{PHOTO} Times Square At Cool Dusk

We hit up Times Square towards the end of a long day of walking and I was hoping to catch it before it got dark. I wanted to try for some different light than what I usually see of the images in Times Square, i.e. night time where the neon can be almost overwhelming. It's so nice to see the walking only areas with the little tables and chairs for everyone to relax. It wasn't too crowded, which was nice, but by this point I was so very exhausted and so very hungry, that we didn't stay long. So, I took a couple quick shots, looked at my exhausted husband, and said "Let's go eat".

I knew better than to push this tired & hungry man beyond his limit - PLUS not much later after this we boarded our flight to London.

{PHOTO} I'll Stand In The Middle Of The Road In NYC

Just a warning to everyone - I will be sharing a lot of photos of NYC and London over the next coming weeks/months. I was thinking rather than saving a huge batch of photos at a time, I would just post them as I edit them. This means more posts, more often, but then I am not just sitting on these pictures and can share them right when I am excited and stoked (yes, I use the word stoked - and I use it often).

As some background, at the beginning of December hubby and I went to New York City and, unbeknownst to me, this was a detour on our way to London. When we arrived in NYC, we started planning our next day, to which hubby kept adding more and more things to do - in one day! I was getting nervous at how our relaxing vacation was becoming seriously jam packed (little did I know the next day he would tell me we were flying to London.......more about that later). After planning, we went out to grab some food and hubby noted on our way back to the hotel I should try to grab our street view of the Empire State Building all lit up at night. I couldn't get a good angle from the safety of the sidewalk, so I ran into the middle of the road, looking both ways of course, and took several quick shots before running back to avoid getting run over.

To the pro's - I know this is grainy. I know the lights are a bit overblown. I know the framing isn't dead on and despite my best efforts the buildings still look slightly askew, BUT I really like this. I like the feeling. I like the not perfectness, the rush it conveys.

I also like knowing I had to stand in the middle of a street in NYC, with traffic, to try and capture a memory.

{PHOTO} A Guy's Gotta Eat

I can't even imagine how cold it gets in winter and have a job where you are required to stand outside. We came in from the December cold of New York City to grab some warm dinner & I looked up to see this gentleman, still in full winter gear (minus the gloves), ordering dinner. I couldn't resist snapping a photo but I also made sure to make the camera disappear really quickly. 

No need having a police officer get mad at me, right? That's not the souvenir postcard I would want to send home. 

"Wish You Were Here - in jail - with me and my confiscated camera."

{PHOTO} NYC: Walking Amongst the Shadows

When I look at this picture, I always think of the childhood sing-song "step on a crack, break your mother's back". I think it's because of the line breaks on the sidewalk from both the tree shadows as well as the hand rails. If that saying is true, then it looks like this guy hit the triple jack pot.

Poor mom. She's probably in traction now because her son didn't mind the cracks.

{PHOTO} NYC: Need Your Shoes Shined?

It's not as sharp as I would prefer but I was busy taking pictures of something else and then had to hurry on. As I walked I spied this scene and just put the camera at my waist and fired off three shots hoping it would capture it without cutting off his head.

I just loved the pants rolled up, thinking it was quite the story. Who knows what kind of job this man has but here, getting his shoes shined, he's gotta roll up those pants and wait.

{PHOTO} NYC: The City Moves So Fast. . .

. . . .that if you stand still the people move by in a blur.

{PHOTOS} New York City: The Timeless Grand Central Station

When we were visiting New York City, my husband was incredibly understanding and insisted we make every effort to visit anything and everything we could to get some great pictures of NYC icons & this, most definitely, included Grand Central Station. It was an incredible architectural icon but the amount of PEOPLE was just amazing. We were there, bumbling around, as tourists, while everyone around us had a purpose and a place to be - quickly. It was amazing to see and beautiful in every way.

And my favorite - "The One Who Didn't Wear Black"

{PHOTOS} Chasing Shadows In The New York Public Library

{PHOTO} Wee Bit Cheeky, Eh?

Tying into the random and awesome things spotted while walking around New York City (like this amazing graffiti roll-up door), I wanted to share two more examples of what you'd miss if you're too busy looking up and staring at the skyscrapers (don't worry - I did it too).

Wee bit cheeky, eh?

Nothing is safe from being stickered to a frenzy

{PHOTOS} The Legend Itself: Katz's Delicatessen

It's the place of legend. Every tour bus/book/guide tells you THIS is the place to eat and experience the real NYC. That place is - Katz's Delicatessen. I didn't believe the hype. I thought "Eh, what's so big about a deli?" and being from Florida - of course I had absolutely no clue what a BIG deal this place really is. It was packed, frenetic, warm, loud, and DELISH.

I was not disappointed at all.

They give you a ticket when you walk in and, repeatedly, tell you to hold onto that ticket. You go to the counters/stations to order what you want. I'll be honest, I was THAT person driving everyone crazy because 1) I had no idea what I was doing and 2) all I wanted was a Spinach Knish. I'd never had a Knish before and today was going to be the day I would try one. There wasn't a big neon sign telling me "Knish's Cooked Here!" so, I was left to ask the guys behind the counter. Luckily, they had no problem helping me out, marked my ticket with my order, and pointed me along my merry way to the sodas and french fries.

There's a section where you can wait to be served on the far wall but we sat down in the middle seats, squeezed ourselves in, and tucked in for some grubbage.

Turns out, we weren't far from the scene where they filmed "Where Harry Met Sally". I've never seen the movie but, come on, who hasn't seen the scene where Meg Ryan "fakes it"?

The food was great, the scenery entertaining, and it was nice to have somewhere to come in from the cold weather outside (early December = 45 degrees = COLD for this Florida gal). Hubby and I really had a lot of fun.

{PHOTO} Sitting In The Park Enjoying The Fall Foliage

Sitting In The Park

This is one of those pictures that immediately evokes a memory. Every time I look at this, I think of how I took this out of the need to do SOMETHING while my husband and I waited, on this bench's twin, until the company we rented the apartment from could come save us from being locked out. After grabbing some grub we ended up just sitting here.

Waiting..........and waiting.......and waiting some more.

I also think of how we were just sitting there and heard a noise behind us  - which I immediately assumed it was some massive creature. Turns out, it was a homeless person crawling among the bushes picking up trash.  Nothing to worry about - like the mountain lion I had imagined in my head.

My brain always goes to crazy scenarios.

{PHOTO} NYC Crosswalk: A Foray Into Black and White

NYC 5th Avenue Crosswalk

"As we drew near New York I was at first amused, and then somewhat staggered, by the cautious and grisly tales that went around. You would have thought we were to land upon a cannibal island. You must speak to no one in the streets, as they would not leave 'til you were rooked and beaten. You must enter a hotel lobby with military precautions; for the least you had to apprehend was to awake the next morning without money and baggage, or necessary raiment, a lone forked radish in a bed; and if the worst befell, you would instantly and mysteriously disappear from the ranks of mankind." - Robert Lewis Stevenson 

A foray into black and white, not my usual medium. Despite being taken in 2010, this picture looks like it could be any decade. My eye always goes straight to the guy in the long coat walking across the crosswalk. Too bad there weren't any random cars from the 40's or 50's driving by to really complete the retro tone.

{PHOTOS} Art Can Be Anywhere You Look

While in NYC, Hubby and I realized we needed a few toiletry items and went down to the local Duane Reade to get them. When we returned to the apartment, the door was locked - as in not even the key in our hand would unlock it. We made several calls to the leasing company to ask for assistance & they said they couldn't be there for at least an hour, so we decided to walk down to Katz's Deli and kill some time (and get some good GRUB)!

The lesson we learned along the way? Anywhere you go in New York City, art can be made out of the normal, every day, mundane item. 

For example, this picture is a roll-up door for an empty shop. Who knows how long this art work will last, especially in the city where anything can be here this morning and gone by tonight, so I thought I'd take a picture for posterity of this wonderful piece of art.

And here's the door in context with it's surroundings. Absolutely beautiful.

{PHOTO} NYC In Silhoulette

Taken from a rooftop in SoHo, the NYC buildings silhouette with the blast of blue sky in background and the sun's rays. It was nerve-wracking on the roof taking this photo, but well worth it for this end result.