New York, you shall soon be mine again... even if it's just for a long weekend.

For the past two days my co-workers keep telling me I look sick and miserable. The good thing is I actually have been feeling sick and miserable, not that I just look it. Phew! Hopefully I will be 100% next week for a long weekend in New York City! I am so excited. I would make a New York cheesecake in honor of this upcoming trip, but being sick has kept me away from the kitchen-- unfortunately. It's hard to cook if you can't taste the food.

In lieu of a cooking post, here's a few pictures from my first visit to Manhattan in May 2008. I went for three days, all by myself after taking a business trip to Princeton. A California girl all alone in the big city. I enjoyed every minute of it. I even drove to Manhattan. I randomly honked my horn so I could fit in.

I often hear people on TV talk about New York being the "center of the world" or having it's own rhythm. You know, it really does feel like that when you're there. Anything and everything you could possibly ever need or want is on that tiny island.

(Left: Midtown Manhattan, Right: Downtown Manhattan, Empire State Building)

New York is very noisy. The taxis, the traffic, the pedestrians and the delivery trucks that supply food to the thousands of restaurants all contribute to what looks and sounds like calamity. However, after some observation, you realize there is actual order in this chaos... like all of the noisemakers are a part of one orchestra and their rhythm is what keeps the city moving.

Ground Zero (Downtown Manhattan)

It'll be interesting to see what this place looks like now. (FYI... right across the street is Centruy 21, the bestest place to shop. It's like Ross/Marshalls but 10x better. It takes up an entire city block. I bought a pair of Rock & Republic Aviators that were originally $300, for $100.)

A cross constructed from what once was the skeleton of the World Trade Center.

(Left: Bad Boy Entertainment, Right: Trump Tower)

We move north to Midtown Manhattan. Here's two buildings synonymous with two big egos: P. Diddy and Donald Trump. I didn't go inside Bad Boy because I don't think they would've let me in without a gold chain or a fur coat. I did, however, go inside Trump Tower and everything inside is gold. I also helped myself to the little Gelato shop inside.

We move further north to possibly one of my most favorite places in the world -- Central Park. Central Park is about a four mile radius and sits right smack in the middle of a concrete jungle. The green in Central Park seem more vivid because they are in contrast to the concrete and brick buildings surrounding it. When you're in Central Park, you are completely aware that you are in a big city, but still feel very relaxed. Unlike Golden Gate Park (which I also love), makes you feel like you're not in the city at all.

The view from the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met). Apparently eating lunch on the steps of The Met is a very "Upper Eastside" thing to do because that was in one of my travel books. This was before even Gossip Girl came out. Haha.

The view from the rooftop of The Met. This was one of the highlights of my visit. The rooftop is only open during the spring and they serve cocktails. What better way to spend Happy Hour? Very New York. (FYI: The green below is Central Park)

Art by Jeff Koontz featured on The Met rooftop.

I can't wait to explore parts of NY that I didn't get to explore the first time around... plus I get to play in NY with two other awesome people!

On our to do list: A Broadway play, Brooklyn, lots of eating, SoHo and many more.