Hello New York..

Back to New York. I stayed in the same hostel in the Upper West Side, Pink Hostel.

So arriving back in NY I had some time to kill.. so what do you do when you are a tourist on your own at night? TIMES SQUARE.. its quite sad.. but easy to get to and a simple meeting point.
So I checked out Toys R Us. Yes. It was ridiculous, but I was loving it! I even went to Barbie world.

Is that a sparkling Edward?? Yes. It sure is. Too funny.

It was the retro Barbies that really won my heart. Well nearly as much as Edward. :D
Ok so I got to meet up with the lovely Jacob Blaze, designer and artist Extraordinaire! He flew in from Nashville, why I didn't take any pictures of our dinner that night? Not sure.

So here we are the next day. And here is Jacob... touristy much? We loved it.
We visited the High Line... 'HIGHLY' recommend it to any NY visitors (Geddit?). Wonderful!
What is it you ask? Well... here is what the website says..

"The High Line was originally constructed in the 1930s, to lift dangerous freight trains off Manhattan's streets. Section 1 of the High Line is open as a public park, owned by the City of New York and operated under the jurisdiction of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. Friends of the High Line is the conservancy charged with raising private funds for the park and overseeing its maintenance and operations, pursuant to an agreement with the Parks Department.

When all sections are complete, the High Line will be a mile-and-a-half-long elevated park, running through the West Side neighborhoods of the Meatpacking District, West Chelsea and Clinton/Hell's Kitchen. It features an integrated landscape, designed by landscape architects James Corner Field Operations, with architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro, combining meandering concrete pathways with naturalistic plantings. Fixed and movable seating, lighting, and special features are also included in the park." 

http://www.thehighline.org/ 

Ok so fun story. One of Jacob's school teacher friends asked him to take along Flat Stanley.. everyone.. please meet Flat Stanley, Flat Stanley, meet everyone. Its a fun concept. So we got some shots with FS, whatta guy! Check it out http://www.flatstanley.com/

Stanley came with his very own letter - it reads...
"Dear Jacob, 
my name is Jacob! And my name is Austin. What is your job? We go to Payne school. Do you like Tennessee? We like to read and do math. What is your favourite animal? Do you like baseball, if so do you like the F Giants? We do. Do you like basketball, if so do you like the Lakers? We do. Have fun with flat Stanley.
From Austin and Jacob" Super cute right!

Artist painting.

Art installation in the process down below..

And then we found the Chelsea Markets.. another must see for any potential visitors. It was like going into a mine shaft full of wonderful bakery treats and stores. (great salad and soup place in there too).

Waterfall in the middle of the market.

Dog sculpture in the market.. it was really amazing.. everywhere you looked there was something interesting on the walls.

Jacob likes vitamins.
Once we had endured our vitamin intake we found an awesome artist studio gallery. one of the studios was open and we were invited in to take a look at their most current work. We stayed for over an hour just talking about the guys approach and technique. Best hour I spent in the city I think. I really loved it.

Nice, clean and tidy construction area. hmm.

And onward to Washington Square. We met up with the lovely Tiffany, a friend of Jacob's from LA who is now living in NY (you will get to see pictures soon). The fountain wasn't running so instead it was a stage area for some street performers.

And then out from nowhere came this group of..umm.. well, I'm not sure what to call them so let's just go with Moon Booters. It was an exercise group.. think aerobics with spring moon boots on your feet. The class leaders looked like a character from GI Joe or something.. short back and sides with those wrap around reflective glasses. Wow. I feel like it changed my life forever.

So onward we walked to a place called Butterlane (another recommendation for any travelers - thanks Tiffany!).. they are in the East Village and do the most wonderful cupcakes. So buttery infact that all my frosting melted within minutes, way before we even reached the park you see here. It had dripped down my hands and into the gutter. what a shame. It was messy, embarrasing, and wonderful all at the same time.

Cute shoes Tiffany.

And here is the one and only, absolutely lovely - Tiffany! A little shy of the camera after a work day... I thought she looked just lovely!

Check the guy behind Tiffany.. not sure if he loves or hates that I am taking a picture.. it is NY so maybe hate is the right option.

After the park we headed out to the Bowery Ballroom to see a band The Album Leaf (listen here http://www.myspace.com/thealbumleaf a group from San Diego). It was such an amazing show! So this pic is of us at about 1 or 2am in the subway. We had to part ways and I took the scary risk of catching the subway on my own in the wee hours of the morning. (I DO NOT recommend this to others, however I seem to make exceptions for my own self. funny) Luckily I met a lady who was lost, she was on the same line as me so we got to wait together.. I thought she must be a tourist.. turns out she was just a drunk local. Very glad to have met her that is for sure!