I forgot about a restaurant recommendation. I know Debbie is promising a favorite or two, but here's one of ours, a midtown icon, right in your neighborhood: The Brasserie, on 53rd between Lex and Park. You can read a quick and dirty overview at http://newyork.citysearch.com/profile/7158905/ The french onion soup is to die for, scrumptious desserts. You can tell I go for the good stuff at the beginning and end! The great thing about it is that it's open late (til 1a so says CitySearch).

I also forgot to share my two favorite NYC pre-trip links, both from the New York Times--you may have to register (free) to access:

http://partners.nytimes.com/pages/nytoday/index.html Current Happenings

http://partners.nytimes.com/pages/travel/index.html Visitor's Guide (at bottom of page)

Happy travels.

Diana Ball near Houston, TX