62 days of fun!

So it has finally come to an end... 62 days straight of shopping, partying, drinking, touring, travelling, walking.. ok i've run out of adjectives... but i did have an unreal time with all my visitors over the past 2 months...the feeling i got seeing your familiar faces hike up the stairs to my apartment when you first got here made me sooo excited! I know it sounds cheesy but when your so far away from home, its a great feeling...

I managed to get two weeks holidays whilst trent and amy were here, it was like I got to be on holiday in NY which was awesome! ... not so awesome for my bank account... Despite the weather being freezing, we doned our winter woolies and hiked up and down every street in manhattan (well almost)! Early on in the piece we put together a calendar of all events and places we wanted to go, complete with morning, afternoon and evening slots, and pink post it notes for outings which were 'movable' or 'weather dependant... we sound like such dorks!... all trent's idea.. haha, but it was good, we had a bit of structure, even if we didnt stick to it.. but it made us look forward to things and plan our busy social lives! We managed to pack in heaps...got a taste of the manhattan jewish singles scene in a lavish evening which sprawled across 5 chelsea nightclubs, hummers, stretch limo's, sleazy men, brian, i tell you the night had it all... except class! but we all managed to have a great time... We spent New Years at Bryant Park, saw the sites from Top of The Rock, made our very own nike's... very cool.., meandered through markets, shopped, pub crawled around town, dined at the finest places like johnny rockets, went to christmas parties, channukah parties, listened to friends sing, shopped, saw the kids from the actual school of rock perform, rode mechanical bulls, travelled by horse drawn carriage around central park, drank milkshakes, shopped, saw lady liberty, went to ground zero, saw stomp, cured my shopping addiction with a 10 hour shopping spree at woodbury common, the discount shopping mecca of the world... (after shopping there you'll never want to step foot in a shop again!) Wow we managed to fit in so much and thats just the half of it, all in all i think we all had a great time together...

You're all gone now and it's almost hard to know what to do with myself, live life I guess! Back on the NY rollercoaster that is reality over here... 4 nights of shows, theatres and musicals lined up this week... sounds like a difficult life but someone has to do it...

Amy, good luck in London babe, don't know when I'll see you again next which is weird, but you'll have an unbeleivable time...

So whose up next? my spare bed is waiting!

First Snow of the Season

Arghh just realised i havent written for over a month... shame on me! But to my defense, most of you who read my blog have been here preoccupying my time so i should be let off the hook... here's my first story of many from the past month and its about something quite new to me... snow...

Yes its winter in new york, and unlike the 10 - 15 degrees it may get to in sydney, here in new york the temperature over the past month has fluctuated from about 3 degrees to -3 .... a lovely range... ive learnt that rain means a warm day and a blue sky means freezing... strange how that is, but its true. Its amazing how easy you acclimatise to different situations, 3 degrees is kinda warm when your living in -3 most days!

So coming from Sydney where the only snow we see is on a small patch of hill down south and even then it rarely falls from the sky... you could imagine my excitement when the first snow fell in new york this year. It was a saturday night in early december and the social butterfly that i am, i had two arrangements on that night, one not to far from my home and the other on the upper east side. So i left the first party and jumped on the subway heading up town. Due to my mild dislexia i jumped off the train at 72nd street only to realise i was supposed to be at 82nd street. On a normal night this would have been fine, a bit of excercise never goes astray, but as i exited the subway station i felt drops of something on my face, i look up and its snowing! it was really magical... i was alone on the quiet streets of the upper east side, walking as fluffy drops of snow fell all around me.. so how was i supposed to get ten blocks away in the snow... i walked... it was kind of like a little bit of fate... it was such a beautiful time that if i had stayed on the train an extra stop i would have missed! I had no umbrella (not that they really work in the snow as it floats sideways) and no hood on my jacket, but off i trudged past the men selling christmas trees on the side of the road, and the old ladies squabbling back to there majestic upper east side homes, trying to dodge snow falling on their fur coats... it was really one of the nicest nights in the city so far. So I finally got to the second event, totally wet from snow, but having experienced a great feeling getting there.... sadly the next day i had a lovely cough, sneeze and runny nose from getting so wet but it was worth it :)

the ugg.

americans are crazy for it... they cant get enough of them...every shoe shop window is full of them...the ugg store has queues stretching around the corner...people stop you in the street... do you know where the Ugg shop is? they find out you're australian and all they ask is 'do you have ugg's there? they talk to you in restaurants and brag about their ugg purse!

they have more ugg here in new york then in all of australia!!!

you can by so much ugg!! ugg wallets. ugg vests. ugg pencils. ugg pens. ugg scarves. ugg mittens. ugg bags. ugg beanies. ugg slippers. ugg boots. ugg massage shoes. ugg flip flops. ugg ear muffs. ugg sweaters. ugg trackies. ugg keyrings. ugg rugs. ugg mobile phone holders. ugg tea cosies. ugg bed throws.

don't they have sheep in this country?! they should make their own.

The Visit

So they came and they went... it seemed like forever when it was happening but now feels like a second... had lots of fun with georgie and mum and even though there were times i wish they'd just disappear, we had a great time. We did so much and managed to turn my sister into a shopping addict (she's still in denial)... which was our primary aim. I'm not even sure who won the shopping stakes... most probably mum hands down, but who could blame her... it was the biggest shopping day of the year when she was here.

We went to Boston for 4 days which was nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of NYC... was a really pretty city but its main attraction seemed to be cemeteries and stories about dead people.. we went up to Salem and went on a ghost hunt (at georgia's request) spent an hour and half in -5 degrees following a ghost hunter through more cemeteries hunting down 'orbs' and apparitions... sadly no ghosts, even worse lost all feeling in my fingers and toes.... quickly rectified by some great soup and hot tea... back in boston we also went to Cambridge, checked out Harvard, and yet anther tick on my list of Ivy League schools to visit... back in the city later that night we went and bought tickets from some scalpers to see Robin Williams live... he was pretty funny and awesome that such a great actor was just infront of us, but it still annoys me when people of such world status feel that when they get in front of an adult audience they can just swear every second word... i think he still would have been funny without the swearing... i mean really... patch adams or mrs doubtfire would curse at such a dirty mouth.

We headed back to NY on Thanksgiving Eve... now whose idea was that? we finally made it back after 7 hours on a bus (which should have been 4!) and got an early night before hitting the thanksgiving day parade the next morning... can cross that one off the list now.. it was pretty cool and we had a great position (because we got there at 6:30am....) we then headed downtown to the meatpacking district for an awesome NY Thanksgiving lunch at Pastis... Turkey with chicken stuffing! doesn't get much better... EXCEPT then going to see Tina Turner!!!! She was fantastic... 69 and still running around the stage in a leotard and high heels...one of the greatest shows i've seen in a long time...

the rest of the week until they left we basically spent shopping. soho... 5th avenue... macy's... saks... lord and taylor...east village...west village...uptown...downtown... you name it we shopped it... we even had two shopping sessions one of the days with a home break in between! We also did a few museums... the guggenheim rated low...my first time there and i was unimpressed, nothing of substance really. We also walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and went to Grimaldi's for lunch, followed by the Tenement Museum, it was great checking out how new immigrants settled into the lower east side of new york... recommend it to all :)

oh yeah and georgia burnt her finger on my hair straightener and had a blister the size of a grape on her finger for most of the trip. was a great source of entertainment and photographic opportunity.... until it popped.... in her pocket.

and that was their trip in a nutshell, looking forward to trent followed by amy in the next few weeks!!... now the rest of you come visit!

wanna see pics? check the albums on the right -->

The Whirlwind Week

The Frydmans have taken New York by storm! yes thats right, mum and georgie are in town and we have been hitting the streets to take in every tourist gimmick on offer... the holiday started a little rocky.... yes georgia realised at 2am in the morning that the suitcase she bought home from the airport was not infact hers and was some other poor lady's.... but soon rectified the next morning we headed up to central park to see the last of the autumn leaves and a much needed Zabar's soup to warm up... yes the chill has arrived. it is bloody freezing. so cold.

After our day of frolicking in the leaves I was back at work and they boarded the red tourist buses for about 2 days taking in all the city sites... in true Frydman style they secured two free tickets on a water taxi tour on the hudson passing the lady and checking out the bridges... I've been catching up with them each night after work and showing them the real new york... we've seen my friend dani singing in a bar in brooklyn, had pizza from frankies, seen the ice hockey, enjoyed street meat, seen the rockettes in the christmas spectacular at radio city (recommended to all), hit Macy's and the lovely shops in Soho and its only been 4 days! Today they are museum hopping and tonight we are going Ice Skating at Rockerfeller Plaza... then I'm on holidays for the next week and a half... very exciting.. we are off to boston for a while and then back to celebrate Thanksgiving at the parade followed by an evening with Tina Turner.

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods... we'll keep you updated on the Frydman girls adventures!

xx.

Obamarama - Yes He Can!

ok ok here it is.. the election post!

For 2 years America has been debating who should be there next president, and on Tuesday 4th of November, 2008 they spoke.. and made history! In their very passionate way, the streets of New York in the past couple of months have become flooded with pro Obama paraphenalia, from badges to mugs to hats and tshirts. There are posters of him all over the walls, unique grafitti in his honour, its almost like he is the messiah! Being such a democratic state where the majority are pro-Obama it is often difficult to get an equal understanding of what both sides are for... moreso on election day it is hard to fathom that there are people out there who aren't voting for Obama!

So election day started and the queues started forming down the streets... some people stood in lines for 2 hours before spending 30 seconds voting... thats one thing americans are good at.. standing in lines.. they love a good queue!

A few things confuse me about the american voting system.. first of all its not compulsory, so a lot of advertising and general chit chat is about whether you are voting or not, and not who you are voting for! I thought that was weird... then each state gets one vote for either candidate based on the majority of the votes from the people in that state. If the vote is only for president and not for seats in a senate then why isnt it 1 vote per person!? Thirdly, different voting places are open different hours, like some are opened more hours then others... im not sure what this impacts but it doesnt sound right... then they start counting and presenting votes on the tv before some polling booths have closed... another oddity... and finally... they predict who is going to win and announce it on TV before all the votes have been counted.. anyway its America, and thats just the way it is I guess!

So I spent the day at work, and spoke about the election which only 3 out of the 15 people in my office actually voted in! I find people who cant vote have a lot more opinions then those that can... Anyway after work I headed to an Election Party in a bar in Chelsea and watched anxiously at the big screen as the little states on the screen coloured in blue and red... it was a Jewish function and it was interesting to chat to people about there thoughts on the election.. suprisingly a lot of them voted McCain.. my superficial interpretation of this is because Obama wants to tax higher income earners more then they currently are being taxed and all the rich Jewish kids don't like that... again dont take my word for it just my analysis...
so as our eyes flicked from CNN to Fox News and back again, anxiousness growing at the discrepency of the numbers between each channel.. even though it was evident from early on Obama was winning in a landslide.. as he knocked over key republican states excitement grew, and all worries gone when McCain conceded in what I thought to be fairly early on in the race.. but he gave a good concession speech, probably the best speech his made all campaign... Then came Barack, the Might O... gave a wonderful speech everyone was cheering (except of course the McCain supporters...), and he has the cutest family, and he promised them a puppy in the whitehouse!!! how amazing for those kids.. the youngest so far to live in the whitehouse.. anyway we left the pub and headed home...

Jumping out of the taxi in my street i started seeing heaps of people gathering around and then all of the sudden the street at 1st Avenue and St Marks Place (my corner..) was packed full of people cheering and dancing, screaming out YES HE CAN... there goes the passionate americans again... it was crazy.. flags waving, bongos playing, heck (like my americanism) some guy was banging on his saucepan with a spoon!!! the entire intersection of quite a major road was full of people dancing.. cars couldnt get through, buses tried to inch their way without running anyone over...and then one guy jumped on the roof of the bus and starting running up and down it! ridiculous... at that point i headed up to my apartment and kept watching from my window.. it was so noisy and there was going to be no way i was going to get any sleep, so i went back down! made friends with people on the sidewalk and watched as throngs of police ran up and down the street trying to clear the road...eventually they succeeded and i went to bed..here are some pics.

The next day my friend had tickets to go and see The View. It is a panel of 5 famous women who chat for an hour about anything topical, have guests, give things away (unfortunately not cars...) and generally enertain the audience for 60 minutes... of course the hot topic was the election...the most poignant part of the whole show was when the black presenter (i think she is a famous comedian) broke down in tears as she told the story how she sat down next to her young son the night before and told him that the sky is the limit, he can now do whatever he wants with life... and this time she knew it was for real because tonight the USA had elected a black president...touching.

Since election day, the past week the country has been waking up and beginning to face reality and realise that they had actually elected a black president... and slowly slowly it began to sink in what that actually meant... the papaers wrote about martin luther king, the tv's blarred on about how today black and white are equal, and in schools black kids are running around now aspiring to be president of the USA... it is an exciting time for the country, one which noone knows what will happen, except the fact that they now have there first black president who won the election over a white man with overwhelming support, admiration and hope from his people.

lets see what he delivers.

A few interesting facts...Obama is not 100% black.. his mother was white... but the press kind of ignore that... and just on an ending note... America now has a Hawaiian President... bring on the luau...

Making a difference

In a city where where everyone is go go go, thinking about themselves, how they can make their next dollar and buy that fur coat in the prada window, few stop to think about those that have it a bit harder then them... yesterday I did my first volunteering project with New York Cares. People living in the city always talk about how they are so busy, and have so many social arrangements and things to do and cant find a spare second to themselves, well this weekend I made the time,... I spent 3 hours of my Saturday with 20 volunteers helping out an organisation called KEEN. It is a free service run by volunteers for families with kids with disabilities. We spent 2 hours with about 20 kids with disabilities ranging from autism to cerebal palsy. We ran around, did some bowling, skidded on scooters, played basketball, had wheelchair races, danced to music and my favourite the parachute! The kids had an awesome time and their parents got 2 hours to themselves to do what most of us take for granted all day every day, spent time for themselves doing what they wanted, a few hours of respite from their 24 hour a day carer role. It was fulfilling knowing i made some kind of difference in someones life.. looking forward to future volunteering projects as I make the time over the next few months.

Of course I did spend some time over indulging myself this weekend... Halloween! absolutely manic... i felt like manhattan turned in to dress up night on school camp! The streets were packed with people in costume just having a great time.. I saw many batmans and spidermans, tin men, a woopee cushion, a rubiks cube, pirates, loads of fairies and devils and vampires and so much more! I headed with some friends to the halloween parade, think the mardi gras times one thousand... loads of people in costume marching down 6th avenue and hundreds more lining the streets to watch.. the most amazing part I thought was the float with over 300 'dead' zombies doing the michael jackson thriller dance... was soo funny, and so well done! I dressed up a little, I looked kinda scary... after the parade we headed indoors for some warmth, red wine and pizza... the funniest part of halloween was the next morning when I was on the train at 11am and saw people still dressed up on their way home... sharing my carriage was a guy in a straight jacket, splatted all over with fake blood, brandishing a hacksaw... only in new york. I took a few pics, not to many cos it is hard in the dark, you can see them here.

the weekend continued to get better with a great night out celebrating jenny and ross's birthdays at a bar in my street, (got to love that!) and quite a night of celebration it was... today was also lovely.. headed uptown to watch the new york marathon with some aussie friends, cheered on those in the green and gold, and then headed to the famous carnegie deli for an obligatory pastrami on rye... and now im suffering because of it....

just a regular weekend in this amazing city!

With the elections on this week its sure to be a ripper... stay tuned!