Any place where; Edie Sedgwick, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Frida Kahlo, (among others) have hung out, is the kind of place I want to be, just so I can soak up some of their creative energy through the history by osmosis. Every time I walk by I’m tempted to pull out my acoustic guitar and sing “Chelsea Morning” by Joni Mitchell, which she wrote about the Chelsea hotel. On days when I’ve been low on cash, I’ve seriously considered doing this….

Part of what I love about Chelsea (other than the fact that it’s my damn name) is the whole vibe. Even the restaurants make themselves a piece of art, since they’re in the Art District. Earth is an upscale slightly chi-chi, gourmet Indian Restaurant. The atmosphere brings you out of the stress of the day and transports you into little India.

Lemon Squares are of serious importance to me. My passion for lemon squares rivals my passion for all other things and in a “bake off” I would kill everyone with my version of the lemon square, however- Billy’s Bakery would murder me with theirs. Not to mention their insane Icebox Cake:layers and layers of whipped cream and chocolate wafers.

I. Love. My. Wine. In a serious way. My favorite part of living in Chelsea is the Chelsea Market, so when I found the Chelsea Wine Vault while chowing down on a a cupcake from Eleni’s I sure did stop in and by myself a nice Shiraz that I thought would compliment the frosting I was I was licking off my fingers. The store is HUGE and you can find any and all types of wine, pick up a full bodied Merlot and take out from Buon Italia and you’re set for the evening. Cupcakes also work if you’re aren’t feeling Italian food.

When I say that they have the best shrimp I’ve ever had, I’m not kidding. I’m so serious in fact that I would swear on my grandma’s life. The Chili Rock Shrimp is outrageous.
I was a bit apprehensive about Buddakan when I walked in, it’s a huge restaurant, with trendy looking people and a lot of dark corners for celebrities to hang out in (I saw Derek Jeter, his corner apparently wasn’t dark enough, because I spotted him) and loud hipster music that makes you feel like you’re on a photo shoot for Vogue.
However after my first bite into an Edamame Dumpling, I was sold. If you’re into fancy drinks order the Heat or the Charm.

Narrowing it down to ONE gallery is IMPOSSIBLE, the Chelsea Galleries span from about 20th to 28th street and there are thousands of exhibits to check out, if you wanted you could spend a whole vacation devoted to Chelsea Galleries. However, being that one of my favorite types of art is photography I love to visit the shows at Clampart. The vintage portraits exhibit is currently up and there is are some amazing photos, my favorite- Andy Warhol.

Flight has seen many of my drinking evenings. The best part about Flight is if you’re a straight chick living in Chelsea, you may actually find another heterosexual male, which is always good. Especially when cheap beer ($4 brews) is involved. Careful of the Wednesday $2 shot night, or I can promise you that work with be rough on Thursday, I know from experience.
Good food, good people….and a GREAT, jukebox. And you can color on the paper table cloth, if you’re feeling super creative you could have a drunken Pictionary night.

Even though I’m a chick, shopping isn’t really my thing. I’d prefer to shop just when I need something, because I do love clothes, just not the process in BUYING them. With that being said, Gerry’s is my test as self restraint EVERY DAY I walk by it. The sales are awesome, and so are the outfits in the window. Trendy clothing, that isn’t ridiculously expensive but it’s cheap Forever 21 fabric that will fall apart after a slight gust of wind. Walk in and buy what you see on the mannequins and it shaves off a solid hour of shop time. I have personally tested out this shopping method. A+

Anytime I want to meet a friend for a quiet dinner, where there won’t be a long wait, but there will still be energy and people out enjoying their evenings, this is where we go. It’s absolutely charming, incredible food, and good lighting which can double up as a nice date spot too. Cozy up on a couch and order wine, then take home dessert ;)