The Magic Toy Store

Walking down 91st Street I sometimes think I will see Meg Ryan reprising her role of shopgirl Kathleen Kelly in the movie "You've Got Mail".  She played the perky, smiling owner of a quaint independent book store located on a side street in NYC.  Customers at her shop received individualized care and it was a quiet place to pass a few hours purveying the shelves for that gem of a book that makes you crave a rainy afternoon. That's the feeling I get what I call The Magic Toy Store.

How could a person not be drawn to a storefront that is painted purple amongst all of its drab brownstone neighbors? The storefront lights twinkle and the window display cases are packed with games and dolls and push poppers, all in the brightest colors imaginable. Inside the shelves are stocked with trucks and sparkly tutus and easy bake ovens and dinosaurs and, well yes, everything a small tot's or tottie's heart might desire.

As grandma to The Wee One this store has provided for many entertaining visits to choose just the right item to add to his toy basket. His Jack in the Box and Easter chick and Halloween bath toy and whirly gig were all purchased after much musing and touching and testing. The clerk at the store is always quick to ask what age of child I am purchasing for and make recommendation based on past purchases. The icing on the cake is an almost mandatory gift wrap of the toy with tissue, ribbon, and if you want, a balloon. Even though The Wee One will no longer be upstairs I have a feeling my need for toy gifts will not abate. And I know where I will be going to get them.

The Magic Toy Store.

Catching Up. Always.

Remnants of a fun vacation

I am the Fits and Starts of all bloggers. I seem to be always catching up. There must be something to be said for the seeming inactivity of my life when I can blog once every thirty days and call it good. So here goes......

Vacation

Right after I did NOT leave my heart in Paris I proceeded to leave what seemed like most of my disposable income all over the rest of Europe. Giverny, London, Belgium, and Germany. Not that I purchased anything exciting. Most of our expenses were lodging and fuel and tours. The sand from the beaches of Normandy was free, the surreal walk down the staircase of Downton Abbey cost a few pounds, and the ride through the Chunnel was exorbitantly expensive because I didn't purchase the tickets at least twenty four hours in advance. (Lesson learned.) I did purchase Starbucks mugs in Germany and Amsterdam and I've found that starting my day with windmills inspires me in a Don Quixote kind of way.

                                Birthday

I am a Leo so this is my birthday month. Cake and ice cream don't hold quite the allure as they once did but I have to say this years cake, well, took the cake.

Cronuts (TM) are all the rage here in NYC. For the uninitiated this concoction, a baked good that combines a croissant and a donut, was developed by a bakery in Soho and is selling like, um, hotcakes. People are waiting in line for HOURS before the bakery opens just to get their shot at the maximum daily limit of two Cronuts (TM) each. Once the goods are gone for the day, usually no later than 10AM and sometimes by 8am, you are out of luck. Not being the morning person that I am it's safe to say I have never tasted a Cronut (TM). However, I did celebrate my birthday with a Dossaint, an equally tasty combination of a donut and croissant. Designed (or should I say constructed?) and named by the family of The Wee One that lives upstairs it served as my birthday cake. Never have I been so happy to turn 0.

                          Moving
Speaking of The Wee One. He and his toy basket that resides in my apartment are moving to Florida on Friday. Beaches as opposed to concrete playgrounds, boats as opposed to the buses he is thrilled to point out on every walk around the city, and car rides instead of stroller/subway/taxi rides are in his near future. It will be a happy place for him with cousins and another set of grandparents nearby. He won't have to share a bathroom with his parents anymore (which they are probably much more thrilled about than he is), he will have three spacious floors of a condominium to explore as opposed to two small rooms in an apartment, and he will get to go up and down stairs instead of elevators.

I am happy for him and his little family, I really am. But I know I am going to miss his visits in the evening after bath time and that fragrance of lavender baby lotion. Grandpa is going to miss lap time in front of the computer for endless loops of Wheels on the Bus. We are both going to miss those daily hugs and kisses.

But who knows? We have a year left on our NYC lease and then I may have to rename this blog Midwest to Midtown to Miami. We shall see.