I love New York!!!

Well what a birthday I am having!

I was invited to fly to NYC with Lili, stay in Manhattan for two nights and spend the last night in Long Island at Louise's lovely new home.

I had nothing to think about or do. My job was to enjoy myself and boy, did I ever do that!!!

First we stopped for a quick lunch to catch up with our friends, then we had a nice dinner at Vice Versa near the theater where we went to see Hairspray!!! Well if you have seen the movie with John Travolta as the overweight mother, you have to see the play with George Wendt( Norm from Cheers) as the mother in the musical. I laughed and cheered so much. What a funny, lovely musical to see. Everyone was up on their feet cheering at the end.

The next day, NYC was hit with a snow storm that dropped 9 inches of fresh white snow on the streets. We loved it! We felt quite at home... so we joined Gerry and Louise and set out to visit the Metropolitan museum of fine Art. I think a few other people had the same idea... We had lunch in the private dinning room overlooking Central Park, since Louise is a sponsor of the museum. It sure is nice to have friends!

That evening I was treated to cooking lessons at Rustico cooking school where you get to eat the food that you have prepared. It was lovely seeing Dino and Micol once again. They are responsible for Lili and I meeting Louise and Gerry on our trip to Italy in 2006. Since then we have returned to Italy for more cooking lessons and we are planning another to France for next year. If ever you are in New York city, I highly recommend this as an evening of fun and getting to meet the locals. I also would not hesitate to recommend one of their trips to Italy!

Saturday, we set off for lunch at Fiorello's. This was the best of all the restaurants for authentic Italian cuisine. We sat at Louise's private table (...yes it is good to have friends in the right places...) and enjoyed some very nice Italian wine. The service was impeccable and we were truly spoiled in every way possible. This restaurant is a must if you enjoy genuine Italian menus.

After this we were headed out to Louise's new home in Long Island where Doctor Phil was waiting for us. Philip is Louise's (the blond in the picture) new husband. We all agree that he is a sweetheart and have decided that if he will have us again, we shall return for my birthday next year as well (and every other for that matter!).

Tomorrow I will tell you about the surprises that my sons had for me...

until next time!