Earlier today I was having a conversation with some fun ladies and the topic of a “New York Bucket List” surfaced. Now I have had one of these since the day I moved to New York City. Heck, I had one before I moved to New York. I think I may have born with a might “to-do.” My New York list is a work in progress, constantly evolving and changing, things are crossed off as things are added, littles scratch notes are written in the margins, and I’ll admit, there are a few food remains dotting the page (yes, sometimes I snack and forget to wash the evidence off my fingers…I’m working on it, thank-you!). The way I see it, this list is a perfect condensing of myself–me mashed up into a little 8″ x 6″ sheet of paper. Throw a doodle in the top right corner and a dash of hot pink highlighter across the title and voila.
Here’s a peek at a few of the more recent additions to my list and a few of the oldies but goodies, too.
1. Create an ultimate NYC scavenger hunt that forces my friends and I to venture to each of the boroughs, interact with people from all walks of life, and take some sure to be memorable photographs of a day in this whirlwind of a city.
2. Venture to the Cloisters and channel that Medieval magic.
3. Go to a live taping of a NYC show like David Letterman or Saturday Night Live or The Martha Stewart Show (or all three!).
4. Ride through Central Park in a carriage, preferably at sun-down, preferable with Chris, preferable equipped with plenty of cheesy love poems and that far-off lovey dovey look in my eyes.
5. Take a King-Kong themed picnic to the top of the Empire State Building and enjoy dressed in Old-Hollywood (think Naomi Watts in Kong Kong) apparel. On the menu: pb & banana sandwiches with a fruit and berry salad and banana smoothies.
6. Run the 6 mile loop in Central Park averaging 7 minutes flat per mile. So far my best time is 47 minutes!
7. Walk Manhattan from tip to tip.
8. Have a wine and cheese picnic on the High Line.
9. Ice skate in Rockerfeller Center then get a huge mug of hot chocolate from Bouchon Bakery afterwards and drink every last drop with no guilt whatsoever. I earned it.
10. Take advantage of free outdoor concerts.
11. Try the top-rated vegetarian/vegan restaurants in the city: Dirt Candy, Candle 79, Babycakes, Zen Palate, Gobo, Lula’s, Stogo, Angelica’s Kitchen, Verdure
12. Take advantage of the great culinary schools in the city which offer recreational classes.
13. Try the Brooklyn Bridge Boot Camp
14. Run the NYC Half Marathon
15. Take of tour of the cheese caverns at Murray’s Cheese
16. Go to SoulCycle regularly. Sit in the front row.
17. Join in a Washington Square Park sing-along.
18. Dogsit for a weekend and pretend to live the glamorous life of a New Yorker with a canine companion.
19. Visit Laduree’s NYC outpost and order 1 of every seasonal flavor.
20. Play Quidditch in Central Park.
What’s on your bucket list?
**Photo courtesy of Chris Layda, my fiancee**
Quotidienne Moi 
WHEN I move to New York (I’ve decided that it IS going to happen) we will cross many of these items off together. And I will create (and add to) my own list. Bam.
I am a new reader to your blog and love it so far! Have you done any of these yet (besides SoulCycle, which I’ve read about)? I am coming to NY in October and hope to do some of these things during my stay.
You are so sweet! Thanks for reading. Happy to have you here. I have eaten at many of the veggie restaurants, run the 6 miles at the pace, walked manhattan tip to tip, and had my high line picnic (though it was much too cold). I plan on visiting Laduree in the next few weeks as well as kick off outdoor concert series once summer begins. I’d say I am working through them. Funny thing about bucket lists—they constantly update and refresh!!