Let it snow

Why is it that all I am hearing about in the UK is how much it is snowing, and yet here in NYC, a place that automatically brings to mind thoughts of a white Christmas, there is nary a flake to be seen?

I dont wish to complain, but this could cause me to ask for my money back.

However, all the trees and lights are up all over town and they are sort of making up for it as they are so pretty.
The one outside our front door (which actually belongs to the stock exchange, but I like to pretend is mine all mine) is HUGE.
Really, huge. And so lovely. Walking under it and looking up at all the lights is amazing, and it smells so strongly that its like being in an Alpine forest.
Sort of.

We have our tree up now too, and it is very beautiful and piney smelling and all, but its just a bit...small.

It didnt look that small when we got it (on a street corner, so authentic!) but in our flat, with its ridiculous 12ft ceilings, it is a bit lost.

But still, festive and beautiful.

Legal

Finally, FINALLY, I have my visa.

I am now official and legal and totally allowed to stay in the States for the next year, with no to-ing and fro-ing to get an extension on my dates.

What a relief!

Girls

Sorry, no time for full sentences, this is going to be too long as it is!

Desperately cleaning up after Simon and Keely both had to make loads of drinks in the kitchen for their jobs.
Still scrubbing the floor (sugar syrup!!) when Keely made it back from her job!
Suddenly, doorbell goes, and there they are! Right before my very eyes! Sophie and Gerry!!!
Earlier than expected and I’m not done cleaning, briefly think “bugger”, then run screaming into the corridor to pounce on them as they come out of the lift.
Experience moment of absolute bliss as we settle on the sofa with a bottle of wine.

Head out into the big city for a mini tour, some shopping and then to Ricky’s, which is like a dressing up dream.
Buy final bits of our costumes and Hugh Heffner jacket and pipe for Simon.
Back to the flat, all conk out on the sofa.
Getting ready, drinking lots to be brave enough to effectively just be dressing in underwear.
Vicky and George arrive with some amazing makeup and dresses.
Lots more booze.
Order pizza.
Chase pizza.
Yell at pizza company.
Andy arrives.
Pizza arrives.
Realize we have pretty much missed the parade now – bugger. Stupid pizza.
Go straight to pub, half price drinks for people in costume.
Dancing on benches. Lots of laughing.

Thankfully not too hungover.
Head to Grand Central and pick up McMez.
Go to Central Diner for amazing French toast.
More site-seeing and shopping.
Back home for another nap, out for Mexican, then to Bowery for Tom’s gig.

Off to Central Park for pony ride, discover ponies are banned for the marathon.
Huh, had forgotten about that.
Watch the winners.
Head to ice rink.
Gerry and Merrie too chicken to skate, me and Soph are awesome.
Or rather she is, and she keeps me upright.
FAO Schwartz also fab, and I finally get to run a scale on the giant floor keyboard from Big.
What to do now I have achieved my lifetime ambition?
More shopping, back home, pack, send all girls on their separate ways, weep into Simon’s shoulder.

Love the lovely girls.
Thank you for coming.

Lists

You know you are reaching new levels of panic and anxiety when you have to make a master list of all your lists to keep track of them.

Shortly, I suspect, I will make a list of possible lists that have yet to be made, for fear I lose track of any of them.

Anyone know a good therapist?!

Actually forget that, I just want the drugs.

History

Wow. What an amazing night to be in America.
I was really jealous that I couldn't actually participate, but I feel as though somehow my hoping was almost as good as a vote.

I am equal parts amazed and delighted that America elected its first black President.
Its incredible how far this country has come in a relatively short time.
It is a wonderful statement to the world at large, that people can overcome their prejudices for the greater good.

However, I would hate to see this election become entirely about race.
Let's not cheapen this victory, lessen this man's achievement, or insult the intelligence of African Americans by implying that they only voted for Obama because of the colour of his skin.

There simply arent enough black voters to get a president elected.
Young, old, black, white, and everybody in between - over half this country wanted Obama to be their president.

Because he inspired them.
Because he dared them to hope, and to believe, and he convinced them it was safe to do so.

And whoever had won, the biggest winner really is the country.
So many new voters registered, and most of them did actually show up on the day and cast their vote.
Everyone should be inspired again to see that their voice can be heard, and they can make a difference.
So many of those people were young, and I think that shows us that young people today don't necessarily see race the same way older people did.
They have never known a segregated world and its hard for them to imagine or understand.
They voted, quite simply, for the better candidate.
The one who they believe can help them and their country.
As of course did millions of others.

And now a whole new generation of kids will grow up thinking that a black president is nothing special.
So that when they grow up, whoever they elect, race wont even be an issue.
How amazing is that?


(Although the more I learn about the voting system over here the less sure I am about one vote counting etc etc, but thats a whole other story.)

Dancing on Ice here I come

I have been ice skating TWICE in ONE weekend, which I think now makes me a pro.

I also did lots of other lovely things this weekend, which I will write about shortly.

Too much

I am just too excited.
In two short hours the number of Oundle girls in NYC is going to go up by 200%!
Yay!

Catskills

In Autumn, so many people go to see the leaves change colour in certain parts of the states that the locals have a name for them – leaf peepers.
So Simon and I decided to go for a peep of our own and I am so glad we did.

It really was spectacular.

I would be the first person to point out that we have Autumn in England too, and the leaves change colour and we are marvelous, but really, this was so much better.
The leaves were so many different colours, from lime to pink, and because the sun was shining they literally looked neon in their brightness.
From a distance the hills looked like they were on fire.

Here is where they fall down. They are called the Catskill Mountains, and I’m pretty sure we climbed up a couple of them in an hour or so, so not really mountains.
But the leaves distracted me from any complaints, they were totally worth the trip.

We stayed in a guest house called Breathe Inn, which is a bit overly hippy for me (we had breakfast all together, at one table, yuck) but was lovely.

As well as several lovely walks up and down hills, along streams and even up a waterfall, we pootled through the little villages, going to Antique shops and flea markets, which is pretty much all that was there!

We went to Woodstock, the actual original one, which was unsurprisingly full of hippies, and Saugerties, where we found an excellent restaurant called Miss Lucy’s.
It was so good that we had to share a pudding, despite being far too full to really be able to eat anything else.

I really have to apologise to America. I always thought it was crazy that so many people here don’t have passports, and half of them have never even left the state they live in.
But we were only in upstate New York and it was like being on holiday.
Even NY, which isn’t a very big state, has everything you could possibly want.
There are lots of beautiful beaches and it gets hot enough to be like being in the South of France, there are hills and pretty countryside for city escapes and there is of course NYC, all within about 3 hours drive.

I can see why people never leave!

Begging

Realising that its only 10 days until my birthday means accepting that its only 9 days until the presidential election.
And that is a frightening, frightening thought given that the only thing people are talking about today is Sarah Palin's ridiculous response to suggestions that spending $150k on her wardrobe is somewhat excessive, especially in this economic climate.

I'm not really sure I can write anything about that woman without laughing because really, are we meant to be taking her seriously??

Anyway, I watched the final presidential debate last week and there are just a few things I need to get off my chest about it and people's reactions to it.

Why is everyone so stuck on this idea of the president being "a man of the people", or "just like me", or "someone I could have a beer with"?
Why on earth would you want to elect a leader who is just like you? You might as well just do the job yourself.
Surely the whole point is that you want your leader to be more than you, better, more eloquent, more intelligent?

So why does McCain keep saying Obama is eloquent as though that is a bad thing?
That should be one of the first things they ask before they even let you run.
Can you string a sentence together? No? Oh sorry, that's the end of the line for you.

Why, given that her son is only 5 months old, is Sarah Palin "more qualified than anyone in America" to know what its like to raise a child with disabilities? I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who have been doing exactly that for years who have more insight than she does.

And don't even get me started on the whole abortion issue.
Since when did pro-choice become pro-abortion? As though its something that we think all women should try just once in their lives, just in case they like it?

I just cant imagine how anyone with more than one brain cell could have watched that debate and come to any conclusion except that they must vote for Obama.

Please America, do the right thing.

Peace out

Reading the paper this morning, I have been reliably informed that old, conservative, white voters have "made their piece" with the idea of a black president.

Well, thank heavens for that.

Flat packed fun

We went to Ikea this weekend, because Simon needed some shelves for work.
I know, its almost too exciting.

But then, it actually was!
There is a brand new Ikea in Brooklyn with a free ferry which runs from the end of our street directly to the shop!!

Much more exciting than trying to deal with the traffic in Pearly Way, Croydon.

Obviously we didnt actually buy any shelves, but we did buy lots of other random bits and pieces we hadnt known we needed until we got there.

And to top it all off I had the world's best sticky bun as a reward for all my hard work shopping.
It was from the horrible canteen on the way out of the shop and I only had it as I was experiencing a severe drop in blood sugar, but it was DELICIOUS.

So from now on, whenever I want a treat, I will take the free ferry to Ikea for a sticky bun.
Living the high life in NYC!

Wall St

You really know you live in an odd place when you cant walk down the street in front of your building to get to the subway, but have to go the long way round.
This morning, Broad and Wall were completely overrun with journalists and camera crews.

And lots of people looking very, very tired.

Homesick

So so so so so many lovely things have happened over the last few weeks, but I have been to busy enjoying them to write about them.

And now that they are over, thinking about them is making me too sad to write about them.

Gym

I must be old. I know this because I have had to join a gym.

No longer am I young enough to eat whatever I want and not put on weight.
And, more importantly, no longer am I young enough to go to the gym at 8pm when I get home from work and not get over tired and cranky.

So from now on I shall go to the gym in my lunch break.
Or at least, that’s the plan.

Rebel

Oh its so good to know I haven't lost my rebellious streak.

Over here, there is a "rule" that no one wears white after Labor Day.
Summer is over, and its back to black for all trendy Manhattanites.

Well, Labor Day was Monday, and this morning I got out my long, white skirt (which I haven't been able to wear yet this summer because its been too hot) and put it on, with all the swagger of a teenager getting their first tattoo.

Yes, I am a bad-ass mofo.

Beach

Another weekend, more sun!
We went out to Long Island again to see Andy and Vicky and go to the beach.
It was lovely.

People over here declare summer over on August 31st and seem to already be winding down to it, but it was so warm and sunny all day that in London it would have been the best day of the summer.
I am having none of this and shall resolutely be wearing white until at least October.

Vicky and I lay in the sun while the boys fished and then we had a lovely BBQ.
The beach is so nice and clean and quiet and we even swam because the water wasn’t too cold.
It really felt like we had been on a little mini holiday, and coming back into the city the next day was rather sad.

No place like it

Just in case I had forgotten the things that are great about being here, I got a reminder of four of them in my first week back!

1st – we spent last Sunday by the pool, enjoying some very warm late summer sun and catching some freckles.

2nd – we hailed a cab to go to brunch and got a whole lot more than we bargained for.
The guy had little spot lights stuck on the ceiling of the cab and a microphone and speakers, all of which he switched on as soon as we were settled in. He then proceeded to serenade me with Italian love songs for the whole journey.
It was so surreal.
The only thing that spoilt it was that he asked for money for the singing, which I thought was all wrong, as we would have given him some anyway when we paid, but instead it felt compulsory.

3rd – I saw a guy roller skating down Broadway in a shiny blue jump suit with long silver streamers flowing behind him in the wind. And no one batted an eyelid.

4th – realizing Simon must have really missed me, because he bought me a gift voucher for a massage. It was pretty brutal, the lady even had to climb onto the couch to sufficiently pummel me, but it was also wonderful.

God Bless

Oh America, America, the land of opportunity.

In one man's case the opportunity to wear:

Mauve checked shirt - fair enough I guess
Mauve cashmere jumper - thin and fitted, like a girl's
Pink shorts - falling just above the knee with a lovely hem, complete with belt and buttoned back pocket for keeping his wallet in
Brown, shiny, tassled loafers - a very slim cut on his his fairly small feet

The best part was he had pretty slender calves so with the pink and the shine of the shoe he looked like a very hairy drag queen!

And this was on the train on Tuesday, on the way home from work...

Back!!!

I’m back! After such a long, long break that I hardly remember what this is all about.

Anyhoo, I can safely say its good to be back.

I admit I was worried about how I’d feel, having been home and surrounded by loved ones and all things familiar for a month.

But as I crossed the bridge into Manhattan I experienced a welcome sense of belonging.

And of course, waiting for me on the other side of that bridge was the most loved one, who I was so keen to see I would truly have gone anywhere.

Things that are better in America - shock horror!

I know it may seem unlikely, but there are truly things that have made me wonder why we don’t have them at home.

Duane Reede – its like Superdrug, but you can buy beer there!

Air con on the subway – amazing.

Right filter at red lights – actually really clever and helps keep traffic going. But apparently it only exists in a few places.

Target – ah Target, what can I say? I love it. Its wonderful. My life without it would be empty and meaningless. Or at least I’d have less new clothes about which I can say “I got it in New York”.

This is it for now, but I am sure the list will continue at some point.

Sun worship

In addition to drinking on roof tops, I have been making use of our building’s roof terrace to sunbathe.
Its only on the 7th floor, so its quite noisy, and its on the wrong side of the building so the penthouses block the sun for much of the day.
But for a couple of hours you can lie out and catch some sun without being surrounded by nine million other people, which is exactly what I did this weekend.

Rise

One of my favourite things about NYC in the summer is definitely being able to eat and drink outside.
And because of the nature of the city, there are plenty of roof terrace bars.
Last night we went to Rise, on the 14th floor of the Ritz Carlton in Battery Park with sweeping views from the newly installed “art waterfall” in Brooklyn, over Lady Liberty, to Jersey.
We sat up there for two hours watching the sun set, despite gale force winds, because the view was spectacular.
Sadly the prices are also pretty spectacular so I wont actually be able to go there ever again!

July 4th

I’d had high hopes for July 4th, but it was about as much of a wash out as bank holidays in England.

There was apparently only the one parade, which is odd because they seem to parade every weekend for other stuff, and it was in Brooklyn so we didn’t go.

And then it rained when the fireworks were on so we didn’t bother going out and just watched them from our window.
They were good, but a bit too red white and blue for me.

On Saturday we headed out to Long Island to keep Vicki company, thinking we could hit the beach, except it poured with rain all day.

At 6 when it stopped we whizzed to the beach for a quick beer and then went back to hers for a BBQ.

It was a nice weekend, but nothing crazy.

I sort of wish I had stuck to my plan of walking around with lots of little Union Jacks, sticking them in the ground and re-claiming the land in the name of her majesty.

Weekend ALONE

Simon had to go home for a week to renew his passport so I was all alone for a whole weekend.

Charlie and Laura were also away, so I stayed at theirs after work on Thursday and went for a swim before supper.

I had planned to spend all of Friday sunbathing but of course it was cloudy so I ended up doing nothing and heading back to the city in the afternoon.

Then I got to skype chat with Simon and Gabs and Megan and my cat who were all in our flat which was really fun, but made me very homesick. Luckily the Girls Next Door were there to cheer me up.

On Saturday I went to a BBQ with an old AYS friend in Brooklyn which was really nice.
She has a little garden and there were fire flies there which I thought was very exotic.
I met some nice people and got drunk and ate far too much.

Finally on Sunday I went to meet my friend Rebecca’s new baby, who is now the littlest person I’ve ever met – she was only 10 days old!!

So basically I survived - well done me.

5am

What better way is there to spend one of the sunniest days of the year, than sprawling on your sofa with three other people, competing to see who is the most hungover?
We barely moved all morning, and finally decided to go for brunch at about 1 in a desperate attempt to fix ourselves.

(Ed note: brunch here is brilliant, it lasts all day Sat and Sun so it doesn’t matter how late you sleep, you can still get eggs benedict and French toast. Sensible, no?)

After a quick detour round the best toy shop evah Simon and I went home and crashed out on the sofa, watching Indecent Proposal and Andy and Vicky went home.
Tragically I had to go out again at 6 to meet people at Soho House at 6.30. I was not feeling my best.

But I was too excited not to go, because now as well as Reemah and her sister, another one of my old bosses from the BBC had arrived and we were all going out.

Jane and I were first to arrive and just being in such a swanky place made me feel better. That and the pimms. It is so nice, we were up on the roof, basking in the sunshine, looking down on the city, sitting next to a pool! I so need to get membership there, or at least find more people who can get me in.

After a few cocktails and lots of shrieking we all went to eat at CookShop which I have to say I wasn’t bowled over by last time, but this time it was amazing.
We shared starters and puddings and I swear to god everything was so yummy I could have eaten it all by myself.
And obviously there was wine.

We finished there sometime after 12 and Reemah and I decided to push on through and go back to Soho House where we ended up in the games room because its one of only a few places where you can smoke inside in NYC, not that either of us smoke.
But its clearly going to be where all the cool kids hang out.
We played some table football and met a lot of really nice people, all of whom were Brits!
Except one very funny American girl who was with them all.

When we got kicked out of there at 4am, we popped into the pub next door for another drink before finally heading home at 5. The nice girl and her boyfriend insisted on cabbing me back home which was very sweet, and also made me very homesick because when the taxi driver was being annoying the guy called him a bell end, which took me swiftly back to London town!

But seriously, 5am people!

I saw the sunrise!

Home sweet home

Ok people, prepare yourselves, cos I’m coming home!
And not just for a measley week.
Oh no.
For three, whole weeks!

Two of them I will be working, but the last one I am still taking as holiday as planned.

So feel free to start fighting amongst yourselves to get to spend time with me between July 20th and August 10th!

4am

The country bumpkins (otherwise known as the Christies) came in from Long Island a couple of Fridays ago for a night on the tiles.
And a jolly good time was had by all.

(By the way, I am doing an excellent job of protecting my Britishness by using words like ‘jolly’ and ‘marvelous’ as much as possible.)

Anyway, we started off with a bit of bubbly at home as they had quite a traumatic journey in, including going the wrong way on the subway!
Then we went to Harry’s for some steak as that was what the lady had requested.
And somehow we were really drunk and annoying almost from the moment we arrived.
I complained because they couldn’t make either of the drinks I wanted, Simon complained because he wanted the other menu (apparently he has eaten here a few too many times), Andy complained about the beer and at the end we all complained that we were too full because the steak was too damn good.

We moved on to our local Irish pub where we somehow became embroiled in a game of trying to hold straws as moustaches and then trying to pass said straws from person to person, using only the upper lip.
Needless to say lots of straws ended up on the floor, and lots of people thought we were insane.

And finally we cabbed over to the East Village (don’t listen to what the papers say about the cost of ‘gas’ over here, its still so much cheaper than at home and cabs are super cheap) and went to DBA.
It’s a strange little dive bar with a space invaders machine that Simon desperately wanted to play on and then proceeded to ignore.

At 3.30 Vicky and I could take no more and headed home, finally going to bed at 4am, my current NYC record.
I felt very proud.

Bobbing along

How did you end your day yesterday?

I went for a lovely swim in the pool, which was like bathwater having had the sun beating down on it all day.

And then one of Laura's friends took us out in her boat on Long Island Sound.
We had some wine, peaked at all the fancy houses on the water and watched the sun set over the water.

How cool is that?

Driving in the USA

I have been driving quite a few times since I got here!
So brave! So adventurous! So easy!

Clearly I’ve only done it in Stamford, I’d have to be crazy to drive in NYC.

And the roads out there are pretty quiet and very wide. Two cars wide each way.
And since cars over here are all automatic its been pretty easy.

But best of all is Debbie Directions, who takes care of me, and finds me no matter how far wrong I go.

Like the time I ended up in some harbour/ park…instead of the bank.

Denial

The scales said a number.
I decided they must be broken.
I tried to think of many ingenious ways to prove they were broken.
I blamed it on the fact that we are on the 31st floor.

Finally I weighed myself on someone else’s scales.
Someone else’s accurate scales.

Would you believe that little bastard of mine have been telling the truth???
How have I let this happen?

Damn you American fast food.

Birds in da house

I arrived at Charlie and Laura's house this morning (they are in the UK) and as I opened the front door I heard a definite noise.
Of someone moving around.
So I loudly yelled hello, and there followed a noise like glass breaking.

Needless to say I backed out of the house and called Simon.
Who sensibly pointed out that he was a bit far away to help in person, but sternly made me promise I wouldnt go back in the house. No fear there.

So I rang Laura's dad, who stayed on the phone while I walked around the outside of the house looking for burlgars/broken windows/axe murderers.
There were none.

So I bravely went back to the front door, and opened it again and really shouted a hello.
"Hellooooo!" So polite, even to criminals!

But there was silence so I went in (dont worry Lenny was still on the phone, just around the corner) and found the intruders.

Two birds!

The glass noise had been them flying around the shell chandelier in the family room, which sounds exactly like glass breaking!

Then of course there was the issue of how they got in, but it turns out they have done this before, through the chimney.

And finally I was left with cleaning up the remaining evidence of their visit, of which there was a lot, all over the place. They must have been in here all night!

I am now going to have a lie down to recover from the excitement.

Stick em up

As some of you may know I am a big fan of US cop shows, CSI and stuff like that.
What I am not so keen on is seeing the police over here in action first hand.

I was on the train, happily reading my book, with just one other guy sitting on the same bank of five chairs.
By the kind of bad luck that I hoped wouldn’t follow me here, the two wasted idiots who had been screaming and shouting on the platform for the last ten minutes got on and sat on the bank of four chairs across the aisle from us.
They were completely off their heads, but also, fairly harmless. I mean the guy was built like a brick shit house, but he just kept telling the woman to sit down and be quiet until they got to NYC, so they were really not bothering me and I went back to reading my book.

Unfortunately when the conductor came along for tickets (which by the way they do most efficiently on all trains and should be used an example to conductors in the UK) they didn’t have any.
The guy got up and was swaying around giving his cock’n’bull story about how they did have them but they lost them blah blah blah.
Anyway, they really weren’t doing any harm, the only thing was he kept swearing and people don’t really seem to swear that much over her.
I barely even noticed, and could probably have taught him some far better words and phrases, but the conductor was deeply concerned that he was offending people with his blue language.
Anyway, he headed off down the train and I assumed that was the end of that.

Five minutes later he came back with two cops.
I don’t know if cops ride on all trains or if they just happened to be there, but it was a pretty good trick. Despite really being totally unnecessary.
Anyway, it all started off very calmly with the guy saying they’d be good, and the cops saying ok if you’re good there wont be any problems.
But the dude was drunk, so he was a bit loud, and still swearing, and couldn’t really stop when the cops told him to.
So it got a bit more heated. And then the guy sitting opposite me actually picked up my bags and made me move up the carriage, which I thought was overkill but it turned out it wasn’t.
Things quickly escalated, and I still had a totally clear view of them and could hear everything and I really cant believe they did.
I cant help feeling that if this had been in England these guys would have been told not to do it again, and then left alone. Because really, why would you antagonize people who are wasted, but not doing any harm?
I will never, ever do anything wrong in this country. As far as I can see there is a strong desire to do some “serious” policing which is only ever going to lead to problems.

Anyway, long story short, it reached the point where they had cuffed this woman, a fairly little woman who was so out of it she couldn’t really stand up, and they just said it was for her own protection.
But this understandably upset the guy, and I was fairly close to sticking my nose in at this point because it was so unnecessary.
So then the policemen decided that they wanted to cuff the guy too, and he just sat there asking them why.
Which they amazingly interpreted as him resisting arrest.
So they started hitting him with their batons. And I mean hitting. He was big and drunk enough not to really notice at the time, but he must have been black and blue the next morning.
So the hitting and the shouting continued, with the cops very carefully and loudly shouting “stop resisting sir, stop resisting” so that all the witnesses could say he was resisting arrest.
No joke, I could have got cuffs on him without any of this nonsense.
But they weren’t really trying to cuff him, they were waiting for him to follow orders, put his hands behind him, turn round, and wait to be cuffed. I cant understand why they didn’t just reach round, take hold of his arms and cuff him anyway. But they didn’t even try that.

And then they told everyone to evacuate the whole carriage, and maced him.
Bear in mind that this guy is still just sitting in his seat on the train at this point, asking why he is being arrested.
So they sprayed a whole can of mace on him, hit him a bit more and then cuffed him. And then we stopped at the next station and a whole van load of cops came on and dragged them off, with enough force to make you think it was a bank robbery, not a bit of drunk and disorderly.

The most telling thing was when we were all going through into the next carriage and someone said should we do something and one guy said “I aint going in there, I’m a black man, what do you think they’d do to me?!”. Quite right too, I’m a small white girl but to be honest I don’t think that would have saved me either.

Century 21

Century 21

So I finally went to Century 21, which is meant to be the most famous designer discount store in the states.
I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but retail has become so much about the shop and layout and whole experience in recent years that I thought it would be nice.

But it was carnage in there.

Everything is all jumbled together and its so cramped and disorganized and messy I couldn’t really be bothered to look properly.

I did find a couple of things to try on and discovered that the changing rooms were even worse.
They had carpet in them which smelt of wee so I didn’t want to let anything of mine touch the floor!

I ended up buying a dress and a t-shirt which were only $20 each, so that was a bargain, but I’m not sure I’ll go back.

Maybe if you wanted a designer dress for a special occasion it would be worth going there and searching through everything, but for everyday stuff I’ll just stick to Hennes.

Preppy

I don’t know what it is about Gap over here, but I love it.

I hardly owned anything from Gap before, I might find one thing I liked every now and again, but now each time I go in there I leave with half the shop.

One reason might be that they actually do clothes for short people, so I don’t have to get stuff shortened.

Or maybe I’m just being Americanised!!

Food glorious food

On Saturday night Simon and I went to Maze at the London Hotel.
I have wanted to go there since last year when he went and came back with tales of how yummy it was, and that the 6 course tasting menu is just $75, which is less than £40!
Unsurprisingly the place was full of Brits who obviously cant afford to eat in a Gordon Ramsey restaurant in the UK, but find that with the great exchange rate they can here.

Anyway, it was obviously really good value, and all the food was amazing.
Unfortunately we tripled our bill by adding booze to it, but that couldn’t be helped.

I had:
Beetroot with ricotta
Aubergine carpaccio with figs
Lobster risotto
Steak with morel mushrooms
Apple and cinnamon trifle
Peanut butter and jelly sandwich

Actually, that’s not true, I hate peanut butter so Simon ate mine, which means he had three puddings and I only had one, which makes him a fatty and me brilliant.
Although he says he only ate mine so the chef wouldn’t be offended!

It was all really yummy, but far and away the best bit was the apple trifle.
It was apple jelly, with cinnamon cream, crème anglais and frozen cider shavings.
Oh yes, and a little doughnut with apple and cinnamon puree in the middle.
D.licious.

Friday night fun

The mighty Mezzle came to visit again on Friday, and I think we proved that we are still pretty damn rock’n’roll.

We had tickets to see SATC. Because, yes, we wanted to see it.
And mostly I wanted to see it with a friend.
Otherwise I was afraid all the love and friendship would make me homesick.
And I wasn’t expecting anything Oscar worthy, or life changing, just some laughs, some love and some good shoes.

Anyway, we were wearing our pretty heels, and sitting outside a pub having some beer and nachos before going in, when a drunk guy asked to put his beer on our table while he had a fag.
One thing led to another and he ended up giving us three free tickets to a Fratellis concert that was just about to start up the street.
I know, weird huh?
And he didn’t even seem to want anything in return, as he left to go in before we had finished eating.

Anyhoo, we got a refund on our cinema tickets and headed to the gig in what was now deeply inappropriate footwear.
We drank more beer, did a bit of singing and a bit of bopping and had a great time.

And then, in some kharmic reward for our shoe wearing, the gig was over by 11 (they don’t have many songs!) and we passed the cinema on the way to get a cab home just as the last showing of the movie was about to start!
So we went anyway!

If that isn’t living life right on the edge then I just don’t know what is.

Blast from the past

There is another thunderstorm raging outside, and we have a few hours to kill before dinner so I flicked on the TV.
Baywatch is on!
And its as bad as it ever was, so I'm watching it.

Spots

Last night we spotted our first celebrity since we have both lived here.

Our actual first NYC celeb spot happened in December, when I was visiting Simon.
That was Tom Hanks. We sat at the table next to him in Balthazar, and it was really very exciting.

But our first “living in the city” one is also very good, it was Julianne Moore!
With her husband and kids, running down the street in the West Village.

She was VERY thin, but also very pretty.

Friends!

Our very good friends Andy and Vicky moved out here last weekend and it is so exciting to have people around who know us and know about us and we don’t have to expend any energy at all explaining things or going back over the past. Hurray!

So we went to visit them on Saturday and had a great time.
They are living in a crazy 70’s style apartment out in the suburbs where they have lots of space and a huge garden.

We drove around the town and found the public beach, which is fine but is basically just off a huge car park and no doubt gets very busy.

Then we went for lunch at a really nice place called the Mill Pond which looks out over a beautiful lake. However the 32 degree heat and lack of any breeze made it slightly hard to enjoy the sun and we had to move back into the shade pretty quickly.
Lots of beer helped cool us down, before we went into town to go to the supermarket and somehow Vicky and I ended up getting spray tans!

I can blame this on the beer, but she was our designated driver so has absolutely no excuse. We looked utterly ridiculous when we came out, dripping with sweat and brown gunk, and then found out we couldn’t shower for 4 hours which meant we had to move our dinner reservation from 8.30 to 10pm!

We went back to a bar to meet the boys and cool down again, it really was a question of whizzing from one airconditioned space to another, and then headed to the supermarket for snacks. Which is also a silly thing to do under the influence and we bought a huge box of cookies and another of cupcakes and some bag clips which were apparently very exciting and I got a Princess necklace that lights up!

Back at home we sat on their lovely porch enjoying the wildlife, a little frog even fell out of a tree.

A shower sadly did little to improve the tan, I have insanely orange hands and feet and a weird brown patch on one elbow. But this was my first time so I was unprepared, next time we’ll do better.
Obviously there will be a next time, as it only cost £18 so who cares?!

We went to Honu for dinner, and the food was excellent, but we hadn’t realized it was all sharing platters so all came as and when it was ready. It was also great value, $200 for four of us to eat and have 2 bottles of wine, and at the end they gave us warm cookies!
Finally got to bed at about 1.30, hoping for a good lie in.

Sadly, blinds were not included in A & V’s rental agreement, so by 8.30 we were all up and about because of the blazing sunshine.
After breakfast we headed out to the nature reserve for a walk, it was really beautiful and rugged, with one huge brackish pond in the middle of the forest.
At the end there was also a beach, but it too was of the rugged variety rather than the sunbathing variety.
It was a bit too hot for walking about really, but we saw lots of little chipmonks who were so cute they made up for it.

Then we hopped over to the public beach to get an icecream and on the way found the residents only beach! A & V just have to pay $30 to join for the year and its lovely.
There is a huge picnic lawn, barbeques, tables and benches, tennis courts, playground, loo, shower, changing room and of course…beach. A lovely large sandy beach.

Heaven. We’ll be back soon!

Storms

Today was an absolute scorcher, I think it was 34 degrees, and tomorrow its going to be 37 degrees.
It gets incredibly humid in NYC, like there is no air moving anywhere, and it feels so close and sticky, its really uncomfortable.

And that leads to ... thunderstorms.

There is currently an amazing storm raging, and it looks like its right outside my window.
There isnt any rain yet, sadly, as that would cool things down, but there is lighting flickering across the sky every couple of seconds that is so bright and so close!
And it literally seems to be going from the Hudson River to the East River, lighting up my whole view like its daytime.

There is some thunder, though not enough it seems to me, which echoes and rumbles round the buildings in the city which makes it even louder.

Its very cool, but it cut out my cable half way through Girls Next Door!!

Guilty pleasures

I have discovered the perfect substitute for when I am missing my girl friends in England – the Girls Next Door.
This is a reality show about Hugh Heffner’s three live-in girlfriends Holly, Bridget and Kendra, and against all reason I LOVE it.

On paper its ridiculous.
An 80 year old man lives with three playboy bunnies who are all his girlfriends.
But in reality it is brilliant.

My absolutele favourite person is Bridget.
She is so sweet and so nice and so naïve and so unbearably lovely I just want to put her in my pocket and carry her around with me everywhere I go.

Usually, extreme niceness really annoys me, but Bridget goes beyond that to a level of niceness even I cant resist.
I want to be invited to the Playboy Mansion so I can hang out with her and bask in her sugary sweetness until I feel sick.

But I’m not sure all my vital statistics measure up!

Accessories

I had noticed that everyone in our building either had a dog, or a baby or both.
But after spending time in Central Park I realized that’s not just our building, its the whole city.

That is something that is really different to London. Even if they don’t go further than Richmond, people tend to move out of central London when they have kids, often right out to the country, in order to get more space and a garden, don’t they?

But New Yorkers don’t seem to consider that necessary and as well as kids are perfectly happy to have enormous dogs living in their apartments.

Its really hard to understand, especially with the dogs. I mean the babies have nappies, but what do you do when your puppy urgently needs a pee and you live on the 35th floor?!?!

Hot stuff

I am currently wearing nothing but a long t-shirt and pants, as Simon and I cook our supper.

This is not only as a treat to all those builders working overtime in the block opposite us, but because it is hot.

H.O.T.

I am usually very keen on summertime and warm weather and I am a proper little sun worshiper, but this is just ridiculous. Its so hot we keep getting crazy thunderstorms, its really humid and the heat is the oppressive kind that can produce a semi-permanent headache.

I dont wish to complain, but please can we just have a little bit more air with out heat?!

Audience participation

Um so, at the bottom of each of these posts is a little, but very important word.
Comments.
You see, you can comment on what I say.
Because when I write these things, I imagine I’m talking to you. Yes, you.
But I’m starting to feel a bit like I’m just a crazy lady talking to herself.

So, if you are reading, please will you say hi? Help me feel like I’m having a conversation?
Thanks!

NYC - fashion capital of the world?

A guy on the subway today. He was about 27/28.

He was wearing:

Black loafers.
Beige, brown and grey golf socks, pulled up to mid calf.
Grey, knee length, casual shorts.
A white linen shirt, with a thick red line running either side of the buttons.
A beige, chord, collared jacket.

And no one else seemed to really notice.

Fire Island

May 24th is officially the start of beach season in NY and all the trains and ferry services start, so we decided to brave it and head out to Fire Island.
I have to admit I kind of had Brighton in my head when I was imagining what we would find.
Fire Island is off Long Island, which really is just a big residential suburb of NYC, so I assumed it would be nice, but in a “not really a real beach” sort of way.

It took us 2.5 hours to get there, which sounds a lot but it was really easy. You buy a package ticket at Penn Station which takes you on the train, the bus to the ferry and the ferry to the island and its all incredibly efficient.

The island is very small, and no cars are allowed. There a few towns dotted a long it, each smaller and more remote than the other. We went to Ocean Beach, which is the biggest town and has a few restaurants and shops. We picked it because we expected that we would need things to do, after we had had a walk on the no-doubt pebbley beach.

At Ocean Beach the island basically splits in half, the north side which is on Long Island Sound has the one road which constitutes the town, and the little streets with all the houses run across the island to the south side which is on the Atlantic and is just beach.
And what a beach!
It was an honest to goodness holiday beach with proper sand and shells and sea, and then just a whole lot of nothing on the horizon.

And it was a gorgeous day, about 24 degrees with a light breeze, so we just plonked ourselves down on the beach, sunbathed until we were hungry, went up to the town and found a table overlooking the Sound and all the boats there for lunch, and then went back to the beach for more sunbathing.
At about 5 we started making our way back to the ferry, and we were home in time for dinner.

It was an incredible day out, it really felt like we had gone on holiday and next time we will definitely make a weekend of it and stay over. The whole place is so laid back and relaxed it would only take a weekend to feel like you’d been away forever.

Overheard

A woman in her twenties, walking with her parents to the bike hire centre in Central Park.

“I need to wear a helmet mom, you cant raise me to be neurotic and then not let me wear a helmet.”

Central Park

Been there, done that, too bloody tired to buy the t-shirt.

We walked the whole way round the park today, and it is HUGE!

We took the subway up to 83rd St and started up by the big reservoir that basically cuts the park in two, and has a 1.5 mile running track round it. After we nearly got run over by several crazy running people we set off up the east side of the park.

It is so easy to get disorientated in there that we thought we were going north and then realized we were actually going west, once we were half way across!
There wasn’t a great deal in that middle bit though, apart from lots of people playing softball/baseball. So we headed back over to the east.

At 104th St we came to the Conservatory Garden which is really beautiful, looked a lot like an English Heritage/National Trust garden to me. They even had fox gloves which I haven’t seen in ages, it was lovely.

Slightly further north is Harlem Meer, where you can actually fish but you have to put back anything you catch. We stopped at a little food stand and got cream cheese bagels for lunch, delicious if not very nutritious.

Just up from there we hit the very north east corner of the park, which is pretty much where Harlem starts so looks rather different from the big apartment buildings we had previously passed.

We walked across the top and up a little hill to a fort called the Blockhouse, and then went down through the North Woods to Great Hill.
Of all the many things I expected to see when I got to the top of Great Hill, a group of Mexicans in traditional Mayan dress was not one of them. But there they were, with headdresses and colourful costumes, standing round an old guy who seemed to be smoking.
It was just like a dance/demonstration I saw when I was in Mexico City, but in central park. And then on the way down the hill we saw a raccoon, sticking his paw into a baguette to pull out the nice soft bread, and leaving his crusts! Its the first raccoon I've ever seen, and also it turns out they are nocturnal so he really shouldnt have been up.
Pictures of everything are up on Flickr because I don’t know how to put them here.

We headed back down to the west side of the runners' reservoir via North Meadow.
The northern half of the park is much wilder and less busy than the south, really pretty and peaceful. If you wanted to spend the day relaxing and reading then it would be worth the longer walk to get up there.

Immediately south of the reservoir is the Great Lawn where people seem to congregate if they want to play ball games and its very crowded. But its worth going that way because about level with 79th St right in the middle of the park is Belvedere Castle which is this weird little castle that looks like its straight out of a fairy tale, and is in fact the park’s weather station.

There is another wild and windy bit of the park which is supposed to allow nature to take its course, which we passed through on the way to the Boat House, where we had planned to have lunch but by now it was about 5pm so we settled for a pint and chips. And then some icecream!
And finally, we headed back home.

An excellent day out, but definitely a full day if you want to do the whole park. If you dont have much time I would recommend hiring bikes or taking one of the carriage trips, horse or bike, to see as much as possible.

The fatness of being

It has happened. The time has come. This evening, I went for a jog.

In fairness to it, it was a very nice jog.
The sun has been shining all day, so it was still warm but a lovely breeze was blowing and the low sun was turning all the skyscrapers beautiful shades of oranges, reds and pinks.
People were out, walking their dogs, taking a post work stroll, or jogging. Somewhat faster than me I might add.
All the rich bastards who don’t have to work were out on their pretty little sail boats, dotted along the Hudson River between me and the Stature of Liberty.
It was undeniably lovely.

But this is surely a sign of desperation on my part.
Everyone said moving to New York would make me thin.
“New Yorkers aren’t like other Americans. They walk everywhere. They are really health conscious. They all go to the gym. You wont be able to help it.”
But it seems I continue to be immune to the draw of the gym, and yet have discovered I am able to eat more and more of the enormous portions placed in front of me in restaurants here.
Where once I balked at a whole pizza, now I eat it and wonder what is for pudding.
I have come to think of pretzels as necessary to my survival, and a fat filled Starbucks trip is an every day essential.

Trust me to pick up the worst American trait I could.
So the belly is going to be dispatched, at great personal cost to me and great financial cost to Adrienne’s, purveyors of the finest pizza this side of the Atlantic.

Now I have announced it there is no going back.
Wish me luck.

San Fran - the final countdown

On Sunday morning we were pretty tired, the jet set life style was starting to catch up with us and we were running out of steam.
But our only plan was to go to the beach that morning so off we went. Not before both the receptionist and the taxi driver took the opportunity to look at us like we were totally insane, because it wasn’t sunny at that exact moment. But its not like we were in beach clothes with suncream in hand, we were dressed for the cold and goddammit we’re British, who needs sunshine to go to the beach, right?!
And anyway, the beach was gorgeous, the sand was all warm and the sun came out after about half an hour so it was perfect. I did of course put my toes in the Pacific Ocean, and it was absolutely freezing.

We walked along to the end where there is the best view yet of the Golden Gate Bridge, took lots of pictures and then just sat and watched the ocean for a while.
We had booked Marco to pick us up from there and take us to the airport, but just as we were getting in the car the airline rang to say that my flight had been delayed. Five minutes later they rang back to tell Simon that his flight had been cancelled. So they put us on the flight at 10pm, meaning we wouldnt get home till Monday.

So we went back to the hotel, booked Marco for later that night, and headed down to China Town for lunch. We found a place that had a little rickety balcony and sat out there watching the world go by, trying to decide who was and was not part of the mafia.

Since we were without a plan for the next few hours, we wandered into the town centre, where all the big department stores are.
We sat in the square in the middle in the sun until we got to hot and then went into the airconditioned shops.

I accidentally ended up buying two pairs of shoes and a new handbag, which I think I can safely say was not my fault, I should have been on a plane at the time, therefore I hold American Airlines entirely responsible, and will be sending them the bill!
(They are very good shoes though, one pair of nice peep toes, and one pair of ridiculous platform sandals like some I saw in YSL. And the bag was about 1/10th the price of another one I had my eye on in Coach, so really they were bargains. And so I had to have them.)

Then we found a really nice bar, in a huge restaurant opposite our hotel, and had a few drinks while we waited to go back to the airport.

All in all I was really grateful that our flight got cancelled and we got to spend a bit longer in lovely SF.

I was even more grateful when we got to the airport and found out that it was because of the turbulence caused by the tornados, and any flights that had gone that afternoon had been deeply unpleasant, and we saw people going out of the airport who were totally green.
So as you can imagine I was a little apprehensive despite assurances that it would all be over by the time we were in the air.
But it turned out to be fine, it was a totally smooth flight.

I managed to get a couple of hours sleep, then went back to the flat, dropped my bag, had a quick shower and then headed off for a rubbish Monday.
That was the down side of our delay, if we’d been on our original flight we’d have got back to NYC on Sunday night, but it was worth it!

So if you ever get the chance, go, and be sure to wear some flowers in your hair.
It’s a really pretty, friendly, fun city.

News

This is just one little excerpt from an article in the Metro (which I read each morning on the Subway mainly because its there and its free. And I am attempting to learn about Baseball.):

"Housing advocates last week launched the "Real Rent Reform Campaign" to require City Council approval of mayoral appointments to the city rent board and would change the board's composition from two tenants, two landlords and five public members to three each, among other changes."

Isn't someone supposed to check these things? I might be guilty of the same thing, but I think its irresponsible of a newspaper to teach people that making sense doesn’t matter.

Part two

On Saturday we had a leisurely breakfast in our hotel, because we booked on a tour to Muir Woods which meant being collected at 11am.
We have never done a “tour” before, and it took a lot to persuade Simon to agree to it, but I really wanted to see the woods, which are about an hours drive out of town, so it was our only option.
We picked up lots of old people on the way to the tour office and I was starting to feel very afraid. And when we arrived to pay there was a HUGE coach outside and I could tell Simon was considering doing a runner, rather than spending the afternoon with 300 OAPs. But there was also a little mini bus which thank god turned out to be for us, two other couples and a family.
Our tour guide (from tower tours) was Larry and he was ace. Never has there been a man who was more proud of his city, or enjoyed his job more. He was hilarious and took a bit of getting used to, but by the end I loved him.
At one point he was telling us about how you can see a certain famous image in the local hills if you smoke some weed, so you know, it was entertaining!

We drove over the Golden Gate Bridge to get to Muir Woods which was fun but the view was slightly blocked by thousands of Girl Guides on a sponsored walk.
When we got to the woods we had an hour to walk around, so we just stuck to the little paved trail, but you can go on full hikes if you have more time and the right kind of shoes. Simon was in loafers so there wasn’t much chance of that for us!
I also had a run in with the woman at the counter who was adament that I couldn’t take a picnic in, so I mentioned I just had some crisps, full international miscommunication ensued, until Simon stepped in and just told me to say I had no food. So I did.
The woods are amazing, very very tall trees and its really peaceful and beautiful, so much so that a fawn was nonchalantly having a bite to eat right by the pathway.
It was well worth going on a guided tour for.

Larry then gave us a bit of a drive around the area, with some stories about famous locals as well as local history, before dropping us off in Sausalito. He also took us via the actual house boats where Otis Reading wrote “Dock of the Bay”, and was very proud to actually have it on CD ready for us as we went past.

Sausalito is a really sweet town in Marin county, which pretty much feels like a lazy Sunday afternoon. There were lots of restaurants, ice cream parlours, shops and people driving around in convertibles.
We had another great lunch, at Poggio, with lots of nice wine, watching the world go by.
Then we had a quick stroll round town before heading back for our ferry home.
It was a great ferry ride as it goes right between the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz, so even though we didn’t have time to do that tour as well we went right past the island and got a pretty good view.
And coming back into San Fran you get a really good view of the whole town, and it looks much more city like from the water than it does when you are in it.

Back at the ferry port we saw all the seals who hang out in Pier 39, there were so many of them they barely fit on the pontoons.
We took an electric bus to the end of all the piers to wait for the cable car.
This was quite possibly the best bit of the whole trip. It was so exciting.
I stood on one of the side platforms, hanging onto a bar and literally leaning out into the traffic. They don’t go that fast, but they go up and down those huge, steep hills and looking backwards is quite frightening, I wasn’t sure we’d make it to the top!
And the guard still has a hand bell, to go “ding ding” when they are ready to move, its all very old fashioned and sweet and I loved it. I could have gone up and down for hours.

But instead we went back to the hotel before going to Sutro at the Cliff House for dinner.
It is, surprisingly, right on the cliffs looking over the Pacific, and we were there in time to see the sun set and enjoy the view before the fog came rolling in.
Another really nice place, a bit less cosy than the night before but the food was great.

San Francisco baby! Part One

So bright and early on Friday morning, or rather an hour late because I over slept, I rushed to the airport for my flight to San Fran.
Its a 5.5 hour flight, which makes it also the same as coming home, but the difference is no stupid customs and no long check in time, so its a lot quicker. Also the time difference is only three hours, easier to get used to.
Anyway, on my way through airport security I lost one of my rings, and then on the plane I lost part of my watch buckle so it now doesnt do up, so really I should have been quite grumpy.

But the power of SF is that it cheered me up immediately, beginning with flying in over the water. I was quite glad not to be in a window seat seeing it more clearly as it would have really scared me!
I hopped in a cab to town, which is only about 20 mins from the airport and enjoyed the view.
All the houses on the hills on the way into town are very Mediterranean looking, lots of pretty colours and flat rooves like in Greece, and the sun was shining and the sky was blue and it just cheered me up completely.

The other place SF reminded me and Simon of was Cape Town.
Its a proper city, by the sea, with hills, with such a great atmosphere that you feel at home straight away, it doesnt feel like a city.

First stop was lunch, we wondered through Japan Town, which didnt seem to be very developed, maybe it hasnt been there very long?
And at the top of the hill got to Fillmore St which is famous for its boutique shops.
We stopped in a really nice place called SPOR for some Italian tapas which were delicious.
Italian food in SF is much more interesting and exciting than we tend to get in the UK, well worth trying.
Then we wondered around the shops a bit more before heading back to our hotel via China Town which was fab. It was brightly coloured and busy and bustley and full of, unsurprisingly, Chinese people. But it was like a proper little town all of its own, not just a street somewhere with a few Chinese restaurants, its was a whole community.
We ended up buying a beautiful embroidery of some blossom, and a few little chinese brushwork pictures.

Then we went back to the hotel and changed for dinner. I had booked places for both nights, just found them on the internet.
The first was Chez Spencer which was a really sweet, little place with a woodburning stove in the middle. It was quite cosy and dark and romantic but still had a great atmosphere.
The food was lovely as well, as was the service.
The only problem was at the end of the night when we asked them to book us a taxi. They did, but what we didnt find out till later is that this just means a general call gets put out to the yellow cabs, not that one is definitely coming.
So half an hour later when we were pretty much falling asleep we gave up waiting and went to hail one outside. Where thank god we found a limo driver (Marco) taking a break, and persuaded him to drive us. Otherwise I think it could have been a pretty long walk home, we were kind of in the middle of nowhere!
But still, it was a great night.

My fabulous brother

is doing the 3 Peaks Challenge, to raise money in honour of another fabulous brother, who sadly was killed in Afghanistan.
If you want to know more, or even would like to sponsor him, go to this link:

www.captainjim.org/donate.html

Please remember how badly Ross has abused his body over the years, he really deserves your sponsorship!!!

Just like a film set

I have just been to my first diner, and I honestly felt like I had stepped onto a set, or back in time!
I am going to put pictures up on Flickr because really, I cant do it justice.
From outside it looks like it was in Back to the Future, and inside are proper little booths, all in a disgusting pale pink, and stools at the bar.
There was also a little juke box at each table, I really wanted to put a song on but I didnt think that was a very kind way to repay the lovely lady who took me there.
They have the most enourmous menu, and pretty much serve anything, as long as its of the egg/salad/sandwich/burger variety.
I loved it.

Release the Monica within

Before things go any further I think I should just get this out of my system and fully reveal my inner geek.
I have always been a little obsessed by cleaning, but it has got much worse over here.

Firstly, our cleaners.
We had a cleaner for a while in the UK, but I sacked her because she never cleaned as well as me, so what was the point of giving her money???
But the cleaners here are like a little team of angels, or fairy godmothers.
(Speaking of which, I am going to be a godmother to Poppy Laurie - yay!)
Anyway, you book them in, and two or three show up and clean. Until its done. Same price, no matter how long it takes. (So we live by the motto "make sure the place is properly dirty by the time they come".)
If there is laundry in the laundry basket they put it on, they put the dishwasher on and then they clean everything. They take everything off the shelves, dust the shelves and then dust the things before putting them back.
I'm telling you, its a miracle. Even I think the flat is clean whenever they have been.
And as much as I have to admit that I love to clean...I really love to not clean as well!

But secondly, the products.
I am going to bring a whole suitcase full of these things home and set up a market stall because I'm telling you they are amazing.
Swiffers have just about changed my life. There are swiffer dusters and swiffer brooms.
The dusters start off all fluffy and then as they fill with dirt they get kind of matted, so you know exactly when to throw them away, and you know all that dust is going in the bin with them.
The brooms come in many exciting varieties. I just got the standard one to start with and its so amazing I cant even imagine what the fancy ones must be like.
You get dry covers to sweep with, which dust literally sticks to. And then you get wet ones, which mop and freshen and you just chuck them all away when you are done.
Tra la!

The final thing, which I dont actually have yet but have seen in action, is Magic Erazors.
And they are just that.
If you have any marks on walls or floors or doors you just rub them with this thing and, as if by magic, the mark is gone.
Love it.

Tips

It seems to me that practically no one in the service industry here actually gets a wage, they all just live off tips.
So, for those of you like me who might have thought you just need to give a little, you would end up having your food spat in quite a lot.
For a fairly cheap and cheerful restaurant, doubling the tax is a good (and mathematically easy) guideline.
In somewhere a bit nicer they will expect at least 20% of the total bill, which is slightly more than twice the tax.
In bars, and this is really important, you should tip $1 for every drink you order.
So if you order a big round it adds a lot to your total!!!
And in taxis under $10 its ok to just round up to the nearest dollor, after that give change and $1.
We also tip delivery guys $2, but some of them seem a little confused by this, so I need to investigate if that is too little.

Trash

Who knew that taking the rubbish out could be so much fun?
But our trash chute is just up the corridor, and you select what kind of rubbish you are putting in and then open the chute and you can hear the bag go bounding down, down ,down.
I love it!

Walking

One of the funniest things I've heard since being here is that New Yorkers are the thinnest Americans because they walk everywhere.
And after today I can see how it might be true.
We walked all the way up Broadway to Spring St where we came across a street market. There were handbags and clothes and food and drink and jewelry stalls. It went on for about 5 blocks, but it turned out most of it just repeated as you went further down.
So we had yummy pitas and watermelon smoothies for lunch.
Then we walked across town, to Hudson St, so we could check out all the many things called Hudson. And there were many!
When we got to the top, almost at the bottom west corner of Central Park, we went one block over and walked back down Greenwhich Street.
It was lovely, there were lots and lots of really nice bars and brunch places and the name West Village was very appropriate, as it had a lovely "local" feeling to it.
But by the time we got home we had been walking for about 5 hours, my feet were filthy (flipflops) and we were exhausted.
At least we found lots of nice places to go back to.

Arriving in the US of A

So, arriving. The first thing to note is that if you arrive at the same time as lots of other flights there will be a loooong queue in immigration and it will take a loooong time. And its very hot in there so be prepared.

Once through you must rush outside as fast as you can to get towards the front of the taxi queue. The yellow taxi queue!
It moves very quickly unless you happen to have to so much luggage that you need to wait for one of the bigger vehicles!!
And its a flat $45 rate into the city, so do your best to sit back and enjoy the view in what is probably the least comfortable car you'll ever sit in. With some crazy driving thrown in for fun.
And dont forget to tip. Its all about the tips over here.
If you are fancy you can book a limo instead, which is just what they call nice taxis, either in advance or from a free phone in the airport. They are twice the price but are all big Lincoln's with blacked out windows that make you feel like a movie star.
And if you are really lucky all the traffic will be stopped on the freeway and you will have to take the local roads, because the Pope is going past and apparently needs the entire police force of America to escort him.

Most likely you'll arrive at night from the UK, so you will get to look out over that famous skyline and see all the skyscrapers as you drive into town, its pretty cool.

And then, if you are visiting us at least, you will have to go through yet another police check with sniffer dogs at our building because the whole area is closed to traffic and heavily guarded.
I tried to tell them I dont need that much protection but what can you do?!?!
Or I suppose it could be because of the Stock Exchange or something. Whatever.
Anyway, they will sniffer your cab and then you will be greeted by one of our lovely doormen, walk past the third largest chandelier in the world, and get to our lifts.
In this building there are express lifts for people going to the top floors, so once again, FANCY!
There is also a lovely waiting room by the lifts, which is entirely gold. I am not joking. I cant even begin to imagine what they were thinking, but I can only hope there were drugs invovled in the decision.

And then you get to our always hot despite there being no heating on and the windows being open flat and take off lots of clothes.

And go to sleep in our fancy spare room. Which currently only has a blow up bed, but soon will have a proper Murphy bed, which folds away into the wardrobe!

So you see, you really should come and visit.

Welcome to America

So, I am going to attempt to actually record my stay in NYC for posterity, and to create a useful to do list for you guys if and when you come here!
But first, I am going to go and drink some wine.
x