Friday Catch Up No. 7

featuring the cutest celeb sighting in the West Village

There is something about being in your childhood home that is so grounding. I spent a quick long weekend back in San Diego where I grew up, and it was oh so good for the soul. My primary takeaways were that 1) I love spending time with my parents and they live too far away from me, 2) feeling sun on my skin & hearing birds on a morning walk is everything, 3) I don’t think I will ever be a suburbs girl (lol).

Last week we also hosted an epic West Village Book Club event at The Mercer Hotel with Gary Janetti. Read more about it in our May edition of the WVBC Substack!

Next week I will publishing another travel guide (primarily behind a paywall due to the fact that I charge clients for itinerary planning), and I am hoping to make these more constant. Some will be very detailed and some will be less detailed. I am going to try to just lean into how I am feeling per destination so that I can actually get things published instead of sitting on it forever feeling intimidated about how much there is to write!

This weekend my friend Rachel is staying with me, and we are already fully underway on our fun girls weekend! We had a lovely Friday morning which included a VERY special run-in with my favorite neighborhood celebrity doggy Lumi! His mom Jackie could not have been nicer, and let’s just say I am one step closer to having my own bear…

In honor of our girls’ weekend, I thought I would put together a little fun girls’ Spring weekend in downtown NYC itinerary below (heavy on the eating & drinks, oops — sorry not sorry!)

Downtown NYC Girls’ Weekend Itinerary

Friday

• Book a workout class! Today Rachel and I did Sweat440 (love that there is a class every 10 minutes for ultimate flexibility), but I also love Bodyrok (multiple locations) for Pilates or try Fuze House for major sweat & girly aesthetics.

• Grab croissants at L’Appartement 4F in the West Village.

• Get a coffee from The Elk and take your coffee & croissants to the West Side Highway. Eat them on a bench and admire the view of the Hudson & hot men running.

• Stroll up & down the West Side Highway

• Lunch outdoors at Anton’s

• Shopping on Bleecker St

• Dinner at Cecchi’s

• Nightcap (& some dancing?!) at People’s (make sure to message them in advance to get on the list) or at the bar at Emmett’s on Grove

Saturday

• Sleep in, because you deserve it

• Stroll through Washington Square Park

• Wine class/pairing lunch or mozzarella class at Roscioli

• Shopping & strolling in Soho (you can see I love to stroll)

• Noho night out - drinks at Elvis Wine Bar or Jac’s on Bond, dinner at BondST or Raf’s, nightcap/dancing at The Nines or Jean’s

Sunday

• Get your morning coffee at Plantshed, sit at one of the outdoor tables & people watch

• Take your morning walk up & down the High Line, starting at 14th St

• Enjoy the Whitney Museum of American Art in Meatpacking

• Have brunch at Pastis (outdoor table preferred)

• If the weather is nice, drink rosé on the rooftop at Restoration Hardware

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• I wore this dress to our April West Village Book Club at The Mercer, and it is the perfect summer dress!

• My friend Katie also sent me this dress that she said I need to order ASAP, and I agree!

• I guess I am in a dress mood now that it’s nice out. Love this Zara find!

• The best new restaurants in the world right this way…

• …and on that note, the 50 best bars in North America!

• How I rewired my fear of flying—and how you can too

• Putting these on my Spring NYC to-do list!

• Best new hotels in the Americas this Spring

• Why Your Favorite Hotels Smell So Good

• I started reading & finished The Tell by Amy Griffin in 2 days this week. Big trigger warning of childhood sexual abuse, but this memoir rocked me and is a read I will be thinking about for awhile.

• One of my best friends started her Substack this week! Follow her for all things real estate, NYC & beyond!

Cheers,

Chelsea