2. MEET PEPPERMINT
CHAPTER
ONE
“Now, don’t fret my pet, it’s odd I know, but I’m
asking you to kindly just go with the flow. This
is a story about my best friend, Katie, and my
name is Peppermint, a fun-loving, fast-talking
teacup Yorkie.”
Now, if I were a Chihuahua, I’d say, “this ain’t
my first rodeo, but being that I’m a regal teacup
Yorkshire Terrier, I’ll simply say, “I didn’t come
down with yesterday’s rain.” These four paws
have roamed nearly every block in New York
City. This cute little tail has wagged on every
corner, but truth be told, this tail never wagged
so much as it did the weekend Katie and I
arrived at the corner of 57th Street and 6th
Avenue at the glorious, yes magnificent, did I
say, superbly divine hotel, the Quin. This tail
gave the ‘ole 10-wag approval as we arrived side
by side, as best friends do, for the most exciting
adventure yet to be had. Best friends forever!
Here we are. The city that never sleeps, the big
apple, Gotham, Manhattan, NEW YORK CITY!
THE QUIN!
3. HELLO, MY NAME IS KATIE
CHAPTER
TWO
Oh, yes, I’m sure you’re wondering how on earth
did a little girl and her dog get to New York City
all on their own?
“GREETINGS, from Zurich, says my Aunt
Deborah and Uncle Marcus as they step off the
plane. Aunt Deborah, well I like to call her Aunt
Debbie, is the best person in the whole world.
Uncle Marcus, well I like to call him the German
Shepard, because once in awhile he barks, but
Mom says that’s just the way he ensures that I
realize what’s really important in life – like being
on time. I believe her, especially when he picks
Peppermint up to give her a smooch. People that
like dogs are my kind of people, and people that
like Peppermint are my favorite kind of people.
Oh gosh, how silly of me. Did I forget to in-
troduce myself? My name is Katie, best friend
to Peppermint, Peppermint’s best friend. My
mom calls me her beautiful ballerina, and that’s
because I love ballet. I mean, I really really
love ballet. Other times she calls me her warm
hearted butterfly – the best of her plot. She says
that I’m like a butterfly because I am graceful
and friendly, and that I’ve never met a strang-
er. I don’t really know what that means, but I
guess I’m what other adults would call “a people
person.”
Every time Aunt Deborah and German Shepard
come to town, they take Peppermint and me on
the most wonderful adventures. This time, they
are taking us to New York City! While I was
nervous that Peppermint wouldn’t be allowed
at the hotel, Aunt Deborah “Aunt Debbie,” said
that this hotel isn’t like other hotels. She said this
hotel is magical and they have a team of magi-
cal people called Attachés. I guess the Attaché
says that Peppermint is always welcome. This
is music to my ears, because people always say,
“Whenever you see Katie, you are sure to see
Peppermint.”
Now Peppermint, Peppermint has seen the
world. We adopted sweet Peppermint from
New York City, and Mom says that she’s roamed
every block of this city, but I don’t think she’s
ever been on this block. As we entered the Quin,
Peppermint’s eyes lit up, she gave the ‘ole 10 wag
approval and a squeaky bark, and I knew our
adventure had just begun.
4. THE QUIN
CHAPTER
THREE
Now this hotel is unlike any other. Aunt Debo-
rah kept saying, “Ahhh, now this is what I call
luxury. Oooo, how luxurious?”
As we stepped out of the car, a really nice man
with the biggest smile helped us with our bags
and greeted all of us by name, even Peppermint!
Wow, how does he know all of our names?
We walked into the lobby, and Peppermint
squeals, and looks up. So I look up, and then I
squeal! “How cool!” The ceilings were glittery
and sparkly, what I imagine a princess would
have in her castle. There is a movie screen on
the wall with a million different screens, kind
of like a museum but so much better. The shiny
floors looked like icy glass. Just then, a really
nice woman walked towards us. Her name was
Violet, and she was our Attaché.
“Well hello there Katie, and hello there, Pepper-
mint, or shall I say woof,” says Violet. Pepper-
mint gave the ‘ole 10 wag approval too.
“How do you do, you two? A little bird told me
that you two are here to have some fun, and boy
oh boy, do I know how to have fun. So it looks
like you’re in luck! Is there anything that you just
have to do while you’re in NYC?”
Katie answers, “Well besides going to Top of the
Rock and seeing the ballet, Aunt Deborah said
you would surprise us? Peppermint and I just
LOVE surprises! In case you were wondering
though, I love drawing, playing make-believe,
ballet, I love ice-skating, I love walking in the
park and cooking and baking and shopping. I’m
even a girl scout. I love light green and purple,
but most of all I love my best friend, Pepper-
mint.”
And just like that, in the blink of an eye, Pepper-
mint goes MISSING!
5. PEPPERMINT ESCAPES
CHAPTER
FOUR
Now, listen here, I love Katie. She’s my best
friend. Aunt Debbie, while extremely sweet,
beautiful and kind, likes to hold and kiss me,
ALOT. Sometimes a girl needs a little bit of a
break, and only when Aunt Debbie has been
holding me for too long do I make a run for it. I
like to call it the “Aunt Debbie Jail Break.” Katie
always laughs when I tell her about my jail-
breaks. I hope she’s not too worried. I don’t plan
on being gone for very long.
“Phew, I just made it,” as I leap into the elevator.
“I think I’ll go wherever this nice boy is going.
Yes, that’s what I’ll do.”
Just then, the elevator door opens to the… lobby.
Shucks! That didn’t go as planned. The nice boy
with the funny accent is holding me in his arms,
and speaking with the Attaché lady, Violet.
“Peppermint, Peppermint, where are you?” I
hear Katie yelling. “Peppermint! Bad girl! Bad
girl! Where were you?” says Katie.
Just then Max walks towards Katie. “Hi Katie,
my name is Max and I’m here from London
with my Dad.” He points at a man reading the
paper. “It seems that Peppermint lost her way. I
hope she didn’t give you a fright. I have a Boxer
in London named Fergie. My mom named her
after the Princess Fergie, because she’s always
causing trouble!”
Katie smiles and wipes her tears from her face.
Peppermint’s heart sinks a little, because she
knows she’s in trouble.
Katie grabs for Peppermint and gives her a firm
hug. “Oh thank you Max, thank you so very
much! She always runs from Aunt Deborah!
Aunt Deborah has a tight grip, and Peppermint
gets squirmy after too many hugs from the Aunt
Deborah.”
“Oh Peppermint, please don’t do that again!
Pinky swear, you won’t do that again?”
Max walks towards the elevator, “See you around
Katie. Bye Trouble, he says to Peppermint.
I hope to see you tonight, maybe at dinner?
Violet, our Attaché made reservations at the
Wayfarer tonight.”
6. SURPRISES, SURPRISES
CHAPTER
FIVE
“Fantastic, this room is just fantastic,” Aunt
Deborah says as we enter our room. Peppermint
giggles to herself as she lies on her canine replica
of the human Duxiana bed and thinks, “This is
the life. A dog’s life!”
Katie calls to Peppermint, “Hey Peppermint!
You’ve got to see this! Violet left us a note next
to your personalized doggy bowl and doggy
blanket. And look, at all these treats and toys for
me! Awesome!”
Katie reads the note, “Dear Katie, Welcome to
the Quin. We can’t wait to have a magical stay
with you and promise tomorrow will be full of
fun things designed just for you to do – hope
you love the treats!
Your Attaché, Violet”
Katie looks inside her bag of treats, it’s filled with
peppermints. “My favorite, they knew!”
Uncle Marcus yells from the bedroom, “Time
for dinner. Let’s get moving.”
Peppermint stayed behind while Aunt Deborah,
Uncle Marcus and I went to dinner at the Way-
farer. We checked in with the hostess, and she
had a special surprise for me. I love surprises! I
think I mentioned that.
“Welcome Katie, I believe you will be dining
next to Max tonight, we have a special table
reserved just for you.”
And there he was, my new friend, Max! How
much fun to have a friend that’s my age from
London! I wonder what we are going to have
for dinner. I looked at the menu, but I didn’t
see anything on there for kids. Just as I begin to
panic, I see Violet walking towards our table.
“Please follow me for a special surprise,” says
Violet.
We were now seated at a special table in the
kitchen, next to the Chef. He reminded me of
my favorite movie Ratatouille. I really hope he
knows how to make beef ravioli, I thought. It’s
like he read my mind. “Sooooo young lady,
I hear we have the world’s biggest ravioli fan
sitting right here.”
“Yes!!! Me! Me! Me!” – I jumped with excite-
ment.
7. “Really,” said the Chef, “What if I told you I re-
ally needed an assistant tonight to help me with
making some Beef Ravioli, do you think you
would want to be my assistant tonight?”
“I most absolutely, certainly do!” I said
“What about me?” said Max.
“ Well “ said the Chef, “a little birdie told me that
you were a great big fan of Cookies. Soooo, I was
thinking we can first make Ravioli, and then we
can make my favorite New York ice cream treat.
Have you ever heard of a Black & White Ice
Cream cookie?”
“A Black & White Ice Cream Cookie - can you
really do that? “ said Max.
“I sure can, but only if you are ready to help”
said the Chef
“I sure am” - said Max
Oh boy we couldn’t wait - before long, Max
was a mess, I was a mess - we are both royal
messes, but who cared we were having so much
fun cooking and eating and baking and tasting.
Cooking is now my new favorite thing- every-
thing was super delicious!
I wish I could do that all over again.
We went back to the room with full tummies,
and Peppermint was already asleep. I planted a
little kiss on her head, and she opened one eye to
let me know she loved me too.
8. DAY 2: NO ORDINARY DAY
CHAPTER
SIX
Now day two, day two was far from ordinary.
Katie and Max were in for an outrageous day of
fun.
It started with Breakfast in our room, with
everything I wanted and more, I had red velvet
pancakes (Yummy), Sunny side eggs and bacon,
hot chocolate with crumbles of peppermint on
top...mmm mmm
Soon after, we went to the lobby and Aunt Deb-
orah was smiling the whole time, and you know
what that means, she has a secret... but I love my
Aunt Debbie’s secrets, her secrets all turn out to
be super duper fun surprises.
We got to the desk and Violet- you remember
Violet right? Violet is our Attaché.
Violet gave me a list of all the things we were
going to do today -
And now I have to take a really deep breath to
read it all - it was called “ The QuiNYChildren’s
Day: Katie, Peppermint & Max take on the Big
Apple. We were going to.... brace yourself, get
ready, get ready for it...
Personal Portraits at the Museum of Modern
Art.
Then American Girl, the most awesome place on
the Earth, then Dylan’s Candy shop.
A private tour and “skip the line access” to the
Space Show at the American Museum of Natural
History
A horse and carriage ride in Central Park
Oh and of course, Peppermint has a special day
too. Peppermint gets to spend the day at the
Doggy Day Spa!
As we left the lobby, Violet walked us out to a
really nice car, which was ours for the day. “Your
chariot awaits, Lady Katie and Sir Max.”
Boris, our driver was going to drive us all over
the island of Manhattan. Back and forth, east to
west, north to south and back again.
Our first stop was the Museum of Modern Art.
Max and I had our personal portraits done, and
even though Peppermint wasn’t there, I showed
the artist a picture of her, and she drew her into
my portrait. Mom is going to love it!
9. “Katie, when I grow up, I’m going to be a super
famous artist. A pop-artist, I draw the coolest
superheroes, but my best work is my Superman
drawings. You know what, if you’d like to have
one, I’ll drop a letter and drawing in the post, or
as you say the snail mail. That way we can always
stay in touch, we can be pen pals. It would be so
cool to have an American pen pal! Just a hop,
skip and a jump across the big pond!”
Aunt Deborah gave Max’s dad my address. I
can’t wait to tell my friends all about it! I hope
they are lucky enough to stay at the Quin one
day.
Then we went to Dylan’s Candy store. Normally,
Mom doesn’t let me eat this much candy, but
like I said day two, day two was no ordinary
day. There was candy everywhere! Candy on the
ceilings, candy in the floors, candy on the walls,
candy in the halls, candy galore! So much candy,
so little time! Oh and get this, they had every
flavor and color of peppermint imaginable.
Even Aunt Deborah was amazed! She found
her favorite candy bar from her childhood, 100
Grand Bar. She didn’t even know they made it
anymore. The coolest place ever! Really.
Next stop, American Girl for a new wardrobe for
my doll. After that, we went to the Space Show
at the Museum of Natural History, and we got to
skip the lines!
After our trip to space, the day had come to an
end. Boris dropped us off at the hotel lobby, and
the team of Attachés was waiting to help us with
all of our bags and toys. How was Max going to
get all of his goodies to London? Violet said to
leave the boring stuff like shipping to her. Max
seemed sad that he had to part with his toys, but
Violet promised him they would be waiting for
him in London upon his arrival. She really is just
the greatest!
Now, where was my sweet little Peppermint? I
wonder how her day was? Just then, Peppermint
came hopping like a bunny through the lobby.
She had pink bows in her hair and she smelled
like flowers. And best of all, they put her in pink
puppy ballerina slippers. Oh how cute! They
really think of everything here, don’t they Aunt
Debbie?”
10. PEPPERMINT’S GREAT ESCAPE
CHAPTER
SEVEN
Now I must say it was a marvelous day. A dog’s
life, the life of a pampered pooch, it really can’t
be beat. Everything from my doggy yoga, to my
mani-pedi and massage to my filet mignon cut
into tiny pieces was simply magnificent. But
then they had to put those ballerina slippers on
my freshly groomed paws. Katie is the ballerina,
not me! So just as Katie arrived back at the hotel,
and the nice lady dropped me off in the lobby,
I saw Aunt Deborah – “ooooing and ahhing”
at my ballerina shoes and bows, and I knew I
had to make a run for it. Earlier that day, I had
wandered into this beautiful room, way high up
in the hotel. I knew that Katie and Max would
follow me, so that’s why I ran…
Katie and Max stopped on every floor. “Pepper-
mint? Peppermint? Where have you gone? You
pinky swore!” Katie yelled. On the second floor,
Katie and Max found a gym, but I wasn’t there.
“Peppermint!!!! Where have you gone this
time?”
Up to the third, the fourth, the fifth, and the
tenth floor. Max yells, “Pepp-ah-mint,” – in his
British accent. Katie wishes she had a British
accent! Maybe she’ll try it out on her friends
next week.
Finally, floor seventeen. Katie giggles, “Look!
Peppermint left us a trail!” Her four ballerina
slippers and bows lead us to the terrace.
“Woof! Woof! Woof! Woooooofie,” cried Pep-
permint from the terrace!
What a smart dog, thought Katie. Peppermint
had led us to the penthouse, a secret paradise.
Violet was there setting up for a wedding with
a big team of people. I ran to Peppermint, who
was on the terrace soaking up the last rays of
sun. Max, Peppermint and I took in the view.
You could see the entire city and all of Central
Park from here. I felt like I could actually touch
the park – reach out and touch it.
We asked Violet if we could help decorate for the
wedding.
“Of course!”
Katie and Max were mesmerized. Never before
had they seen a room so beautiful. The wedding
was like a secret garden, with lanterns hanging
from the ceiling with white orchids climbing the
11. walls, and bundles of white roses were set on
the tables. Violet says the flowers were flown in
from Holland. The wedding cake was taller than
me. Violet said, “The cake is chocolate-almond,
chocolate ganache, and mocha buttercream. If
we’re lucky, maybe later, we’ll see the bride, and
she’ll give us a slice of cake. “Ahhh, when I grow
up I want to be a wedding planner,” thought Ka-
tie. “Or maybe an Attaché. Violet, will you teach
me how to be an Attaché?”
“Of course, you can start now. Our At-
tachés-in-training. Why don’t you help put the
flowers and the place cards on the tables outside
on the terrace.”
“Maybe next time we can stay in this room,” said
Katie to Violet.
“Well Katie, lesson one on becoming an Attaché
is; anything is possible. It only takes a wish, and
an Attaché will make that wish come true.”
Peppermint looks up at Katie, and Katie nods,
and just then Aunt Deborah walks in, and says,
– “Kids, one day you’ll understand that luxury is
about time. It is the most precious commodity
in life. It’s about the time that you had, the time
that you spent together and the memories that
you hold forever and ever. That’s what luxury is
to me. Thanks you, Violet!” They walk towards
the door. Max yells to Katie, “Will you be here
for the holidays?”
Katie says, “Of course, we are always here for the
holidays!”
Max says, “brilliant! So are we. Let’s see the tree
at Rockefeller Center. Deal?”
Katie looks at Peppermint and back at Max,
“Deal!”
“Until then, Cheerio!” says Max as the elevator
closes.
12. Here at the Quin, we love a wild imagination.
Make their wildest dreams come true.
Click here to book The QuiNYChildren’s Tail.
THE
END
