My latest adventures: In Pictures

I headed out of town early Friday morning to head to Upstate New York for a work appointment, and had to capture my view as I was in traffic on Fifth Avenue.  Yellow cabs galore!

 

Did you know that the quickest way to get to a lot of Upstate New York destinations from Manhattan is to go through New Jersey, and sometimes through both New Jersey and Pennsylvania?

 

I was pretty surprised by the town of Binghamton, New York... I felt like I was more likely to be in the Wild West than in a Mid-Atlantic state!  This was the old train station and some of the tracks.

 

From the time that I catch the first glimpse of the skyline driving back into Manhattan, I can count on at least 45 minutes of driving til I reach my destination on the Upper East Side.  Friday, however, my GPS chose to freeze at a key direction-deciding moment, and caught in the midst of fast moving traffic, I had to make a split decision on which ramp to take.  Unfortunately, I made the wrong decision, and ended up heading back down south past the Newark, NJ airport.  If anyone has driven in New Jersey before, you would understand why I have to say that I really loathe NJ turnpikes/parkways/roadways in general.  I quickly recalculated my GPS to get me turned back around and on the right track, but she failed me once again and sent me home via Staten Island, then Brooklyn, then Queens.  Really, GPS?  Routing me home through New Jersey and four of the five boroughs?  At 7 pm on a Friday night?  Thanks for that one.  Anyway, I did get a great view of the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the downtown skyline on the way in, so all was not lost.

 

As I mentioned earlier, I got to hang out with my dear friend, Abby, today, and we spent a few hours wandering the Upper East Side, Central Park, and the Upper West Side.

 

We were so warm in the 80something degree heat and sticky humidity that we parked ourselves on the steps of the Hungarian Baptist Church (yes, Hungarian!) on my cute block and just people watched and chatted it up. 

 

And of course we found it hilarious that we see each other after so long and had matching mani and pedi color choices.  Note to self:  sandals are so not good shoes for walking.

 

And of course we got a farewell picture snapped in my apartment before she headed back to her hotel.

 

Isn't it just the best thing ever meeting up with a dear friend that you haven't seen in ages, and being able to pick up from exactly the spot where you left off?