My City Sparks $pending

Pretty Little Liars?
Foil-wrapped chocolates that allude to the luxe life.
$20 for a box of 44 thin squares in a mix of dark, milk, mint. Bought for the family.
I think the dark ones are vegan, so Figgy can eat them.

Bus trip into NYC to see my friend/colleague--who left Good Housekeeping after 30 years--stimulated my spending. No surprise, I guess.

When I'm in NYC, or another sophisticated city or charming town, I like to buy things that speak of the place. New York City=The best of everything, and not just writers, magazines, publishing houses, plays, opera, dance, clothing, restaurants but also bagels, big triangles of melty pizza, brownies, babka, cookies, coffee, Brooklyn blackout cake. 

Dean & DeLuca has a location right across from the Port Authority Bus Terminal, and I like that, because a lot of the other stuff in the neighborhood is not uptown upscale. I love to peruse the offerings at D&D before boarding my bus back home.

Danger, danger.

$MSOOP

1. DeCamp bus fare in and out of NYC, $7.65 each way.  So $15.30.
2. Worked on magazine deadline in Starbucks at Port Authority after bus pulled in at 10:30. Got small decaf Americano and chocolate cake pop; $4.59.
3. Subway to meet friend at restaurant on 10th Avenue near 19th Street [walking from 14th street station], $2.75.
4. Lunch at bustling, stylish COOKSHOP with my colleague Sharon, a foodie and kitchen equipment pro. I decided to treat her, to honor her after 30 years on the job. We worked on staff together for 10+ of those. The bill was $74.04 plus $15 tip, so $89.04. I did waste $ on one thing and didn't realize until later, when I saw the check and did a double take. I was so busy trying to sidestep a PB chocolate dessert that sounded SO GOOD that I steered to the cheese plate, but the smallest size was $12. That was crazy, because the portion of Calderwood cheese from Vermont and paper-thin-sliced apple was modest indeed. I could have avoided that, had a cappuccino? The waitress said no fresh fruit for dessert. Sharon and I wanted to talk longer, so stretched out our meal w final course.
5. Dean & DeLuca, the box of individually wrapped chocolate squares, above, and one Amy's caramel fudge brownie, neatly wrapped in cellophane with perfect corners [don't ask, I know], $24.01 total.
6. Back home, I drove Punchy into town to meet a friend. She had spent her last $20 on hamster chew toys, so I gave her $5.50 spending money.
7. Figgy watched Punch tonight so Dan and I could go see "Mary Poppins Returns," which I loved and he liked but not as much as the original, which he described as "candy." I don't remember watching the full original and will soon. Anyway, Fig got some gnocchi and other groceries for dinner for her and Punch at Kings--$9.45. I'm not adding the price of movie tix [$12 each] and snacks because that came out of Dan's pocket at the theater. Figgy kindly saved us on babysitting money or that would have been another $13 per hour for three hours.

TOTAL: $150.64