This blog highlights my day to day life in NYC, not the touristy bits. You can read a travel guide for that.
Warning : The following is both indulgent & long-winded!
TOP TIPS for an amazing 3 month stay in NYC.
- Have one of your best friends marry a New York resident in the first 2 weeks of your stay. This makes for a ready-made-family, a joining of friends from both cultures. Local mates who will look out for you, point you to the fabulous hotspots and invite you to Sunday Brunches!! I [heart] my NYC family and am so grateful they came into my life through the adorable Quinny & Laura.
- Don't work. Either quit your job or better still, take extended holidays so you're still getting paid. This will free your time up to focus on the more important things in life – new friends, the NYC sights and your own dreams.
- Join a gym as soon as you arrive in NYC. Even if you haven't stepped inside a gym for 4 years! This will balance out all the drinking and eating you will indulge in whilst in NYC. It means you can fully let go and enjoy every excitement NYC has to offer and still be a few kgs ahead at the end of your trip.
- Share your adventure with awesome people. They will be your company & support in the harder times and your fun & laughter in the good times. If you get the opportunity, I'd strongly recommend Tim & Bek. You will feel blessed every second you have them in your life. And miss them like crazy when you leave.
- EMBRACE the city, even the not so good things. If your building is as noisy as hell, wear earplugs. If the city shuts down at 4am, devote your bedroom to an after club hangout. If you come across unscrupulous people - stand up for your rights and protest. Failing that, just call the NYPD. They are truly wonderful (and good looking to boot)! And finally, spend time at the beginning of your stay sourcing your immediate needs. A coffee that meets your standards may be hard to come by, but definitely worth the search! (Alternatively, just pop into Gimmee Coffee on Mott St.)
I spent the last 2 hours of my time in NYC wandering around my beloved downtown local area, taking in the sights and smells I knew so well and saying Good Bye to the local community I had come to know and love. Don't get me wrong, I love all of Manhattan, but this was my world for 3 months....
DOWNTOWN.
I LOVE and feel truly at home in downtown Manhattan. It caters to all of my needs. We were blessed to live on Mulberry St, a thriving street in the heart of Little Italy (and Little Australia.) Close enough to Soho to walk 10 minutes to Broadway to buy a dress for that wedding you have coming up (!!), on the edge of China Town so you can buy fresh fish at a quarter of the price of Wholefoods, a few blocks from Canal Street where you can buy designer rip off handbags and watches. (Just don't watch the movie Biutiful first, or that will put you right off this practice) and within walking distance of Lower East Side dive bars and clubs.
MULBERRY ST. TARTS
What an apartment. What a 3 months. Tim, Bek and I had lots of visitors come stay with us. Including our much loved friends Penny & Dave for the whole month of April. Apartment 2B was like a time machine, time inside would stand still, but outside the clock kept moving. From our DJ neighbor Ted, who kept me up with his late night, post-gig parties, to the restaurant owners and waiters downstairs, and the garbage that piled up in our entry area, it was a GREAT NY experience!
MY NYC FAMILY
I am blessed to have met an amazing bunch of people in NYC I quickly came to call friends. They certainly deserve a mention in this blog as they quite simply made my time in New York wonderful. Laura, Clairebear, Carly, Les, Yosie, Sophy, Evelyn, Val, Daphne, Jen, Aasha, Stephanie, Suz, Christian, Jessica, Paul and friends, Brendan, Meg & Froggy - thanks for the friendship, fun and laughter!! You're the best of the best and I know I'll be seeing y'all again soon!
PAUL DEMPSEY
So… I may have taken Something for Kate, a little too literally. Tim and I first met Paul at the Bowery Ballroom (excellent venue btw) and were blown away by how tall and down to earth he was. For those who haven't heard of Paul, he's an Aussie muso who has just released his solo album in the US (Everything Is True). Tim and I are big fans, and my friend Claire had a crush on the drummer, so we went to Paul's gigs every chance we could get. I had a few embarrassing moments such as me air guitaring one of his intros, singing the melody IN FRONT OF HIM. (Sometimes my mouth goes before my brain.) Check out his album or better still, his gigs if you can.
Who says money can't buy you love? When I first encountered Lyn, she was embroiled in a rather angry confrontation with a customer, fighting over whether the price of dry cleaning was $8 or $10.50. One thing I'll say about New Yorkers is they don't mind a confrontation and will always endeavor to keep each other honest. I am not really that way inclined, so when faced with this angry woman, I pulled out the big guns. A huge smile, an enthusiastic hello, how are you! And for the finale, a tip. From my very next visit, I was welcomed into Lyn's Laundry like a long lost relative. Lyn and her team went out of their way to have my washing, drying and folding done in less than 3 hours. All for approx $12 p/week.
So what if my clothes shrunk a little more each time? I was going to the gym. I just hope she doesn't have to pull her kids out of private school now that I'm gone....
So what if my clothes shrunk a little more each time? I was going to the gym. I just hope she doesn't have to pull her kids out of private school now that I'm gone....
I miss you Lyn. It's no fun doing your own laundry.
PINKBERRY. (Mulberry and Spring St) http://www.pinkberry.com/
Pinkberry is a bunch of franchised stores that sell fat-free, frozen yogurt. I always got the same thing: original & mango side by side swirl without toppings to go. Pinkberry visits made my heart sing a few times a week. I will confess: in times of after hour’s desperation I stole my flat mates pinkberry’s out the freezer and consumed them. (Sorry Bek, I still owe you one. But how you can keep it in the freezer for more than 24 hours is beyond me??!)
My name is Kate, and I am a Pinkberry addict. I have the thrice- weekly cravings even now I am back in Brisbane.
GYRO VAN (Prince Street and Lafayette Street - directly outside the Duane Reed)
$4 of satisfying deliciousness. Will SAVE YOU in times of hangover. NYC has vans set up on the side of the road selling hot dogs, chicken kebabs (on a stick) and my favorite Chicken Gyros - a generous serving of hot chicken and salad wrapped up in pita bread. I'm embarrassed to say, the Prince Street Gyro man got to know me very well. We'd wave hello as I passed him on my way to the gym and he learned how to make my gyros exactly how I like them. With hot sauce and a bit of garlic. I recommend privacy as you eat them though, they are very messy.
THE NAIL PLACE (Spring & Mulberry St)
$9.50 manicures. They also do pedicures and massage. Due to the cool weather in NYC, my feet were stuck in enclosed shoes daily. This is a far cry from working at home in Brissy, where my feet are in thongs (flip-flops to you Yanks) or barefoot 80% of the time. My feet cried at the daily imprisonment, so I frequented this place. The nail ladies were sad to see me go. I almost cried when on my very last visit, they gave me a free massage, and told me they believed and hoped I would come back very soon.
This was our main staple grocery shop. Expensive? Yep. But the produce was quality & organic. And they had quite cheap and delicious fresh, ready-made meals. The creamy mushroom soup is to die for.
PRINCE ST BOOK SHOP http://mcnallyjackson.
I am a huge bookworm and it was a joy to stop into McNally Jackson on my way home from the gym and soak up all the books amongst the hipsters hanging out with coffees and carrying literary conversations. They always had authors in for readings and book signings. My friend Quinny thought this was the perfect place for me to find a husband, but alas, I was too focused on perusing all the wonderful books to check out men.
GIMMEE COFFEE (Mott St between Spring & Prince) http://www.
Tim and my favorite coffee house. Great coffee, super cool barista's, great music. Plus they are conscious of the environment and support the farmers producing their coffee beans. The only disappointment was that you couldn't sit inside with the NY Times and enjoy your coffee.
DUANE REED
Duane Reed (pronounced Dwayne Reed) is a chemist / supermarket. Our local Duane Reed was the best in the city. From the street level, the interior looks more like a fancy department store with 30 foot ceilings than a pharmacy. Best of all it was open 24/7 and just the place to buy beer at 4am. I had a few lost in translation moments there but my favorite one was when I was there at 3am with a friend buying beer and the girl at the register asked me if I was old enough. (I never quite worked out whether they were stupid or just very compliant with the law.) I thought she'd asked me if the beer was cold enough, and proceeded to applaud her good thinking (cold beer is VERY important to Australians) and ask if they had any colder... before my American friend set me straight and I quickly produced my ID…
NYC has hundreds of parks, and this was the one I'd most frequent. Just to sit, eat my sandwich, think about what I was doing with my life, and watch kids play basketball or hockey. It was by no means the prettiest park around. But it was a few blocks from where I lived, had benches I could relax on and read my book in peace.
SHARK BAR (Aka Spring Lounge) http://springlounge.
This bar, 2 blocks up from our Mulberry St residence, was voted the Number 1 Bar to drink at before noon. Need I say more??
We called it the Shark Bar because of the shark paraphernalia everywhere. I swear we asked the bartender every visit why this was so... unfortunately I could never remember his answer. Although we frequented many bars over the 3 months and I have a number of favorites in the lower east side, Shark Bar was definitely my constant, drop in for the last one before going home type of bar. Generally crowded with college students and late night revelers, Tim and Brendan even saw John Mayer there one night. (Brendan had no idea who he was :)
To my aussie friends, this bar reminds me of the Courthouse on Oxford street in Sydney. It has a duke box too. I have yet to be called Shark Bar Kate however.
To my aussie friends, this bar reminds me of the Courthouse on Oxford street in Sydney. It has a duke box too. I have yet to be called Shark Bar Kate however.
24 HOUR FITNESS
Thanks to my gym buddy, mentor and drill sergeant Bek, I made it to the gym on a regular basis. With the help of my personal trainer Jennifer, I managed to go from barely being able to squat (with or without weights), to challenging my friend to a squat off in Italy Sep 2011. Progress for sure! And something I'm definitely going to keep up with.
OK CUPID.
OK Cupid is an on-line social network to make new friends or potential dates. With the help of my girlfriends, Carly, Bek & Laura (and lots of wine), we created my OK Cupid Profile. Along the lines of 'I'm a happy, outgoing Australian girl, keen to meet new and diverse people in the City.'
Low and behold I was quite popular on the site. I'd like to say it was because the rest of my profile seduced and my picture captivated them, but in all honesty I could have just said 'Australian girl', posted no pic and gotten the same results.
Low and behold I was quite popular on the site. I'd like to say it was because the rest of my profile seduced and my picture captivated them, but in all honesty I could have just said 'Australian girl', posted no pic and gotten the same results.
So from there my NYC dating life began. I had some really fun dates, including dinners, walks, brunches, coffee, concerts, drinks, all over Manhattan. I didn't meet my future husband on the site (nor anyone I was really into), but had some great experiences all the same. As Bek told me every time I was ready to quit - it's all good training Katles...
Well done if you made it this far and feel free to contact me if you are planning a NYC trip. I'll gladly tell you about all of the amazing places in which I ate, drank and danced.
I now hand over the reigns to my beloved Tim and Bek, so they can continue to blog about the next phase of their NYC adventure.
I now hand over the reigns to my beloved Tim and Bek, so they can continue to blog about the next phase of their NYC adventure.
See you soon NYC!!!
Kate xx