Leap Day in Lower Manhattan

For months, my friend and I have been crafting the perfect day trip to lower Manhattan to hit all our favorite places. A leap day means a bonus day MEANT for the most fun, right? So, if you want to acquire some quality jewelry, figure out how to optimize 8 hours in SoHo/Chinatown, locate the yummiest foods, or simply walk 10,000 steps, consider this guide.

Out of pure coincidence, it just so happened to be the last day that plastic bags would (quite literally) fly in NYC. Not that I have any particular attachment to plastic bags and if anything, quite the opposite, but it was interesting to receive a lot of our goods in them - almost like a blast from the past. Boston has had a plastic bag ban for about 2 years now, so I have unintentionally forgotten that people still receive them. After watching the Netflix series Broken, which touched on the Texas Supreme Court striking down Laredo’s plastic bag ban in 2018, I am happy to see another major city joining Boston in making their first steps in reducing plastic waste.

Getting between Boston and NYC is easy with bus/train options. We decided to take Lucky Star from Boston Chinatown as it dropped us right in NYC’s Chinatown, only 0.2 miles of our first stop. Our bus back to Boston started in Port Authority which is an excellent final destination considering the bathroom facilities and snack options before the long ride back.

New Top Jewelry

If you love high quality, solid gold jewelry that you can wear through showers, runs, and everything in between, New Top Jewelry is paradise. They have an overwhelming selection of pendants, rings, chains, and earrings that range from the latest trends to classic pieces. I ended up picking up a gothic letter pendant and a dome pinky signet, but that was me exercising some serious self-control. The shop was able to resize my ring from 2.75 to a tiny size 2 in thirty minutes in-house, and can also customize/recreate pieces from pictures.

Tai Pan Bakery

This bakery is actually a place I used to visit every Sunday when I was living at home so I am definitely a little nostalgic for it. When we came across this Chinatown location, there was no question that we had to load up on some authentic Chinese pastries, including pineapple bun with a red bean center, hot dog buns, and egg tarts. The selection of cakes and pastries are both vast and beautiful- be sure to bring cash! (Please consider that these pastries endured a lot of swinging, squishing, and transportation before arriving to my baking pans to be warmed up)

Glossier

Glossier is worth visiting for its beautiful pink minimalist dreamscape, but also because you can try on every single one of their products, test shades, and essentially create a whole new makeup look. My goal for whenever I visit Glossier is to leave with something fun that I would otherwise never think of wanting. The product of interest for us was the new skywash and we were impressed by its matte formula, pigmentation, and blendability. Best of all, it is buildable and stayed put throughout our entire day. I left with the shade valley (a warm peach) and Grace got two vials of pebble (a cornflower blue).

Prince Street Pizza

If you know me, you know that I have been on the HUNT for tiny cup pepperoni pizza for months. Sadly, Boston’s North End lacks tiny pepperoni cups and lower Manhattan seems to be the only place to find a good Sicilian slice. Tiny pepperoni cups are a complete game changer. Let’s start by acknowledging that tiny pepperoni cups are not remotely similar in texture or taste to your average, run of the mill pepperoni. Based on the type of casing used for the pepperoni (and trust me, I have done research on this), the sides curl up and crisp, introducing a new textural component to the pizza and a vessel for the flavorful hot oil goodness. Combine this with the nature of the crispy rectangular base of a Sicilian slice, and something exquisite is born. Grace and I stood in line for probably thirty minutes, but it was well worth the wait- we even ordered extra for the bus ride.

Cha Cha Matcha

Amongst many other things I have on my wishlist, can we get some good matcha in Boston too please?? Granted Cha Cha Matcha truly taps into my soft spot- aesthetics, palm trees, and pastels, Cha Cha Matcha is a must. Grace and I had planned to get a bunch of drinks, but the cold weather made it difficult to want to down some more cold elements and sadly, the nitro cold brew was sold out. However, a cute perk of their hot drinks is that the baristas will occasionally include a cute design topper! And on the topic of plastic waste, Cha Cha Matcha proudly provides compostable, plant-based ~pink~ straws that essentially indistinguishable from the durability of plastic straws.

Catbird

Where do I even begin?? Catbird has been my favorite jewelry shop for years- it embodies everything romantic, whimsical, classic, quality, empowering, and vintage-esque that you would want from a boutique. To further solidify my love for Catbird, they offer a welding annex where [more quality, solid, sweat-through-it] 14k solid gold bracelets can be zapped to your wrist, your best friend’s wrist, your lover’s wrist, etc etc etc. This has been so big on our NYC list and we were so pleased to arrive with no line in sight. The process is painless, easy, and only mildly permanent - if need be, you can snip it with scissors and bring it back to be re-welded. This experience was so fun and honestly, what better way to top off our New York leap day adventure. For reference, Catbird has two welding annexes: Brooklyn and SoHo. Be sure to check their welding hours to plan when to visit!

NYC - we love you!! See you so, so soon!