At the end of October, I took a quick solo trip to New York City.  The main purpose of the trip was business: I was attending a big conference in my field.  The conference took place over most of a weekend and I enjoyed spending time with my colleagues, meeting some new contacts and learning a lot about some topics that are still relatively new to me.  I decided to stay on for most of an extra day so that I could do a bit more networking before I left the city.  At the top of my agenda was a coffee date with an attorney from my old firm’s New York office.  I emailed her as soon as I knew that I’d be in town and we excitedly made plans.  I looked forward to that coffee meeting for weeks and it was wonderful – she caught me up on all the news of my old firm, we chatted about life and shared news of our kids, and at the end of the hour she brought me back up to the office to say hello to the old faces and meet a few new folks who had recently joined the firm.  It was wonderful, and completely worth sticking around for.

Of course, coffee only lasted about an hour, and then my former colleague had to get back to work.  And I had some downtime during the conference days, too.  So I made the most of a solo trip to New York and visited some of my favorite spots in the city.

I’m sure you’re not surprised to hear that I hit the Strand, my favorite New York bookstore.  No trip to NYC is complete without a visit there.  I went on Sunday evening, after the workshops wrapped up but before my group hosted an event.  It was good to step away and take a little time to regroup in a long day.

I made a beeline for my favorite section, and came away with four new-to-me books (the Strand has a combination of new and used books on the shelves, and I always find some great deals there).  I used to get a tote bag every time I visited, but I have too many now, so I resisted this time.

I’ve been under the weather most of this fall – thanks, preschool germs! – and can’t take many medications to help with all the sickness because of my pregnancy.  This weekend was no exception – I was coughing, sniffling and sneezing most of the conference.  But I knew that, this being New York, there’d be no shortage of options for my favorite cure-all – green juice.  I scouted around briefly for a juice place near Union Square, where the Strand is located, but decided that rather than wandering the area aimlessly, I’d hit Whole Foods.  I haven’t been to Whole Foods since leaving D.C., so it was nice just to stick my head in a store and take in all the goodness.  The Union Square Whole Foods has a juice bar, so I headed upstairs and got a juice full of green goodness.  I took it outside and enjoyed some people-watching while I sipped.  It was the perfect rejuvenating break between conference festivities.

On Monday morning, before my coffee meeting, I hit another of my New York favorites – Ess-a-Bagel.  I grabbed my usual order – a giant everything bagel slathered with olive cream cheese.  (It was green olives this time, unlike the kalamata olives they were using last time I was there, so I was a bit bummed about that – I like green olives, but there was just something about that kalamata olive cream cheese.)  One of these days, I’ll make it to Ess-a-Bagel while not pregnant, and get to enjoy some of the incredible-looking smoked salmon.  Until then…

Yum.  Bagel enjoyed with The Penguin Book of Witches.

After my Monday morning bagel treat, I headed to the aforementioned coffee date.  I had a vague thought of either visiting the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, where Madeleine L’Engle was writer-in-residence (I’d visited on a field trip in high school, but not since then) or possibly taking the subway out to Brooklyn and visiting Word, a bookstore I’ve been itching to check out.  In the end, my former colleague and I spent so much time chatting that I didn’t have time for either excursion.  I decided instead to take my time and just walk slowly through the city on my way back to the hotel, where I’d left my luggage and where I’d pick up a cab to the airport.  I quickly realized that most of the fun of Fifth Avenue lay along my route back, so obviously I directed my feet there.

And while I just window-shopped for myself, it didn’t take me long to find myself here:

Growing up, I had a collection of American Girl dolls, and Peanut has already received her first one (Molly’s friend Emily, which she got for her first Christmas, right before both dolls were discontinued).  I never had a Bitty Baby – I was of the first generation, eight years old when Kirsten, Samantha and Molly were introduced, and Bitty Baby was after my time.  I knew that Bitty Baby would make a sweet playmate for Peanut, though: she’s just beginning to get interested in baby dolls, and Bitty Baby has no small parts she could lose or elaborate hairstyles she could destroy.  I’m sure you can guess what happened.

I bought Bitty Baby No. 7, the redheaded one, for my little ginger baby, and they’re already tight.  I’m not a big doll person but I make an exception for American Girl. Although man alive, that stuff is expensive, and they roll out more of it all the time.  I’m already eyeing Bitty Baby’s skating outfit and snow book for Peanut’s Christmas haul.  Yes, I’ve totally become that mom.

That was it for my NYC adventures – from American Girl Place I headed back to my hotel, where I just managed to jam Bitty Baby into my carryon, and from there, to JFK.  While I hate being away from hubby and Peanut, it was rejuvenating to have a day to just wander around New York doing whatever came into my head.  A little juice, a little strolling, a little shopping, a little friend time – aside from missing Peanut, it was pretty great.  Mommy time is in scarce supply these days, but I think I took advantage of it when it fell into my lap last month.