Day of Hot Pinks & Dark Chocolates

On the pretty second floor of Lilly Pulitzer, Madison Avenue.
On the ground floor, they had a hot cocoa cart [with Keurig pods],
complete with marshmallows and peppermint sticks!

The tea [aka hot chocolate] salon right next to Lilly,
at La Maison du Chocolat.

Chilled to perfection under glass: The individual
 Christmas Yule log cakes
with raspberry, chestnut or pure dark chocolate filling.

It just so happens that Lilly Pulitzer and La Maison du Chocolat--one the best of the brights, the other an elegant walk on the dark side--are side by side on Madison Avenue between 78th and 79th streets. Sis and I met around 12:30 at La Maison, sipped hot chocolate on cocoa-brown leather couches in the tea room [above], spooned into one of the decadent, single-serving bûches pour les fêtes de Noël and then browsed at Lilly, where she bought me a beautiful sweater for Christmas--sleeveless navy with dipped back neckline and fringe at hem. Then we walked downtown for nearly an hour together, til Sis parted for Grand Central for her train back to Stamford and I headed to the Port Authority. Grateful. My Lilly sweater, tucked in hot pink tissue in a floral Lilly box, waits under the tree in Connnecticut. Thank you, Santa sister. I am a spoiled little Sis. Good night.