We built this city, we built this city on acronyms

I love the way they name some of the different neighbourhoods in Manhattan. I hadn't even realised they were acronyms until recently when a tour guide enlightened us. A bit of an ‘aaahhh’ moment I thought I'd share.

By way of background... in the 1960s, Chester Rapkin, a University of Pennsylvania professor and urban-planning expert, had the idea that in New York City you can essentially call a neighborhood into existence with sheer will, imagination, and a catchy acronym. And that idea went viral. It all started with SoHo, originally South Houston Industrial Area.

It’s very handy too - using this system the name of an area also tells you right where it’s located. In the massive metropolis of NYC that’s certainly very helpful. Here's some of the most common...

SoHo
South Houston - the area below, or south of, Houston St (pronounced House-ton). Hence NoHo is North and LoHo is Lower.

NoLIta
North of Little Italy - pretty self explanatory

TriBeCa
Triangle Below Canal - it’s a triangular shaped area below Canal St. Simple stuff.

DUMBO
Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass – a little neighbourhood in Brooklyn located as the name suggests. I read that Jerry Seinfeld once joked that they added the ‘O’ on the end so as not to have an area called DUMB.

And there’s a new acronym'd neighbourhood trying to catch on...

NoMad
North of Madison Square Park – a newly coined area, home to the Ace Hotel and not much else at present. If memory serves you from my blogging tales, the Ace hotel is where I found coffee perfection at Stumptown Coffee Roasters and ate breakfast at The Breslin.

Ace Hotel...

...and it's witty charm

An indulgent weekend

The sun was shining on NYC after a miserable grey, drizzly week last week.

I was up for some pampering and I had read about this place in Soho that specialised in brow threading. I made a call and booked it in.

I thought I'd make my way to Soho via the Flatiron district for some shopping en route. I only have a limited time in this city after all! 5th avenue runs along one side of the Flatiron building and there's some good shopping around. It was ok, a lot of the chain stores like H&M, Zara and Club Monaco. Always goodies.

The threading was interesting. If you haven't heard of it, it's an ancient method of hair removal where they use twisted cotton to pluck out rows of hairs at a time. I think this is good for brows as you can get nice straight lines. Good result! Not that I really had much to shape, my damn brows won't grow. It's cheap too, only US$15. Check it out...

While I was in Soho, thought I go back and visit my little nail place again and get a mani/pedi. It's so unfair how cheap it is here. US$55 for both. How could I not. Really.

Dinner and drinks out on Sat night. Lots of fun. Around rocks Sunday. A little hungover so thought I'd get some food and hit the shops again and lazily wander around. Can you see a theme developing this weekend?! I went to Union Square and the ever impressive DSW (Designer Show Warehouse) and then payed a little visit to an old friend, Century 21. I think I wandered around that place for about 2 hours. Best way to do it though, it's big and you need to hunt.

Here's some purchasing evidence for those interested. Ray Ban aviators, plaid shirt, a felt hat and a DKNY cosmetic bag (which will now be known as a clutch)...