Snapshot: NYC in November

One of my college friends has her hands exceptionally full this fall. Her husband is teaching in Singapore and her step-daughter, who they have primary custody of, is going through the college admissions process. This process is even more complex because she is being courted by several schools for an athletic scholarship. And then there's the adorable four-year-old, too. Here is a picture of us from our sophomore year in college.

I attempted to visit them all in NYC last week. Most disappointingly, my friend was quite ill the day we had planned to spend together. So instead of seeing Central Park through the eyes of a urban four-year-old and her mother, I had several hours free in NYC to wander around. This is where the cupcakes came in.

It was an easy train ride up from Washington and I arrived just in time to see the Yankees win the World Series. My hotel was one block off Times Square and the normally crowded area was even more crowded on this particular night. Have you see The Deadliest Catch on the Discovery Channel? Picture how those crabs are packed into the holding tank in the bottom of the fishing vessel. That's how it was on Times Square except louder and with alcohol. The next day I went wild in Toys R Us, buying birthday presents for the adorable four-year-old and indulging my own kids in the New Moon department. Yes, Toys R Us has a whole department devoted to New Moon. For those of you looking for a good, centrally located hotel: Hotel Mela was it. Spacious room (with a bathtub, rare for NYC!), high thread-count linens, free wifi and quality bath products. It's at 44th St. between 6th and 7th Aves.

My aunt and uncle were visiting from Chicago and I had dinner with them Thursday night at Vice Versa, which I'd read about on Chowhound. The last 1:1 time I had with them was while I was in college, near their home. It was such a treat to catch up with them, get the detailed scoop on their kids and grandkids, and hear about their travels. My aunt is counting the days until my mom retires and they can hang. I think my mom is, too.

My friend and I grabbed a quick bite Friday morning before I left -- I needed to hand off the birthday presents and wasn't ready for my trip to be a complete aberration.

And then I headed for JFK, sad to leave the big city behind but very excited to see the kids and Dave, whom I really missed. (Note to those flying JetBlue: the terminal at JFK is new and modern but lacks AT&T cellular coverage, which makes it very hard to do a conference call from the boarding area.)