Category: I♥NY

A Visit to the Palais des Thes Boutique in SoHo

tea exterior

I’ve known about the French brand Palais des Thés for a while, and I’ve purchased their tea once or twice at various shops around New York, but I just made my first visit to a Palais des Thés boutique last week. There are currently two Palais des Thés boutiques in Manhattan, one on the Upper West Side and one located at 156 Prince Street in SoHo.

tea wall

This SoHo location stocks over 100 varieties of tea, all directly sourced by Palais des Thés (which has been in business since 1986). I have a very basic knowledge of tea, as well as certain preferences, but I was a bit overwhelmed by this range of choices. Fortunately, the boutique’s staff were helpful as well as knowledgeable. And, as a perfume-lover, I was happy to see that the teas were categorized not only by country of origin and by type (black, green, or white) , but also by flavor: fruity, flowery, smoky, etc. …

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On the Street: Vesuvio Bakery

vesuvio window

…at least, this was Vesuvio Bakery, located at 160 Prince Street in Manhattan, from 1920 to 2009. When it closed (a sad day), the space was taken over by City Bakery, which has thoughtfully kept the historic facade (and most of the interior) intact. (You can read a short article about the changeover here.)

I like these towers of cookies surrounding a vintage Statue of Liberty figurine, not to mention the “Big Apple” cookie jar at the right.

Image: photo by Tinsel Creation.

Screen Time: The Muppets Take. . .Bergdorf

Screen Shot 2013-06-07 at 10.07.13 PM

My husband and I recently re-watched “The Muppets Take Manhattan” (1984). Neither of us had seen it in years and years, but we both found it as entertaining as we remembered, even if we were watching it through slightly different eyes. I got one of my biggest laughs from the sequence that begins with Kermit the Frog chatting with his friend Jenny, a waitress who’s an aspiring costume designer (such a New York occupation/aspiration!). As a child, I wouldn’t have been too concerned with the actual location of their conversation…

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A Visit to the Bite Beauty Lip Lab in NYC

Exterior

On Friday afternoon I decided to visit and review Bite Beauty’s pop-up “Lip Lab” boutique in SoHo. I’ve always been curious about Bite’s lip color line (food-grade ingredients! shades named after different wine varietals!), but I usually find the atmosphere in Sephora too chaotic for any sustained browsing. The Bite pop-up seemed like a perfect opportunity to learn more about the brand and maybe, just maybe, to purchase a lipstick…

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