Ashley Takes Manhattan–Part Deux

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

After less than 24 hours, I was already in love with the city.

I woke up bright and early on Saturday morning to take a little solo adventure. I threw on a dress and some sunscreen, did a little google-mapping and headed to Chelsea Market to visit One Lucky Duck. SANY5213_thumbSANY5227_thumbWhile I knew that I was going to be having dinner at Pure (squeal!!), I was still looking forward to visiting One Lucky Duck for some yummy breakfast and some treats. While everything looked AMAZING I opted for some cinnamon crispies, macaroons and raw granola in a sweet pink tote. SANY5226_thumbAnd a spanking SANY5228_thumbof the smoothie variety of course!! Fresh coconut, blueberry, banana, cashew milk, cinnamon and vanilla blended together to make sweet sweet love in my mouth. It was stellar. Feeling giddy and full of deliciousness, I was fuelled up for some shopping in Chelsea which included a stop at Anthropologie where I found an amazing dress and skirt on sale for so much less than it would have been at the Canadian location.

I was thrilled for the next stop on my adventure, which was a tea date with the beautiful Sheryl!SANY5237_thumbI can’t even remember how I found Sheryl’s blog, but it was certainly one of the first Weight Watchers blogs I started reading back in 2007-2008. It has been incredible to follow her weight loss journey and I think I cried when she reached her goal weight. It sounds so corny, but it was a dream come true to finally meet her in person and I loved how easily our conversation flowed and how much we had in common. 247063_10150196801089143_598069142_7We stopped off for iced tea and coffee at Starbucks before wandering around, ogling sailors and taking a speedy trip into Trader Joe’s because I had never experienced one! The two of us received lots of compliments on our outfits and Sheryl’s awesome Hello Kitty bike garnered lots of attention too.

Our time together also included a trip to Lula’s Sweet Apothecary. IMG01098-20110528-1839_thumbOh. My. Gawd.

It was like I had died and gone to heaven in a sea of vegan ice cream. They had a huge selection of vegan ice cream, including soft serve! It was so hard to choose, but I opted for the cashew based peanut butter chip over a gluten free vegan brownie. I wish I had words to describe just how amazing this was, but it really made me long for something similar in Toronto.

I met back up with Jer and spent the afternoon wandering around Soho doing some shopping. My favourite stops included Cafe Kristall / Swarovski store where I purchased an amazing Swarovski ring (on sale, no less) and the Harney and Sons tea shop.

Jer and I had been texting when I was out with Sheryl and he let me know that he had found “tea heaven” for me and the Harney and Sons store did not disappoint! After falling in love with some of the Harney teas, I didn’t even know where to begin once we were in the store. They were sampling a variety of iced teas, which was a great place to start. I absolutely fell in love with the decaf hot cinnamon tea, which has taken on the title of the sparkle tea amongst my Tea Club gals. I also picked up some Paris tea and Peach Ginger, both of which I love. The person who was helping us at the counter was incredibly knowledgeable and obliged my many requests to smell and sample many teas. After I told him about my love of tea and about our little tea club he let me know that he was actually Emeric Harney, grandson of Mr. John Harney. How cool is that?!? Cue more skipping and squealing.

Stay tuned for part three… which will include my visit to Pure Food and Wine!!

5 comments:

*Bitch Cakes* said...

I was so happy to meet you and had a great time with you, Ashley!! And I love when visitors love this amazing city. Looking forward to seeing you next month :) oh and I go to that trader joe's all the time now!

Hilary @ The Big Weight said...

Awesome that you got to meet Sheryl - I love reading her blog :) looks like you had an awesome time...

Roz @ weightingfor50 said...

Hi Ashley, just found your blog via TJ's blogroll. Just had to say "thanks" for such a wonderful site. I'm on weight watchers (36 lbs down so far, about 20 more to go...and I'm running out of w w steam a bit. ack!) so look forward to your insight. All the best, I've bookmarked and will be back regularly.

Ashley Gibson said...

@Sheryl -- Loved that Trader Joe's! Can't wait to see you in August again. Belated birthday celebrations? I think so!

@Hilary -- thanks for stopping by! Sheryl is just as awesome as her blog

@Rox -- congratulations on your successes so far!! You can totally get to where you want to be. Remind yourself of the reasons your started WW in the first place and keep your goal in mind!

Anonymous said...

Ashley, I missed you! I haven't read your blog in forever - it's so great to hear things are going well for you. <3

Also, Sheryl's bike is AMAZING! I love it!!

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