I heart New York!

Fall in NYC is beautiful and the weather was perfect. The skyline (above) and the street view (below) were both taken from the balcony of my friend Cord's apartment. He lives in Hell's Kitchen on a lovely street.

Cord is a family friend and a wonderful guy who was nice enough to put up with me for six days. His entire apartment is about a quarter of the size of my place, but I felt totally at home. Cord built a loft for his bed and hung a hammock beneath it, showing off what a master space-planner he is. Nice work Cord!! Thank you for being the perfect host.


In addition to sharing his space with me, Cord introduced me to some great eateries, like his local pub and his favorite pizza spot. My favorite was the Burger Joint. It is a tiny place hidden behind a velvet curtain in a fancy hotel. You would never see it if you didn't know it was there and the burgers were super tasty!

On the last night of the bead show, after we packed up the booth, several members of the Soft Flex team went to a Korean BBQ place per Sara's recommendation. Sara did us proud - the food was excellent and it was fun (and hot!) to have them cook right in front of you. I ordered the rib eye and highly recommend it. It was thinly sliced and cooked with onions and reminded me of Sukiyaki, a Japanese dish that my grandma always used to make. Delicious!

Sara and Mike enjoying their Korean BBQ

And finally, who did we spot while waiting in line for tickets to see Avenue Q? The Naked Cowboy!