Hell in a Taxi Cab and Other Adventures in New York City

Joe and I flew to New York City last Thursday in celebration of our 5th anniversary. And I'll admit that part of me wanted to fit in as much carefree travel as possible before the birth of Baby McG in early April. But sometimes I need to know when to say when. I never imagined that a simple trip to another city could take it out of me the way this trip did, as if a large banner was rolled out in front of me shouting, "Welcome to Pregnancy!" Still, in spite of some harrowing moments kneeling in front of a toilet, Joe and I still managed to have fun and arrive home with smiles our our faces.

The flight to New York itself was fairly uneventful, as was checking in to our conveniently located hotel, Four Point by Sheraton on 25th and 7th Ave. After settling in, we strolled down 7th and had brunch/lunch at Cafeteria before grabbing some California-style frozen yogurt at Pinkberry (I swear this is the same thing as Humphrey's in L.A., but with a new name). Then began a quick hour or so of shopping for maternity clothes. (I'm really a planner since I don't even need these yet, but who knows if I'll feel like shopping next month? Yeah, right.) Anyway, if any of you girls are interested, I tried on some things at H & M Maternity and I give them a thumbs up. I tried on some of Zara's new maternity line and I give them a thumbs down. How many pregnant women have no booty? Not me! It's sad when you can't fit into a LARGE maternity shirt. I don't think so.

Everything was rosy until we approached...our first taxi cab. We climbed in. "SoHo, please," my husband cheerfully told the driver. Suddenly a rank smell filled my nostrils. A smell so pungent I wanted to throw up out the cab window. But I didn't. After a few minutes of creeping through traffic so thick we could have walked faster than any moving vehicle on the road (thanks to an appearance by Barack Obama at Washington Park--thanks United Nations!), I indicated my distress and climbed out. "Did you smell that horrible odor?" I exclaimed to Joe. "No," he replied to my shock and dismay. Hmmm...is this the super sense of smell that pregnant women are said to posess? It was my first time experiencing it first-hand, and it was almost like I was...bionic. Could I run faster than Joe, as well? Was my sense of hearing more keen? I already knew that I could throw up on demand, definitely much faster than he could.

Thankfully, Joe found me a bagel and some water to revive my poor tummy, and we commenced walking to SoHo to visit Giggle baby store. The evening continued uneventfully with dinner at Dos Caminos, where somehow, despite nausea, I was able to put away chips and salsa, two pork tacos, and a bowl of chile. How does that work?

After a good sleep, Friday dawned sunny and comfortably cool for our morniing visit to the gluten-free bakery, Baby Cakes. I think this was the highlight of Joe's trip as, for the first time in a year, he could indulge, guilt-free, in a brownie and coffee cake. I tried a cinnamon role and it was just as good as anything you would find in a "regular" bakery. Now if we could get them to franchise in Chicago. It's so hard to find good gluten-free products, so it's worth celebrating when you do. Food was the day's theme and we continued on to Chelsea Market for a guided tour of all of the food vendors in the incredible former Nabisco factory. Chelsea Market is the longest continuous walkway in New York City and is home to The Food Network, among other things. We hoped for a glimpse of Rachel Ray or Bobby Flay (we wanted to throw him down), but we had to settle instead for tastings of yummy eats like lobster, homemade gelato, soups, cookies, and jams fromt the local vendors. Later, we walked through the Meatpacking district and went inside several top restaurants to take a peek: Del Posto (Mario Batali), Morimoto's (yes, the Iron Chef himself), and Buddakhan. We also went to the top of Hotel Gansevoort to check out the view and ogle the incredible pool and deck. If only we had $900 a night to spend on a hotel. Sigh.

After all the goodies, we hopped in a cab (no problems this time) and checked out "Free Friday" at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa). I don't think I would do that again as it was absolutely jam-packed with tourists. We viewed the Calder exhibit, which was cool, but we spent about 40 minutes total in the museum before we just couldn't take it any longer. Besides, we had reservations for dinner at Crispo for Italian food and we didn't want to be late.

Crispo was amazing...bruschetta, salad, homemade tagliatelle with wild mushrooms, creme brulee...and heartburn. I figured out on this trip that I can no longer eat a heavy meal and go immediately to sleep. I think it's another joy of pregnancy, but I'll spare you the gory details. Suffice it to say that I woke up the next morning feeling pretty lousy, and then decided that it wouldn't be a problem to climb to the top of the Empire State Building with 10,000 other visitors to New York. Strike one. But once again, I recovered enough to eat a burrito and walk down 5th Avenue to a cool Japanese department store called Takishamaya--it is so awesome, especially their tea room in the basement.

Strike two that day was the cab ride back from Central Park. Crazy New York drivers are fast, but deadly. Strike three was thinking I could actually eat dinner at a fun French-Vietnamese place called Indochine. Sadly, I could not. What I could do was eat some yummy beef Pho soup they were offering. In fact, I ate two. "Another soup for the pregnant lady," my husband beamed proudly. Despite the sickness, that is actually my favorite memory of our trip. I guess my sickness will be a story for another generation. "Hey kids, did I ever tell you about all the soup your mom ate when we were in New York that time..."