Travels with Tish Girlfriends’ Getaway Guide

How About a NYC Room with a View? Penthouse, Please!

You just can’t beat a penthouse view of the New York City skyline. We checked in to an Upper West Side boutique hotel, On The Ave Hotel, not expecting a penthouse suite — but we did book a room with a terrace (at an unbelievable special rate!) Imagine our delight when our room key opened up to a penthouse suite with this spectacular view!
Read the rest of this entry »

Brooklyn’s Williamsburg Coming Alive as a New Greenwich Village
I’d heard about Williamsburg, a neighborhood in Brooklyn. That it is pretty much the way Greenwich Village was 30 years ago or more. Young fashion designers, up-and-coming artists and musicians, less expensive living and the place to meet other artsy up-and-comers. Read the rest of this entry »


If you enjoy vintage clothing and appreciate the quality of antique textiles, get on a flight to New York! More than 80 antique textile and vintage clothing dealers will be featured at this Vintage Clothing & Antique Textile Show & Sale. Friday/Saturday — April 25-26. Check out the information at Manhattan Vintage. For the very best nonstop flights from Milwaukee or Kansas City — at very competitive fares, visit midwestairlines.com.

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Still haven’t gotten back to New York, but one of the places I’ve mentioned in a past post was the neighborhood of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, just across the river from the SoHo area and Lower Manhattan. Supposed to be the type of area that Greenwich Village was so many years ago. Sounds even better now.

I ran across a post on gridskipper.com about 6 Williamsburg shops that feature independent designers (”indie” designers) who are up and coming with fresh fashion ideas. They’re all within a few blocks of each other and sound very fun to explore.

According to the post, “The best clothing stores aren’t necessarily on the commercial stretches. Here are the picks for the best places to find some garb in the ‘burg.”

Check it out.

TIPS:
1) Not Familiar With Brooklyn? The post provides a street map pinpointing each of the shops. Use the map tool to zoom out, and you’ll discover that Williamsburg is just across the river from SoHo and Lower Manhattan — at the end of Delancey and Houston Streets.

2) Shop ‘Til You Drop 1-Day Airfare. If you can get 6 gals together, you can get a great “group” rate for a one-day or multiple-day excursion to NYC on Midwest Airlines. Book it now.

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Roses. Tulips. Trilliums. Nosegays. Bouquets. Garment accents. Home decor. This custom fabric flower shop has been creating beautiful flowers for 90 years — it’s a third generation company. M&S Schmalberg is a flower designer to fashion designers and to discerning individuals who want something special for a garment, a wedding bouquet or gown accent.

Handmade in the Garment District Shop.
Your fabric or theirs. Silk charmeuse, organza, satin, kidskin, velvet or whatever you prefer. Artisans who are skilled at working on the fine details required for these delicate creations work right in M&S’s garment district shop. Much of their business comes from clothing and costume designers, theatrical community, home decorators, retail fabric stores and display artists. Individuals orders are welcome.

Brides Will Love This Shop.
If you want a keepsake bouquet and something special for your bridesmaids, M&S is the place to go. Take a look at their beautiful work featured on this magazine cover.

Visit the Shop in NYC
I first visited M&S some months ago during a Garment (Fashion) District tour. We saw the flowers being made. You can too. It’s located at 242 W. 36th Street on the 7th floor. But first visit the Web site for a great overview of their creations at customfabricflowers.com. The folks there will be happy to give you a tour of their shop. No charge and no obligation. Just a lovely place to visit when you’re in NYC.

TIP:
You can view and order online OR you can fly out to NYC for a day (or more) just to visit or to discuss a potential order with them in person. If you want to fly out just for the day (or two), get a group together (maybe your bridal party?) and check Midwest Airlines’s special 1-2 day roundtrip NYC fare of $200 for a small group.

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So maybe you have a visual image of New York in your head. Skyscrapers. Broadway theaters near Times Square. Elegant hotels and restaurants. The Statue of Liberty and Ground Zero. Empire State Building. Regular tourist stuff. It’s all good, but…

New York City is all of that and so very much more. It has crazy fun places to visit and oddities to explore. If you let it, the city can surprise you, delight you and entice you to visit again and again. I’m hooked!

What will I see on my next trip? YOU VOTE.
After hours of online research, I came up with a list of possibilities. Why don’t you pick one or two that you’d like to hear about and vote for it by adding your comment below this post. I’ll try to incorporate the most popular items into my itinerary.

1) Canal Street. For me, this is a must-do. I just can’t visit New York without catching the latest trends in knock-off purses and where the hot deals are being made. “How good of a knock-off can I find on this trip?” is always my goal.

2) A Cruise Around Manhattan Island. Ladies, we have a number of choices in this category and I’d like to try at least one of them. A Happy Hour Sail on the Harbor, Sunday Brunch or a Sunset/Harbor Lights Sailing on an 82 ft. double masted Maine schooner. Sounds very classy. Imagine sailing around the entire island of Manhattan! Check out the Classic Harbor Line.

3) Free Kayaking on the River. Seriously, free kayaking at the NYC Downtown Boathouse on the Hudson River.

4) Visiting the Trapeze School? Oh, that’s another rare commodity — a real trapeze school in a big top along the river. Has to be interesting!

5) Hookahs and Thick Coffee? Okay, this is a crazy thing, but it could be fun to check out the cafe — a somewhat clandestine little place in The Village that makes you feel like you’re in a foreign country. (Mmm, I wonder which of my girlfriends would be game for this one?)

6) Food/TV Fantasies? It might be fun to see if the real “soup nazi” (featured on Seinfeld) serves good soup and if he really tells people “No soup for you!” His soup kitchen is in midtown. Or maybe I should stop at the Magnolia Bakery, made famous in Sex and the City. That’s down on Bleeker Street.

7) Funky Shoe Shopping. My tip for shoe shopping is a couple of years old, but sounds worth pursuing. It’s a whole street of shoe shops — from sneakers to ballet flats all at bargain basement prices. I don’t think they’re designer brands, but sounds like they’re pretty trendy.

Rocky Horror Picture Show, Anyone? If you’re a people watcher, you might get a kick out of this. A theater in Chelsea features Rocky Horror Picture Show nights every Friday and Saturday. People come in costume, bring props, sing and dance and have a great time. Something quite unique to NYC. (I have no idea why that smiley face is replacing the number 8. I can’t change it. Crazy, isn’t it?)

9) Williamsburg in Brooklyn. This neighborhood sounds like it’s a must-do. Lots of up-and-coming designers, little shops, vintage stuff, emerging street art, lots of new restaurants. It’s an art scene that is quickly becoming the new Village. One of the clubs hosts a bi-weekly Williamsburg Spelling Bee for adults. I’d like to see the area before it goes mainstream.

10) Monday Night at The Iridium. Les Paul, well into his 90s, is a music legend who plays guitar every Monday night at this club at 51st and Broadway. He invented the electric guitar, has many Grammy Awards to his name and is a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer. His Gibson guitars are used by top musicians, like Paul McCartney, Keith Richards, Steve Miller, Brian Setzer and others, who are also known to show up at the club to jam with Les. I’d like to be there when they do! (By the way, Les Paul is revered in his hometown of Waukesha, WI.)

11) Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market. If you watch Law and Order, you’ve probably gotten the idea that Hell’s Kitchen isn’t such a great place. But my research radar tells me that it’s becoming a bit more upscale than locals would like — well, relatively upscale. Some very good and inexpensive restaurants are there as well as a weekend flea market that has become a hot spot for local celebs to frequent.

12) Washington Square. This NY landmark is rich in history. Probably made most famous by the “beatnik” era of the 50s. You’ll see street performers and artists almost every day, making it an entertaining spot to visit in Greenwich Village.

VOTE NOW. Just fill out the comment form below with the top places you’d want me to visit, so I can report on them after my next NYC visit.

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TIP: Don’t forget that you can see a lot of this stuff in just one day, saving the cost of a hotel. Check out this post for a $200 roundtrip fare.