Roaming Fashion Hits Hoboken

Forget food trucks; now even fashion has wheels! The Nomad Truck, a new fashion venture by Jessie Goldenberg, CEO/Buyer/Creator, hit the streets of Hoboken for it's grand opening on Saturday, April 13th, 2013. I received a personal invitation that peeked my interest, so I decided to check it out on my way to the Path station. 

The truck was exactly where I was told it would be - parked outside of the Village Pourhouse in Hoboken. Personally, I think partnering with bars and restaurants is the way to go with a new fashion truck, thus driving business to the restaurant and to the boutique truck simultaneously.

A rack of clothes and a chalkboard announcing the grand opening sat on the street just outside the back entrance of the truck which seemed to invite ladies to come on in and take a look. The shop was well thought out, yet understandably quaint. I stepped up and navigated the space, which already crowded with a couple other women already inside and a dog. The clothes were totally on trend. There was even a very small dressing room located toward the front of the truck for those who wanted to try on items before committing to their purchase. Due to the crowd, I decided to simply stick with the accessories and found a couple gems. Earrings and a scarf for this lady, which set me back $30.84 and my receipt was emailed directly to my gmail account. Super easy and convenient!

I'm totally on board when someone has a dream and makes it a reality. Here's to a new Hobokenista (err.. NewYorkenista) in town for young lady entrepreneurs to look up to. Great idea, Jess! Best of luck in your new project and I look forward to fashionable updates on Twitter (@TheNomadTruck). Interested folks can also check out The Nomad Truck website to find fashion rolling into a nearby neighborhood.

Stay fashionable, Hobokenistas and Hobokenbros!

~The Hobokenista
@TheHobokenista

Let them eat (NY Cheese)cake!

As the mover and shaker I am, no matter where I live I have a tendency to seek out food and cultural experiences that I believe to be the best of the best with a unique twist. Living in Manhattan a few years ago (and still living a hop-skip-jump away in Hoboken) there is never a shortage of adventures to be had, neighborhoods to explore, or food to try.

Recently, a friend visiting Manhattan for the first time and asked, “Where can I find a decent slice of New York Cheesecake?” I started scanning the Rolodex in my head when it hit me. She had to try the cheesecake at D’Aiuto Pastry. There is no second choice, this is the place. When I lived merely blocks away from D'Aiuto it was almost too easy to pop in on a whim for an Italian specialty cookie, cannoli, or cheesecake slice and it's time to share my experience with the world.

On my quest to share my favorite things with friendly Hobokenbros, Hobokenistas, and casual site visitors, it was only natural that I refresh my own memory and make a pilgrimage back to D'Aiuto. A labor of love at it's core, I sampled not one, not two, but three flavors of D'Aiuto cheesecake. It was a tough (delicious) job, and I was clearly the best candidate!

D'Aiuto isn't located on the hippest block. It's on 8th Ave between 30th and 31st - just south of the massive New York City Post Office and diagonally across from Madison Square Garden's southwest corner. The establishment is surrounded by a mix of dark dive bars, "adult" shops, and general old school New York establishments. To be honest, D'Aiuto isn't that appealing from the outside either, but insiders know it's true value!

 D'Aiuto's Block and Storefront

I sashayed into the pastry shop around noon on a dreary Saturday. There were folks waiting to order in front of me and others walked in while I was there. Clearly, people who know great Italian treats make it a point to stop in whenever they can. 

I had almost forgotten how many treats beam up at customers from the glass case and counter top. They all seemed to be so well lit that you can't help but be drawn in and purchase something new or something which wasn't on your original list. I, too, fell prey to the unexpected purchase. More on that to come.

The first thing I had to do was, of course, order the cheesecake. Fatty McGee that I am, I wanted to try more than one and this time I had an excuse - and a couple of friends who I would be meeting momentarily, "I would like 3 slices of cheesecake, please!" I shouted as people pointed and whispered that I should adhere to my diet. I ended up with one plain, one strawberry, and one chocolate slice. Oh, and a black & white cookie and a coffee, just for good measure. How much did those delights set me back? Less than $15! A slice of cheesecake at Junior's cost double what these go for and, I bet, they are half as delicious, but I know that I'm biased. 

 3 slices of cheesecake, a black & white cookie, and a coffee for under $15

Since there are no seats inside we decided to make a day of it. I met my friends at Chelsea Market, which is only a 20 minute walk away from D'Aiuto. We were able to grab a cafe table in the crowded corridor and dig in before window shopping at the market.

Rich, decadent, smooth, and - just flat out - divine. Perhaps the only unexpected slice was the chocolate. Somehow we all thought the chocolate cheesecake would be chocolate flavored through and through, but it was rather a plain cheesecake covered in a thick layer of dark chocolate. The strawberry was similar - a plain slice with strawberry gelatin like covering adorning the top and adding to the overall flavor experience. 

It was a tough job, but the three of us were able to take care of each and every slice, saving the black & white cookie for later.

The "after" photo

After finishing, it was time to walk off our lunch/dessert with a visit to High Line Park. The High Line is one of my favorite places in all of New York City. Constructed from a historic elevated freight rail line, the park is now home to various plant life, which seems to change with every season, beautiful art, and million dollar views. The High Line is always filled with walkers, sun bathers, tourists, students, children, performance art, musicians, unique food vendors, and more. For me, it's a place to walk uninterrupted by traffic and to enjoy views of the Manhattan skyline and Hoboken! 

The best location to step up to the High Line is at Gansevoort Street and walk north through the entire length of the park, which is currently about 25 blocks - not including the final phase of construction at 33rd street. The Gansevoort entrance can be tricky to locate, but the entrance at W. 14th Street and 10th Avenue is a little easier to find and more accessible with an elevator to accommodate folks who aren't able to make it up the stairs.

We strolled off our delightful treats while snapping some photos here and there.Check out my photos below!

All in all, if you're a cheesecake enthusiast, or simply a normal human being who likes desserts, check out D'Aiuto and make a day of the many unique NYC landmarks in the vicinity. You won't be sorry. Plus, the good news is, it's finally summer! Now, go explore. Let me know how it goes. 

Thanks for reading!

Hobokenista, OUT!

@thehobokenista

Gotta Have Faith

Those who know me well probably know that I rarely attend church. I wasn’t really raised with the ritual and, consequently, have my own ideas and opinions about God and religion. However, religious ideas and opinions aside, I tend to be an Easter girl when it comes to church. I occasionally accompany friends who do observe the holiday and who aren’t able to spend the day with their own families for whatever reason.

This Easter marks my second church going experience in NYC and this morning I was off to Saint Bartholomew’s Church (a.k.a. St. Bart's) on Park between 50^th and 51^st in Manhattan, followed by brunch at Inside Park at St. Bart's.

 St. Barts & Inside Park @ St. Bart's

I met up with a couple of my friends who are, more often than not, happy hour pals, and had to reflect on our cleaned up appearance in Easter Sunday attire. One of my friends made the poignant statement, “Well, this is different for us,” which sent us into our first fit of giggles for the day. It was different for us, but definitely not bad.

The overall feeling I got for the theoretical church, or the ideals of the church, is that they want to create an open community that welcomes people, despite their differences. Printed clearly in their program, the church is for, “the dignity and worth of every person” and they are “against claiming to have all the answers.” Right away, these are two things that I would look for in any religious establishment, so I was glad this was the church my friend designated for our Easter experience.

The physical church was immaculate. It was truly a humbling experience to be inside such a large and strikingly beautiful church on a day that is so important to so many.

As church services go, from my limited experience, this service wasn’t half bad. As we were at the Festival Choral Eucharist version of mass, there was quite a bit of pomp, circumstance, and singing throughout.

My favorite part of the service was surprisingly the sermon. I usually find sermons to be a bit elitist, heady, and overly laden with religious references that I don’t quite understand, or necessarily agree with. However, Reverend F.M. “Buddy” Stallings spoke on a level easily identifiable and applicable to daily life, despite where individuals might find themselves on the spectrum of religion. He talked about resurrection being a parallel to hope and faith. When we are at our lowest, we must find hope to continue onward. I could use a little more hope in my life, so I actually felt inspired. Word. Thanks, Rev.

After the service, we bopped over to Inside the Park at St. Bart’s for Easter Brunch. We easily snagged a table after the 9am service. 

The setting was lovely. We sat inside the St. Bart’s courtyard, which is enclosed in a heated tent with clear plastic sides and a plastic roof, so patrons can enjoy the sunlight and feeling of being outdoors without being exposed to the elements.

All three of us ordered off the Easter prix fix menu. After we ordered, we were greeted with a basket of warm bread followed by a basket of pastries. I went for the apple pastry – I doubt they were made in house, but they were delicious.

Of the four dishes on the menu, I went for the Brioche French Toast with coffee (oh, and I added a mimosa!). The dish was pretty much your average French toast with berries. It was supposed to be a berry compote, perhaps it was, but I’m not truly a French toast connoisseur. It might have been nicer with some cinnamon in the batter or something else to give it some pizzazz.

One of my friends also ordered the French toast, while the other decided to go for a spinach, Swiss, mushroom omelet. It looked lovely, but I forgot to ask her how she liked it.

Overall, our meal was nice and the setting was perfect for Easter Sunday in NYC. I’d definitely do the church/brunch double header again on a holiday, if I was asked.

After our meal, we decided to go on a little walk and do some window shopping. Before long, we found ourselves near St. Patrick’s Cathedral and the Easter Parade was in full force.

For those of who don’t know, the Easter Parade is much like the Halloween Parade where people go to see and be seen. For Easter, this includes making a wild and crazy Easter hat and walking down 5^th Ave showing it off and posing for photos. Quite the experience! The city closes down the street to traffic so people are able to easily (and safely) pose and snap photos. Some of my favorites are pictured below.

 (Yes, dogs area allowed to wear Easter hats, too.)

 (...and parrots. I have a hunch this is this guy's average daily dress.)

 Classy Miller Lite man bonnet

Ok, enough of the silliness.

I leave you with this thought, though our religious ideas and convictions might be different, I think the message of hope is one we can all identify with. This spring and summer, I resolve to hope and have faith in the universe, while still working on goals large and small. I hope you are able to do the same.

I’m wishing you and yours a Happy Easter, Happy Passover, glorious Sunday, or any other holiday or special occasion you might be observing today. May health, love, faith, and happiness be yours, always.

Sincerely,

The Hobokenista
@thehobokenista
 

The AMAZING Armory Show 2013

If you missed The Armory Show this weekend, you missed a lot!

 

A few months back, some artist friends of mine told me about this infamous art show on a couple of Manhattan piers. They said it was an amazingly unique experience not to be missed, they were completely right. This weekend I decided to check out the show for the first time and am so completely happy I did.

I was initially curious about the name of the show, since an Armory is, by definition, a place where arms are kept. I decided to do some digging and find out whether or not Piers 92 and 94 were armories. I was surprised to find out the current version of The Armory Show has a history of changing locations and received it's name when it was moved to the 69th Regiment Armory building on New York's upper East side in 1999. Previously, an art exhibition called The Armory Show was held there in 1913. Fun fact, since the current version of the show took on the name, this year is technically The Armory Show's 100 year anniversary.

The trip from Hoboken was quick, super easy and scenic. It was a beautiful day, so I decided to take the NY Waterway ferry from 14^th Street in Hoboken to the 39^th Street pier in Manhattan. The $9 each way can be a little difficult to stomach, but on a beautiful *almost* spring day, it was totally worth the extra cash for the convenience and the view.

From the 39th Street pier, I took a leisurely stroll up the river, passing by the Intrepid Museum and snapping a couple of photos.  

I arrived at Pier 94, located at West 55^th Street and 12^th Avenue, around 12:30. Since the show opened at noon, the line for tickets was short. I quickly and easily purchased my tickets and even received some helpful hints from the girl at the ticket booth. Anticipation was high, but I still had no idea what I was in for.

Once I entered Pier 94, containing contemporary art, I was taken aback. The pier was an expansive space, many football fields long, containing hundreds of spaces sponsored by art galleries from around the world. Many of the small gallery spaces had different layouts and installations; each was distinctly different from all of the rest. I barely knew where to start!

I aimlessly began walking down the first aisle. Art featured among the galleries ranged from anything and everything one might be able to imagine. Pop art, classic art, inventive, creative, loud, quiet, scary, beautiful, empowering, functional, imaginative… any word you might imagine could describe a piece of art somewhere within The Armory Show. Galleries represented came from across the United States, Brazil, Japan, Turkey, The United Kingdom, China, Canada, Italy, France, and many more - I wish I could find a complete list!

I would have to say, one of the artists I enjoyed most at the show was David Kramer. His art featured an intertwined old school aesthetic with a pop art twist. I related to both the words in his art and his graphic style. The coolest thing about contemporary artists is the experience of actually following their careers as they develop instead of just appreciating their body of work after they are gone. The coolest thing about David is that he's a New Yorker so our paths even have a possibility of miraculously crossing sometime!

 David Kramer, The Armory Show, 2013

Another powerful piece I was enraptured by was a single large painting by Ryan Foster, Sunset (Smiling Landscape), 2012. It was a single piece, but to me it was the most striking. Foster seemed to be one of the singular contemporary artists utilizing old school oil techniques in a piece harkening back to that of masters before his time. Absolutely stunning.

Ryan Foster, Sunset (Smiling Landscape), 2012 - The Armory Show, 2013

After spending hours on the contemporary pier, I moved over to Pier 92, housing the modern exhibits, including artists from Andy Warhol to Pablo Picasso and many more known and unknown artists. Unfortunately, by the time I made my way over there, I was already starting to get a little tired. However The Armory Show was very deliberate by choosing to include many respite stops with functional artsy seating areas. I took a load off and soaked in my surroundings. One of the funniest things I saw was two small children also taking a break (who knows where their parents were, but they were no where to be found). These two kids sat amongst hundreds of priceless art pieces and, what were they doing? Their heads were buried in electronic games on smart phones. I guess I have to give them a pass since little kids can get tired in an adult art world, but it was still pretty ironic and kind of sad.

The show was truly amazing and I was so glad I was able to check it out. If  you might have missed this year's show, you can still browse the art from the show here or check out my images below.

Thanks for stopping by!
~The Hobokenista

 Contemporary Art (me in the middle)