Located on West 14th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues lies one of my favorite old New York haunts.  The Donut Pub.  When you consider the long counter and the silent patrons, holding their cup of coffee and paper close, sugar crumbs nested in the corners of their doughy mouths, it does indeed recall one of those Irish pubs of Hells Kitchen lore.  Here, donuts are serious business.  

It’s not service with a smile.  The oreo cookie covered vanilla filled iced is announced quite seriously.  If you order a box, you have stepped up a level and are eyed with suspicion. “Are you going to be a regular or this this just a donut junkie pit stop?” their eyes seem to inquire of me.  I tell them with my eyes, “Donut junkie.  You got me.”

All these choices and my favorite is still, the apple fritter.  Please leave one for me.

Christmas time in NYC can be overwhelming.  Where to go when you have limited time and resources?  Oddly enough, Grand Central is a must see.  Food, shopping, splendor abound.  There are even several secret bars for you to tipple away the stress of the maddening crowds.

The Oyster Bar is located between the first and basement level, and the meeting of the two walkways.  (Check out the whispering corners) Have one of their famous fish stews at the counter and recollect the 1950’s, or slip into their back bar, The Saloon.  The Saloon is a great place to catch a peek at a celebrity or a overhear some stock tips, but it’s not expensive or pretentious.  Grab a spot at the bar and get to know your bartenders name. You’ll get a nice, stiff drink and some good advice.  (Ladies, the restroom here is divine.)

If you want to live large, or even medium rare, have a burger at Michael Jordan’s.  On the balcony overlooking the main floor below, you will feel like a King (or Queen as the case may be) munching away on one of the best bites of beef in town.  The view is simply one of a kind.

Want to sneak away for your cocktail?  Then you must don your finest shoes (there is a strictly held dress code) and visit The Campbell Apartments, where you will indeed feel like you are visiting another era.  The 20’s or 40’s, I’m not sure, but it sure as heck ain’t today.  Lush banquets and wooden panels reaching up to levels will cull you into a state of recollecting past lives, or perhaps lives yet to be lived…

It’s possible in one of those lives, you were a tennis player!  If you like, you can play out this memory at the newly refinished tennis courts on the upper level.  Yes, that’s right. I said tennis courts.  The Vanderbilt Tennis Club is stunning, and can now claim it is the newest tennis court in Manhattan, despite the spaces history of once being the CBS television studios, due to it’s extensive reconstruction.  

Rather “work out” your issues with the credit card?  The Christmas Fair at Grand Central will allow you to be indoors in a beautiful setting, sipping your cocoa while you peruse oodles of handmade gifts. Too delightful.

Finally, there are light shows both indoors and outside of the Great hall of Grand Central.  A truly magical experience for both children and adults.  Don’t miss it!

Okay.  You’re planning a trip to NYC.  You want to hit the best places to shop.  You think, “Fifth Avenue.”  BINGO.  But hang on, there are a lot of shops to choose from and new, strange feeling on the street. Something that feels a bit like “black Friday.”  That’s right. Shopping fever.  Ugh.

This fever can be attributed to a plethora of new stores that are catering to those looking for a discount.  BUT YOU ARE IN NEW YORK.  IS this time to go to H and M?  Zara?  Uniqulo?  Maybe, maybe not.  Depends on where you’re standing.

I suggest you stand inside Bergdorf Goodman.  At Christmastime, the windows are in their full glory, but anytime they offer total fantasy and escape.  Mad creatures and female mannequins donned with glittering adornments blow magic at you from inside their fairy wonderlands.  But don’t just wander the block outside.  Come in.  Come in.

“No photos,” the stern fellow by the front door may remind you, if you’re like me and can’t stop snapping after all that fantasia outside.  But there is much to steep into your sense memory.  Perfumes in the basement (check out Killian) or the special Manolo Blahnik section on floor three.  

But what to my wondering eyes do appear?  It’s a shoe sale!  Just a little AFTER Christmas, many of the best glitterati go “on the rack.”  I suggest if you are interested in becoming a Bergdorfs “insider,” take a leap of faith in yourself and apply for their credit card (TRY to restrain and use it for the sales!) It will also allow you to become an “In Circle” member.  THEY will send you an e-mail when it’s SHOE SALE SEASON!!  HOORAY!!

Who says shopping Fifth Avenue can’t be glamourous AND attainable?