Bay Area Fashionista


Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island

wearing: black parka / statement earrings / black cross body bag / striped tee (sold out, similar here) / black belt / black jeans / spring nail polish / rose sneakers /

Everyone needs to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island at least once in their lifetime. Seeing the Statue of Liberty up close was a fun activity because we were able to go inside and check out the engineering behind the statue. In addition, the views of New York from the island and the statue are amazing! There is also a history museum which details how the statue was made and the history surrounding this beautiful gift from France.

I wore comfortable, casual clothing because this activity requires a lot of walking, stairs, and wind from the water. I highly recommend dressing comfortably, wearing sneakers and bringing something warm to shield you from the wind.

After visiting the Statue of Liberty, we hopped back onto the ferry and went to Ellis Island. Many of my ancestors came through Ellis Island so it was surreal standing in the same place where their new life in the United States began. In addition, the museum about the island and immigration to the United States is special, informative, and a must-see. How cute are these baby shoes from an Italian Immigrant pictured below!

We really enjoyed spending time on Ellis Island and touring the facility, visiting the museum, and discovering the manifest library which is online. I highly recommend taking your time on Ellis Island in order to ensure you see everything; especially if you had relatives go through the island!

Seeing both islands takes time. I recommend taking one of the first ferries in the morning and planning to spend the day touring both islands. It is a great way to see our history up close and enjoy these important sites!

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO
Cathy


Places to eat in New York City

pictured: interior of Sveta’s in New York, the interior changes depending upon the season /

New York City is full of delicious places to eat. Everywhere you turn there are several choices when it comes to picking a place to eat for your next meal. This can make it challenging to choose just one restaurant for each meal because you want to try everything! On our recent trip to New York, I made sure to visit a few restaurants I enjoyed from my days of traveling to New York for fashion week, as well as trying a few new places to eat. As a result, I curated my favorite restaurants from my recent trip to New York so you have a guide to refer to next time you travel to New York. Enjoy!

San Marino Ristorante

One of my favorite places to eat in New York is San Marino Ristorante. Located inside the Four Points Sheraton SOHO, in the back of the lobby, San Marino Ristorante serves delicious Italian food. As someone with Italian ancestry, I can attest that this restaurant is authentic and absolutely delicious. I love the ravioli, pictured above, as well as the Bolognese. This place is a must-try! You can use the address 60 Charlton Street to find the hotel and make sure you walk through the lobby into the back on the right. In the warmer months the front patio is open, so you can easily walk through the front of the restaurant.

Abiko Curry

Located in Koreatown at 2 west 32rd street, Abiko Curry is a casual dining restaurant where you order your meal at your table using a tablet. They have a large menu full of various types of curry which you can customize for your spice tolerance. I enjoyed donburi with delicious baby spice level-don’t laugh. I have zero spice tolerance! haha

Chow House

Since I am from the Bay Area, I never have high expectations eating Chinese food elsewhere. It is usually watered down and very American. When we tried Chow House, I instantly judged it because the name is very American. The menu was also tailored for American’s. Thankfully, this was not an indication of taste! The food turned out to be very good and we really enjoyed our meal. The tea was high quality and the xlb was flavorful. Chow House is located at 181 Bleeker Street in New York.

Joe’s Pizza

Have you eaten in New York if you haven’t had a pizza by the slice? I think not! Joe’s Pizza has pizza by the slice priced under $5 and has photograph’s inside to prove all the celebrities who have enjoyed pizza there. There are several locations. We enjoyed pizza at the 7 Carmine Street location.

Sveta

This might have been my favorite meal of our New York trip! Sveta is located at 64 Carmine Street and boasts a menu of Ukrainian and Russian food. The food was delicious, and the decor was something else! Inside the restaurant there is a huge array of seasonal flowers, faux of course, which go along the poles, beams and ceiling. You feel like you are walking into a magical garden. In addition to decor, the drink menu has giant handbag shaped glasses as well as other interesting designs. The table next to us ordered several drinks served in handbags, feathers, and very interested glassware. Since I don’t drink alcohol, I am not sure what they ordered, but they were very big and interesting! We enjoyed tea, which was served in metal and glass, and very pretty too.

Yama Ramen

Yes, I went to a Ramen place and ordered sushi. In my defense, it was really good sushi! My daughter enjoyed their ramen and assured me it was delicious. So, if you are looking for sushi or ramen, Yama Ramen is a great place to go! It is conveniently located near Rockefeller Plaza at 60 West 48th street. The door is a little tricky to find, but once you locate it, you can go upstairs to the restaurant. Yummy!

Laduree SOHO

I had to bring my daughter to tea at Laduree! They have a non-alcoholic tea option which was perfect for us. As always, the sandwiches are delicious, and the sweets are out of this world. I highly recommend a slow day when you can enjoy tea time! Laduree SOHO is located at 398 West Broadway.

Well, that’s it! We ate at several other restaurants too which were delicious, but these were my favorites. I hope you are able to try a few of these on your next trip to the big apple!

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

Cathy


Times Square and a Broadway Show

wearing: statement earrings / green stripe top / black belt / yellow pouch / spring nail polish / flare jeans / sneakers /

These are my touristy photos! haha. We decided to wander around Times Square, which of course, is just a bunch of people hanging around. The highlight was seeing the famous ball. It looks really pretty in person. I regret not going at night to see it lit up in all its glory.

If you hang around social media, you may have seen the video where a girl is telling you turn the phone upside down in order to get taller backgrounds into the photo. We did this! The reason my legs look weirdly long is because my daughter held the phone upside down to snap this photo. It’s actually pretty funny how I turned out in the picture! The trick does work because we were able to get all the tall buildings in the photograph. So distorted body aside, it works! haha

One of the bucket list items everyone needs to do while in New York is see a Broadway show. We decided to see Alladin, and we were blown away. Not only were the actors absolutely amazing, especially the Genie, the set and costumes were out of this world. They don’t allow photography during the show, so I am sharing a photo of the stage I snapped twenty minutes before showtime. Isn’t the theater incredible?

So, if you are looking for a show to see which is appropriate for the whole family, I highly recommend Alladin! It was incredible and I would definitely go see it again!

Stay tuned for more from New York!

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO
Cathy