So this whole wedding thing is kind of funny. I’ve got most of my planning done and now we have to focus on a few little things like finishing our vows (we’re writing them ourselves) and putting together little gift bags for our out-of-town guests. One thing I have left to do is to find a tailor to take my dress in a little. It’s a bit big all around, and just needs simple tailoring along the seams - but I don’t have the faintest idea who to take it to. I don’t have a tailor here that I go to and neither do any of my friends, and I don’t want to take it to a bridal shop because a) it’s not a traditional wedding dress, but an evening gown, b) bridal shops are kinda awful and c) they charge a lot and take way too long, and I need this done in less than 3 weeks.

I found a list of the best neighborhood tailors on the NY Magazine site, and I’m thinking of going to the one closest to me - but what I really want is personal recommendations. That’s where you, our fine readers, come in!

So, if you have a tailor that you like, or you or your friends have used a good one in the city, please recommend them in the comments. I’d prefer one on the east side of Manhattan below 42nd Street, but anywhere that’s easy to get to by subway is fine. So recommend away!

Today, despite the yucky weather and my lack of proper rainwear, I ventured out because I needed to buy and ship a birthday present to my daughter. Simple enough - could’ve done it on the internet, I suppose, but I got a sweet deal on the gift at a local store AND it had to be overnighted, so I figured a quick run over to Fedex would be simple and easy.

The gentleman behind the counter at the Fedex/Kinko’s shop in Union Square was sort of helpful, in his own way. There were people faxing and copying and having trouble and he did holler answers to their questions from the comfort of his chair behind the counter. The gift I had wouldn’t fit in any of the standard Fedex boxes, so I went up to the counter and asked what I should do. “You have to buy a box,” he said. Ok, no problem. He very reluctantly got up from his chair and got me a box, and then informed me that I also “had to” buy tape to seal the box up with. Ok, also no problem, but I had to buy a whole roll of packing tape. I brought the tape over and then he shoved the box at me so I could tape it up myself. Full service! He grumpily rang me up and I was finally on my way.

Now, this isn’t the most egregious bit of customer disservice I’ve dealt with in this fair city (that one will be posted in its very own shiny entry soon), but I’ve found that there’s a great divide here - you either get fabulous, amazing service or you get some guy who can’t be bothered to even look at you when you ask him a question. Why is this? I used to work retail and it sure did suck a whole lot, but I always made every effort to be pleasant to even the most difficult customers, even the ones who tried to return a 3-seasons-old dirty sweater with no tags or receipt. I don’t buy into the “New Yorkers are rude” crap either - most people here aren’t truly rude, they are just in a hurry. So what’s the deal with customer service?

On Streetsblog I learned that a number of NY Ranger players regularly take the subway to work and one bikes. This shouldn’t seem so strange, but sadly I think it is. One major reason for down to earth lifestyle of these players is that Hockey paychecks are a lot less grand. A commenter on the blog named the other big reason, which is pretty sad - a lot of these players are not from America and they are just doing what they consider normal.

Travel and Leisure just released their 2007 “World’s Best Awards”, ranking the best cities, hotels, airlines, cruises, etc. worldwide. Here’s a breakdown of the Top 10 Cities:

1. Florence
2. Buenos Aires
3. Bangkok
4. Rome
5. Sydney
6. New York
7. Udaipur, India
8. Istanbul
9. San Francisco
10. Cape Town

New York is up two slots from our ranking last year as #8, a testament to the fact that the world knows just how awesome this city is!

I’m positively dismayed to have only visited two of the cities on this list (the other being San Francisco) That will need to be rectified stat–as soon as I can get the taste of my last international flight out of my mouth.

Also interesting to note, only two other cities on this list currently have Metblog sites, Bangkok and San Francisco.

Check out T&L’s take on what makes our city so list-worthy. Also, make sure to check out their Top 50 NYC restaurants.

If you’ve been to any other cities on the top 10 list, how do you feel NYC stacks up against them?

Travel and Leisure World’s Best Awards 2007 [via Gridskipper]

Photo: New York at Night [Achibase.net]

Working in midtown Manhattan, you come across a lot of things, all aimed at pleasing your eyes and titillating your senses. But once in a lifetime comes a brilliant marketing campaign that makes bloggers go ga-ga and enhance the presence of the product. In this case, the product is the brand new Simpsons movie. But I personally think that the 7-Eleven is the true winner. They have the privilege of carrying products and signage of cartoon character Apu Nahasameepapetalawn’s Kwik-E-Mart.

At one point or another, we’ve all craved a Buzz Cola and wanted to find that razor sharp gift in a box of Krusty-Os. Now, we can, the picture above taken by Bjorn Arnsten of Snippies.com

I have been out of NYC for the past week. I went to sinful Vegas. It was a great trip and all the advertisements you see are true. On my way back, I purchased a box of chocolate truffles as a birthday gift. I was on seat 19A, it’s a seat right next to one of the doors of the airplane. I tucked it for safety.

After deboarding the plane and going to baggage claim; I stared at the “No Re-Entry Beyond this Point” a little longer than usual. The minute I walked past those doors, I realized that I had left the delicious Earl Grey, Dark Chocolate, and Raspberry truffles in a box, tucked besides my seat.
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A couple weekends ago, I had an experience at Bowlmor Lanes on 13th and University Place that I feel I must share with the general MetroBlogging public… It was both unbelievable and stupifying, even in a city where a $20 drink is not uncommon, and nightclubs often sport a 2 hour wait for entrance (unless you have breasts). Now, I must say that I knew going in that the night would be expensive. I mean, it is a large three-story building totally devoted to entertainment, and it is just a block and a half from Union Square! But between the cost, the staff attitude, and the customer service, this place is a total bust, and I will be unlikely to ever go again.
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Never look like a touron again with this handy New York Subway Map. Not only does it look like a pretty well made wallet, it folds out into a full NYC Subway Map–funky! There are no close-ups of the map so it’s hard to tell how legible it is or if you need to bring a magnifying glass, but it’s a pretty cool concept regardless. Also available with a Tube map for our friends across the pond in London. (Bonus–an animated GIF!)

SuckUk NYC Subway Wallet [via Gridskipper]

Two weeks of kids on school break is enough to fray anyone’s nerves, especially after a gift-wrapped extravaganza of toys with “some assembly required” and “batteries [in a size or format you've never heard of before] not included.” How can you entertain the small people for two weeks without losing your mind?

Avoid the temptation to stock up on too many kiddie events — animated movies, tickets to The Grinch, etc. Look for things you can both enjoy doing. And no, don’t even think about the Museum of Natural History — everyone on the planet has the same idea. Here are my suggestions:

1. The Metropolitan Museum, but NOT the Egyptian wing and Arms&Armor, which will be packed with strollers (and which your kids will see a wearying number of times on school field trips anyway). Go to the uncrowded sections like Assyrian art, musical instruments, or period rooms.

2. Coney Island (Brooklyn). Yes, in winter. The Aquarium is worth the trip all on its own, but if you go on the right day, some of the boardwalk attractions might be open — and everyone likes Nathan’s hot dogs (admit it). And it’s fun to walk on a beach in New York City, no?

3. The New York Botanical Garden’s Holiday Train Show (Bronx). Yes, this is going to be totally mobbed, but it’s worth it. Seeing miniature replicas of the Empire State Building, Gracie Mansion and the Brooklyn Bridge made out of twigs and leaves and dried oranges is delightful at any age. Plus you can warm up in the tropical section of the conservatory. Go early on a weekday to avoid the biggest crowds.

4. Cathedral of Saint John the Divine (Upper West Side). They’re kinda busy this week with religious services (great if you’re into that), but afterwards the cathedral gets back to its quirky “medieval” and frankly pagan family activities.

5. The Village Chess Shop (Downtown). Sure, you could stay home and play boardgames all week, but it’s so much more fun in a bohemian locale. Besides, the Village is full of kiddie-things-for-grown-ups — best of all, enormous, fancy cupcakes.

Any other suggestions?

Sometimes I can’t stop seeing graffiti, and I mean the good kind, not just tags over and over, but something that looked like it took effort and had some vision. Some see graffiti as defacement. I see it as enhancement, if done in the right way.

On my train ride from the city to my homestead in New Jersey, we pass under a bridge outside of Newark. The abutment is alternatively covered in elaborate graffiti and painted over in plain white. A battle of the spray and paint can wills. Why not leave the graffiti? It’s more interesting to look at, especially on a long and boring ride through the swamps of Secaucus.

If you’re like me - and you’re still strapped for a gift - you might like this book, Burning New York, Graffiti NYC. To tell the truth, I haven’t had a chance to look at it since it’s been sold out in every book store I’ve looked in so far. But I attended a panel discussion earlier this month during which the authors and a few of the featured artists talked about graffiti, how they got started, how it’s evolved over the years, and how any street art, even licensed murals, is still seen as criminal.

Criminal? Nah. Free? Definitely, and in more than one way.

[Photo courtesy of me. Mosaic made with fd's flickr toys.]