Sunday afternoon in NYC

Ladies - From one side of the country to another!

Lulu and I arrived in NYC today, after spending the past weekend in East Hampton with Bill's entire family (23 of the 26 cousins made it, and all those aunts & uncles) for a Simon Family Reunion. It was days full of ripe red tomatoes, roasted corn on the cob, steak on the Weber grill, fruit pies of every kind (my favorite with the crumble on top), cold cracked lobsters, burgers, macaroni & cheese, and fresh from the bakery still hot powdered donuts. Can you tell I fully enjoyed the food out here? Not a piece of sushi or fat free anything to be had, praise God. When we weren't eating, we spent lazy days on the beach at the Maidstone Club, went kayaking (when the 20 of us arrived, a local murmured "looks like a flotilla"), wandered along Main Street (which has morphed into a Rodeo Drive look alike, gone are most of the mom & pop shops - you gotta go to Sag Harbor for that), and basically yak-yak-yaked the day & night away. We were blessed with perfect weather - warm with a slight breeze and clear blue skies.

On Sunday, Lulu and I dropped Bill and Griffy off at JFK as the boys respectively had to return to work, and to HW Yearbook Camp. We gave them strict instructions to call us immediately upon arrival at HappyHill and tell us how the kitties that we stashed in the garage for 4 days were, oh meow meow meow...Pluuuzzz I left them food & water no worries - the doggies? In the kennel barking away I'm sure.

After giving the boys a smooch, Lulu and I grabbed a taxi for NY NY !!!



We are staying at The London (formerly known as the Riga Royal), a suite hotel at 151 West 54th street. Criteria for hotel selection by Cindy is that it is near the park (yes!), near the shopping (yes!), and around the corner from Astro Diner (YES!). Upon arrival our room was not ready so we dropped off our bags and hit the streets. We headed over to Rockefeller Center where in the summer, the winter ice rink is transformed into an outdoor restaurant. Seems in NYC everywhere you go, the city has set up little green pockets of places to relax and read or chat in the most unlikely spots, with coffee carts and treats nearby.

We turned into the AT&T store to get me a new blackberry since that little round ball thing-a-ma-jig was no longer moving. Warranty had expired so I bought a new blackberry only to discover later that night that the "g" is stuck. Do I go back to the store and have them give me a new phone, take the time to set it all up (who can remember the family number, the pin number, the secret code, the this, the that Lord in the Heaven...), connecting my email, arranging the BBM feature (so I can communicate with Colleen via Kate Morrissey since John has still not purchased Colleen a cell phone after she lost hers for the 3rd time Good God...), and whatever else they do to drive one crazy, or do I stay with the faulty cell phone and get used to tapping the "g" just a little harder than the other keys?

In the meantime BEFORE I would discover the "g key" problem, we walked along 5th Avenue and into Bendels for a look around. Turns out they were featuring "The Dog Days of Summer" and the store was filled with adorable little doggies wearing Bendel's custom made collars & leases. Oh do you think Cookie & Lovey Angel From the Heaven Above (did you know that is her full name?) would want ones of their very own?

Lulu had her photo taken with a fashion model and his dog, and when I showed him the photo on my digital camera, he INSISTED that I forward it to him on his email. His name is Lucious, and he said he very much enjoyed meeting "Lulu and her sister".

After a refreshing mani pedi, we stopped off at nearby La Bonne Soup for a delicious cream of vegetable tomato base soup, and salad. Lulu was forbidden to check her blackberry and delighted in listening to endless tales of "When I lived in NYC..."

We headed back to The London in preparation for Sunday night's MAD MEN only to discover to our horror that the TV in our room does not carry the AMC channel. Thank goodness I tivo'd it at home, so we settled in and watched Hung and Entourage on HBO. Can't believe former Huntington resident Bob Saget has a role on Entourage -seems like an oxymoron to me but whatever...

Monday in NYC

OK another beautiful day and I am off to the Astro Diner for my coffee, and bacon & eggs (I told Lulu when we get home I am going on a HUGE diet, but it's impossible to do so here. I need to return to the land of salad and canned tuna). I LOVE eating at a NYC diner, you can eaves drop on all sorts of stuff. The family next to me at the counter were from NJ and the teenage daughter wanted to go to Soho, the mother to Saks, the son was mad that he had to get up at 8am, and the dad spent all his time on his blackberry or reading the NY Post and commenting on how skinny Bill Clinton was. On the other side of me was a plumber who was working on the building next door and oh what problems he had...

Anyway, as I was eating my breakfast I opened up my complimentary copy of the NY Times only to discover I had left my reading glasses in East Hampton. Yes I had my prescription sunglasses (progressives) and my regular prescription glasses (progressives) but what I needed was my cheap-o reading glasses. Anyone who knows me KNOWS I cannot start my day without a thorough reading of the obituaries so I was a tad unsettled. The cashier told me a Duane Reade (like CVS) was a block away so I headed over there only to discover no 3.0 glasses... I asked the pharmacist what's up and he told me in New York, there was some court ruling that forbids drug stores to sell any glasses over & above a 2.75, as it would take away business from the specialized optical stores (let's blame the unions). I visited several nearby optical stores with no luck until I entered the Shangri La of all things beauty related - Zitomers. Who knew they had a store on West 57th (I am quite familiar with the original one on Madison). I purchased the perfect pair of 3.0 reading glasses, along with a few other must have items and returned back to The London to see if lovely Lulu had finished her beauty sleep which she had.

We had a big day ahead of us as we were having lunch with...Chris's MOTHER! Chris, as all of you know is Lulu's wonderful BF, and his mother and stepfather live off Union Square in NYC. While Lulu had met Linda before, I never had, and thus was really looking forward to meeting the person who raised such a delightful son! We took a taxi to Union Square to meet her at Blue Water Grill, and discovered the farmers market across the street was selling big bunches of my favorite flowers - zinnias! We bought a bunch for Linda and joined her for a most delightful lunch, where the waiter was of course an aspiring actor who moved to NYC from Florida and is mulling over moving to LA to make his big break... He was cute and I thought we should take down his information for Cary who coincidentally was on an airplane at that very moment to make her big move to NYC...but since he forgot to place my turkey burger order, and seemed more interested in telling us his life's story I decided to pass. Linda and her husband are both authors, and that impressed me so much as I've always wanted to write the great American Novel, but ...well, anyway maybe some day...

As we were leaving the restaurant, Linda mentioned she was going to the 5:15pm showing of "I AM LOVE" (with Tilda Swinton) which I've been dying to see and so we said "We'll join you!". Off she went and Lulu and I returned to Broadway to check out the stores I had spotted earlier (such as ABC Carpets - a huge many storied store of 10% carpets and 90% stuff you don't need but want to have and must have) but Lulu had other ideas. I found myself heading south on Broadway as Lulu made a bee line to Kate Moss's TOP SHOP clothing & shoe store. I don't know how best to describe it, but it's along the lines of a Forever 21, but hipper? There is NOTHING in that store for a person who is larger than a size -0, so I more or less found myself a comfortable chair in the dressing room and offered commentary, all appreciated I'm sure, but totally ignored.

When I lived in NYC in the dark ages (1977 - 88) this lower Broadway area was rather seedy, but now it is where all the young people gravitate - if you are a department store lady like me you will still go to Upper East side, but if you are young & styling, you will find yourself surrounded by the 18 - 25 year olds who like the Forever 21, True Religion, Scoop, Zara, and many other stores I am totally clueless about. One store was called "Yellow Rat Bastard"...has anyone shopped there before???

We headed over to East Houston and met Linda at The Landmark (same chain as in the Westside Pavillion) where the guy behind the counter said "our popcorn was voted best in the city". (Expert as I am, I'd say that is a lofty claim, but it did persude me to order a medium size rather than the small). The movie is beautifully filmed, the setting is Milan in the winter with all kinds of snow falling on the beautiful buildings, the clothing is classic and especially Tilda's outfits are to die for in their gorgeous simplicity ( Audrey Hepburn type), but the story line is pretty unrealistic (beautiful rich lady leaves her wealthy, kind, good looking husband for a friend of her son's who is boring and scraggly, and by the way I think maybe the son is a little too interested in his friend too?...) Anyway, the movie ends with sunshine and spring flowers, and a good deal of x-rated you know what.

We walked back towards Union Square as the sun set, and passed by tables upon tables of men playing chess. I made Lulu stop at Fishs Eddy, a really fun store full of "sturdyware" - that is sturdy dishware, tableware, mugs, plates, bowls...AND the signs posted all over the store were great for my letter collecting obsession. I bought a plate that says "Do you really need that second helping?"


We ended up ordering room service (soup & salad) and I reviewed my photos, while Lulu channel-surfed through one ridiculous TV show (The Bachlorette) after another...finally she got fed up with me hollering from the next room "It's all fake - don't believe a word of it! " and we shut the lights off and called it a day.

Tuesday in NYC

I think I'm getting used to the time change finally as today I woke up at 6:00am with a whole lot of things I wanted to do.

First off breakfast of homemade granola and fresh fruit in the hotel restaurant, then off to the Metropolitan Art Museum to see the "Big Bambu: You Can't, You Don't, And You Won't Stop".

This "site-specific" installation designed by identical twin brothers Doug and Mike Starn (born 1961 in NJ) is a truly amazing "growing and changing sculpture" made of over 5,000 interlocking freshly cut bamboo poles, connected by over 50 miles of colorful nylon rope. Located outdoors on the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden, it is only there from April 27 - October 31. It is continually being added to by the two artists as well as a team of rock climbers! It measures over 100 feet long and 50 feet wide and 50 feet high! You can sign up for a short tour but I got there too late, so I just wandered around with most of the other people. It's a very good idea to get there early, as the first tours start at 9:30am and by the time I left around 11:00am, there was quite a crowd.

The thing about going on the tour is you get to walk up the bamboo paths all through the maze including way on top which must offer an amazing view over Central Park. I imagine you feel like a bird! If you are in NYC before Halloween I'd say GO for sure! p.s.. It is made possible by Bloomberg (the generous Mayor of NYC!) I also visited the "American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity" which hosts for the first time a large collection of period dresses from the Brooklyn Museum. I hope to get Lulu back to the Met tomorrow for both exhibits.

We had appointment at Bergdorf's for a haircut for Lulu (recommended by all the cousins as THE PLACE to go in NYC for anything hair related) and so I met her there.


Looking even lovelier than possible (!) we proceeded down to the 5th floor cafe to meet Elizabeth Richards - Willie's spectacular girlfriend the infamous Katherine Richards from Houston's older sister!

Elizabeth looks a lot like Katherine but tiny tiny. Having graduated a few years back from Skidmore College, she is a freelance stage manager for off-Broadway shows, has her own studio apartment on the way upper East side, has a nice boyfriend with a good job, and loves living in NYC! It was really great to meet her.

After looking around at all the fabulous clothes on sale, we parted ways as Lulu went to visit Cary at the new apartment she and her good friend Meredith will be sharing, and I headed back to the hotel to rest for our fun dinner tonight.




After a lazy couple of hours, my outstanding niece Betsy Head (who is a Kelly Scholar at I.U. Business School) came in from New Jersey where she has spent the summer as an intern working for Unilever in their marketing department. Cary and Meredith joined us all for dinner at Bistro Milano, a hopping Italian restaurant on 55th between 5th & 6th. We got to hear all about Cary and Meredith's new apartment where it sounds like they have their work cut out for them as right now the furniture consists of a mattress on the floor! But they are figuring it out and having a lot of fun in the process.











Home to The London Hotel and straight to the fitness center for Lulu and I.
Dinner at Bistro Milano was toooooo good!