I just found a new dream...

magic on Grove Street in the West Village
...to live on Grove Street one day.

I've walked it before, sure. Seen the famous 'Friends' apartment. Seen the adorable but hard-to-get-into restaurant, The Little Owl. Been swept away by the charm and loveliness of this perfect West Village setting. But last night it hit my heart with such longing and force. It's pure magic. Just a beautiful, charming, perfect street, like something out of a storybook, and I want to live there one day!

the 'Friends' apartment building, above the blue awning of the Little Owl
Part of what added to the magic and put it on my List of Dreams is something I couldn't capture with my camera because of lack of lighting. But tucked away between two buildings on the south side of the street (between Bedford and Hudson) is an almost hidden gate, not even really noticeable upon first glance. The only reason I saw it was because I was literally hanging out in the middle of the street, taking pictures and marveling at the way the wind picked up all these tiny white flower petals and swirled them around (only adding to the magic, of course), when all of the sudden a man came out from behind that secret gate with his dog. That's when I saw it: Grove Court. A whole little, nooky magical neighborhood tucked away behind the other buildings. It was like this entire secret village! There were these adorable homes with little porches and painted shutters and gardens and Oh. My. Gosh. It was just dripping with cuteness and charm. (I found some good shots of it here and here on Flickr).

While it might cost and small fortune (okay, who am I kidding, a very LARGE fortune) to live there, it's still going on the List. And if I don't make it into Grove Court then I will just take one of these lovely brick homes with the pretty shutters and flower boxes, pleaseandthankyou, because I am SURE they are very affordable (ha!):


The end.
(have a lovely, magic-filled weekend).

ps - yes, i know i completely missed my thursday post. i intended to do it last night when i got home but it somehow got very late & i was very tired and...well, i just didn't feel like it. my apologies.
pps - also, please forgive these less than stellar, grainy night shots. my camera struggles in night mode.