Church #3 Our Lady of Peace (237 East 62nd Street)

First off, please let the record show that I was not only on time for Mass, but actually seven minutes early!!! Color me proud.

 Okay -- down to business: I LOVE this church. Seriously, this could be "my" church. I realize that it is early in the game, but the other 95 R.C. Churches in NYC have alot to live up to.  The bar was definitely set high. The block (between 2 & 3) that it sits on is beautiful -- full of the kind of townhouses and brownstones that make you wish you could knock on their front doors and ask the owners what kind of life choices they made so you can follow their lead and end up living in one of those houses too. I completely fantasize about having 4 or 5 full floors to decorate smack dab in the middle of New York. I am even willing to have an eccentric old guy with an ironclad rent control agreement living in the basement apartment as long as he isn't so weird that I am not comfortable sitting on my limestone front stoop, sipping a glass of chilled Pinot Grigo as I watch the sunset and chat with my wonderfully charming neighbors.

Anyways, considering that my chances to make the life choices that will make me a property owner on the Our Lady of Peace Church block are quickly dwindling, let's move on.  The Church is great -- I chose it today because 1) the name was similar to my childhood parish in Colorado, Queen of Peace and 2) it is only about a 10 minute walk from my non-brownstone 5th floor walk up apartment! The church is peaceful and simple, but with great paintings covering the ceilings and walls. Lots of Saint paintings and the artist was nice enough to paint the saint's names alongside which is always appreciated. I have a special place in my heart for martyrs with male-patterned baldness. The priest was fantastic...reminded me of Carlton Banks from Fresh Prince of Bel Air if Carlton grew up in Africa with a great accent and a terrific singing voice. He sang twice during his homily and tied together his brand new GPS with following your faith's journey ("recalculating"...."need to update your maps"). Loved him!  It also had a great 70s throw back wood carving above the baptismal font which I really liked (probably because Queen of Peace was a 70s era, upside down cupcake looking church).

 The choir was terrific...I don't know how many people were up in the choir loft, but it sounded like a lot.  Or just a few with very big voices. The congregation was on the older side (12:30 pm Sunday service), but got a kick out of the very elegant, older ladies who were so well put together. I hope they all had plans after church because they looked too lovely to just go home (unless it was to one of my coveted brownstones!). I even liked their bulletin. I told you this place set the tone for all the other churches.

After church, I couldn't really decide on a good treat -- plus I had gotten a mani/pedi before Mass which seemed like adding a cookie afterwards would be just greedy on the treat scale. Diva Nails on 1st between 64th and 65th. They aren't fantastic, but until I find a better place, they will have to do.The neighborhood around church seems pretty residential. I did check out one of the cutest grocery stores of all time, GOURMET GARAGE. Pretty pricey, but the produce etc.. was beautiful and I guess if you live in a $5,000,000 + brownstone, you aren't worried about overpaying for eggplant.

Finally ended up at this great little Middle Eastern shop, Melange -- 11188 First Avenue-- that sold meats, olives, and imported foods. Bought some garlic stuffed olives that were delish...

All in all, a terrific way to spend a couple of hours on a summer Sunday.