How to Get a Job in New York City | The Tucker ~ Tyler Adventure.
New York City
Touring NBC Studios
Have you ever wondered what it was like to go back stage at NBC? To be in the studios of the “Today Show” or “Saturday Night Live?”
In 2012, I toured NBC Studios for the second time (the first time was in 1988) and thought of my mother guiding people through the studios back in 1952, the year she arrived in New York City, before she embarked on The Tucker -Tyler Adventure.
Although you can’t tour the studio now (it’s being renovated and won’t be open to the public until mid 2015), you can book tickets to be part of the audience on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” and the “Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.”
Trip taken February 2012.
Photo from Eddie-S licensed by CC 2.0.
Where to Eat Brunch on the Upper West Side
Although Yelp and Trip Advisor do a good job of helping the tourist discover those out-of-the-way and less touristy places, sometimes it’s nice trusting a native.
I looked in the window at Cafe Lalo where Meg Ryan waits for Tom Hanks in “You’ve Got Mail.” but decided to eat at Good Enough to Eat, just a short walk away. Both serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner and include a plethora of yummy looking baked goods.
What to Eat? There were apple pancakes, waffles, omelettes, and French toast. After much debate, I chose the Gramercy Park omelette – slices of Granny Smith apple and Vermont sharp white cheddar cheese served with buttermilk biscuits. Mmmmmmm.
Trips taken July 2008 and July 2012.
How to Style Your American Girl Doll’s Hair
When your daughter, niece, or granddaughter’s favorite doll is injured, it’s time for a visit to one of the American Girl Places.
Kaya’s hair was a wreck. So matted and snarled that we thought she would need to go to the American Girl Doll Hospital (to get a new head!). Instead, I was assured that an appointment with the American Girl Doll Hair Salon on 5th Avenue in New York City ($25) just might do the trick.
Kaya (the doll!) sat on a stool while her hairdresser worked patiently and carefully on her hair. My daughter and I watched as her hair was unsnarled, unmatted, and braided. Although she wanted to get her ears pierced, we decided that she was too young. Instead, for an additional $5, we gave her the pampering plus manicure and facial.
To celebrate Kaya’s recovery, we ate lunch at the American Girl Place restaurant. Kaya was seated in her own attached high chair. She was served in tiny tea cups while my daughter and I ate a gluten-free lunch and gluten-free birthday cake.
We skipped the show, electing instead to see Mary Poppins on Broadway.
Trip taken 2008.
Walking Across the Brooklyn Bridge
I’d never walked across the Brooklyn Bridge until I met up with some California friends in Manhattan. They were on a mission to see and take in as much of New York as possible in the few days they were there. I tagged along as they ventured to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.
We found the entrance to the bridge announced by a hand painted sign,
and discovered that we weren’t the only tourists with the idea for a walk.
We gazed up at the tower,
and played the ukelele in the middle of the bridge.
We paused along the way to enjoy the view.
We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, then turned around, saving the exploration of Brooklyn for another day.
Trip taken June 2012.
Single in New York in 1954
When you want to be an actress, living in New York City is a dream, especially for a girl from the midwest. For Marialyce Tyler, moving from South Dakota to the Big City in 1954 was exciting. With a couple of college friends, she lived in two different apartments on the Upper West Side of New York, right near Central Park, on West 74th Street and West 68th Street.
Rusty described the apartment on West 74th Street as the old Borden Mansion. According to Rusty, they lived in what was the old library.
We were on the first floor, a 14-foot ceilinged room with a huge marble fireplace, tall windows draped in dark red velvet and then beyond a huge room that had three twin-sized beds, a very large and long dark mahogany dining table, chairs, etc., a small one-person-at-a-time kitchen, and beyond that a bathroom that had been made out of a closet.
From The Tucker – Tyler Adventure, written by Katherine Tucker and Marialyce Tyler and edited by Nancy Cowan and Tara Taft.
When Traveling, Remember the Moscow Rule
While traveling in Paris many years ago, my American friends introduced me to the Moscow Rule. Not to be confused with the Moscow Rules, this rule has to do with shopping and souvenirs and is fairly simple. If you see something, buy it, because you may never see it again.
My friends told me that this rule originates from people standing in line in Moscow. If you lived in Moscow under Communist rule and saw people standing in line, you joined them, because whatever they were waiting for you most likely needed or would need and you may not have the opportunity to buy it another time.
Although I try to remember this rule when I travel, the times I forget are the times I regret. Like the time I didn’t buy the metal toy truck in Cape Town because I knew we’d see several more during our trip (we didn’t).
Or when I didn’t buy a drum and then had to resort to the airport gift shop. Or when I passed up a pretty necklace at a price I saw quadrupled in future stores.
Sometimes it’s easy to remember, like buying Lindt chocolates in Zurich, wool scarves with the family clan in Edinburgh, or maple syrup in Vermont. I find it more difficult to remember when I see something different. Is it something I truly want? Is the price a good one? Will I see it again?
To prevent those post traveling blues, remember the Moscow Rule: if you see something unique, something you’re unlikely to find online or anywhere else, snatch it up, because you may never see it again. Most likely, you won’t regret the purchase, and the memories it holds will bring smiles for a lifetime.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Horizon
Horizon. The space or line where the sky meets the earth.
On the road near Royal Natal National Park, South Africa.
According to Franklin Roosevelt, “We have always held to the hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life, a better world, beyond the horizon.”
Cahoon Hollow Beach, Wellfleet, Massachusetts.
Emigrant Wilderness, near Yosemite National Park, California.
Perhaps that’s why I love to travel. To see beyond my own boundaries, to meet new people and encounter new places, to experience life from a different angle.
Badlands National Park, South Dakota.
Upper West Side, New York City.
So Good Chocolate Chip (Gluten Free) Cookies
I just made the best cookies. No, really, they are so good. They happen to be gluten free, egg free, and if you’re picky about the chocolate chips, they’re dairy free, lactose free, and vegan as well. But don’t let that stop you from trying them.
The cookies are chewy and chocolaty (yes, chocolaty is a real word, also spelled chocolatey), and you can’t stop at just one. So, what’s the secret? The cookies are made with oat flour, which gives them texture and chewiness, and coconut oil, which gives them a hint of coconut (use canola oil if you don’t like coconut). If you’re not gluten free, just replace the gluten-free flour with wheat flour and omit the xanthan gum, though I can’t vouch for that change in the recipe.
Have you heard of BabyCakes NYC Bakery? The creator of this yummy recipe, Erin McKenna, is also the founder of that bakery. And next time you’re in New York City, you just may want to make a trip to 248 Broome Street and try out one of their cupcakes, like we did on our last trip. Or you can visit them in Hollywood or in Orlando, too.
I found the chocolate chip cookie recipe on the back of Bob’s Red Mill’s Gluten Free All Purpose Flour. You can print it here or read it below. You can also find it in the cookbook “BabyCakes Covers the Classics.” Here it is:
BABYCAKES NYC CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
Ingredients
1-½ cups gluten-free oat flour
1 cup gluten-free all purpose baking flour (Bob’s Red Mill!)
1 cup organic sugar
¼ cup flaxseed meal
¼ cup arrowroot starch (good with cornstarch if you don’t have arrowroot starch)
1-1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt (fine without it)
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons melted, refined coconut oil or canola oil
6 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
2 tablespoons gluten-free vanilla extract
1 cup gluten-free, dairy free chocolate chips (I added a few more)
Directions
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Step 2: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, flaxseed meal, arrowroot starch, xanthan gum, baking soda, and salt. Add the coconut oil, applesauce, and vanilla and stir with a rubber spatula until a thick dough forms. Stir in the chocolate chips until evenly distributed.
Step 3: Drop the dough by the tablespoonful onto the prepared baking sheets, about 1-1/2 inches apart.
Bake for 7 minutes, rotate the baking sheets, and bake for 7 minutes more, or until the cookies are golden brown and firm. Let stand on the baking sheets for 15 minutes before eating.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Color
My love of color is evidenced by the colors of the home in which I live. My house is red, my car is green, my bedroom is lilac, my bath is aqua.
As I travel, my eye is drawn to color. I found red in a hibiscus in Central Park, in the comb of a rooster in South Africa, in the shirt of a man on the 4th of July in Boston, in the strawberries and radishes at a farmers’ market in California. I found orange in the flames of a campfire in New England, in the wings of a butterfly on Cape Cod, in a tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, in a handpainted sign on the Brooklyn Bridge.
I found yellow in a meadow in the Sierras, on a New York taxi cab, in a candle in Frankfurt, and in bubbling macaroni and cheese. I found green in the leaves and on the wings of a bird, and on a girl’s sunglasses on the beach.
I found purple in the lilacs in front of Louisa May Alcott’s house and inside a hot air balloon. I found blue in the skies everywhere I went.
Hibiscus in Central Park
Above Stow
S’Mac in New York
Emigrant Wilderness
Red Admiral butterfly on the Cape
Hot Air Balloon
Snapshots and Sojourns 