Visiting Art Galleries in Chelsea

A great free program to do in New York is wandering around the cutting-edge art galleries in Chelsea.The borough is home to over 300 art galleries and art studios, mainly the area bounded by 10th and 11th Avenues and 18th St. and 28th St.

Following the rising rental prices in SoHo with the arrival of fashion stores, the art community started moving to Chelsea in the 80s and hasn't looked back since then. Besides, the area is thriving with the High Line, Chelsea Market and the Meatpacking District.

It is one of my favorite areas in New York and I feel very lucky to live so close to it :)

I will have to prepare a post about the art galleries in the Lower East Side as well. It is another great area to explore if you love art and scouting new talents to invest on.  Very exciting!!!!!!

NYC - cupcakes' capital of the world!!!!

Cupcakes follow you everywhere in New York. Even the Sex and The City tours started having a stop at Magnolia Bakery. They are cute, delicious, yummy, go beautifully with a coffee or tea. It is just so hard to resist!!!

In order to experience what this cupcake city has to offer, I decided to start my own cupcake rating system :) Just have to make sure I keep hitting the gym nearly everyday, otherwise I will become a balloon with so many cupcakes!!!

Here we go:

1. Little Cupcake Bakeshop - These have been my favorite so far. They have a very wide selection of different cupcakes!!! You can find them in 3 different addresses: 30 Prince Street, 9102 Third Avenue

Brooklyn and inside Bergdorf Goodman. Believe me, to be inside BG, they have to be very good!!!!

2.  Baby Cakes - Dairy and Gluten free and natural/healthy cupcakes (if possible at all! lol) -  The location on Lower East Side is so cute and vintage. Since I saw a post on Garance Dore's blog about Baby Cakes' owner (see here) the name was stuck in my mind. Wandering in the Lower East Side I finally found it and had my first and unforgettable Baby Cakes cupcake. When you order you cupcake they ask if you have any allergies. Brilliant!!! 248 Broome Street

 

3. Eleni's -   This has to be one of the most tempting shops. The presentation is so beautiful. The cookies make beautiful gifts as well for all sorts of occasions. It is located inside Chelsea Market (75 Ninth Avenue) and on 1266 Madison Ave (between 90th and 91st).

4. Magnolia Bakery  - Definitely the most famous by far for out-of -towners and Sex and The City addicted. To be honest I expected much more from Magnolia Bakery. It is very good, but not that amazing comparing to many others. They are all over the place....401 Bleecker Street, inside Bloomingdale's, 1240 Avenue of Americas (Rockefeller Center), 200 Columbus Avenue, and Grand Central Terminal. 

5. Dean and Deluca - In spite of not having cupcakes as a speciality, I loved the Banana with Nutella cupcake I had at Dean and Deluca. So yummy!!!!!! Plus the amazing cappuccino (one of my favorites so far...). They have 6 different location in NYC: Soho 560 Broadway at Prince Street, One Rockefeller Plaza (between 5th and 6th Ave.), 1150 Madison Ave (At 85th Street), 620 8th Ave Retail Space B,  235 West 46th Street (Between 7th & 8th Ave) and 156 West 56th St.

6. The Buttercup Bakeshop - It is very tiny and located in Midtown Eats, where we were staying as soon as moved to NYC. I can say I started my cupcake experiences in the city there as it was so close to our flat. Such lovely cakes! 973 2nd Avenue (Between 51st and 52nd Streets)

7. Burgers and Cupcakes - No it is not a joke. There is really a place called burgers and cupcakes in this city!!! lol Very healthy, I know. It happens to be very close to my flat, and I had a lovely marble cupcake with peanut butter that was out of this world!!!! The burgers were not bad either. 458 9th Ave (36th St. & 9th Ave.)   

Having cupcake craving feeling now!!!! lol I am sure this cupcake list will get longer and longer as there is still so many cupcakes to try :)

Hope you enjoy! If you have any tips about cupcake places in NYC, please let me know!

Love xxx

Magnolia Bakery

Baby Cakes

Baby Cakes

Baby Cakes

Dean and Deluca

Little Cupcake Bakeshop

Little Cupcake Bakeshop

Little Cupcake Bakeshop

Little Cupcake Bakeshop

Elenis

Buttercup Cake Shop

The wonders of Chelsea Market

Chelsea Market has become one of my favorite spots in New York :) It is quite close to my flat and above the Meatpacking District. I love going there for a coffee, sushi and cupcakes!
The red-brick building was a former biscuit factory (National Biscuits Company) and it fills an entire block between 15th and 16th streets. There are loads of cute shops (including an Anthropologie), restaurants selling all sorts of fresh and yummy food and offices. Google and EMI are among the tenants.  It is a perfect place to stop and unwind after shopping at the Meatpacking Disctrict or walking on the High Line. Must go when you are in New York :)

Inspiring messages - Quotable Cards

Browsing at Posman Books inside Chelsea Market (have to write a post about it very soon!) this week, I have found these lovely cards by Quotable Cards. To be honest I had never heard or noticed the name of this company before. All I can say is that I have fallen in love with the messages on the cards. I feel like buying them all and sending to all my dear friends and family :) Could not agree more with the company's logo saying "Kind words never die". Maybe this is what we need in this crazy world - not much apart from kind words. Just reading these lines made me smile and I hope you enjoy as much as I did!

The High Line - volunteering opportunities

One of my favorite places of "my New York" is the High Line. It is very close to our flat and I can walk all the way to the Meatpacking District :) It is a great program for the weekends as there are loads of lovely places to have brunch there after the walk.
The High line runs from the Gansevoort Street up to 30th Street (West Chelsea). It was a very ambitious urban renewal project which transformed a disused railway into public park with amazing views from the Hudson River and the city from another perspective.

In spite of having being open to the public in June 2009 (the portion between Gansenvoort to 20th Street), it has already become one of the main attractions in New York. You can see most of the art galleries in West Chelsea as well.

I have applied to be a volunteer in the Green-Up Spring Cut back between March and April. The deadline was on the 13th of February, I was a bit late....But I hope to hear something back. Fingers crossed!!!! It should be fun and also an amazing opportunity to meet new people :)

For whoever is interested have a look : Volunteer Opportunity : High Line Green-Up Spring Cut Back