It's not every day I get to vacation with a group that has all the same interests and habits that I do, and to get to vacation in New York City over a fabulous Memorial Day shopping weekend? Nothing short of a personal miracle.

Pictured here: about 4 days of big city sights, shopping, and savory moments.

Around Town

A view of the fabulous Plaza, en route back to our hotel from Bergdorf's (because...priorities).

I'm not great at street action shots because my camera is Slow As Hell. But I'm nothing if not determined

New York's Central Park and midtown neighborhoods in the springtime are ridiculously photogenic - sometimes surprisingly so. Clean white light, lots of dramatic vertical lines, and oh, those bright candy colors.

My friend L.'s luggage was misplaced by our airline during our flight, so we made an emergency late night trip to the Forever21 and Sephora in Times Square (2 am closing times!) for some sorely needed supplies. (Note the Wicked billboard in the dist… — My friend L.'s luggage was misplaced by our airline during our flight, so we made an emergency late night trip to the Forever21 and Sephora in Times Square (2 am closing times!) for some sorely needed supplies. (Note the Wicked billboard in the distance -- we ended up seeing that show, starring the West End's longest-running Elphaba.)

There are a lot of things to love about wandering the city, but for me, it's always the liberating sense of insignificance. So easy to get lost in the ebb and flow of the crowds. I like to think that I don't matter in the grand scheme of things, and if I don't matter, is it really possible to mess up too badly? I am just the tiniest blip of human existence in this city.

Good Eats

I have a shameful, shallow confession to make, and it's called "I get all my restaurant recommendations from fashion blogs." But. BUT. That is not as eyeroll-worthy an approach as it sounds. Fashion bloggers are largely attuned to aesthetics above all, true, but very little food that looks good does not also taste good. Plus, bloggers have a great eye for striking eatery decor, and I'm a big believer in a dining experience that is holistically enjoyable -- i.e., I'm loath to spend time in a restaurant if the ambience is dismal, even if the food is A+.

Toro (85 10th Avenue)

Veggie paella. Not pictured: glorious small plates, including the tiniest burgers topped with crisp pickled onion.

This was featured on the Toro Instagram the other week. The bar is solid - we had a gorgeous sparkling Spanish wine we've been trying (and failing) to hunt down since.

The famous greenery wall! I wish we'd been seated with a better view of it.

The Smith (1900 Broadway)

Alas, I did not eat this breakfast pot pie. I filled up on mac & cheese first and had to recall my order a little too late.

An all-around well executed comfort food joint, right down to the vintage-styled menu and the waitstaff's crisp white shirts and skinny jeans, an almost East London hipster look. Highlight: a darling waiter who talked us all into ordering donuts with a single comical face that acknowledged our collective calorie guilt.

Hunt and Fish Club (125 W44th Street)

Of all the food we sampled in the city, this placed featured what I thought were the most mature, rounded flavors, and lord, their mushroom pappardelle. I could live on it. As questionable a choice as that would be. And of course: that drama! I am unabashedly a fan of marble surfaces, imposing and pretentious artwork, black and white table settings, and a striking light fixture. (Surprisingly, no blogger direction here - good old Pinterest sent me.)

NoMo SoHo (9 Crosby Street)

But wait. Let me tell you about the NoMo. Dear lord, let me tell you about the NoMo. I'm particularly proud of this find because I chanced upon it without the help of a blogger, and can no longer remember how.

And this place was an experience. Such a weird blend of eclectic aesthetics that somehow mesh harmonically (chandeliers? rustic chairs? lucite accents? mod couches? fairy garden grove type thing?) & featuring otherworldly sandalwood fragrance piped into public spaces via the AC vents.

Oh, and there's a revolving bookcase that hides an extra event room.

A fairy light greenery tunnel provides a buffer between the industrial look of SoHo & the restaurant's rustic-glam vibe.

NoMo Kitchen. Not pictured: divine fluffy waffles topped with fruit.

Admittedly we didn't come here to eat. We came to scope it out as a potential event venue and to see That Dining Room in person. Egad that dining room. It's like a greenhouse at the heart of the concrete jungle. The juxtaposition just works and I could spend hours in it if allowed. Plus it's two doors down from the Reformation store, which doesn't hurt its case at all.

Damage Done

And this is about as much evidence of our shopping binge as I can bring myself to share...

Rene Caovilla & Charlotte Olympia. A lot of Charlotte Olympia.

...even more Charlotte Olympia, because we are apparently cat ladies & because they were on sale.

Comment

Aesthetics

Visually, it would be an understatement to say that this bag puzzles a lot of people I know. My boyfriend calls it a "face bag" on account of the colon-P (:p) face that the bag seems to be making at all times.

I have to look really hard to see the face. I mostly see great architecture: elegant violin or piano-esque curves, sensuous wings and gorgeous proportions.

Funnily enough, while I consider the luggage tote to be the most aesthetically appealing piece I own, I also find it the least photogenic. It's one of those bags that looks best in person - that way, you get the full impact of the texture, the beautiful dye job, the clean stitching, and even that glorious sans serif logo stamp.

Daily Use

Like the Chanel flap with its bajillion size options, the luggage tote's function differs wildly with its size. I find the nano the most useful on a daily basis, despite its diminutive scale. It still fits a continental wallet, and around it I can also pile in a cell phone, makeup, keys, and other odds and ends. I rarely find space to be an issue with the luggage tote, and that is doubly true for the larger version I own, the micro.

What can be a hassle is getting in and out of the bag itself. Unless you're carrying the nano with its (non-adjustable!) strap, this tote is not a bag you can single-handedly unzip and rummage around in.

Aside from size, another daily use consideration is the tote’s weight and carrying style. Those with bad elbows or shoulders (or generally those who find it annoying to hand-carry a bag) should steer clear of the larger versions, which solely feature top handles and are intended to be carried in the crook of the elbow. I recently elbow-carried the micro with a DSLR camera in it for 5 days, and it was a special kind of hell.

Also? It goes. With. Everything. So do a lot of bags, to be fair, but the luggage tote is special in that it elevates any outfit by contributing an understated polish and maturity that speaks with you rather than scream over you like I have seen many a handbag do to their owners.

Maintenance

The luggage tote is not entirely a throw-it-around kind of bag. The leather, though thick and luxurious, can be prone to smudging, scratching, and stretching.

Additionally, Céline was inconsistent with building protective features into the different sizes of tote: the nano has no metal feet to keep it off the ground if you set it down, but the micro and mini do. And even so, a moderately heavy object in the bag will cause its leather bottom to touch the ground anyway, with the feet so far apart and no central foot (like some Prada bags have) for support.

That said, the tote is not especially delicate, either. I have yet to see significant color transfer on my light gray nano despite wearing it almost exclusively with black jeans. And even after owning my nano for nearly a year, I have yet to see the need to condition or clean the leather.

Quality & Value

White Céline's luggage totes are some of the best-made leather goods I've seen this side of Hermès, to say that the quality is worth the price would be questionable. Once upon a time, you could get the luggage tote for under $2k, and now you'd be lucky to keep the price just below $3k. The rapid price increases have little to do with quality & value and everything to do with supply constriction, and to be frank, there are enough bags of lesser but still similar craftsmanship for half the price. No one's paying $3k a piece for value here - they're doing it because it's the only price at which you can get the aesthetic oomph of the luggage look.

THE MENAGERIE

New York Photo Diary