Saturdays in the City

Last Saturday, Beks (one of my bffs) convinced me to get up, get dressed, and walk around Central Park with her. Both of us have been stressed lately and buried under piles of work, so it was definitely time to take a break. It was also not freezing for once, so it was perfect weather for spending the afternoon outside. After meeting at Pier 1, testing out the couch I want to buy for my new apartment, and grabbing a couple iced soy chai teas at Starby’s, we headed over to the park.

Considering the fact that Central Park is only a 10-15 minute walk from my apartment, I don’t go there nearly enough. But I love it every time I do. There’s street performers, live musicians, dogs being walked, people perched on random boulders reading, and on a nice day it’s always fun to explore the different paths along the water. I’m always surprised at how huge the park is, stretching from Midtown to Harlem and making it easy to walk from Manhattan’s east side to west.

After the park, we walked over to Bergdorf’s (it’s nice, but a bit small), checked out the new food hall at the Plaza Hotel (they have everything from Luke’s Lobster to macaroons), and randomly went into F.A.O. Schwarz – yes, the ORIGINAL one – to play with stuffed animals and Barbies like any normal adult would do. Three+ hours of walking led us back up to East 77th and 3rd, where we had dinner at Atlantic Grill. Beks and I like to share dishes so we can sample a little bit of everything, and in this case it was a half bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, the beet salad, tuna tartare, branzino, and vanilla bean creme brulee. O-M-G, everything was so good. I’ve had branzino a few times in the city, and this one was my favorite – not too “metallic” tasting, which happens sometimes. So if you’re a seafood fan, definitely check this restaurant out (but be prepared to either wait 30-45 minutes unless you’re okay with sitting at the bar).

This is probably my favorite way to spend a Saturday in NYC – with a friend, no time constraints, walking around, and randomly visiting some fun places that you forget are all around you. You can live here for years without experiencing everything the city has to offer (plus, there’s always a new restaurant or shop opening), so it’s nice to get out on the weekends and try something different.