Spring in the City

A couple of months ago, my grandmother told me, "You haven't seen spring until you've seen it in New York." And boy, was she right. The weather has been so gorgeous here the past couple weeks, it makes me want to burst into song. On my most recent visit to Central Park, the atmosphere reminded me of this:

The park was in full bloom and was bustling with activity with baseball games, model sailboat races, picnics, bikers, joggers, and buskers galore. I felt like I was in a movie.

Speaking of movies, today I visited a few locations from one of my all-time favorites, You've Got Mail. You should see this movie if you haven't already; it's from the golden age of Tom Hanks, a.k.a. the '90s. It stars Hanks and Meg Ryan as business rivals who hate each other in real life but fall in love over dial-up AOL instant messaging--it's really awesome; I promise. Most of You've Got Mail was shot on the Upper West Side, and it's one of those movies where the city acts as a character in the film. I had a delicious strawberry lemonade and slice of blueberry cheesecake at Café Lalo, where Hanks and Ryan's character's decide to meet for the first time; I walked by the exterior used for Ryan's apartment; and I visited the 91st street garden at Riverside Park, which is featured in the film's final scene.

A busy Café Lalo

Kathleen Kelly's (Meg Ryan) apartment

Volunteers at work in the 91st Street Garden

I also stopped by Columbia University, which is the college campus straight from central casting. It's no wonder so many movies are filmed there. Ghostbusters, anyone?

And of course, I couldn't leave the UWS without seeing this: