One of my favorite things to do on the weekends is wander around the upper west side and pretend that I live in one of those big, beautiful brownstones. As far as neighborhoods go, the upper west side is definitely my favorite hood in Manhattan. (My other favorite is the west village, but it would take some serious smooth talking to convince J to ever move down there. He can only handle so much cuteness.) The upper west side is pretty dreamy. The streets are wide and whimsical and so charming that it kind of makes your head spin (or is that just me?). No matter what season it is, the trees always overhang into the road so you feel like you're walking into a magical tree tunnel and after awhile, you're like, what movie am I in right now? (Just trust me) Oh, what I would do to wake up in the morning and have a cup of coffee at one of those big bay windows. And the stairs! The stairs. When I have stairs leading up to my front door, that's when I'll know I've made it in this world.
For the record, J thinks this new habit of mine is real creepy.
What I call 'admiring', he calls 'stalking'. (Tomāto tomäto, you know?) He digs the upper west side just as much as I do, but sometimes I get carried away while I'm window-shopping for my next dream home. Look at those windows! Can you imagine what it must look like inside? Look at the details! Ooh, look at the white one! LOOK AT THE WREATH ON THE DOOR! LOOK AT EVERYTHING! I WANT IT ALL!
He's made a point of walking 20ft behind me at all times in case one of the actual residents happens to notice that I've been circling their apartment all afternoon.
While I'm wandering/stalking, I like to channel my favorite New York City goddesses, Kathleen Kelly and Holly Golightly. Not surprisingly, this song is always playing in my head whenever I turn down West 69th, secretly hoping to stumble upon The Shop Around The Corner. There's something very romantic and old-New-York about the upper west side. It makes you want to play the saxophone and go on evening walks and drink red wine every night.
You know what I mean?
This post is part of the Beauty Soup project.
beauty soup (n) | a melting pot for all things worth admiring
yes, yes, yes. i know exactly what you mean. sigh... i'm going to dream about the upper west side all day now.
ReplyDeleteYou are not alone. I am totally guilty of the same type of fantasies. It just can't be helped...
ReplyDeleteI have never been to NYC but I often dream of the Upper West Side - especially after I watch Breakfast at Tiffany's or Gossip Girl :) It seems like such a magical place.
ReplyDeleteI grew up on the Upper West - still love it! - and it is a totally accepted practice to peep in windows. If people didn't want you to, they'd close the curtains! Enjoy.
ReplyDeleteI dream about the Upper West Side and I have only ever been to NYC once! HA! I can only imagine the "stalking" I would do if I actually lived there ;)
ReplyDeleteThese brownstones are the reason I want to live there so bad!
ReplyDelete-Darianne | She Wrote Today
I do that in my neighbourhood sometimes. I walk past this one house up the road that is my future dream home – bay windows, red brick, a DRIVEWAY. I mean, who even has a driveway!! That's my version of making it: a guaranteed parking spot just steps from the front door. And if I get an actual garage one day in which to put my car (and all my junk) I might actually kiss it.
ReplyDeleteBut the UWS... Man, it makes me want to fast-track my next trip to NYC!! x
I don't get to the Upper West Side enough! In fact, hardly ever, but from these photos, it look so dreamy! I live in Brooklyn and I am the same way about the buildings there. Or the West Village. I love dreaming from the outside, wondering what it looks like inside...totally not stalker-ish! Just dreamers...
ReplyDeleteYES! take me there right now. those are two of my very favorite movies...thank you for sharing so i can live out nyc in my dreams...xoxo
ReplyDeleteI'm such a window stalker as well. If they didn't want to have their gorgeous homes admired, people A) shouldn't spend millions to buy/fix them up and B) should close their blinds a little better. They're just asking for it if you want my opinion :)
ReplyDeleteThe UWS is lovely! Glad you are enjoying it!