Thursday night I arrived around 5pm and was met by my mother and my older sister, who had arrived that morning.

I had never really "done" NYC before. I remember a brief visit for about 24 hours when I was nine years old. I'd wanted to go back but never made it, but my mom and my sister would go there every year to work the auto show, and I would envy them all of their celebrity sightings. I wanted to see lots of celebrities while I was in town!

We went that night and saw Liam Neeson and Laura Linney in Arthur Miller's "The Crucible". A very powerful and dramatic play (if a bit long), and Liam Neeson is a hunk and a very talented actor so I was very happy. Before we even entered the theater, my sister spotted Victor Garber in line. I know him from Titanic and Legally Blonde, but Heather recognized him from the tv show "Alias". Cool! Mere hours in the city and I'd already spotted my first celebrity!

God, I'm so shallow.

I don't care.

We walked through Times Square afterwards, stopping for a late dinner at Sardi's. I was already tired and happy. As we walked back to our hotel, we saw a good sized crowd staring at something across the street. I heard someone murmer "Sex In the City". Sure enough, when we looked across the busy street we saw big lights, lots of men dressed in sailor costumes (?!?) and Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Catrall and ... the girl who plays "Charlotte" walking down the street! We didn't see Cynthia Nixon, but it was kinda far away and everything moved rather quickly.

The next day we went to lunch at The Russian Tea Room. I kept thinking of the scene in Tootsie where Dustin Hoffman approaches Sidney Pollack for the first time while he's dressed in drag. They're sitting at one of the banquettes in the Russian Tea Room! We splurged on Beluga caviar and vodka, and it was divine. We also had delicious salads and wonderful borscht. The food was better than I expected it to be and we had a marvelous time.

We shopped and poked around town a bit more, then went back to our hotel to meet up with most of the rest of our gang. Dinner was at Gabriel's, and the food was so delicious. My younger sister, the bride-to-be, was the star of the evening, wearing a black sundress that showed off her cleavage like nobody's business! Funny, I think every busboy, bartender, and waiter found a reason to circle our table that night!

The best part, though, was when my cousin came out of the rest room and said "Mike Wallace is using the phone in the hallway!" Half our table promptly jumped from their seats and headed to the restroom. I waited a beat or two, then couldn't stand it anymore and followed suit. Sure enough, taking up a good deal of space on the phone in the middle of the hallway was 60 Minutes star Mike Wallace. I placed my hand firmly on his back and scootched behind him "Excuse me, sir." I said. Hee hee. I touched Mike Wallace! I went in the bathroom and then pretty much did the same thing on the way back. When we all returned to the table we compared notes and realized we ALL had laid our hands all over Mike Wallace as we passed him in the narrow hallway!

Moments later, he emerged...

and headed straight for our table!

"Ladies," he said, in his famous voice. "May I make a suggestion?"

Oh crap. He was on an important call. He was going to yell at us for disrupting him. We were busted.

"Yes?" we answered meekly.

"Stop feeling up my back!!!!" he said, then smiled at my mother and said "I have no idea WHAT that means!"

My mother was snickering as he walked away. Turns out she had intercepted him in the hall and asked him to come to the table and say that. Good sport, he was. And delivered his line well.

The next day was a cold and rainy Saturday, so we decided to go to the MOMA. The line was out the door and to the end of the block! Turns out the MOMA is moving to a temporary space in Queens for the next few years while they build a new space. This was the last weekend to go to the old space. We waited in line and went in, only to learn that most of the art had already been packed away. There was, however, a "highlights of the collection" exhibit, which included Van Gogh's "Starry Night", Jackson Pollack's "No. 5", and several other gems. Plus, there was a really cool exhibit by an artist named Gerhard Richter, whom I knew nothing about but was very pleased with, so the museum was a success.

Phew. I'm tired. Must stop for now and will continue with more on New York in my next entry. I'm saving the BEST part for last!