It was partly cloudy, yesterday, but still humid enough to curl hair that was straight when I walked out the front door into the cacophony that is midtown New York City.

There’s nothing like it.

All senses are engaged when roming–ahem, I mean ROAMING–the streets of New York City.

It’s easy to  miss the gorgeous architectural features that date back to …well, a long time ago, maybe 80 or more years. Thankfully, my husband started calling it to my attention.

Here’s a closer view of this art deco feature.

Bronze is a bitch to polish, but it really made a statement back in the day, when life was a bit more formal.

As a writer myself, I couldn’t help but wonder how many famous writers or wannabe writers walked into Scribner’s bookstore way back when. Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Vonnegut, even Stephen King and Edith Wharton, to name a few Scribner authors. I walked in those doors yesterday for…

…some cosmetics from Sephora. Kind of sad, though.

 Not sad at all is this building, below. Recognize it?

The NYC public library. Built back when public works projects were really something.

I wish we had some lions guarding over our long-suffering libraries in California, where budget cuts have decimated services.

I hope you know this building for reasons other than Sleepless in Seattle. 

Yes, it’s the Empire State Building.

Before we leave, we’re definitely going to have a hot dog on the street. These carts are everywhere.

Burger Heaven

But first, we found a cute little diner that’s so delicious and reasonably priced that a lot of the locals seem to eat here.

Since everything there was home-made, we just had to try some New York cheesecake. We were not disappointed.

Israel Discount Bank

Hubby is a banking lawyer, so he pointed out a few of the more interesting sights.

I suggested that things might have gone differently had Chase availed itself of the services offered on the red sign.

Nice job with Facebook, boys! NOT. They didn’t need the psychic reading, but their poor regular customers did, because MS only notified their biggest clients that their analysts were having trouble with the valuation of this IPO. The one they underwrote. Well, they had to unload that $38 stock somehow, right? Some at $45. What is it today, $21 again?

I wanted this for our courtyard, but Michael said “no.”

I ran across this store, called Hollister, California, in midtown. Now, I live near Hollister, which is a kind of rural town that attracts a lot of bikers.

It definitely does NOT attracts young men like this, who drew a crowd outside the store as they promoted it.

I miss my California puppies. But in their honor I gave a homeless girl and her gorgeous, nice pit bull a 10-spot.

As a fan of Project Runway, I’m also a fan of the catty Michael Kors.

This is the stop for my happy place all over the country: Macy’s. Yes, I went in, for just a minute. I did not want to inflict it on my husband.

Hmmm, back to Michael Kors. He makes me think of dancers and Radio City Music Hall. The Rockettes are NOT performing this week or I promise you I’d be there. Might go to the stage door tour, though.

These plants were so healthy looking I had to check to be sure they weren’t fake. They’re real.

Yes, of course, politics, everywhere.

And to protect us, this sobering, yet reassuring sign of the times.

The Rainbow Room opened in 1934 and closed in 2009 under a cloud of mafia suspicion. In its day, all the big names appeared there: Sinatra, Billie Holliday–and I’ll bet my mother went there in the 1940s, dressed to the nines.

Rockefeller Center needs no further comment.

 Goofy sox. Who would even think these are a good idea?

Tourists, that’s who!

In London, my go-to for a quick lunch. But in NY? We are a global economy, for sure, and cities are becoming more homogenous. I don’t much like it, either.

My husband’s law firm is based here, and that means he’s been here many, many times for work. I was shocked to learn that in those days, he saw NYC only from the back of a town car.

View from our room on the 17th floor of the NY Hilton, where BlogHer ’12 begins Thursday with early sessions.