least I can live vicariously through you!

Ally said...

DCVita: When I weighed Monday morning I weighed 4 pounds more than before the trip! Hopefully most of it is water weight and will just disappear:)

GLB: Agreed--and if we just believe in a happy, smiley-faced God, we have no need for our Savior either--and we forget that Jesus experienced God's wrath for us.

Ella: One of the former owners of Magnolia owns Buttercup (I now know), but the quality isn't the same based on my small sampling. Both have yummy icing, but Buttercup's actual cake part of the cupcake is very dry and not fresh. Furthermore, I tried a peanutbutter bar at Buttercup, and it was hard as a rock; I actually threw it away!

Aaron: SAD? Puh-leez. And yes, you're the only person I know of....

anne said...

Wow woman you know how to enjoy those desserts. Totally impressive - I like 'em but after awhile I have a sugar overload.

Glad you had a lovely vacay.

Kimberly said...

I'm glad you enjoyed your trip. I enjoyed reading about it. I like the pictures too.
I've met only one stranger in person that was a Myspace friend..and he was very normal and actually connected me with my church, my roommate and friends here in Columbus. I think I am pretty good at telling normal people from the weird stalkers..hopefully anyway. I think if you have a friend in common that's a good sign.
Happy Valentine's Day!

megabrooke said...

Sounds like your trip was fabulous! I love that you enjoyed all that food! Thanks for the updates and pictures! :)

Douglas said...

Very good trip. I loved the comments on the modern art. I am with you. I have an artist friend that is with you too...he always says..."you don't have to have a reason for what you like or dislike...it's your opinion...and you either like or don't like it or you buy it or don't buy it"

You should write a primer "a Georgia girl's guide to NYC bakeries".

Paula Dean...eat your clogged artery blood supplying heart out.

Whine Girl said...

Aaron! aren't you hooking up with the actress tonight? I must go read your blog now?

Ally, you make me hungry when I read these posts. Happy Vday!

Ally said...

Jordan: I know what you mean--I get hungry writing them.

Billy: Writing a primer on bakeries isn't a bad idea. As for the modern art, I'm glad I'm in good company. A woman on a tour challenged the guide about the darn shovel hanging from the ceiling--it was pretty funny.

Brookem: It was!

Kimberly: That is a really good myspace story. Thanks for sharing.

e.b.: I wish my body were more sensitive to sugar; I seem to be missing that switch that lets me know when enough is enough.

Ryane said...

Life should always include cupcakes. =-)

Accidentally Me said...

I love the near-total focus on food...that is my kind of a trip!

Ally said...

Ryane: Absolutely.

AM: I'll bet I could out-eat you:)

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you got your fill on sweets this trip. You made it sound like everything went smoothly and not one problem--that's great!! Happy Belated Valentine's Day to you.

Pause said...

It all looks like fun to me. Even the museum sounds like fun.

kathrynthomas said...

so yeah. you hated moma. i've just one question. did you see van gogh's starry night?

Ally said...

Kathryn: I did! I love Van Gogh.

Croaker: It was a very fun trip.

FC&F: Thanks!