New York! New York!

Well I've been munching on the big apple for about a week now.. as well as munching on huge slices of pizza, cup cakes, brownies, bagels, perogis (delicious polish dumplings), pumpkin pie, borscht, hot dogs.. the list goes on! And luckily to counter balance all of the face stuffing I have also been walking, walking, walking...

For hours every day I have been roaming the streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn.. I found, and sat on, the Huxtable stoop - a small, satisfying accomplishment.. did some high kicks on Broadway & 42nd Street - at the request of my Mama Bette xx.. lounged around Central Park and fell in love with a squirrel.. found vintage 1930's Valentines Day cards.. tried to stalk Donald Trump - well just went up the escalators in Trump Tower as far as I could go.. had too many cups of BAD coffee for one girl.. and finally sniffed out a few little treasures that serve good coffee - with cup cake accompaniment!

... and my FAVOURITE FAVOURITE FAVOURITE discovery of all is the cages in Washington Square.. Heck yes!! Cages full of boys from the hood playing basketball and talking trash.. I heard some one today say 'who's got the voodoo'.. and ' you should play more like you were in a tournament and less like you were in jail'.. the atmosphere is amazing, some of the guys look like they have been going there every day since 1974.. Love it! I'm going to stand at that chicken wire fence as many times as I can before I leave..

Oh also, the neighbourhoods in Brooklyn are amazing.. In Williamsburg - my hood - there are bizarre, kitsch shrines at every turn.. ceramic doves and eagles.. plastic flowers and foliage.. and usually incorporating religious icons or soft toys or both. Today I passed a whole vacant lot filled with a soft toy display - a life-sized gorilla riding a push bike?! Apparently it changes every couple of weeks..

Phew!! Next stop for me.. the deserted Coney Island.. and stay tuned for tales from the land of the Hasidic Jews..

Love to you my precious peeps xxx