What Would Jane Austen Do?

I landed in Lubbock early Friday afternoon and was greeted by 40 mph winds. Welcome to the plains ... Seeing: They had some rain recently and the irises were beautiful. When I was a kid Lubbock's alleys fascinated me. My great aunt insisted on driving around until she found the most picturesque alley in town for me to photograph. Hearing: Lubbock makes a BIG deal about Buddy Holly. This is a museum dedicated to him. He died when he was 22! Tasting: The big, fancy grocery store in Lubbock (going by the enticing name of "United") had this fantastic White Chocolate Apricot Bread. Touching: I was in town to help clean out my great aunt Helen's house and get ready for an estate sale. She was moved into assisted living recently. She has the most beautiful costume jewelry; I got to take home some of the pieces she doesn't wear any more. Smelling: I stayed with my Great Aunt Winnie. I still smell like Camay .

For some people, this would have been the highlight of the trip. But since I can't afford anything sold on the Upper East Side, it was just some more sightseeing for me. The first place I went on Saturday morning was Takashimaya. The floral department was very exciting. If I lived in New York, I would want my boyfriend to send me flowers from there. I loved the way they incorporated the principles of Western flower arranging with the principles of ikebana. The picture above is borrowed from here ; those sales ladies give you the stink eye if you try to take photos. Also, the security guard followed me around the whole time I was on the second floor; I hope someone else took the opportunity to rob them blind. I also got to see Bergdorf Goodman -- so tiny! You can barely turn around in there. I walked by the windows at Barney's, but they were having a sale, and I think Barney's punishes the sales hounds by denying them Simon Doonan's genius. You have to be paying ...

Oy, I forgot to post the last installment. I was desperate to see Central Park, even though it was 22 degrees outside. I hired a pedicab that took me around the southern tip of the park for 20 minutes. A lovely trip, but I became very concerned that my toes were going to fall off (in spite of Smartwool socks and knee-high leather boots). I would really like to see more of the park when everything is in bloom. And when it's not 22 degrees. Of course I had to go by and see Grand Central Station. What an amazing place. This is the zodiac mural on the ceiling. photo via Wikipedia And I ate at the Grand Central Oyster bar. Roasted oysters in anchovy butter--oh hell yes. I think I need more anchovy butter in my life. And way more NYC.

So, the reason I went to New York was to check out the Art of the Samurai exhibition going on at the Met. It did not disappoint. I direct your attention to the photo below. The plaque next to the display case indicated that this style of headgear, including the hair, was "favored by the more rambunctious samurai." Ladies and gentlemen, I traveled to Edo Japan by way of contemporary New York and finally discovered the origin of the mullet. The Met was a great place to visit, though it would take months to get through all of it. I also checked out the Wrightsman Galleries while I was there. 18th century French decorative arts aren't that exciting to me, but the galleries were lovely. The second thing on my list, and one of the highlights of the trip, was the Neue Galerie. It's in an old townhouse once owned by some Vanderbilts. The library -- now a bookstore -- had the most fantastic bookcases. While I was at the Neue Galerie, I ate at Cafe Sabarsky (which Smit...

Hooray! I didn't fall through the subway grate in NYC. It was a danger, you know. But I had a fantastic visit. The best shopping I did was on the Lower East Side. I was trying to find things that I can't get in Houston. First of all, I'm glad I finally got to go to Muji, even though I'm now convinced that "Muji" is Japanese for "Ikea." Pearl River Mart was a lot of fun, and I got the cutest tote EVER while I was there (see above) [you can actually buy it on the Internet ]. Dean and Deluca had some great stuff, though it was so packed you could barely turn around. I didn't buy much there, because you can actually get fetishized produce in Houston. Oh, but they had very small pouches of Kookabura licorice, which I've been wanting to try. [FYI: the black tastes even more like licorice, so if that's your thing, you'd like it. I really liked the red -- the texture was so much better than Red Vines.] I missed Ted Muehling because t...