Fall in the Northeast is like being in paradise…never been, but any place my hair looks good is my idea of paradise.

The air is cool and crisp. The sun is still strong. Everything sparkles. The leaves are turning red, orange, yellow…a panoply of fall color. Too beautiful to feel anything except pure elation at how beautiful life can be.

My hair doesn’t frizz, my menopausal symptoms have built in AC…perfect conditions.

Strolling through Central Park, the sights are stupendous.

I just want to embrace the daylight and stay outside all day, but we all have to come inside sometime.

On one of these amazing days, I took in the Jeff Koons exhibit at the Whitney. This is one of the last exhibits as the museum is closing and moving to new digs by the High Line. The MET will be taking over the Whitney space.

This is Koon’s first NY retrospective. I traversed the Koons show with a friend.We gigled like teenagers at the amusing sculptures and painting…kitsch, but clever.

One of the scuptures, Play-Doh, has been 20 years in the making. It is made of aluminum to get a more hyper-realistic surface.

The 10-foot-tall work is a centerpiece of the Whitney exhibit which consumes more space than the museum has ever devoted to a single artist, including Mark Rothko, Edward Hopper or Georgia O’Keeffe.

Filed under the “who knew” category, I never knew that Koons was married to an Italian porno star, Ilona Staller, better known as La Cicciolina. They had a child together and then she fled back to her native Italy with the child and a contentious custody battle ensued.

On display are the notorious sex pictures from his “Made in Heaven” series of 1989-91, big paintings printed in oil on canvas that depict the artist in staged foreplay.

There are all the oversized, shiny sculptures, framed posters, glossy paintings and fastidiously transformed objects of contemporary life, including household appliances, gift store tchotchkes and  children’s toys.

The retrospective runs through October 19th at the Whitney, 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street, NYC.

Before another perfect day unfolded, I took in a 9:30am showing of, Gone Girl, starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike in the movie based on the best selling novel.

I had read the book and the movie, while true to the crime novel, takes a different approach.The cast was excellent, but the movie was 30 minutes too long. There were lots of incongruities in the film and the ending was too complacent. The novel’s conclusion was much more satisfying.

Being married, I left the movie and gave my husband a suspicious glance. Love is a battlefield and Gone Girl takes it to clever, detailed and manipulative heights.

Another early morning showing tempted me and I took in the film, This Is Where I Leave You. I loved the book…the writing is sharp, witty and clever.

The movie did not garner great reviews, but I really enjoyed it. The cast was outstanding. Jane Fonda is always fantastic. Jason Bateman was the best he has ever been, emoting an effectively melancholy side. Adam Driver is a kick, Tina Fey was good, not great as the lone sister among a diverse trio of brothers.

I thoroughly enjoyed the film. It is a humorous, realistic look at how family members interact. Screw the critics and go have a good time at, This Is Where I Leave You.

If you are fortunate to be living in NYC or are just visiting, make sure to take advantage of the beauty and splendor of fall in Manhattan. If you can, get your butt here and fall into a magical time with extraordinary diversions in the greatest city in the world.