Chelsea, boy

My company's New York offices are in Chelsea, in one of the comparatively tall buildings -- 12 floors high. One of the nice things about working in a low-rise neighborhood is getting above the rooflines. This is the view from the window in the office I colonized:

Sweet, huh? That funny-shaped white building in the center is New York's first Frank Gehry-designed building; our north windows have majestic Empire State building views; and our south windows have an unobstructed view of the Statue of Liberty, though she's rather far away and puny. Still, it inspires a small thrill. 

The office is just a couple blocks from the magnificent Chelsea Market, which I visited during my lunch hour. The former National Biscuit Company (Nabisco) factory now houses a myriad of shops, food-oriented and otherwise; Food Network's offices are fittingly upstairs. It's kinda like the Ferry Building, only more industrial-looking. Many of the food shops and restaurants have quick take-away stalls out front.

I opted to pick up some stuff from Buon Italia: Stuffed zucchini, stuffed eggplant and some lovely, bitter escarole (that's SHCAROLE to us eye-talians) with pine nuts and too much olive oil -- just the way I like it. Twelve bucks bought me roughly a pound of prepared vegetable material, plus the plastic containers it was served in.

Just past Chelsea Market is the now tragically hip Meatpacking District, the final nail in whose coffin was when Samantha fictitiously moved in in Sex and the City. Where once were actual meat packing warehouses and, later, gay leather bars and tranny hookers, now fancy boutiques occupy the vacuous stalls: Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen and Jeffrey to name a few. I popped into the latter for a quick peruse, and I spotted an adorable grey pinstripe jacket with bedazzled Dia de los Muertos-style skulls on the back. And it could have been mine, for a mere $3,125. Unfortunately, I only had $2,865 on me, so I had to resist.

But who needs haute couture? Walking around the streets of Chelsea with the wind blowing my très cheap chic H&M scarf about has made me feel rather glam. A swagger and an ounce of attitude are worth thousands on the open market.