The Met at night...

This evening after work I met up with, Julie, sales manager for John Derian, and we caught the #6 local subway to 86th Street and walked over to The Met. I keep forgetting that the best time to visit The Met is Friday and Saturday evenings as it is open until 8:45pm. The galleries are empty and it is quiet which is so nice after being surrounded by customers, or lack of, all day.

The Met has a table set up just inside the entrance where they check bags. I opened my bag and was let through, though Julie was stopped because she had a plastic bag of apples and pretzels from the Union Square Farmer's Market. No food or drink allowed, not even apples or pretzels in a bag! We didn't know what to do... I started to think of all our friends who live within walking distance of the museum that we could leave the bag with the doorman. A few people came to mind but it was so cold out that we decided to try and figure something else out... Julie ended up stashing her bag in a planter opposite the museum.

We walked back into the museum, had our bags checked again and were allowed to enter. We checked out the African textiles, Calder's jewelry exhibition (which I loved) and we took a half -hour spin through the Philippe de Montebello exhibition which was cool. We have to go back and spend more time there.

field trip to IKEA!

So, my first free Sunday in 1 1/2 months, and I decide to go to IKEA!! We have a draft coming through our front door and through my bedroom windows so the idea was to find curtains to block the draft.

Today was a beautiful and sunny afternoon and we immediately caught a downtown #1 subway to 96th Street and then a #2 train. There are two ways to reach IKEA: take the free water taxi from Pier 11 & Wall Street or catch the free shuttle bus at Court Street in Brooklyn.

Since we didn't know if there were going to be any delays with the subways, we decided to catch the free shuttle bus and I also thought it would be fun to see a bit of Red Hook. Boy, was that a mistake! It turned out to be one of those small 16-seater charter buses. I was expecting the coach buses that go from Port Authority to the IKEA in New Jersey.

We had actually been the 1st ones at the bus stop but had just missed the 1:20pm so I saw a Starbucks on the opposite corner and decided to go there while waiting for the next busy. By the time we returned to the bus stop there were quite a few people waiting. We were the last ones to board the small bus and there was only one seat left and three of us standing. A girl sat on her friend's lap and Meredith and I shared the last seat all the way....

We arrived approx 15 minutes later and I vowed that we would take the ferry back. We ended up staying at IKEA for 3 1/2 hours!! This did include a half hour break for chicken tenders & french fries and some dessert!

So we found curtains for the front door, kitchen door (to block out cooking smells and for my bedroom) bath mat dots for our hallway in orange and red, and a metal rod with s-hooks for the kitchen wall to hang pots & pans etc...! All in all a fun day.