Walking down Forsyth Street I stumbled upon a tiny store front. What I initially thought was an art gallery, turned out to be a store devoted exclusively to pencils. Remember that smell of a new eraser and how exciting it was to buy a new pencil when you were little  well, C.W. Pencil Enterprise will bring those memories flooding right back. Pencils are displayed in every way in this adorable store; glass jars filled with pencils from all over the world: Japan, France, India, Tennessee. You want scented pencils? They have them. Rainbow pencils, bi color pencils and pencils that look like cigarettes? Go no further. A framed pencil advertisement from the early 20th century proclaims “The world’s tallest building started with a pencil.” They have an in store Testing Station which allows shoppers to try out dozens of pencils on a doodle pad before committing. I left with a few new pencils that were wrapped up in a cute manila envelope and tied with string and when I asked for a business card I was handed a pencil with all the details. LOVE that there are stores like this opening in New York!

C.W. Pencil Enterprise  100a Forsyth Street   (917) 734-8117               http://cwpencils.com

Saturday February 13th, 7:30

The Bond Street Euterpean Singing Society presents lush, romantic vocal music of the world’s greatest 19th  century composers performed in The Merchant House Museum’s Greek revival double parlors. Singers perform rarely heard gems by Johann Strauss , Amy Beach, Franz Abt, Rubinstein, Shubert and others. The performance is 75 minutes long, tickets at http://merchantshouse.org

The Merchants House Museum  29 East Fourth Street   (212) 777-1089

A family run business, this ice cream shop has been open for 28 years. Chinatown Ice Cream Factory stands today as one of Chinatown’s oldest businesses. They give America’s most popular dessert an exotic twist with flavors such as Almond Cookie, Lychee, Black Sesame, Red Bean, and Taro/Ube to name a few.

Chinatown Ice Cream Factory  65 Bayard Street  http://chinatownicecreamfactory.com

If you need to send a knockout arrangement, ( Valentines Day? ) have an upcoming wedding or corporate event to plan? Be sure to check out Flowers Of The World florist. They make breathtaking arrangements that combine traditional elegance with modern sophistication.

Flowers Of The World   150 West 55th Street  (212) 582-1850   http://FLOWERSOFTHEWORLD.com

On the Seventh Avenue sidewalk outside FIT – at almost any time of day or night-busy passersby are stopping or slowing down to admire the large-scale images that run in a single, head height band along the exterior walls of FIT’s Pomerantz Center, all produced by the senior illustration majors and alumni in brilliantly colored chalk. Chalk! is overseen by illustration Professors Dan Shefelman and Richard Elmer, is now in it’s third year and has become an end-of-semester FIT tradition. Looking at the artwork gives you an idea of the serious, rigorous work that goes on inside those walls. The range of styles is very interesting, everything from abstract, to comic, to portraiture.

Fashion Institute of Technology  227 West 27th Street

Bubble Tea is usually a mix of tea, sugar and giant tapioca balls. The “bubble” refers to the foam created by shaking the freshly brewed tea with ice. Ordering Bubble Tea for the first time can be an event. The tea is likely to be in pastel colors of green, pink or yellow. The tapioca pearls can be the size of pearls or small marbles and they have a consistency of gummy candy that sit at the bottom of the drink. The drink is served in a large see through cup with an extra wide straw to suck up the tapioca which can be quite a feat. “A must try” when you’re in Chinatown.

Here are three places to go for your Bubble Tea experience:

-Kung Fu Tea    234 Canal Street  (212) 334-3536

-Vivi Bubble Tea   49 Bayard Street  (212) 566-6833

-Ten Ren’s Tea Time  73 Mott Street  (212) 732-7178

February 11-14th

Direct from TAO’s successful, sold out world premiere run of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, TAO comes to tour North America. Their new show, DRUMHEART-making its world premiere in New York- is their newest show bringing you athletic bodies and contemporary costumes combined with explosive Taiko drumming and innovative choreography. TAO has proven that modern entertainment based on the timeless, traditional art of Japanese drumming, entertains audiences again and again.

NYU SKIRBALL CENTER  566 LaGuardia Place    http://nyuskirball.org

February 13th 3-7 pm

This Valentines Day weekend, celebrate your love of Central Park at the fifth annual Ice Festival. Witness ice-carving artists from Okamoto Studio use electric chain saws, chisels, and picks transform more than 6,000 pounds of ice into glistening sculptures emulating Central Park’s most iconic statues including the Alice in Wonderland statue. As night falls, revel among colorful lights as the bandshell turns into a vibrant disco, complete with a live DJ.

Location: Naumberg Bandshell and the Mall (mid park from 66th-72nd Street)

January 25th – March 7th

The Pen and Brush gallery will host a typewriter booth in partnership with the Poetry Society of New York’s Typewriter project.

The Typewriter Project is a site-specific literary instillation which invites passersby to join a citywide linguistic exchange that exists in both the analog and digital realms. The booth in the gallery will be outfitted with a vintage typewriter, 100 foot long scroll paper, and a custom built USB Typewriter kit, which allows every keystroke to be collected, stored and posted online, for users to read, share, and comment upon. The project is largely inspired by the idea of Exquisite Corpse, a surrealist writing game in which several authors contribute to one poem. By creating a new and unique form of public dialogue, this project hopes to capture something of the sound, narrative, and nuance of specific corners of the city. The Typewriters Project’s mission is to investigate, document and preserve the poetic subconscious of the city while providing a fun and interactive means for the public to engage in the written word.

The Typewriter Project’s first installation appeared on Governors Island at the New York City Poetry Festival in July 2014. It has since been in Tompkins Square Park and STORY in Chelsea.

Pen & Brush   29 East 22nd Street        (212) 475-3669    http://penandbrush.org/event/typewriter-project

After you’ve filled yourself with Dim Sum and ice cream, wander down to Canal Street for an aura reading at Magic Jewelers, a tiny Chinatown jewelry shop stocked with healing crystals and Jade jewelry. In the back corner sits the aura machine. Did you know your aura changes every 21 days? You sit in a chair, place both your hands on a metal plate and relax. A picture is then taken of you by what is essentially a very fancy polaroid camera that captures a persons naturally occurring electric field. After several minutes the paper is peeled away and a beautiful rainbow of colors appear around your photo. These colors tell you what has been going on the past two weeks, the present two weeks and what you have in the upcoming weeks.  The aura reading is $20. After your aura is read you can ask any questions you may have of the person reading your aura. Weekends get very crowded, so if possible try a week day. Fun thing to do with a friend. Enter into a state of calm, open mind and enjoy the ride.

Magic Jewelers   238 Canal Street  (212) 343-0663