Things to do with kids in Greenwich Village

Friday's to do list: Buy a birthday present for Ella's French loving, vintage inspired friend Madeline. She's turning seven and is one of my favorite people. She's an avid reader, sometimes speaks with a faux English accent, and has told me she likes classic things. She even has her own fabulous private blog. Ha.
For her present, Ella and I took a trip to Greenwich Village. It turned out to be a fun date. The stores we found are all on Christopher Street. Here's what we did:

1. The Greenwich Letterpress, 39th Christopher St.

This is one of those stores with ironic letterpress cards, decorative owls, twine, striped paper straws, and notebooks for sale with tiny bikes on the cover.  I would love to hate this place for being so obviously cute and vintage and campy, but I don't. Instead, I love everything about it. It's the perfect store to buy something small, like a stationary set with French words on the packaging or kitchy buttons that say "Happy Birthday! Today is your Day!" or "One Year Wiser". Even the guy behind the counter was so nice, helpful, and normal. He wrapped the present for Madeline. I could have spent some more time exploring this tiny store.  Shamelessly, I'll be back.

2. Corrado Bread and Pastry. 35 Christopher St.
We bought homemade lemonade and Ella got a yogurt. Nothing fancy, but it's next to the letterpress store and had nice people inside. I'm sure there is a fabulous bakery nearby with better food, but this one suited our needs for a quick snack. 

3. Last we played with the adorable dogs at Le Petit Puppy NYC. 18 Christopher St.
Ella found a French Bulldog that she called her best friend (below, left). Then named it Penny. She kept saying, "Jump! Penny, jump! Roll over! Penny! Roll over!" She said it would be the perfect dog for our family and it would make Dad so happy. Ha. It was the craziest dog in the store and over $2,000. Obviously, we didn't take it home. It's still there and probably still jumping.

Then we went home and I took Ella to the party. What a fun day. Try it!