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We’re now well into the New Year so I thought I would update you on how I’m getting on during what could be my last 6 weeks in the city (sob!)

I’ve been enjoying trying lots of new restaurants, bars and other indoor activities now the weather has turned colder so I’ll share a couple of my favourites with you!

I went to see The Imitation Game at the cinema last weekend (definitely recommend!) and a little store along the way caught my eye (plus I wanted to shelter from the rain) so I popped in to pick up a more sophisticated alternative for us to munch on than popcorn….

These turned out to be the most delicious macaroons I have ever had – I never really saw what all the fuss was about when it came to macaroons until I had these – the place is called La Maison du Macaron and is along 23rd Street – I’ve since heard that the queues can get pretty long but it was pouring with rain when I went so I just waltzed straight in! Go on, I know you want to see a close up… (featuring salted caramel, blood orange and mango, apricot champagne, rose, pistachio and chocolate- Yum!) – I’ll definitely be making a few more trips there!

I also finally managed to eat at The Spotted Pig in the West Village where of course we sampled the famous Pig Ear Salad – it was surprisingly delicious – just like eating pork crackling and not at all like what you think an ear would taste like (which I was very glad about!)

We’ve also had some snow here in the big apple as the temperature has plummeted over the past week or so. I braved the cold to take a couple of snaps behind the office – the snow in the city just turns to grey slush within a couple of minutes, but it’s much prettier upstate:

I finally managed to tick off all the Manhatten boroughs before New Year so on Friday it was time to venture over to Hoboken in New Jersey  for a party – it actually seems like a really nice neighbourhood, despite constantly hearing jokes about New Jersey! There is so much more space there, even though it’s still fully connected to the subway system, and it has great views across the water to the city so I bet it would be a really nice place to hang out in the summer.

Saturday was cold so I treated myself to a manicure and then yesterday it was my friend Cynthia’s birthday celebrations. We started off with “blow outs” at Dry Bar (where you basically pay someone to dry and style your hair, while you drink champagne… there are definitely worse ways to spend an afternoon!) so now I’m a true American girl with my nails and hair done, ready to take the week by storm!

You choose your style from the “Menu” – I went for the “Dirty Martini” – a tousled look, and then they hand you a glass of champagne and set to work.

The finished product (yes, I know a lot of us were wearing stripes that day and happened to all stand in a row!)

We went on to have an amazing meal in Chelsea afterwards where Tuna Tartare came in the cutest can and the pizzas were pretty amazing too!

Such a nice way to spend a Sunday and the weather has finally turned so it makes getting around a little bit easier! Sadly, I also no longer have the excuse that it’s too cold to run across the road to the gym but hey, hopefully that means I can keep some of my New Year’s Resolutions!

Have a great week!

I’m back in my second hometown after a flying visit to London for Christmas. It was quite strange going back and really showed me how much I have adapted and got used to living in New York during my four months here. I almost felt like a tourist in my own city (leading to many pictures like the one below!) but had a great time catching up with friends and family.

Here are a couple of highlights before I tell you about New Year’s Eve in New York!

Reliving our old weekend tradition with brunch back in my old apartment in Balham (with proper bacon!)

Christmassy London:

A windy walk by the beach in Suffolk:

And a more calm one by the Orwell river to Pin Mill

Deer spotting in Richmond Park:

And a walk along the Thames after watching Made In Dagenham on the West End:

All too soon it was back to the States and back to work! I’ve enjoyed catching up with my friends in NYC with drinks and dinners as the weather gets colder and celebrating New Year’s Eve. I was advised not to go within a 15 block radius of Times Square which gets crazy-busy with people waiting for hours in freezing temperatures to watch the ball drop. Instead, I went to a party in Washington Heights (very North in the city) with my friend Cynthia which was a great evening full of champagne, good food and games!

We had an alternative English breakfast the next day where I introduced Cynthia to HP sauce which I brought over from London! Poached eggs just aren’t the same without it…

My friend Emma is in town so we also did a New Year’s day meet up where we headed to Caffe Ferrera in Little Italy for coffee and pastries … so much for starting the year on a healthy note but they were so good, especially the tiramisu and cannoli!

Don’t worry though, we walked it off in a freezing stroll across the Brooklyn Bridge as the sun was going down!

Back to work tomorrow so I will wish you all a Happy New Year! Hope you had a good one and here’s to 2015, whatever it may bring!

This might be my final blog post before I head back to London for a week so I’ll try to give you a good overview of Christmas in New York!

I’ve loved having a very social week as I try to see everyone before I go away. It feels like an oxymoron to say this but I actually found a great bar in Times Square last week with one of my friends from London who moved here around the same time as me called the Rum House which is not touristy, has a great atmosphere, good rum cocktails and live jazz! So if you’re ever at a loose end in Times Square, I would recommend going there!

I’ve also been trying to see as many trees as I can in New York so here is my summary:

Bryant Park Tree by the Ice Rink:

Rockefeller Center:

Metropolitan Museum Angel Tree:

Radio City:

I also had my first dining experience in Korea Town last night- can’t believe it has taken me this long to go there considering I live about 1 minute from it but it’s definitely a fun place to hang out and luckily we were with people who knew what to order as I would have had no idea!

Today, I went to the Rockefeller Centre with my friend Cynthia for “Merry Tuba Christmas” which has been going on for over 40 years. They bring a brass band onto the Rockefeller Ice Rink and play Christmas Carols which everyone can sing along to so I was in my element! Although I think we were the most enthusiastic singers…

We could resist trying these on in Anthropologie! So cosy!

And I found my perfect man just in time for Christmas:

Hope you all have a great week as we build up to Christmas, or as the Americans would say in  politically correct way, “Enjoy the spirit of the season!” I’m gonna snuggle down to watch Love Actually which will definitely make me homesick for London!

My CFA exam is finally over (thank goodness!) so I have the time to update my blog again and do fun Christmas things in NYC… We’ll start back at Thanksgiving which I was lucky enough to be able to spend with my friend Dara’s family in New Jersey.

We started off the day at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade where we were able to stand in a reserved area with unlimited hot chocolate thanks to her Dad’s office building being right along the route. If you saw the crowds, you would realise how lucky we were – people get up at ridiculous times to queue!

Thousands of people line the streets and look up in awe as hundreds of floats, marching bands and enormous balloons go by – the sheer scale of it is amazing! Here are a few of my favourites – notice how many people are responsible for holding each balloon! It also helps to put the size of the balloons into perspective…

Yes, those are ice-skaters on a moving float! 

Some were just scary… apparently this is a new thing called “Elf on the Shelf” where you buy your child an elf and then it watches them and reports back to Santa if they’ve been good and the parent is supposed to move it around each day….

Also, I never knew marching bands were such a big thing in America- there must have been at least 20, each with around 200 people in and most of them had come from places other than New York.

When we had had our fill of giant balloons and floats (or when we could no longer feel our fingers and toes, whichever came sooner!), we headed back for the drive to New Jersey. Dara is from a cute town which still had a fair bit of snow left over.

We settled down in their lounge while members of the family slowly arrived – there were a few other “strays” like me who didn’t have family in New York and everyone was very welcoming to us. There were 22 of us for dinner so it was very impressive they managed to cater for us all and the meal did not disappoint! Here’s a snap of the spread which we helped ourselves too, with the American classic of sweet potatoes baked with marshmallows taking centre stage -still not 100% convinced on this one but everything else was amazing- including sprouts which were baked in maple syrup- I would actually eat them at Christmas if we cooked them like that!

We all went round the table and said what we were thankful for and there was a bit of a singalong around the piano afterwards! A lovely day!

I spotted these two lurking outside the office the next day- the ones that got away…

Now my exam is over, I fully intend to make the most of New York until I come home for Christmas, which started with some much needed retail therapy and Christmas shopping today after Church and brunch!  New York is definitely looking very festive!

I started in Bloomingdales (where else?!), before heading to Tiffany’s which is all dressed up for Christmas:

If only this would pull up outside my door….

It was onto Bendel’s next and a quick detour via the Rockefeller centre tree on my way home! Pretty spectacular! I’m very excited to go and sing carols there next weekend!

One happy shopper full of Godiva chocolate-covered strawberries!

The best thing about living in a big city is that people are always passing through. Last week, my friend Sophie came to stay on her way back from a work trip Baltimore- from small town USA to the bright lights of the big apple! I was very excited to show her around and tried my best to cover a mixture of touristy stuff, as well as real New York activities.

We started off catching up over tapas at a great place called Sala One Nine in the Flatiron area- it was a bit too dark to photograph the food but hopefully this gives an idea of the atmosphere – very cute and rustic!

Of course, I had to take her to Penelope’s, my favourite local brunch spot (yes, I now have favourite haunts -the sign of a true New Yorker!) on Saturday morning, where we tackled scrambled eggs with feta and asparagus and the Nutella French toast with pomegranate bellinis… We had to wait a while for a table but passed the time with a quick manicure (hard life, I know) and it’s definitely worth the wait:

We walked off our lunch with some Christmas window shopping and Macy’s Christmas department which is definitely something to be seen if you aren’t overwhelmed by glitter and sparkles!

Next on the list was the Rockefeller Centre so we wrapped up warm and headed up just before sunset. (I hope you aren’t yet bored of pictures of the Empire State Building on here!)

Quite chilly up there as you can see by our red noses….

but pretty spectacular!

We went bar hopping on Saturday evening around the West Village and found some great places- one was a kind of underground mixology place where you gave them a rough idea of what you wanted and they created something for you, and another was decorated by hundreds of china pigs (think they are most famous for their pig ear sandwiches). We did have to spend a lot of time queuing though as people are definitely sticking around in one place once they are inside now it is getting colder, rather than moving on.

It was back to the Flatiron on Sunday for lunch at Eataly’s vegetarian section before a wander down the High Line to Chelsea. It was cold but sunny, which is the great thing about New York at this time of year.

Sunday evening was a rather unique experience where we ate dinner in a cheese cellar, right next to maturing cheese (behind glass luckily). I blogged about this place a while ago (Beecher’s) where they make their own cheese and had been wanting to try it out for dinner so we tucked into a feast of “world’s best” mac’n’cheese, with more cheese, and a token salad on the side. I explain all this eating as training for thanksgiving….

Monday was a beautiful sunny day so we headed up to Central Park, strolling around, and delayering as we went! We walked up literary walk which is the only straight path in the park – I bet it is even more beautiful in the summer when the trees have leaves…

And then found these beautiful arches where a group of musicians were playing acoustic Christmas carols so we hung around there for a while – I do love a good carol!

We couldn’t resist a quick drink at the boathouse either- did someone say peach bellini? While the rest of my team is at work? Well, ok then… try not to be too jealous…

We took advantage of the change in the weather to go down to the bottom of the island and take the Staten Island ferry. Turns out we could not have picked a better day and we got some spectacular views! (I give credit to Sophie for some of these pictures!)

Manhattan skyline:

And the Money Shot!

Dinner at Dovetail was next on the itinerary where we sampled a selection of largely vegetarian, Michelin Starred courses and then it was our last day together which came around all too soon. I decided it was time we saw somewhere more edgy so we walked the Williamsburg Bridge to Brooklyn (which it turns out is very long!) and strolled around the gift shops there, before retreating for hot chocolate at Max Brenner. We were slightly too restrained, only ordering hot chocolate, so when the chef was coming up with new creations in the kitchen and needed tasters, our waiter thought we were the best suited for the job! Of course we stepped up to the offer and ended up with these marvellous creations, completely free!

A great few days! Thanksgiving post coming soon!

All too soon it will be winter so I thought I’d better do an Autumn (sorry, Fall) post before it is. As sad as I was to miss bonfire night in the UK, the fall in New York definitely has its own charm.

I’ve been enjoying watching the leaves slowly change around my office, which is located North of New York. Here are a couple of snaps I have taken at lunchtime- hope you appreciate my artistic angles!

Yes, the skies really are that blue crazily often – I still can’t get used to not carrying an umbrella around!

However, we did have our fair share of rain the week before last, which made weekend exploring much less fun, and made staying in watching TV much more appealing. However, I eventually managed to drag myself out for a spot of shopping, although not quite your usual kind…

I headed down to Union Square food market where I stocked up on baby pumpkins and other life essentials. I was quite pleased with my spoils- not quite sure what to do with the pumpkins now though…

Now, to the main event (in the US at least): I’m sure you can’t wait to hear about Halloween, American-style. “Was it just like in Mean Girls?”, I hear you ask. Well, I got invited to a house party and some elements do hold true. We did drink punch out of red cups and people weren’t dressed as your typical “scary” characters as we would do in the UK, but beyond that, it was just a normal, fun party. The Empire State building also got dressed up for the occasion, and riding the Subway was very entertaining when everyone (and I mean everyone) was in costume!

I went for another brunch after church on Sunday where I ate my weight in cheese, chorizo and eggs at Dos Caminos, before heading up to watch other people doing exercise at the New York Marathon! Sadly, I arrived a couple of minutes too late to watch my friend whizz by but I was still able to soak up the atmosphere and cheer on anyone with a Union Jack!

My social life has definitely wound down since then as I pick up studying for my upcoming CFA exam, but I still managed time for some drinks at a rooftop bar last Thursday. I’m going to let you in on a secret here and tell you the name of the bar we went to. It’s called the Skylark, and is on the 33rd floor of an office building- you get there by going through the freight entrance. Hence, it’s only really people who work there that know about it meaning it’s busy enough but not overcrowded, had a great atmosphere and awesome cocktails and food, not mentioning the views. This is somewhere I’ll definitely be coming back to.

I got an invite to a pretty awesome dinner party on Saturday night where I met some really nice people. We started the evening watching a chef prepare sushi for us, and ended at Number 8- a club in the meatpacking district. It was kind of like the Mayfair clubs, but I think the ones in New York feel a bit less exclusive than the London ones so I liked it more.

And then finally, to wrap the weekend up, I decided to try something different and signed up for a pottery class! No, this is not a dormant hobby of mine- I’m pretty sure I haven’t used clay since I was about 12 years old but it was a great way to wind down at the end of the weekend and I got to make two miniature clay vases- they are currently being fired and glazed but see a sneak preview below- expect to see them on my dining table soon!

Have a great week!

P.S. Letters/ parcels/ post of any kind are always appreciated here in New York 🙂

It was back to work for me on Monday so I met up with everyone in the evening to go to a restaurant on the Upper West Side called Dovetail. It has a Michelin star and on Mondays, they do a special vegetarian or vegetable-focused tasting menu, which is a bit more accessible than their usual fare. I wanted to try it out before my vegetarian friend, Sophie, visits later this month!

We all went for the vegetable focused menu and started off with a series of appetisers before the tasting menu started. I had broccoli soup with clams, followed by cured carrots with duck breast, and then potato gnocchi with bacon. The portions were definitely American “tasting” sized, rather than UK ones, but very good all the same.

Nevertheless, we managed to make room for dessert: flourless chocolate cake with orange sorbet and sesame crackers -the standout course in my opinion!

It’s fun to do a bit of fine dining every now and then!

I took Tuesday and Wednesday off (hard life, I know!), so it was nice for us to be able to do some tourist things without the weekend crowds.

We didn’t have many plans for Tuesday morning, so I said what about breakfast at Tiffany’s? (sorry, couldn’t resist!). Lulu’s 21^st birthday is coming up so it seemed the perfect way to mark her visit to New York. The ground floor holds the “Fine Jewellery” section so that was slightly out of our price range, but we quickly found where we wanted to be. Lulu picked out a great ring and I managed to find a cheeky something for myself too – a little memento of New York for my charm bracelet:

Then it was on to another famous spot- Katz’s Deli, which features in When Harry Met Sally. We met up with some friends who were also in New York and headed in for their finest pastrami and bagels.

They don’t hold back on the memorabilia on the walls…. or the complimentary pickles…

I couldn’t let my family leave without seeing Central Park so we devoted Wednesday to doing exactly that. We had booked lunch at The Loeb Central Park Boathouse so we meandered over, stopping at this fountain (after getting slightly lost) where a jazz singer started playing and began his set with “New York, New York” – I tried to pretend it was all just part of my perfect sightseeing plan…

The Boathouse is an amazing place for lunch- you sit right on the lake while people row along in the background. The pretzel sticks they give you before you order alone are enough to make me want to go back! We started with a glass of bubbly to toast the trip, and then I went for classic steak and discovered how great caramelised mushrooms could be…

Full from lunch, we decided to take a couple of boats out on the lake, where we had great fun racing each other and narrowly avoiding collisions with other people.

Our cousins went off to Serendipity for ice cream (on my list to try!) and we whizzed round the Met before heading to the UN Delegates Lounge for drinks. No, I haven’t become a diplomat (yet!) but a family friend works there so she invited us as her guests. After getting through the many layers of security, we had a bit of a wander around, and stumbled upon this corridor where we couldn’t resist doing this….

A lovely way to round off a great visit!

Halloween post coming soon!

Last weekend, my family braved the risk of getting Ebola and flew to New York to see me. A few hours at immigration later, they arrived weary at my apartment on Friday night, so after a quick catch up (and a few gifts exchanged, mainly Cadbury’s chocolate!), we got some rest ahead of a very busy 5 days!

Saturday morning arrived (very early for my jet lagged mum and sister) so I turned to Pooh and Piglet for some advice on how to start the day:

 “When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,” said Piglet at last, “what’s the first thing you say to yourself?”

 “What’s for breakfast?” said Pooh. “What do you say, Piglet?”

 “I say, I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today?” said Piglet.

 Pooh nodded thoughtfully. “It’s the same thing,” he said.”

― A.A. Milne

In true New York style, we made ours brunch at a place called Penelope’s just around the corner from mine. Let’s just say the portions were definitely American-sized but the food was also amazing. Here’s Lulu with French toast (bigger than her head), filled with nutella, topped with caramelised bananas and drowning in syrup… My mum had amazing pumpkin waffles and I had a more modest (by comparison) poached eggs and smoked salmon on toast!

Once we had got over the excitement of seeing the Empire State Building everywhere we looked, we took a stroll down to the Flat Iron building, stopping to admire some squirrels in Madison Square Park on the way.

Then it was onwards to join the thousands of tourists the High Line, with the aim of getting to the Standard Hotel and Chelsea Market. There was a halloween fair going on so that provided plenty of entertainment in the form of lots of fancy dress.

We finally made it and found our cousins in the Standard Hotel, where we caught up over mimosas (where age appropriate!)

A quick stroll through Chelsea Market was all we had time for before heading to the main event of the day- the Rockefeller Center! I had been saving this activity for their visit and we booked to go up around 5.15 to catch the sunset and watch the city light up.

The views are incredible- we looked over Central Park bathed in late afternoon sunshine…

Took a panorama of the skyscrapers…

And couldn’t take our eyes off the view as the sun slipped below the clouds and the skyline began to light up.

I would definitely recommend this for anyone visiting New York.

Sunday morning, we went for jazz brunch at The Kitano. They have a jazz trio who play every weekend, with a singer from Harlem, a pianist and double bass player, playing all the classics. It’s a great New York experience and the brunch food was pretty good too!

We decided to walk off our brunch over the Brooklyn bridge and made an effort to blend in with the locals…

Ok, ok, I couldn’t resist either…

The views from the bridge are pretty spectacular., especially with the sky all moody:

We headed to the 9/11 memorial museum which was actually very interesting and thoughtfully put together. I think it’s very important to understand its part in the history of this city so I’m very glad we went. And then our final stop of the day was for some pizza on Stone Street in the financial district – two very weary tourists!

Part 2 coming soon!

This weekend has involved walking, more walking, and a bit of running.

The great thing about living right by the Empire State Building is always having it as a beacon to guide me home. However, it definitely makes me more ambitious with walking home from places than I would otherwise be as it always looks closer than it is! I imagine my opinion on doing this will change slightly once the temperature drops below zero but for now, it’s great!

After a couple of late nights during the week, I wasn’t feeling particularly energetic for Friday night so decided to have an evening in and treat myself to a ShakeShack burger. I have to admit I was actually very impressed by how good it was, never having had one before!

Seeking to undo the previous night’s indulgence on Saturday morning, I headed up to the Central Park reservoir to join the masses and go for a run. I’m so glad I did- I felt like a real New Yorker and the views are amazing which is a good incentive to do another lap! I’ll definitely head back in a couple of weeks when the leaves have really changed!

My friend Ruth was in town so we went to the Museum of Modern Art in the afternoon to go see the Matisse cut-outs exhibition – well worth a visit, even if it was my third time going! However, this was my favourite piece in the sculpture garden… it reminds me of the puppet scene in The Sound of Music! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vtq9t08ktU&spfreload=10%20Message%3A%20JSON%20Parse%20error%3A%20Unexpected%20EOF%20(url%3A%20http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D9vtq9t08ktU) – Go on, you know you want to watch it…..

I stopped for a quick catch up with my favourite lions at the Public Library on the way back home and told them to keep up the good work scaring off troublemakers – I really hope they reopen the main reading room before I leave – it’s meant to be amazing!

In the evening, we went out to a restaurant called Blue Smoke on the recommendation of a colleague. It’s known for its barbecue food so of course I was keen to go and it did not disappoint. We went for a mixed meat platter of ribs, chicken, pulled pork and sausage, with mac’n’cheese and biscuits.

I know you want a close up of the food… Yum!

We managed to get in to the jazz club downstairs afterwards and saw an amazing performance accompanied by delicious cocktails. The venue had a great feel to it as well, and didn’t seem to be full of tourists so I’d definitely be keen to come back another night.

Today, I started off at church and managed to catch up with the people I met at brunch last week!

And then this afternoon, I decided it was time for an adventure, so I headed to where no person has dared to go before… the western edge of the island… It looks over the Hudson to New Jersey and has some pretty awesome views.

 There are loads of parks to wander through along the way as well as cycle paths. I hung out at the VIP helipad for a while, and then by the yachts, but there didn’t seem to be any handsome pilots or sailors around to offer me a ride sadly… Maybe another day….

I was starving by this point, having walked miles so stopped for some food at Chelsea market ,which was all decked out for Halloween. Faced with this choice, where do you think I chose?

Amy’s Bread of course! I must say, Amy’s bread was pretty good- must be something in the name…

I’m now ready for a hot bath to soak my tired feet to prepare me for the week ahead! Have a great week!

This weekend I made a discovery: a discovery of something key that has been missing from my life without me even knowing it. That something is key lime pie. I always imagined it as this horrid, bright green, over sugary, American dessert, but it turns out I was so, so wrong. I was out eating dumplings with some friends on Friday (which were amazing, at a place called Red Farm in the West Village- this is one of our orders):

However, what blew me away was dessert- the waiter recommended the key lime pie and wow! Buttery graham cracker crust, custardy filling, meringue-y top and a side of lemon sorbet- I can’t believe I used to dismiss this as a dessert not worth a second look… I might even have a go a making one myself! This is one thing Americans have got very right! It’s just a shame it only comes by the slice…

On Saturday morning I went with a friend to get out nails done in the West village- this isn’t something I would normally do, but it’s a very New York thing and a bit of pampering at the start of the weekend is never a bad thing!

We were right around the corner from Magnolia Bakery (made famous on Sex and the City), so we couldn’t resist a cheeky visit, and guess what they were selling? Key Lime Cheesecake! I’m not ashamed to say I couldn’t resist… I might be making a few more trips than usual to the gym this week…

The afternoon was pretty cold (for October- my doorman promises me it is going to get so much worse) so I wrapped up warm and headed down to Union Square to the Max Brenner chocolate bar for some hot chocolate. I was rosy cheeked by the time I arrived, and walked in to the cosy, chattering atmosphere, where the intense smell of chocolate hits you as you walk through the door.

I took a chance and went for dark hot chocolate with Mexican spice (red chilli, cinnamon, nutmeg and pepper), and I’m not exaggerating when I say it was incredible. The spices somehow manage to take the edge off the richness, meaning you may even have space for a second cup…or a slice of their chocolate-marshmallow “pizza”.

On my way back, I discovered what might just be my two new favourite shops in New York… prepare yourselves for a lot of photos but just appreciate the beauty.

The first one simply says “We do dishes”. I would add “in the most beautiful way possible” onto the end of that.

Anyone who has been in an antique shop or Zara Home with me will know that this phrase definitely applies…

And then I found a second place just across the street, this one even bigger and with more variety.. I was just looking around in awe (I appreciate most people would use this kind of language when talking about a famous historic place or monument, but homewares hold a special place in my heart so bear with me).

If I owned a house, I would buy all of these…

I eventually tore myself away to come home and get ready for the evening. Me and my friend Cristina had decided to an event called The Speakeasy Sessions at Drom Nyc. The tickets were only $10 so we went with fairly low expectations and ended up having a fantastic time. The evening started with some swing dancing lessons so we learnt the Charleston (I danced with a charming New Yorker called Jim, who had his own dancing shoes!) and then there was a great jazz band and a burlesque show! Not my average evening out but definitely a fun one and a sign of how much New York has to offer.

Today, it has been a perfect autumn (fall) day (see, I’m learning!). I went to church this morning, snapping a couple of pictures along the way.

The 20s/30s group had a brunch afterwards where I met some great people and the food wasn’t bad either! I went for poached eggs (which I have been craving pretty much since I got here), but of course, that was too healthy to serve on its own, so it came with pulled pork, hollandaise sauce, toast and chips! Not that I’m complaining.. look at it! Yum!

This afternoon, I was very cultured and went to the Cloisters with a friend. It’s part of the Met Museum and brings together lots of pieces of art and architecture from medieval Europe, mainly related to churches and monasteries, right at the top of the island. The views alone are pretty spectacular, now the leaves are starting to change and it looks over the water too.

It’s full of peaceful little courtyards to wander through, with the sun streaming down and fountains trickling. I can imagine in a couple of weeks when fall has really set in, it will be even more spectacular.

All in all, not a bad weekend. I’m definitely starting to love this city.