Almost exactly one year ago, I was supposed to go to New York City. The week before that trip, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I cancelled the trip, unsure of when I'd be able to travel again.

I was rushed into surgery to have the tiny cancerous lump removed. Then chemotherapy wiped out my immune system, making travel a very bad idea. Post-chemo radiation wasn't so bad, but it was every single day for five weeks. I've still got some minor treatments, but with the big stuff over, my body bounced back amazingly well—so well that my doctor gave me the green light to travel! A new trip to New York came together, and since my diagnosis made me see clearly how much it means to me to travel, I'm also in the process of planning a trip abroad this fall after my book launch. I haven't quite figured out where we're going yet, since I want to do everything. But for now, this New York trip was a great start to live being not just back to normal, but even better.

We went to the top of the Rockefeller Center at sunset:

One of my favorite things about New York City is the gorgeous architecture that's filled with ornamental details. If you stop and look up, you're bound to see a carving through the trees like the ones below.

And even after an building has been demolished, its stone carvings might end up at the Brooklyn Museum's sculpture garden, like the figure below that found his new home in the grass lawn of the garden. (I'll be posting photos of the gargoyles and grotesques of New York over on the Gargoyle Girl blog this month.)

The apartment we stayed in made great use of space and had a solid dining table perfect for writing over morning coffee.

The apartment had a great view, but after a great trip I'm happy to be sitting at home in my Bay Window with the view of my giant cactus.

—Gigi