BIRTHDAYS IN NEW YORK

A HOT JULY?

Tim and I were both born in July, which makes us winter babies.  Each year we celebrate our birthdays with family and friends in the not too cold Brisbane winter.  For us, birthdays are all about Splendour in the Grass (music festival) celebrations and enjoying the opportunity to wear our winter best for the two short months that it is actually cold enough to wear them.



Tim & I in our typical winter birthday attire



July in New York couldn't be more different, as it is the peak of summer.  It is weird to get your head around, but it is every bit as hot and humid in New York as it is in Australia.  How can a city that gets snow for six months of the year get so freaking warm?  The past couple of weeks have been between 90 - 100 degrees fahrenheit each day (approx mid to late 30's in celsius).  The main difference is that the peak of the heat is between 4pm and 7pm and not 11am and 3pm.  Here the sun doesn't set until 9pm, which means the heat continues to punish you well into the night thus making airconditioning a must for sleeping.

Us in New York - its too hot to wear anything
more than tank tops, shorts and raybans

Fortunately we have aircon in our little Chinatown pad.  The bad news is that the system is twenty years old, sounds like a small plane landing and uses copious amounts of electricity.  I kid you not, the cost to run airconditioning in our tiny one bedroom apartment is a whopping $200 per month.



The world's least energy efficient air conditioner



TIM'S BIRTHDAY
Breakfast - We kicked off the day with brekky at Fiat Cafe.  Our fellow tart, Dave discovered this local gem during his stay in NYC.  On more than one early morning visit, Dave was lucky enough to spot actor Gabriel Byrne.  Fiat Cafe, true to its name is adorned with pictures and ornamental baby bambino cars. 

The cover of the menu

Strangely it is one of the only cafes in our neighbourhood that opens before 9am.  The eggs benny at Fiat Cafe only cost $6.50 - wow!!!!  In fact, the eggs benedict and iced lattes were so good, we even went back for my birthday breakfast.

Cash only - no credit cards

Dinner - That night we went to Butter at Astor Place.  Both Tim & I are fortunate enough to have birthdays that fall during "Restaurant Week".  Twice a year, in January/February and June/July, there is a unique opportunity to experience some of New York City's finest restaurants for a fraction of the usual price. Throughout the city, restaurants participate in "Restaurant Week" where they offer a three-course lunch for $25 and dinner for $35. "Restaurant Week" is a great opportunity to try out a restaurant that may usually be out of your budget.



The main dining room where the back wall
is a glass image of a rainforest

The corridor leading into the main dining room



Weekend - Tim's birthday fell on a Wednesday this year so we kept it PG-13 on his actual birthday, then ripped it up with the rest of the NYC crew that weekend at the Bushwick Walkabout Festival.  Fellow Aussie Paul A told us about the Bushwick Walkabout.  For only $10 we got entry to the event and free beers and vodka until it ran out, which was about 8pm at night.  Bargain!!! 

The Bushwick Walkabout Festival was held at the Brooklyn Fireproof,
a large gallery and cafe/ bar space in Brooklyn http://www.brooklynfireproof.com/

Note the picture of Ayers Rock on the poster. 
Makes you think this is an Aussie festival, right?  Wrong.

Lucy & Paul



Tim, Yosie & Les

This is either Arpline or Grandchildren (I think)

1+1 = 2 but calling your festival a "Walkabout" and using a picture of Ayers Rock on your posters doesn't mean that the event is in anyway affiliated with Australia. The bands were local, the booze was american and the organizers were from Brooklyn.  Go figure!

The "tooth" incident - For those who don't already know the story... Tim and Les kicked on after the festival, with disastrous results.  After one too many free-pour shots Tim and Les were horsing around and a drunk hug combined with a poorly timed sip of beer resulted in Les loosing half of his front tooth.  To Les's credit, he remained freakishly calm in light of becoming a snaggletooth.



Oh ow spaghetti-o!
To this day Tim still doesn't remember doing this to Les.



Thanks to the talented team at the student dental college, Les's tooth
was fixed the next day and his dazzling smile was as good as new.



Bek's Birthday

The day - Mum and Dad, oh how I love thee!!!  Thanks to online shopping and the internet, your parents can spoil you just as much from the other side of the world as they can at home.  At 1030am I received a hamper containing fruit, cheeses, biscuits and of course chocolate and then at 2pm another delivery arrived, this time containing a dozen balloons including one that sings happy birthday.

My desk at work adorned with gifts from my parents &
my workmates from the Women's Prison Association.

 

My workmates spoiled me too.   They surprised me with flowers, Hershey's chocolate, a hand-made card and Pommes Frites for lunch.  Pommes Belgian Frites in the East Village is a NYC institution.  It stays open till 330am on weekends and sells nothing but hot chips.  They make up for the lack of variety in food items with what they offer in the way of sauces.  They sell over 30 different types of sauces and dressings, which range from vietnamese pineapple mayo to irish curry.  My favorites so far are wild mushroom mayo and ketchup (layered together). 

www.pommesfrites.ws/

The night - I had been itching to try out the tasty delights of Mexican Radio since we lived around the corner on Mulberry Street.  Mexican food is my favorite cuisine and I truly needed the frosty goodness of frozen margaritas on what ended up being the hottest July day in the last forty years.

www.mexrad.com/

Despite our stretched finances Tim still spoiled me too.  To supplement my extremely limited footwear wardrobe, Timbo bought me two new pairs of shoes.  Its hard to go from having access to forty different pairs of shoes at home to living on seven pairs here.   

Owww, sparkly!

I got into the bad habit of wearing haviianas to work (an office no no).
Now I am just as comfortable and fractionally more dressy.





JUST BECAUSE.....

Thank you to Mel B for gifting the most ingenious birthday present, in the most hilarious package.  Mel very generously purchased a years subscription to Time Out magazine which will be delivered to our apartment each month.  And being the graphic design goddess she is, she photo-shopped Tim & I into an image that was previously Scarlett Johansson and Liev Schreiber.  What more could a girl ask for after being given the body of Scarlett Johansson for her birthday?

What a dapper looking couple we make