MoMA Bottle Net

While on a day trip to NYC a couple days ago, we stopped at the MoMA store. It had a lot of very interesting pieces. We saw a cute wine/bottle carrier made out of silicone - or something like a rubber band - that would be the perfect "gift" for our host that we were planning to visit for dinner last evening.  So we got it, and it was packaged in a very nice MoMA memento bag that included the web site for the online store and the fact that we also contributed to the Museum of Modern Art. In preparing for our dinner outing last evening, we wrapped up the champagne bottle in the sleek pink carrier, and used the MoMA bag to wrap up the other surprise. Our host loves to cook and we often talk about our little garden that has one cucumber vine and one tomato plant. Fortunately we had a decent sized, almost overgrown cucumber and carefully put it in bright green tissue paper. It took a minute for our host to realize the cucumber was indeed real and not a rubber or wax replica from the MoMA store. The point of it all was the fact that we remembered him while away in NYC for the day. I think he finally got our meaning, but it took awhile to convince him it was the rubber band wine carrier that was actually from the unique MoMA shop. 

Day Train Trip to NYC from DC

Though we spent most of the day underground, it was a memorable trip. We were at Union Station in DC by 7 AM and on our way to NYC by 7:30. It's been over fifteen years since we were in New York and we were going with friends who were on a mission and we were tagging along. There was also a real threat of rain and it did materialize in to buckets - not just showers - which was the reason to stay underground after getting soaked - even with umbrellas. But we did manage to see the street life for a bit along 5th and Park Avenues, stop at the MoMA shop, have lunch at a Greek place, see the Grolier exhibit, Grand Central Station complete with an Apple Genius Bar on the second level beneath beautiful chandeliers, and hightail it back to Penn Station to wait for the 7:30 PM return trip to DC. It would have been nice to stroll through Central Park and take in more of the typical sights and sounds of the city. Luckily, we have been to NYC a few times. I went twice while in high school to Columbia for a newspaper award, and a few times with my husband. We saw and did what most tourists do. On the most recent trip we visited the then newly renovated Ellis Island and sat on the Metropolitan Museum's steps, then drove back through Sleepy Hollow to Theodore Roosevelt's neighborhood in Hyde Park. I have to say it was a delightful day, but I'm willing to wait another fifteen years to visit NY again. It's not exactly my cup of tea, but I'm glad for the one day adventure.