Another bite of the Big Apple

Well,  here I am in NYC!


after our celebratory champagne and OJ in the Qantas club ( the OJ was a concession to the early morning!)

we boarded our flight and arrived pretty much on schedule yesterday evening, and it was a great reunion, and YES she was surprised! After our limo ride back to town, we checked into our apartment in the east village. It is really convenient as it is only 1 street away from my daughter's place.

The neighbourhood is very vibrant and there are places to eat everywhere, and all types of cuisine. We spent our first night having dinner with my daughter and her husband at their local Mexican place where we downed some jugs of sangria and some great tasting Mexican food.

Today we have explored Soho and bits of East Village. I think we walked over 7 km's today and we found my all time favourite food store Dean and De Luca on the corner of Broadway and Prince St. I had to introduce the junior Goddess to it, so we ventured in and came out with...
our dinner!

Yes, she bought the bag as well!

 We also found a cute little place in SoHo where we had lunch. They had a lovely courtyard and as it was a perfect day with not a cloud in the sky we decided to sit in the sun and get our body clocks on NYC time. 

I can recommend Pera, the food  and service was really excellent and they have a roof top bar open Thursday to Sunday. 

Tonight we are eating in with our goodies picked up from Dean and De Luca, so I'm off now to enjoy them.

thanks for reading.

Secret Agent Business

By the time you read this.........







I will be here.....

now hear the story of this adventure.....

so, I'll see you on the other side of the world, stay tuned!

I have been musing the last couple of days about things, really important things, like why do people (me, included) like to have Eiffel tower candle holders, diaries, phone covers ( in fact for me anything with an Eiffel tower is a given that I will purchase it)  pictures of the New York city skyline etc etc, you get my drift when we live in Australia?

There a number of shops here in Glenquarry Goddess land that survive on selling such paraphernalia and whole furniture stores devoted to recreating the whole french country home experience right here in the southern highlands. So I am not criticising, I just started to wonder if people in USA or Europe feel the need to have an essence of the Australian way of life as part of their home decor?

I imagined there were homes all over Europe and North American that had Opera House lampshades and Harbour Bridge coathangers 

Made from hard wearing Australian made polypropylene, these funky lamps add atmosphere to any room. They are easy to assemble and come in a variety of colours.
Product Number: 3409
Price: $89.95
(All prices are shown in Australian dollars)

or how about something really useful

or something a little retro..

a doily from the Powerhouse museum collection, 1941.

So on this Friday afternoon, I will leave you with those thoughts and perhaps any readers from outside Australia might like to share with us if they like a little bit of "down under" in their home decor.

the morning after the night before..

As the song goes "there's got to be a morning after" fortunately for this correspondent the common sense of middle age prevailed and there was no big party, no excessive drinking, just some take away dinner,  a glass or 2 of  champers and the House and Garden TV Channel! The recipe for a hang-over free New Years Day.

The SBP are not quite as well, they got in around 4am I am told and Ashley has just done the mercy dash to the corner store to get some Gatorade for his beloved and Verity.

This is our last day in the big apple, Meaghan and Damian are coming over later for our final get-together. Amy has already flown out to LA for her flight home and we ( that is we who are not hung over) are in the throes of organising our stuff, repacking our suitcases ( strangely it is harder to fit everything in, could it be the shopping??) and  the returning the house to its pre-blake state.

Off to Penn Station in the morning for our train to the Capitol ....

So the next post will be from Washington DC, so watch this space!

Twas the day after Christmas!

and people are just starting to stir here.

Verity is off to do some museums, Vince and I plan to go walking through Central park and perhaps drop in at the Frick museum, as for the others they haven't surfaced yet so not sure what their plans are.

So you ask, how was yesterday?

Well, we started with Gospel Church at the Greater Refuge Temple on Adam Clayton Bld, just down from the Apollo. It was HUGE, they had security guys just like in nightclubs, and  inside it was a big as a picture theatre ( including the seats that go up when you stand up!).

Anyway it was wonderful, the singing was amazing I felt moved to tears at time, after all I am a christmas carol tragic!  The lovely lady who has rented us the house,  Erdene took us, and we were made so welcome by the congregation, they asked all newcomers to stand up and then welcomed us with clapping and a welcome speech. The whole church has such a lovely feel, a lot of happiness and singing and dancing. I reckon I could almost be dragged back to church again if it was guaranteed to be like that.

Then it was back to the house for THE LUNCH! And for those who were sweating on my juniper berry gravy, it did make an appearance on the table, Good ol USA, home of fabulous grocery stores that sell almost everything!

The grilled  lobster tails with garlic and parsley butter  were probably the hit of the day and Verity came to the party with a pumpkin pie, chocolate dipped fruit and a peanut butter cookie creation served with ice cream, All delicious!

And Santa did make it to NYC and everyone had a lovely day. We went to bed at 8.30 all exhausted but happy for our first christmas in NYC.

Here is a picture of us all ( except Megs who was sleeping in ) on the way to church we are on the stoop of our house.

Not a Snow White Christmas!

midday christmas eve..

Weather report:

Weather for New York, NY

32°F | °C

Sat

Sun

Mon

Tue

Clear

Wind: N at 4 mph

Humidity: 54%

41°

31°

49°

34°

43°

32°

47°

36°

:-(

we all slept in today ( except for Verity who was up early to go and grab some bargains) I blame it on the 50+ blocks we walked yesterday.

Today preps are in full swing for the BIG DAY. My sister Michelle and her family have arrived and are ensconced in their penthouse down town and I believe a visit to FAO is underway as I write for her 9 year old twins, what a great Christmas trip for them!

A visit to the wonderful 2 storey supermarket to get out last minute supplies and then some cooking

Lunch menu for tomorrow:

Nibbles first

Grilled lobster tails with garlic butter

Roast free range chickens

Roasted Pork Loin with Juniper berry ( if I can find them) gravy

Assorted roast vegetables

the girls are doing desert  (Verity tells me she is still researching  her contribution) and Ingrid is going a pumpkin pie. all very USA.

And the boys are in charge of the drinks so I hope a few quality champers will be provided  (vince?)

So we're off to have our very own Merry Christmas! Hope your day is wonderful too!

Globetrotters in Harlem

Well, we are in the house. The neighbourhood is very nice, a lot of old town homes which are being done up. There are a lot of good food places, cafes, delis and markets we ventured out yesterday and went to our local market and stocked up for a big old family cook up last night. It was really nice not to have to go out to a restaurant and just cook and relax in our house.

Anyway there  is so much to do haven't go much time to blog, Amy and I are about to go out to the gourmet deli and look for some inspiration for our Christmas lunch.

An apple a day....

NYC: the big apple, not sure which one it is, a granny smith, a fuji? I think most likely a Pink Lady.

Arrived safe and sound, ensconced in the Marriott East Side for 2 nights before we go to our house in Harlem.

things I did today,
went walking around 5th Ave, I can't believe there is supposed to be a recession here,  there were people everywhere and spending money. The decorations are amazing, not not awesome, which is a word that is far too over used here!


My significant other spent the afternoon shopping, I went along as his personal stylist.
We went to FAO Schwartz and I couldn't get out of there fast  enough, it was so hot and crowded, that is the trouble, it is not that cold, but they overheat everything here inside, currently it is about 60 degrees Fahrenheit here.

I took some pictures, I will add them later, but for my friend Baby Macbeth, I saw this dress from Stella McCartney and model in the window and thought it was just like you!

It would not be a day without a couple of fox paws, here is my list for today.

1. Had brunch in a Jewish cafe and asked if I could have ham on my panini, NO!

2. when leaving wished everyone Merry Christmas!   (not quite Kosher)

and then the doozy,

we booked to go to the River Cafe, it is a very flash and expensive restaurant in Brooklyn just under the bridge and has a great view of Manhattan, we took Meaghan and Damian there to spend some "special time" with them.

Meg and Damian at River Cafe

When I confirmed our booking they told me that gentlemen need to wear a suit coat. Now, I am not that up with the hoi poli, ( as my mother would have called them)  but I thought that rule went out in Australia about 1980, so I made sure our "men" had their suit coats  (and ties just in case!)

Anyway it was overheated ( as previously explained) and the "Men" took their coats off,  and about 5 minutes later , the coat monitor came and told them to please put their coats on!  Funny thing was another man took the lead off the Aussies and took his coat off and also was told to put it back on.

I am not sure what it is about a coat that is so special, does it confer a sense of gravitas or does it make sure that you will not wreck the restaurant or can afford the bill? It is a bit of a strange thing as a coat does not maketh  the man, or I think Shakespeare said something to that effect. I mean if a rapper or drug dealer can wear a suit jacket where does that leave civilisation??

Saying that it was a wonderful meal and well recommended if you want somewhere special to eat in  NYC.

End of Day 1,  as I write this Significant Other has just cut his foot on a shard of glass in our room, ( not from us) and we now have the hotel detective and cleaning staff doing a CSI of our room just in case we sue!

Only In America!

FAO Schwartz in 5th Avenue

Plaza outside FAO Schwartz where I sat to cool down

Plaza Hotel where Carrie ran into Big after his engagement party

 

The BIG PIANO at FAO Schwartz

watch this space!