Spring Preview for the Fabulous NYC Easter Bonnet Parade 2018

Today is the first day of spring, but it sure doesn’t feel like it. It’s cloudy and gray and feels like any minute snow could start falling. I’m so cranky about this weather, I just want to stuff my face with macarons. Which is my tradition for March 20th, but NYC is not celebrating Macaron Day this year! So what’s a disappointed spring lover to do?

Get Ready for the NYC Easter Bonnet Parade 2018!

This is the explosion of spring I’m waiting for! Flowers! Color! Fashion worn for fun not freezing temps!

Every Easter Sunday, traffic on 5th Avenue is closed off and NYC’s creatives and fashionistas emerge from hibernation in jovial swarms.

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New York Cliché of the Day: NYC Vegan Bakery Sweets by CHLOE

New York City has a wide array of vegan options. It’s the perfect city to dabble with cutting animals out of your diet. There are a handful of vegan bakeries all over the city that offer amazing treats that you’d never guess contain no butter, eggs, or milk.

Sweets by CHLOE on Bleecker Street offers 100% vegan desserts that are 100% delicious.

If you have dubious thoughts about veganism, “It can’t taste as good“, CHLOE set up shop in Greenwich Village to prove you wrong!

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[Replay Cliché] Coney Island at Sunrise

 Originally posted April 2014. Should I continue the tradition this year?

coney island sunrise

There are few things that will pry me out of bed at 3:30 AM. I can think of only three: flood, fire, and family tradition.

My New York family- the fast friendships I have made over these almost six years- has developed a tradition of going to Coney Island on Easter morning. To watch the sunrise. A trip that requires one to get on a train bound for Coney Island just as the bars are closing.

Wrenching myself out of bed after 3 hours of sleep? Sitting on a subway car for 1.5 hours amid the drunks and bums? Standing on a cold beach in partial darkness? These were all reasons I had resisted going before. But this past year I’ve needed and appreciated my friends more than ever. If they said it was worth going, fine, I’d trust them.

Trusting your friends: one of the best decisions a person can make.

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Saturday Street Art: Banksy is Back in NYC on The Bowery Wall

There’s big street art news in NYC this week.

Banksy is back in town.

His newest piece is located at the iconic mural locale, the corner of Bowery and Houston. The street was buzzing with people and photographers, even a Channel 4 news truck. I was expecting that.

 

Banksy is the biggest name in street art world wide. He had a “residency” in NYC in 2013 and the city went nuts over it.  Read More

Weekly New York Minutes #9

Every Friday I feature some fleeting moments from my week that made me stop and think, “I’m so lucky to live in NYC!” Here we go for this middle of March…

My morning commute on a packed subway car got so much better when I saw this adorable Shiba Inu hanging out in a striped bag! A face that can melt hearts, even on the MTA. Last summer NYC mandated that dogs must be in containers to board the subway. The result is the cutest doggy bags ever and fleeting moments of actual joy on the subway!

My fella took me out to dinner at SHI in Long Island City where this was the view! As an admitted non-foodie, I’m definitely more dazzled by a view of Manhattan than I am by a Michelin star! The Japanese/Chinese food was delicious and the menu is really reasonably priced to be paired with the view. I would definitely recommend this place if you’re looking for a fairly fancy dinner on a budget. Read More

Nothing Like an Ol’ NYC Subway Fight to Make You Grateful for SHOWTIME

Something shocking happened to me last weekend, as I sat on a fairly empty R train. All my years in NYC, I never ever thought I would see this day.

I missed the notorious Showtime Guys. I LONGED for them to be performing on my train.

A post shared by Юлия?? (@yuliya_russian_usa) on

Having loathed their presence all these years, I suddenly saw their incredible worth. The vital space they fill in the subway system. This was a sudden, violent epiphany. Emphasis on VIOLENT.

A fight broke out right in the area I was sitting. Half a dozen teenage boys sat in a baker’s dozen seats, oozing machismo everywhere. One minute they were talking loudly, cocky but not overly aggressive. The next minute they were piling on top of one another in the middle of the car in escalating rough housing that seemed to come out of nowhere. They thrashed around, fists flying, legs kicking. Read More