Yesterday

It's Tuesday morning and the kids and I are a little under the weather. Jay arrived here with a sore throat and now we have all come down with some sort of non-specific headachey, sore throat thing. Possibly air conditioning combined with hay fever combined with strange sleep...

Anyway Sunday was fairly quiet. It was cool here and the picnic J and M had in mind for Prospect Park didn't eventuate. Jay went into Times Square (his favourite place, I think) with Will and Marianna and I walked around the local area and had brunch.

Then late in the afternoon we headed to J and M's for a sausage sizzle. We finally got to taste Marvin's sausages and home cured bacon. So good! We hung out for a little while but were really tired and headed back fairly early.

Yesterday we struggled to get up but finally headed into Manhattan to meet Jules at Century 21 to take back one of the dresses I had bought the other day. Nothing happens quickly at that place and it took forever to get out of there (especially after Marianna came out with three new pairs of sandals for next summer - thanks to her generous aunty - and a handbag which every six year old needs).

Next stop was the fabulous Chelsea Market. What a great place. So much character! So many great places to eat and/or buy top class ingredients. First a stop at Anthropologie which is the most beautiful store for women's clothes, accessories and homewares. Not only are their products gorgeous and wonderful quality but their shop is just beautiful. Came away with lovely sandals and two pairs of pants (half price - yeah!).

Then onto The Lobster Place for lunch... The most devine seafood shop you'll ever see. Not only the freshest fresh seafood but a magnificent array of sushi, giant pots of different types of seafood chowders and made to order lobster, crab and shrimp rolls.

We loaded up with two trays of sushi, a shrimp roll, a lobster roll, crab club sandwich and a small pot of lobster chowder. Everything seemed to come with extras of coleslaw and chips so we had a huge feast.

After stuffing ourselves and begrudgingly walking past the yummy cupcake and ice-cream shops (aware of our dinner booking) we walked through some of the meatpacking district and onto The Highline. I had never heard of this area before... It is a disused train line which runs high above ground and close to the water. It has been revived and rejuvenated into a wonderful area to stroll and enjoy the quirky views of Manhattan's West Side. There are gardens, places to sit, places to dream and think. Really a wonderful, creative use of unwanted public space.

At this point we were getting hot and tired, the kids needed the loo desperately and we rushed into a Starbucks before taking the Subway home for a brief rest before dinner.

Dinner was at Frankie's, Jules' favourite place to eat in Brooklyn. Apart from the kids being unwell, tired and cranky it was a great evening. Lovely, simple Italian food and lots of it. I just couldn't deal with the carb overload. Probably shouldn't have eaten so much of the gorgeous bread before the meal.

This morning we are loafing around trying to muster the energy required to get us to The Bronx Zoo. Jay has gone into Manhattan for his shopping day with M, so it's just me and the kiddos today. Better get organized.

Tonight Will, Jay and Dodo are off to see the Yankees vs The Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. I can't stand baseball but it should be a fun "cultural" experience for the boys.