Sunday on the Upper West Side

I've always thought of the Upper West Side as "Real New York." This was the New York the Babysitters' Club saw when they visited Stacy in the city. This was the New York Woody Allen had nervous breakdowns in on the regular. It was on Broadway and Columbus and West 86th and 72nd that Judy Blume placed Fudge and Peter and where its was possible for dinosaurs to come alive at night in museums. This was the New York that was attainable to me--it wasn't a far fetched dream like the Upper East Side. I could have the Upper West Side.

I'd know that I made it if I could move to the Upper West Side.

But now I'm a grown-up and I live in the East Village and I wouldn't trade my Little Dominican Republic building for anything but I still feel pangs of want whenever I'm up and over on the west side.

Sunday Justin and I decided around 1pm that we should really take a cab up to 86th and Amsterdam and go to a little cafe we'd just seen Rachael Ray rave about on Tasty Travels. Twenty bucks later we were standing in front of Popover Cafe and $100 after that, we were stuffed full of popovers and brunch and wading our way down Broadway in a flurry of marathon runners, Maclaren strollers, and hip blonde moms with matching toddlers and Uggs.

Walking down those quiet side streets--77th between Columbus and Central Park West, 89th between Amsterdam and Broadway; it was wonderful and made me fall even more in love with this city. I was walking hand in hand with my boyfriend in our very own "Autumn in New York" and I wouldn't have been surprised if a light jazzy soundtrack started playing and tracing our steps through the sidewalks of the Upper West Side.

It was one of those perfect Sunday afternoons and was straight out of the titles of a Woody Allen movie. We walked down Central Park West and in the aftermath of the NYC marathon yesterday it was strangely quiet and serene. People always say that New York is so loud--it's something special when you find a quiet moment in the middle of the chaos.

We made it back to the East Village in no time thanks to the ever magnificent D train. Turning from 1st Ave down 2nd Street put a little dance in my step--this always happens when I know I'm close to home. The marble and gold of the doormaned buildings by the park had given way to walk-ups and corner delis and cute kids who don't have nannies playing in the street.

I don't think I'll be able to move on up to the Upper West Side even when I have the money. Downtown has become my Real New York now.

This is me. Enjoying a popover.