best wednesday ever?

yeah, i'm pretty sure it was. yesterday, i mean. thanks to a couple of lovely crafty friends who let me hang out with them in new york city! the ladies in question are linda brun (who's from norway, here on vacation) and sandi taloumis (who, like me, came in on the train, just for the day). between the three of us we put a sizable dent in the city's stock of art supplies and thrift shop merchandise! here we are at the ink pad, with many thanks to anna for taking A LOT of photos before we managed one without me looking like i was having some sort of weird facial seizure:

 

don't believe me? here's a picture of the three of us on 14th street: sandi has a lovely smile... linda has a lovely smile... lauren looks like she just swallowed a bug. yeah. that's usually what i look like in pictures, lol!

but back to the fun stuff! here's linda outside the ink pad, which has a really cool board that miss hayden (who works there) made:

we also went to ♥SEVEN♥ thrift shops, which might be a personal best for me. in case you're planning a trip to new york and have only a limited amount of time, i will share one of my favorite thrifting secrets with you: on east 23rd street there are SIX charity shops within about three blocks of each other; not to mention a cool art shop*, the subway** and a post office (just in case you buy something HEAVY, lol!) walking east on twenty third street, from lexington avenue, they are:

housing works 

157 east 23rd street 

(betw lexington and 3rd ave)

salvation army 

208 east 23rd street 

 (betw 3rd and 2nd ave)

cauz for pawz 

212 east 23rd street  

 (same block)

goodwill 

220 east 23rd street  

 (same block)

city opera 

222 east 23rd street  

 (same block)

vintage thrift (east) 

286 third avenue

(around the corner from the others... betw 23rd and 22nd streets)

we went to all of the above, except vintage; but on the way there from the ink pad we hit another branch of housing works and angel street thrift shop, both on 17th street, near the rubin museum.*** we found some cool stuff at various venues, though no one made a "big score"; however, i think we could all have come away completely empty-handed and still have enjoyed the "thrill of the hunt" so to speak, each other's company, and some really good exercise!

eventually, we dropped sandi off at grand central. linda met up with her lovely hubby at penn station. and i got on a train back to new jersey. well, a girl's gotta crochet somewhere, right?! :)

i was sad for the day to end, but somewhat assuaged by the fact that linda and i are taking this awesome class with nathalie kalbach on sunday; whilst sandi and i have signed up for two classes with dina wakley in september!

good bye for now, darlings! see you soon!

♥♥♥

 *da vinci artist supply, 23rd st and lexington ave
**the 4 or 6 train at 23rd st and park ave; the n or r is a block further west at broadway
***which is utterly amazing if you like asian art at all. which i do! we didn't stop there this time, however. :)