This is where Chuck ordered a truffled grilled cheese sandwich for Serena while they exchanged barbs in the kitchen. And to capitalize on the publicity, Gilt did eventually concoct a version for any GG fan to order - at a princely sum of $50!

Gilt is inside The New York Palace, 455 Madison Ave, NY, NY 10022

This upscale specialty store on Fifth Avenue was the backdrop in the first episode of Gossip Girl where Jenny tries on a dress for the Kiss on the Lips party, and she bumps into Eric and Serena…

Bendel’s was also mentioned when Jenny’s mom buys her a pair of used shoes and Little J tells her people from her school get their shoes at Saks and Bendel’s.

Henri Bendel is located at 712 5th Ave, NY, NY 10019

I’ve written about this before. This hotel is actually owned by Brunei Royalty and not Chuck Bass’s dad! Heehee!

But, well, it makes a likely home for Lily, Eric and Serena. After all, it’s a stone’s throw away from Saks and Barneys (ok a far stone’s throw for this one), and all the luxury boutiques, especially when they are in dire need of retail therapy!

Address: 55 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10022

The scene of Serena and Nate’s “indiscretion”, to put it politely…

When we got there, the place was still closed.

It opens at 3 pm and closes at 1 am Monday to Saturday, 11 pm on Sundays. So yeah, with the right connections (which these rich kids of course have), they can easily have that space between 1:01 am to 2:59 pm to do the dirty deed!

Tsk! What alcohol and raging teenage hormones can do!

Address: 15 Vanderbilt Ave, NY, NY 10017 (right outside Grand Central!)

Ah yes, where S was first “spotted getting off the train at Grand Central” in the pilot episode of Gossip Girl! In that scene, she had just arrived from boarding school, to the delight of Dan and to the consternation of Blair and her posse…

In real life, Grand Central station is a busy transport hub that brings in commuters from Westchester, Putnam, and Dutchess counties in New York State, and Fairfield and New Haven counties in Connecticut.

So yeah, realistically speaking, this could definitely be a homecoming queen bee’s first stop from her New England prep school. But, why didn’t the family driver just pick her up from school? That’s one secret I’ll never tell! (Well, really because I don’t know why! Ha!)

Address: 87 E 42nd Street, NY, NY 10017

My fellow Gossip Girl groupie, Grace of Divasoria, had a brilliant plan of going around New York City to pay homage (haha) to the sites of many a Gossip Girl drama. It was actually research for an article she was writing about for On The Radar, in the Philippine Star.

Since I was back-up camera crew and project coordinator (well ok, I printed out our itinerary, marked all the cross streets and planned out our subway stops) I would like to share with you dear readers in the next couple of posts, some of the must visit spots when you go on your own Gossip Girl excursion!

The Sanrio Store in Times Square!

It seems it has shed its cute-sy image and has metamorphosed into “Sanrio Luxe”, purveyor of “$200+ clothing, jewelry, shoes and collaboration items which were formerly Japan exclusives”. According to racked.com, here you’ll find “Hello Kitty luggage, silk dresses with retro prints, a leather bag with mink accents, or a pink cashmere baby scarf”.

So I guess we’ll all have to go some place else for puffy stickers and plastic Hello Kitty toothbrushes!

(Photo from racked.com)

Jacques Torres chocolate at that!

As we entered the chocolate store/factory…

This was the kitty cat that greeted us at the door!

Scary or cute? What do you think? Haha!

If you fancy yourself a chocolate connoisseur, then you must know what Jacques Torres chocolates are all about! After all, he is a renowned French pastry chef known for his chocolate confections!

So a couple of days ago, Dear Hubby, our friend Donna and I went to his chocolate factory at 50 Hudson at King Street (Store hours are Mon - Sat 9:00am - 7:00pm. Sunday 10:00am - 6:00pm) in downtown Manhattan.

No, there were no oompa loompas there. We saw human chocolate experts on the job! Heehee!

Of course, the factory was just a prop to the scrumptious spread of chocolates that were laid out for ME!

But, we decided on just getting a small sampler of their best sellers, because seeing all those chocolates made it so hard for me to decide!

While the mere mention of the word patchouli conjures images of the hippy dippy 60s, Tom Ford works his magic once more by re-invigorating this scent with a dose of now!

According to Vogue UK,” Ford transformed patchouli with penetrating notes from white flowers peony, rose and jasmine to create a fresh yet distinctive eau de parfum.”

There was actually a huge ad on the Style section of the NY Times last Sunday announcing that the scent is now exclusively available at Saks Fifth Avenue. What do you think? Are you ready for some pathchouli lovin’?

(Photo from vogue.co.uk)