It was a rainy, miserable weekend, so it seemed like the perfect occasion to visit one of New York’s many museums. Preferable one without plants and dirt this time…

My friend Gretchen is a fellow at the Frick Collection, a museum on the Upper East Side featuring paintings, sculptures, antique furniture, porcelains, and other items you’re not allowed to touch. I had heard a lot about the museum and was excited to see it, so we braved the rain and headed over.

When you walk in there’s a beautiful garden court in the middle of the collections.

Every other Sunday the museum hosts sketching classes in this area, where patrons are given materials and an artist to help them create masterpieces. Gretchen and I were planning on loudly critiquing the sketchers, but we arrived too late!

I tried to take an artistic photo, but it just ended up looking like I was creepily watching the couple! Whoops!

After our mini photo shoot we headed off to explore the exhibits.

And then we got yelled at… over and over again! First Gretchen touched the flowers in a vase to see if they were real (they were). Then we took photos in rooms we shouldn’t have. Then, I set down my purse to take the below photo, and I was told by a museum hall monitor (with all the seriousness of airport security!) to keep my belongings with me at all times!

It was both funny and weird, and it wasn’t long before every hall monitor in the museum had their eye on us!

Gretchen usually goes in connection with an event, where everyone walks around in tuxedos and ball gowns and looks at fabulous art while looking fabulous themselves. I think that’s much more our scene. Unlike today, when we saw one of the museum hall monitors flossing her teeth in the West Gallery! And we can’t touch the flowers?! Oh, the Frick…

Can’t you just picture yourself wearing a ball gown, wandering through these halls?

To find out more about the Frick Collection, click here.

To attend an event at the Frick (and avoid the unhappy, flossing hall monitors), find the calendar here.

All in all, it was still better than plants!

~A