The Thirty-seventh Day

My last full day in the city was an eventful one, allowing me to cross at least a few more things off my “New York To-Do List.”  The day went something like this…

• Last stop at SVA—Packing up my prints to take home, I felt a mixture of sadness (the program is over) and happiness (the last month was time well spent) as I walked out the door.
• Onion Tour—Prior to leaving for New York, I was encouraged by friends to go on a Big Onion Tour.  It’s an easy and cheap way to get to know the city; all the tours are led by graduate students and each one focuses on a different neighborhood in Manhattan.  Mom, Dad, Natalie, and I joined the “Immigrant Tour,” which trailed through the East Village, Chinatown, and Little Italy.  We all left feeling like we got our money’s worth of New York culture and history.

Touring through Chinatown.

• Gramercy Tavern—We thoroughly enjoyed our lunch at this well-known East Side lunch/dinner spot, partly because of the amazing service and well-prepared food, but mostly because Jess filled the 5^th seat at our table.

At Gramercy Tavern.

• LeVain Bakery—Ray added this bakery to my “Must Eat List” before leaving New York so my mom and I, self-professed baking connoisseurs, made the trek up to the Upper West Side to make it happen.  Not only were their cinnamon buns (only available on weekends) featured on Oprah, but the cookies that come out of this hole-in-the-wall bake shop were voted “Best in New York.”  No wonder.  The oven-ready balls of dough were the size of baseballs and each cookie was served slightly warm so that the outside was nicely browned and the inside was moist and melty.  Mmmmm…

That was our first cookie: chocolate chip. After that we had to try the chocolate chocolate chip.

• Cuts and Color—Haircuts at Oscar Blandi and manicures and pedicures at New York Nails and Spa left all the Eastman women feeling groomed and pampered.

Such a fun salon; they serve you cappuccinos while they cut.

• The Last Supper—We continued our Italian streak and headed to Il Buco for dinner, enjoying our last meal in the city and loving the cozy, charming, rustic ambiance.

Another classic family dinner pic.

• Rice to Riches—I passed by this creative dessert establishment on my first night in the city and had been hoping to go ever since.  We stopped in on the way home, succumbing to their persuasively bold advertising (“Go ahead and eat it.  You’re already fat.”), and each ordering our own flavor of rice pudding.  It’s the only thing on the menu but it comes in about 20 different flavors.  I ordered “French Toast” and loved it, but one thing is for certain, no one makes rice pudding like my grandma.

Notice the "Dieting is Optional" in the background. We took it to heart.

• Pack it up—It always takes more time than I think it will but I finally managed to get every last thing into those suitcases.  Departure time:  9:45 a.m. tomorrow.
• Tying up loose ends—Knowing that things will be busy when I get home, I made sure to have all pictures edited and DVDs distributed to the families who modeled for me during my time here.  Shopping at Kate’s Paperie and Paper Presentation, two fabulous stationery stores with extensive selections, I found some fun packaging materials.

The outside of a DVD package. I LOVE this ribbon!

The inside.

• Joshua—Speaking of loose ends, I’m just remembering that I never posted pictures from one of the shoots I did of a little boy from my building.  The whole shoot happened inside the family’s apartment since it was pouring that afternoon.  Here are a few of my favorites:

He looks calm here, but he definitely wasn't.

His true personality was starting to show.

This was his "relaxing" pose.