A Trip to the City and Some Inspiration

A few weekends ago, I went with my mom, sister, aunt, and two cousins to New York City for our annual girls' day out. Every year we go somewhere different in the city. Some highlights have included Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, L'Ecole, and the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side. This year we took the train in to Penn Station, walked to the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market, and then walked the High Line to Chelsea Market. It was a beautiful day to walk through the city.
The flea market at Hell's Kitchen was filled with hand-made jewelry, refinished furniture (some of which looked like a two-year-old slapped paint on them... just sayin'), tons of beautiful antique items, and tons of random old stuff. I love old things, so it was fun to dig through everything, but the prices were HIGH for a girl who is used to yard sales! I did end up buying a pretty necklace, though.

Then there was the High Line. It's a walking park up above the city streets, built along an old railroad track.  There were plants all along the way, a lawn or two of grass, and several unique sculptures. I would highly recommend checking it out, although on a Saturday it is pretty crowded with tourists.

 

A sculpture wall on the High Line.

We ended up at Chelsea Market, an old Nabisco factory that has been completely renovated into a chic collection of restaurants and shops. It reminded me of a high-end food court with beautiful art and sculptures, an Anthropologie store, and a small indoor flea market with handmade fashions and jewelry. Such attention to detail! It was a fabulous place to visit, and I could see why it is such a trendy attraction. It was still crowded when we arrived around 2:00 to get lunch.

And the food! Wow. Evidently, the Food Network has a studio on an upper floor, so I think it's safe to say that Chelsea Market is a culinary hot spot. There were so many options, it was difficult to decide. Everything was DELICIOUS - my mom, aunt, and I got lobster rolls, my cousins got a crepe and a panini, and my sister had Thai food. Then we browsed the shops until we were ready for some gelato.  It's a good thing we did all that walking, because we ate very well!

Eating lunch with my beautiful sister and cousins. Love these girls!

There were so many places where I found pin-worthy inspiration. I didn't bring my camera (thanks, girls, for the pictures!), so all the following pictures are poor quality from my (non-smart) cell phone.

My sister saw this colored pencil frame and immediately thought of me and my blog. This would be a great craft to use old colored pencils. If you used a dollar store frame and items you already had around the house, it would be a very inexpensive project - much less than the $8 they were asking for at the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market. It would be so cute for a kid's room or play room!

Another adorable and DIY-able project would be these really cool light fixtures at Chelsea Market. I couldn't stop to take the picture because of how busy it was in there, but even with the blurriness, I think you can get an idea of how cute they were. They're basically a globe made out of sticks, with butterflies glued to them. I think with some sticks, a glue gun, and a beach ball as a base, I could totally make one of these. Hmmm...I am still looking for something to replace the light fixture in our sunroom/playroom...

At the other end of Chelsea Market, we browsed through Anthropologie. That store has a lot of gorgeous dishes, linens, and decor, but their products are expensive, like $700 for a very odd candle holder. Who would buy one, really? But I digress...
Anyway, I spotted these plate stands and fell in love. Aren't they cute, yet sophisticated and classic? For less than the $20 they charge, I think I could easily replicate  with a strong glue, two old spoons, and a store-bought plate stand. How adorable would a few of these be on our dining room hutch? I definitely can see these making an appearance in our house in the future!

Finally, as we were leaving Chelsea Market, I noticed these awesome light panels on the walls. It would be really neat to make a nightlight like this for Kiddo's room. I'm still trying to visualize how it would work, but i think I could make one using a shadow box, marbles, and a string of lights.

So, even though this blog is called Pinspired Home, I'm finding inspiration plenty of other places. :)
And if you ever are looking for something to do in NYC, I highly recommend a trip to the High Line and Chelsea Market. At the end of the day, my mom asked us all what our favorite part was, and none of us could pick.