These are a few (more) of my favourite things...

ROOFTOP COCKTAILS - Salon de Ning, Peninsula Hotel

We settled in here for cocktails one hot summery afternoon after exploring the city.

NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

Uh.may.zing. Impressive reading room, marble staircases, arch lead-light windows. Scene of Carrie and Big's non-wedding.



SOPRANOS TOUR - New Jersey

Woke up this mornin', got myself a gun...
We crossed the Lincoln Tunnel into Jersey lands to explore the sights and sounds of the Sopranos neighbourhood.

Diner where Christopher was shot.

Holsten's Confectionery - scene of very last episode of the series.

The booth where the Sopranos sat in the last episode.

Onion rings at Holsten's.

Back of the Bada Bing where creepy Ralph beat up the 'dancer'.

Bada Bing (actually called 'Satin Dolls') at 4pm in the afternoon.
We weren't allowed to take photos inside, understandably.
A little disappointing anyway, no nudity and the dancers looked so bored!
Apparently in New Jersey you can have either nudity or alcohol, but not both.
So this club chose 'lingerie dancers' and alcohol over strippers.

HIGH LINE PARK - 14th Street, Chelsea

An urban garden developed two stories above street level covering 6 city blocks on disused freight rail tracks. A perfect urban escape.




RANDOM BITS AND PIECES

So this bull is much sought after by tourists taking photos. When we wandered past, there were tourists 7 people deep crowding the front of the bull waiting for photos. So, being creative thinkers we thought we'd just get pictures of the back of the bull to satisfy our tourist itch.

In the first photo I was aiming for a 'ooo muh-maaa' or 'goodness gracious me' type expression. However, It looks more like I'm trying to shove balls in my mouth. So I opted for another photo!

I was a little stuck about how to pose for photo number 2
- so -
I just pointed them out.
Check out these massive balls!

The Big Sissa is a coeliac so I was very excited to find some gluten free beer for her to try.

Getting caught in the rain in heavy downpour.
Famous last words:We won't need an umbrella!!

Wall Street: We weren't allowed inside the Stock Exchange so we had to settle for a chat with some of the young traders who were hanging out the front, and also with some marines who were in town for Fleet Week and promoting a concert by blaring 'Empire State of Mind' from the back of their hot red Hummer with spinning hub caps.

Subway art

Chilling waiting for the A train, or G train.

Funny Brooklyn-ites sheltering their dog from the rain.

Dean and Deluca's - I want to eat you all.

Dean and Deluca

MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

I had a few hours to kill before going to my sewing class so I went to
the Museum of Natural History at 71st street just next to Central Park.
I arrived 1 hour before closing time and entry was free (bonus!).
The museum satisfied my inner geek immensely! I can't wait to go back and have a better look.

Nawww

This is my favourite message of the day:

Had a dream last night that you were with me at supermarket buying grapefruit juice :)

These are a few of my favourite things...

* Brooklyn Bridge *

Amazing panorama of the Manhattan skyline. Charming old suspension bridge with a wooden boardwalk. Where Steve and Miranda agree to both meet halfway if they want to be together forever. We've crossed it a few times so far.

*Fort Greene (my hood) and Brooklyn in general*

Forte Greene = My hood. Apparently it was once full of druggos and crack whores but has become gentrified in the last 10 years. This has brought wonderful cafes, restaurants, bars and delis to the neighbourhood. The streets are full of young arty couples with babies and dogs. It has a really safe and community feel about it. The saturday flea markets are a block from our apartment and the local park with a great running track is 5 blocks away.

Brooklyn, 'how sweet it is'. There are a number of different neighbourhood pockets in Brooklyn. So far we have explored Fort Greene and Williamsburg. Williamsburg is a lot artier and grungier that Fort Greene, with cool cafes and shops also but quite a different vibe. It's the bomb.

*Cupcakes, okay, food in general*
Everyday I tell myself I'm going to give up cupcakes for the day - but I getting suckered in by their sweet sweet icing and colourful sprinkles. Not to mention red devil cake - my new favourite. The eating out is pretty cheap and grocery stores are basically non-existent (they have corner stores and pharmacies which sell some food) so we have been eating out most days - its a great way to explore different neighbourhoods.




*Book reading in New York City Parks*

Bryant Park (2 blocks east of Times Square) in the summer sunshine is full of locals, tourists, office workers in their lunch break, kids and nannies, old people, sun bathers, lovers and school kids. It is both a hive of activity but also a calm, serene oasis in the middle of high rise buildings. Central Park is full of surprises - I still have so much more of it to discover but I love what I see so far.

Wants to hear more about you!

Blogs are so ego centric. Post me something about you. Do it. xxx

New York minute

Reading...

• about summer festival lineups
• Job ads so I never have to come home
• the final pages of the second book in the Millennium trilogy 'The Girl Who played with Fire' (I felt totally ripped off by the abrupt and implausible ending after powering through the gripping chapters until 3am just to finish it)
• the first pages of my new chick-lit book 'Something Borrowed' - wow, so far it is so light and fluffy its hard not to laugh but I'll persevere
• about all things New York and doing my research so I can explore lots of new places (Time Out - NewYork, islandwoo.com, the New Yorker, New York Times, gonyc.com).

Listening... to kids squeal and giggle with delight and dogs bark - this neighbourhood is full of yummy mummies with the cutest kids and young couples with dogs; to the neighbours upstairs stomp and bang around; audio books to send me to sleep; to cabs honk horns and to Noo Yawker accents - i love it.

Watching... people.

Buying... red velvet cupcakes; coffees in hope of finding a good one; tickets to concerts; dinners out.

Wanting... all of my favourites to be here with me to top off these amazing adventures.

Making... lists of things to see/eat/buy.

Loving... life. Northern Hemisphere summer times. You.