The Updated (NYC) Travel Journal

Here's the NYC travel journal in situ!
Doing some work in between running around the Big Bad City......

I mostly tried to catch up at breakfast time while drinking coffee and eating....
I was lucky enough to have breakfast delivered to me daily by room service...er.....actually my sweetie who would get up and run downstairs every morning.
I'm a lucky person, I know!

In working on the journal, I was delighted to find poetry on the backs of some of the  subway cards...how cool is that?
This is my favorite poem from the backs of the cards....

I haven't finished the inside cover yet but I am putting those Metro cards and some subway flyers to good use...

Seeing my mail art pals was a real highlight of this trip....this was from a wonderful Japanese lunch with a special friend.

Matt's Grill was a cozy little spot near our hotel -- "near" being the operative word since it was bitterly cold and there was a lot of slush that night...and Californians don't like slush.

I really know how to pick my travel dates!

Joe Allen is a fun place for after the theatre....We saw Hamilton and then went over for a late dinner and Tim Daly from Madame Secretary was sitting right next to me.
That was fun and no, I didn't take a photo or bother him....he had a Hamilton program too.

An oldie but goodie -- this was good too.

Ah yes.....two trips to Junior's and some cheesecake to-go.

February was Hot Chocolate month at City Bakery and when I went with a friend on February the daily special was
HOT FUDGE HOT CHOCOLATE
with a homemade marshmallow.
A tough life, I know.

I was so busy running around and having fun that I didn't even fill all the pages in the journal. But I will collage and put photos from the trip on some of the remaining pages to finish it off.

Ta da!
So, there you have it -- the mostly finished NYC 2016 travel journal. My favorite souvenirs  from trips are the travel journals and they are a great resource with addresses and information for future trips or sharing with friends.
You know I'm going back!
Funny to be working on this now, in San Francisco, where it is about 70" today and remembering the -9"....
I'm kinda happy to be back in San Francisco.

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I'm on Instagram -- PamelaArtsinSF

Places to Go & People to See

Collaged NYC Postcards on windowsill
I try to visit my second home every year. This time I picked a doozy of a weather week to visit but, of course, it was all worth it.
Frigid cold, rain, slush, snow, winds.
I may not be as tough as a New Yorker but I'm still here to tell you about it.

The High Line
I have walked the High Line a few times before but this was definitely the coldest  (& shortest) walk. It ends - or starts - right at the new Whitney Museum and I highly recommend a visit to both.

Yellow Cabs
I have a thing about Yellow Cabs and I love seeing them out at all hours of the day and night.
But I take the subway.

The Ink Pad
You know I've got to make a stop at the Ink Pad every visit. I met my pal CeCe there on a bitterly cold morning.
I nearly froze to death taking this picture.
No kidding.

Among other things, the Ink Pad is a great place to pick up some NYC rubber stamps to decorate your postcards and travel journal.

Next up - Casey's Rubber Stamps. Also in the West Village. Just step down and into a very fun world of stamps.....

Out front is always a table with some stamps you play with.....I stamped some mail I had with me and a little travel notebook.....

Casey's has got a great selection o stamps too and don't forget to look thru the catalog they have there because they will make up any stamp you want from it right on the stop.

JAM Paper & Envelope
This was a new place for me that CeCe took me to and fun to browse the shelves. My find?
Some really great very large airmail envelopes
that you can get by clicking right here
(I wouldn't share this info with just anybody but you guys are special....)

But, you don't have to BUY things in NYC, there is plenty to pick up around town. I scour every Subway station for those cool Metro tickets to pick up. They are getting harder to find because New Yorkers are getting neater and also, as my NYC pal Harriet says, they cost a $1 now and they are reloadable. But I did find quite a few. And Subway posters. Yes, a few did find their way into my possession. (I only took them when there were multiple copies -- don't want to screw up the transit system)......menus, blue coffee cups....all kinds of things to tear up and stick....

I worked on my travel journal diligently every day.....(more about that soon).

City Bakery
I met Harriet at City Bakery where we had cappuccino and hot chocolate and treats and talked about mail art and NYC.....City Bakery was having a month of hot chocolate -- a good time for it when the temperatures were hovering around ZERO - and on the day we went it was Hot Fudge Hot Chocolate with a giant homemade marshmallow....

Harriet gave me a big bag of fabulous Russian candy -- she knew I had been wanting them so I could use the cool paper wrappings in collages...eating them is kinda fun too.

OUT my hotel window. I loved looking out there. But when it was snowing I didn't like it....See that little red door right across the street?????

Well, this is what we ran out and picked up from there and got cozy in our hotel room one night with Chinese food and a bottle of wine.
Sometimes you've just got to do what you've got to do.
We saw plays. We went to museums. We ate out. We even saw Hamilton the Broadway musical with the BUZZ. And the hip-hop.

Valentine's Day
And I found a sweet little Valentine on the desk one morning....

AT MOMA
HOY (Tomorrow) -- by Torres-Gracia 1919
I also liked seeing artists Henry Darger and John Houck
I spent a delightful few hours with Ester K Smith (How To Make Books) at MOMA looking at art.
A really good idea when it is is snowing.
Which it absolutely was.

Junior's
Why yes, I did go to Junior's. Twice, in fact. And I'm not sorry.  You just cannot get this in San Francisco.
And the cheesecake....

More outgoing collaged postcards

So, I was trying to post about the travel journal but I just had to share some of the NYC fun I had with you guys.
I didn't put links to everything since I have posted about the places on previous  trips but you can just google them if you are lucky enough to be taking a trip to the
BIG BAD CITY.
And a BIG thank you to my friends CeCe, Harriet and Esther who really added a lot to my travels but spending time with me and being such interesting and charming friends.
 I leave you with this ---

"We were happy to be in a city the beauty of which was unknown, uncozy and not on a small scale" -- William de Kooning on NYC

I am sorry I left because things have really been hitting the fan since I got home.....

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(and sometimes you just gotta hang on till things get better)
See you all soon!

In A New York Minute

I'm off to one of my most favorite places on earth......

NYC
Got the travel journal all prepped and ready to go. Mail art kit at the ready too.

So cool that this smaller journal fits perfectly in the fabulous mail art pouch my pal Dori made me.
I will have it with me at all times.
You never know when inspiration will strike.

One thing I get a big kick out of in NYC is all the yellow cabs......

I'm not much of a bagel eater but I keep hearing about how fantastic NYC bagels are so I am going to have to have to try one this time.
I do kinda love them floating around on my journal pages...

It sure took a long time to paint every page but it was fun.

I pasted in a very cool poem called
How To walk in New York
I do know how. FAST. Look like you know where you're going. I almost always actually do know where I'm going after so many years of visiting there.

Love my NYC taxi rubber stamp -- from The Ink Pad. I pre-stamped the journal. Not taking my stamps with me. Travel light if you can. But I do take my trusty fountain pen and ink refills.

Last page of the journal -- more bagels! (I have to visit Zabars)

The Ink Pad, Casey's, City Bakery for hot chocolate, some deli and some plays, meet-ups with two mail art pals and some old friends, the new Whitney.......

See you all later. Postcards to come.

Anyplace you think I should go?

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