Autumn in New York Diaries part II - shopping, galleries( Jolie Atelier), museums

Part one was short and sweet and this one will be a little bit more meaty, at least pictures wise.

October 7th : If you are interested, I spent the day in Brooklyn which you can see here: an afternoon in Brooklyn

October 8th:

I was back to work(boo) no longer living like I was a trust fund kid or an author with lots of time freedom. I worked from a cafe then went to my sisters apt and worked from there.

4:00pm

After work, I walked over to Jolie Atelier. I’ve been wanting to check this place out since it opened, especially because it sits in the building where Basquiat once had his studio. There’s something special about stepping into a space with that kind of history!

4:48pm:
I wandered through the gallery. I had no idea a James Baldwin exhibition was showing at the time. It believe the exhibit was inspired by Nicholas Boggs’s book, Baldwin: A Love Story, made it even more meaningful.

Time

I then went to the cafe, EAT OFFBEAT CAFÉ. “a New York City-based collective of culinary talents from Syria, Russia, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Morocco, Iran, Afghanistan, and Venezuela who bring unparalleled passion to their creations. Inspired by a quest for authentic, homemade recipes and confections, Eat Offbeat Café offers delicious blends of international flavors from these cultures and more.“
I ordered a coffee (by mistake) and read Great Big Beautiful Life until the cafe was closing.

6pm

I’ve mentioned being a fan of Rajiv Surendra and this is a place he recommended in his SOHO video. It’s called Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy—an outpost of the historic apothecary from Florence. The original formulas were created by Dominican monks in the 1200s, and many of their products still follow those centuries-old traditions.

I can’t explain why I enjoy stepping into this place so much but I did. The flowers, the lotions, the perfumes. There’s something so charming about stepping into a place with that kind of lineage and care behind it.

TIME

Afterward, I started my long walk home and happened to pass a Barnes & Noble—so of course I went in.

October 10th

Sister date! She was determined to make me walk 30 minutes in heels, but my feet were killing me, so we took the bus instead. On the way, we passed the iconic Chelsea Hotel—home to Leonard Cohen and so many other legendary figures. Just happening upon it was one of those “New York is so cool!” moments.

My sister is vegan and loves Spicy Moon, so we went there for dinner. It was delicious!

TIME

We had reservations for Viola’s Room at The Shed, so after dinner we made our way over. It was honestly such a great experience. Viola’s Room is an immersive, audio-guided journey where you move room to room through a dreamlike story filled with shifting light, shadow, and illusion. The whole thing is narrated by Helena Bonham Carter—yes, Bellatrix from Harry Potter!

October 11th

3:42pm

We kept walking past this doomsday clock(officially called “climate clock” I believe.) Like I honestly feel like the amount of times I ended back here, looking at this ‘point of no return’ timer was cosmically orchestrated.

4:06pm

• Back in SOHO 

• Delici and Sarrasin again 

• Found this beautiful monstera and took a picture for my mom. The cutestes thing about my mom and I is that when we travel, we don’t send each other pictures of the monuments we the city is famed for… but plants we recognize.

• Back at Sezane  - This time I bought a beautiful knit dress

October 12th 

If I haven’t mentioned already, my favorite part about being in New York City is all the walking. So much walking.

On this particular day the plan was to meet up with our brother at the MET.
Walked (in the rain) from midtown to upper east side. It was a grey day so the walk was a bit wet but not too bad. We walked past the LV store currently under construction.

When we were next to Central Park I felt the trees calling me and realized how much I missed and needed nature 🌳

3pm 

Long line to get to the Met. 

4:45 ish We were almost out of time but I needed to see the impressionists 

Monet:

Van Gogh

It was such a lovely day at the MET

5:42 pm

Grabbed dinner at a Thai restaurant called Thep Restaurant and Bar. 

October 13th

Screenshot from Pinterest

October 14:
Kept it low-key. Worked from home, then took a break to walk to Solidcore for a workout. One of the cool things about New York is how everything is just a short walk away.

Next up will be my last days in NY! Having a lot of fun reminiscing on my time in New York 🍁

Thanks for being here 🩷