Sooooo, you want me to summarize my trip to New York in zero words or less? Can do:

How about them apples?! This is how it went down: After spending all day Friday on the Upper East side with long, wary, car-sick inducing taxi rides both ways from our Tribeca digs, I vowed to my mom I would NOT be passing north of mid-town again. Not worth it. Too much traffic.

No sooner had the words left my mouth, that I see an Instagram from Derek Blasberg announcing his talk at the Gagosian Gallery the following day at 2 PM. Well, when in Rome. I dragged my poor mom back the 100 blocks uptown with less than a 24 hour turnaround. But let me tell you it was the best cab fare I’d ever spent. Derek is darling, and photographer Jean Pigozzi even cuter (if possible). In case you aren’t familiar, Pigozzi is a photographer famous for his black and white candid images of celebrities taken at his home in the South of France.  He has just published a coffee table book (here) and also was  written up in this month’s Vanity Fair.

While Derek was the highlight, here are some other favorites from my trip. I thought I’d share in case you are on your way to the Big Apple.

• Walk the Brooklyn Bridge – A roughly 1 mile trek, this method of getting to Brooklyn offers scenic views of the Manhattan skyline like you can’t get from anywhere else. Walk or bike it, and be prepared to dodge all the pedestrian traffic along the way.
• Visit the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum – an Upper East Side first for me, this design museum has a little bit of everything… architecture, fashion, graphic design. No need to go back every trip to the city, but try it once.

• Eat at Dirt Candy – a yummy gourmet vegetarian spot in the Lower East Side. I got a beet sandwich, where the beets were sliced and layered thick like deli meat. Add some dill pesto, horseradish and toasted whole grain for a yummy lunch.

• Visit the 911 memorial. I personally thought it was a moving and appropriate monument for the events that happened on Sept 11.

• Hang out in DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) – preferably go on a Sunday morning when you can hit up the Brooklyn Flea…it’s basically overpriced, vintage furniture, knickknacks and clothes, but it’s a good scene, good people watching and good food vendors.

People browsing Brooklyn Flea, literally under the Manhattan Bridge overpass.