Inspiration Trip

Happy Monday to all!

The INSPIRATION TRIP on Saturday was wonderful!

All twelve "girls" showed up and we had the most glorioius day in New York!

The weather helped because it was gorgeous out.

To begin our day we always meet here because

most people take the bus, but one or two take the train....

Since I am new at this I will tell you straight out that my family calls me a "coffee snob" (LOL)

I drink mainly Starbucks and my drink is...........

venti-decaf-skim-triple-shot latte with two pumps sugar-free cinnamon dolce

when I drink it cold it becomes...

iced-venti-decaf-skim-quad-latte

At home i have one of the "machines" and i do make myself my own lattes.

I have tried lattes from other places and i just do not like them.

So if a "coffee snob" is the worst thing they call me I can deal with it.

Getting back to the Inspiration Trip.

From Starbucks we went to the Flower District.

Talk about Inspiration - we could have spent all day here taking pictures and if we were going straight home we could have spent a fortune.

There is no way I can post all the pictures because I think I took about 100 pictures just in the Flower District, so I will post some of my favorites.

I love hydrangeas......

This is how gerbera daisies arrive at the florist...

This is Regina, Me, Lynn and Pat (from Scrapper's Cove)

 

There were so many amazing gourds and pumpkins.....

and the cabbages......

ruffled parrot tulips.....

gorgeous bamboo.....

And my favorite photo of the day.....

our own Queen Lynn!!!

I could keep on going but I think you get the picture.

And where else but NYC could you walk down the street and see

a PINK ELEPHANT!!!!!

From here we walked over to the "Limelight Marketplace".

This used to be the Limelight Nightclub - very famous in its "heyday".

It is housed in a 163 year-old church and the charm of the old world is still there but you are transformed when you walk in.

It is a mecca of kiosks (mostly upscale), beautiful flooring and decor.

You will find sweet, specialty and gourmet foods along with exquisite shops.

As described in their brochure "an iconic destination".

Here are a few of my favorite photos....

the outside

this is the chandelier when you walk in

the flooring (can you just see this in my next black & white class?!?!)

look closely - that is all candy decorating her body!!!!

little miniature wedding cakes....so cute!!

(http://www.thelittlecandycake.com/)

and this cake was awesome....

(http://www.butterflybakeshop.com/)

and just to show you that they still kept the original stained glass

I could keep on going but there is so much more to post.

After Limelight we began our walk to "ABC Home" (http://www.abchome.com/)

which for those of you that have never been there is six stories of VERY expensive gifts, furniture, rugs, antiques, housewares, etc., etc.

Real eye candy and inspiration.

But, this is what I LOVE ABOUT NEW YORK -

On our walk (which was just a few short blocks) from Limelight to ABC this is what we found in our travels......

this sign...

and this sign...

and there were a couple of others

And then we found this window.....

these are custom made shopping bags to look like buildings.

Notice the Empire State Building and also notice the awesome reflection in the window of the buildings on the other side of the street

ahh...New York....

Then before we got to "ABC Home" we stopped at....

Fishs Eddy (http://www.fishseddy.com/)

A very cool store if you have not been there (diagonal from "ABC Home")

"hands, touching hands, reaching out, touching you, touching me..."

and this....

This was on everything from sacks to mugs and china and more

Being born and raised in Brooklyn I could not resist this picture....

This was the entire side window on East 19th Street

I think it is gorgeous

This was in another window - It is a gigantic cup and saucer - Kind of sad because of what it says........But very "nostalgic"!

FINALLY!!!!!......

I took a ton of pictures in this store and I am only posting a few

There were way too many to choose so I selected a smattering of

where my camera took me...

My good friend, Carol Wingert, (http://www.carolwingert.typepad.com/) is doing another one of her amazing heirloom kits in December and I know it is going to be white so i took MANY white pictures on Saturday.....

and what would any day be without some pink.....

This was crazy - this is a collection of bottles in various sizes decorated "nicely" - Not any better than you or I could do (ours are probably much nicer and more vintage looking)!  They are sealed with some wax at the top and they have some signs on them.  The SMALL bottles were OVER $60!!!!!

Okay - when i say "GO" start making them and selling them - "GO"!!!!

After "ABC" it was time for lunch!!

Lunch was a short walk (for most of us) on West 23rd Street at

"Trailer Park Lounge" (http://www.trailerparklounge.com/)

This place was a riot and we had a blast

Here are a few pictures of the place

the outside....

the inside...

and finally..........all of us............

starting from front right is - lauren, ellen, lynn, me (yes i wear pink glasses!), sandy, debbie, pat (scrapper's cove - http://www.scrapperscove.com/);

starting front left is helene, pat t., raelene (leaning forward), rose and regina.

We had a great time and the FOOD WAS DELICIOUS

Awesome sweet potato fries!!!!

There is MORE!!!

We continued on to Tinsel Trading and M & J Trimming but I will do that in a separate post (as well as some awesome fall foliage pictures).

I MUST get this posted and go pick up all the pictures so I can work on the Inspiration Book for class next month.

I must tell everyone what a great bunch of people went on this trip.

It was Debbie's birthday so we all decided to pay for her lunch.

When it came time to pay for lunch we all told her and she was so thankful, etc., they all turned to me and said
"and we are paying for you too"!!!!

I was speechless and truly filled up with tears.

They wanted to thank me for putting together the day.

I truly do this trip from the bottom of my heart.

I love doing it, I love seeing the joy on all the faces, I love that these

people who do not come into New York on a regular basis get to share

some of the magic of "the city" and it is so incredibly wonderful to

be appreciated in this way.

So to all "my peeps" out there, once again, thank you

from the bottom of my heart!!!!

Until later,

Hugs and more,

Peggy