Loadsa Lego...

On Monday morning, after another slap-up breakfast at Oscars (5 sausages!) we made our way down to the Rockefeller Plaza and had a look around the new Lego shop.

The shop was just opening when Tom was here in the summer, he was able to contribute in the building of a massive red apple made entirely of lego, so it was lovely for us to be able to and see the shop too.

It was full of fantastic models of statues and sculptures that are around the Rockefeller Plaza, like the made holding up the globe and this stone carving that arches of the main entrance to the Rockefeller Tower...

The rest of the shop was a bit like the M&M Store, with pic and mix sections each full of different coloured and different shaped lego bricks, it was so bright and cheery.

It was a great shop, it's lovely to know that toys like lego don't go out of fashion or become out-dated with all the computer games and stuff... it reminded me of Tom playing with his lego and me playing with my playmobile - I wonder if there's a playmobile shop somewhere?

The RiveR Café...

For a very special birthday treat, we went for lunch at the River Café, right under the Brooklyn Bridge. Abi and I had been to the River Café a wee while ago as a treat from work and we thought at the time how much Mops and Pops and Abi's parents would love it.

The restaurant's not very big, and has a lovely little drive-way and garden out at the front, with flower pots and pumpkins decorating the doorway. Inside it feels quite Jerseyish, it's rather fancy but it's not pretentious, the staff are all very friendly and smiley - the food is amazing and the view... well, the view is just fantastic!

This was the view from my chair - we must have had the best table in the place, we could see everything, the Brooklyn Bridge, the amazing skyline, even the Statue of Liberty in the distance.

The sun was shining through the windows, filling the restaurant with warm light - it was so lovely and relaxing, with the amazing food and drink - it made it hard to leave. Mops and I had a seafood trio to start, with shrimps, raw ahi tuna and little lobster dumplings, and Abi and Pops had a crab and coconut soup, then Mops, Pops and Abi all had an amazing looking steak and I had the most deliciously crispy duck... Mmmmmmm, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

We were pretty stuffed after that, but somehow managed to find room to share some pudding, so Abi and I shared a sticky chocolate pudding and Mops and Pops had some pumpkin pie to get into the Thanksgiving mood... it was all amazing.

It was great being right infront of the window, we could see all the little boats going by and the massive ships sailing passed, the jet skis whizzing along and the tug boats pushing the heavy loads down the river, even the police we out in their little boats...

We were there at the ideal time too, as the sun was beginning to set the water got more and more sparkly and the sky got more colourful. After our amazing lunch we went from the tranquil and beautiful setting of the restaurant to the not so beautiful setting of Bedstuy for a cup of tea and some homemade cheesecake (which we managed to find some room for before falling asleep!).

It was the most wonderful day, walking across the bridge and having such a delicious meal.
It was all just perfect.

Polite Graffiti...

Over The Bridge...

On a beauitfully sunny Sunday we all met up outside the City Hall, at the beginning of the Brooklyn Bridge, ready to make our way over the river.

I always love walking across the bridge, and it was even lovelier that the four of us could walk over together in the sunshine.

Once we got to the other side, we stood on the waters edge, looking back over at Manhattan before heading to somewhere rather special for our lunch...

A Christmas Extravaganza...

On Saturday night we went to see the Radio City Rockettes in the Christmas Extravaganza and it was absolutely BRILLIANT!

Radio City was looking lovely and festive on the outside, and it was even more glitzy and sparkling on the inside...

The foyer was buzzing with excitement, with the Christmas music blasting out and all the glowing wreaths and tree lights winding up the staircase, it felt incredibly Christmassy, and the festive feel continued into the music hall...

We sat down, with our novelty souvenir drinks, complete with glowing swizzle sticks and waited for the show to being - and once it did, it was fantastic from beginning to end.

There was a fantastic 3D video in during act two, where Father Christmas travelled from the North Pole to New York, flying through the arch in Washington Square Park and up 5th Avenue, swirling passed the Empire State Building and finally arriving outside Radio City Hall, then through the doors came... FATHER CHRISTMAS!

The singing and dancing was so much fun - and the Rockettes looking amazing dancing in formation, perfectly synchronised and in time with each other. Each act had a different theme, from a sight-seeing bus in New York, to the Father Christmas's toy factory, from the Nutcracker to the Nativity scene (with real life camels!), they were all as entertaining as the next...

There were two acts that had been in the Christmas Extravaganza since the show began, they were the Nativity scene, which has quite dramatic and funny at the same time, and the Parade of the Toy Soldiers, which was my favourite - I can't seem to embed this video, but if you go to think link (here) you can see just a little of what the Rockettes can do...

The whole show was absolutely brilliant and I would have watched it all over again immediately - it was a perfect birthday treat, and it really put us in the Christmas mood, we can't wait to decorate our flat and start Christmas shopping now.

Sunny Saturday...

On Saturday, after having a spot of breakfast at Grand Central Station, we all went to the Natural History Museum, well - we eventually went to the museum, after I once again took us a bit of a long way round, we ended up in Harlem at 129th Street station before I realised we were going the wrong way on the A Train... Ooops!

I don't think it matters how many times I see the Dinosaurs in the museum, they always amazing be and leave my mind boggling over what it must have been like when they roamed the planet...

It was really busy in the museum and there were lots of families with small children Ooohing and Aaaahing over all the amazing things in the museum. We were saying how nice it was that all the children were completely captivated by everythig without the need of any bells and whisltes of computer screens to play with. But who needs anything else to make a T-Rex exciting?!

Then after our cultural and educational fix for the day, we went for a little walk in Central Park...

It was the most beautiful afternoon, and the park was looking stunning with all the different coloured leaves on the trees and the sun shining down on the boating lake...

After a bit of a walk, some of us needed to go back to the hotel for a little lie-down...

So we made our way back to the Waldorf before the evening's entertainment.

Festive Friday...

On Friday morning, I hurried over to the Waldorf Astoria to meet Mops and Pops for some breakfast. We had breakfast in Oscars, the breakfast restaurant in the hotel - it was a mighty fine breakfast too, they had everything! Needless to say, I stuffed my face with sausages.

We then spent the day exploring and mooching around the shops, despite being early November a lot of the shops have got their Christmas decorations up already - or at least some of the decorations. This was great timing as Mops and Pops were able to get a taste of New York around Christmas time.

Bloomingdales had it's Holiday Shop open on the top floor, full of decorations of all varieties, cards and wrapping paper, toys and sweets - it was great...

I can't say all the decorations were to our taste - they had Subway Card decorations that cost $50 each! I don't think they'll be making their way onto our tree this year...

All the sweets in Bloomingdales look amazing - and the displays are brilliant too, like this sweetie bust.

After looking around the shops (and after me walking us round in circles) we decided to call it a night, as we were all a bit pooped and had tired feet. It was so lovely to be able to see some Christmassy sights on Mops and Pops's first day here.

As we walked back to the hotel, the Chrysler Building looked mighty fine from outside the Astoria doors as the sun was going down...

The Waldorf by the way was absolutely BEAUTIFUL inside - true New York, unfortunately I didn't take any photos, but it felt very grand and sophisticated, the perfect place for Mops and Pops to be staying... previous guests have included the likes of Obama, Paul McCartney and The Queen Mother don'tchooknow!

It's TODAY!

Mops and Pops arrive TONIGHT!

I can't wait to see you both, it feels like aaaaages. I can't wait for our little long weekend holiday, I also really can't wait for breakfast tomorrow - yum!

Sunnier Day in Queens...

The sun was shining in Queens today, someone must have known it was my birthday.

Thank you all for your lovely birthday messages, calls and Skypes - it's always a bit funny being away from home (this is the third birthday when I've been living/working in America!) but being able to see you and speak to you makes it feel like you're not so far away. It won't be very long at all before Mops and Pops will be here - WHOOP WHOOP!

Back in Queens...

I'm in Queens today helping out (although I don't feel like I'm helping much) on Abi's photo shoot. This is the view from our little office room, you can just about make out the 5Pointz building with all the graffiti on it (it's the yellow building) and Manhattan to the left.

Preparations...

Yesterday afternoon was spent preparing for the arrival of two VVVVIPs that arrive on Thursday... so, there is now a rather fine looking chocolate cheesecake in the fridge ready and waiting.

Mimosas at Mullanes...

Cheers!

Matt Costa...

For my birthday present Abi got us tickets to see Matt Costa playing at the Williamsburg Music Hall on Friday night... It was absolutely brilliant.

We'd planned to go to our favourite place - Sea - before hand for some of their delicious seafood, but it was incredibly busy, so we went somewhere new, just across the road called Chai Home Kitchen - which was a Thai tapas place. It's a tiny little and very cozy place in a small two story corner building just off Bedford Avenue. We'd seen it a couple of times as we were walking to Sea, so it was great to give it a try - the food was delicious!

We got to the Music Hall at about 10.30ish, just in time to get a drink before Matt Costa started. I'd only been to the venue once to see Rogue Wave play, but I loved it then, and this time we went upstairs and it felt even better, we got a spot on the balcony, looking down over the stage.

Upstairs in the music hall they a little lounge area, and on the walls are Sheperd Fairey murals - it looked fantastic, just like the massive mural he did down on Houston in Manhattan and like the prints I got of his...

It was a fantastic surprise - I had no idea they were up there.

WE caught the very end of the last song of the second support act - Everest, they sounded good from what we could hear, they were covering 'All You Need Is Love', so they've obviously got good taste in music. Then the lights went down for Matt Costa, everyone turned to the stage waiting for him to appear, but all of a sudden there was a bit of a commotion coming from the back of the audience...

Matt and his band were walking towards the stage, playing Miss Magnolia without any microphones or anything - they stood right in the middle of the crowd and sung half the song, then they disappeared again for a minute and then reappeared on stage to finish the rest of the song.

The last time I properly saw him play was supporting Jack Johnson at Manchester Arena, that time we all went a few years ago - and then it was just him and another guitarist, but now he had a 6 strong band with him and they sounded great.

He's just released a new album, so he was playing quite a lot of new songs - which sounded quite different to his other stuff, especially now he had a bigger sound from his band. He also did the ones that everyone knew, like Cold December and Sunshine...



When he sung Astair, it was just him and his acoustic guitar. A lot of people were annoyingly talking loudly when started playing it, then the people telling the people talking to shush were being louder themselves, so he cleverly started to sing quieter, which made everyone shut up... then he stoop up, away from the microphone - so he was just singing without any amplification... then the room was absolutely silent. He sounded fantastic.

For the finale, the lead singer from Everest came back on stage and they all covered 'You Ain't Going Nowhere' (I had to look up what it was called, I thought it was called 'Down in the Easy Chair' or something...)



After the gig we went to the merchandise table and I got his new album and a really lovely screen printed poster with his two New York dates on - the poster was designed and printed by a studio called Two Arms Inc. in Brooklyn. Then as we went outside, Matt Costa and the guy from Everest were just casually standing around having a cigarette - I thought about getting him to sign my poster, but it didn't really seem to be the done thing in Brooklyn...

It was an absolutely brilliant gig, and even nicer that it was in such a small venue - Abi hadn't really heard much of his stuff and she came away loving his songs, so that made even more special.

DBGB...

Last night Abi and I went to a very VERY lovely place for tea called DBGB. It was the beginning of my birthday celebrations - albeit a wee bit early. But we went out for a special meal because we were planning on going to see Matt Costa perform last night, but after finding out he wouldn't be starting until 10.30pm, we changed our minds and we're going to see him perform tonight instead (we were already pooped by 7pm!)...

Anyway, we've been wanting to go to DBGB for AGES as it's always in the lists of top places to go and have a burger, the guy who runs the restaurant is a super fancy chef and has lots of restaurants all over America.

DBGB's split in two, the back half or the place is a very exclusive (you have to book way over a month in advance to get in apparently) restaurant, and the front section is a bar area which they call the café (as there are tables to eat at).

We knew you could just walk into the bar but usually you have to wait for a table to become free, but someone must have been smiling down on us because we walked straight in and were shown to a great table in the café. From then on though there was a constant stream of people coming through the doors - it was so popular.

We'd heard about the burgers being good, so obviously we had to order one - we decided to get one burger and one steak and share them... so as well as a delicious Steak Frites (with pepper sauce) we ordered the Piggie Burger...

(This isn't my picture, I found it on Google, but it is the same burger)

The Piggie Burger is the most delicious burger topped with pulled pork and jalapenos in a cheese bun... it was absolutely dee-lish-us! It is by FAR the best burger in a sit-down restaurant that we've ever had, we almost wanted to say it was the best burger in New York - but we think we need to go back and give it a second try...

DBGB was a great place, a really friendly atmosphere and the staff were nice and friendly despite it being a very popular and well renowned place, and the food was amazing... best of all, it was stupidly expensive.

After our meal we strolled round the corner to the venue where Matt Costa was playing, just to have a look - and ended up seeing Matt Costa hanging outside! We're off to see him play in Brooklyn tonight so I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.

It was such a perfect evening.

The Ace Hotel...

On Wednesday night I met up with Emma from Leeds! She's over in New York for a couple of days on a shoot, she's a photographers assistant now and they were over here to shoot Scarlet Johansson - I offered to help out on the shoot, but apparently my services weren't needed...

The photographer she's working with and all his crew were staying in the Ace Hotel, so I met Emma there. The Ace Hotel is absolutely ACE! It looks amazing. I'd mentioned it a while ago because when Steve was here we all went to go and have drinks there - or at least tried to, but it was super busy... it was super busy this time too.

It's really well designed, and has been all over the design blogs this past year or so. From the outside it looks like a grand old hotel, but inside it's far more grungier and rougher and apparently the rooms are more like studio apartments with a guitar and record deck in each and a smeg fridge for the mini bar!

There's great type all over the place, big letters and old signage and there's a design shop joined on to one side and a very nice looking restaurant on the other side called The Breslin.

(None of these are my photos, it was too dark in there so I nabbed these off t'interweb)

It was absolutely packed in the lobby and there was some kind of function going on, but I enjoyed mooching around the lobby while I was waiting looking at all the different bits and pieces dotted around. There were some lovely little touches and the whole thing felt veyr New Yorky... I wonder how expensive it is to stay there...?

It was lovely to see Emma again and hear her news, I think it'd been about 3 years since we last met up - it was nice hearing how everyone else we lived with in the 3rd year was doing, it sounds like everyone's off doing exciting things in exciting countries.

I don't think I'd ever have thought I'd be living in New York when I was at Uni, I dreamt about it, but I didn't believe it'd actually happen...

This Made Me Smile...

(... it also made me cry a little bit too)

It just reminds me of the feeling of coming home about to come through those sliding doors, or waiting at the airport here to see your smiling faces coming through the arrivals gates. I can't wait to see Mops and Pops again in just a few days - and I can't wait to be arriving home for Christmas.

Room With A View...

I know it seems sad blogging about IKEA (again!), but just look at the view from the café in the Brooklyn IKEA...

It hasn't come out very well in this photo, but from where I was sitting with my free cup of coffee I could look directly out at the Statue of Liberty. I had a pretty nice view out of the taxi window on my way back to work too...

Planes, Trains and Automobiles...

It's been another blummin' busy week - so I'm sorry for being a bit quiet on the blog. We're getting closer and closer to the big office move, so there's lots of things that need organising, sorting and buying - so I've been helping with that.

I feel like I've spent half my week at IKEA really - on Tuesday I had to trek to the IKEA in New Jersey to get all the office desks, legs other bits - unfortunately the Brooklyn IKEA didn't have what we needed, otherwise the whole trip would have been faaaaaaaaaaaaar shorter.

The IKEA in New Jersey is only 10 miles away, but as I've learnt in the passed, something that's 10 miles away from Manhattan, may as well be 100 miles away if you're travelling by public transport.


I was going to hire a car, but I didn't really fancy tackling Manhattan rush-hour after a day at IKEA, so I ended up getting the subway to Penn Station where I tranferred to a rather nice double decker train!


It wasn't the prettiest scenery on the journey, but it was lovely and sunny...

I noticed this hidden space station in the middle of New Jersey...

The train took me to Newark Airport, where I then had to get the monorail to one of the terminals where I could get a taxi. It was a bizarre feeling going through an airport and not flying anywhere or not meeting anyone - but it got me very excited about Mops and Pops arriving next week.

It was great seeing the Manhattan skyline from the monorail window. It's exciting wondering where all the people with their cases were going... it was also nice not being in a mad rush to get checked in or anything.

Once I arrived at the terminal I got a taxi to IKEA - a 5 minute car ride that cost $25! Ridiculous.

It was about 3pm by the time I arrived, and IKEA was eerily quiet, which helped get round quickly, so luckily I wasn't there for long. Pushing the trolley was the hardest thing though, 12 desk tops, 42 desk legs and 12 lots of cable trays!

(This made me chuckle... they must be running out of silly names for their furniture now!)

After I arranged for the home delivery I headed back to Brooklyn...


So it was back in a cab, back on the monorail, back on the train, back on the subway, back to a cup of tea. It was a bit of a mission, and unfortuntely I wasn't able to get all the desk legs I needed (I needed 48) so I'd have to go to the Brooklyn IKEA the next morning!