New York

Well. I'm sure there are WAY too many people out there who go to New York and, upon their return, decide to write a lengthy review of all the things that they did. I'll try not to waffle on too long, but I don't think I will be able to help myself.

We were there for three full days and spent the large part of our time walking around trying not to be tourists. You know what I mean? I don't see the point in turning up to a site or landmark and having my picture taken there: it's just pointless. Unless it's beautiful in which case a photo, unsullied by my physical presence, will do the trick just fine. So what did I think? It made me feel kind of guilty because it was like cheating on my beloved London and Paris. It made me wonder if London could be as fabulous if only I took my eyes off the pavement and my mind off my immediate destination and instead chose to see it afresh. What if (like in NY) I didn't mind that each Tube journey costs £2 and went somewhere new just for breakfast? Would I love London more? I don't know because right now I am having a torrid affair with New York.


But it wasn't so much Manhattan that we loved, although the food was awe inspiring (I could just live in the East Village and get fat on Ukrainian food), it was Brooklyn. We took a trip to Williamsburg one morning after stuffing ourselves with congee and bubble tea for breakfast. It was innocent. I'd read about a thrift shop there. I half-knew that it was good for shopping and was considered to be a 'hipster' area of town but I did NOT prepare myself for how much money I wanted to spend there. I'd found the vintage shops in Manhattan to be good but usually pricey - Edith Machinist, Marmalade etc. were lovely but I am not about to spend $250 on an old skirt even if it is Calvin Klein... The shops (and my LORD there were so many of them!) in Williamsburg were much more my kind of thing. I could have spent days there. I think I will go to NY with an empty suitcase next time and thus force myself to buy new outfits of fabulous vintage clothes. And maybe order a shipping container for the homewares I wanted from Junk and Ugly Luggage. I ended up with two new dresses from Pinky Otto, ridiculously reduced to make space for their Fall collection, and a tidy little shift dress originally from Bloomingdales for all of $7. Oh, and all I could find that was small enough to take home from Junk was a pair of vintage bobbins that I will use for garden and kitchen twine in the style of RE and other places. More on Junk next time... I think I'll leave it here for today.

Here's a little guide to the area we went to (wow, I didn't see a lot of those places). The photos were taken over Japanese lunch at Supercore.