RIP Philip Seymour Hoffman

{Photograph by Nigel Parry}

I was shocked and saddened by the news of Philip Seymour Hoffman's death (funny how we always refer to him using all three names). It also dumfounds me. I saw him once in New York, when I was back there on a visit a few years after I left . He was leaving a restaurant I was at, a west village local spot. It made me feel very local and very cool to be dining where he dined. He was a genius; one of my all time favourite actors - if Philip Seymour Hoffman was in it, I would watch the movie. RIP.

Breakfast at Wythe Hotel

The Wythe Hotel oozes cool. In typical Williamsburg waterfront character, it was originally an old factory built at the turn of the 20th century and the industrial feel has been maintained and incorporated into the decor (think exposed rick and screed floors).

While we didn't stay there (the rooms looks awesome by the way) we went to Reynard, the hotel restaurant, for breakfast. The coffee was good, the food yummy and the service top notch. In true NY style we were brought complimentary tasty things to apologise for waiting so long for our food when we hadn't even noticed we had been waiting. The clientele was fascinating and we saw one of the best beards I have ever seen (which is saying a lot in that part of town) - think thick, full, luscious colour and perfectly groomed.

Saturdays Surf NYC

Surf culture in NYC? You can find anything in NYC. And this particular surf shop in the West Village is an awesome little hangout with a coffee bar upfront and benches outside, you can watch the cool kids of Perry Street go by while idly wondering which of the cool T's you saw inside you are going to purchase. (Oh, and they sell Mast Brothers chocolate).

PS. Check out their blog.

NY snaps on this stormy Tuesday evening

 Liberty in paper art

 Central Park and the city

 5th Avenue strolls

 Mast Brothers chocolate

 Williamsburg wanderings

Spot on graffiti in LES

 China town (outside a little store in which I had the silkiest, most delicious dim sum. Ever)

 Late night jazz at Smalls

 Colour + wood at Future Perfect

 Serious ponderings at Anthropologie

 City icons in one snap

Home made apple pie for my birthday

On breakfast

In the week, I start my day off with a super healthy breakfast: raw muesli with a sprinkling of Miracles Plus Plus (yes, that is really what my mix of flax seed, sunflower seed, sesame seed and pumpkin seed is called - Rich in essential fatty acids. Bursting with life potential. Incredibly nutritious - how can you resist?), soaked in boiling water, and topped with bananas, peaches and blueberries. Quite delicious in fact.

However, one of my favourite breakfasts is so completely the opposite. So thank goodness  this breakfast can only be found on the other side of the world: French brioche, soaked in syrup  laden with bananas, walnuts and mascarpone cheese. And THAT is what I feel like this morning.

Have a lovely day readers xoxo

Brooklyn Sunday

It is a strange thing only seeing people in a place only once a year. Those imperceptible day-to-day adjustments become life changes. In just over a year, I saw that famous New York story of having babies, leaving Manhattan and moving to Brooklyn come true. Which meant we spent a whole lot more time on the other side of the river visiting beautiful big apartment, cool cafes, and river walks - which is wonderful in the way it opens up a whole other part of the city. Thanks Brookyn, you rock!

 

Brunch at Walters

Cecile and her dad

 The Brooklyn way

 One of my favourite walks in the city along the waterfront

 Brooklyn bridge 

 Look closer - that guy got some serious air

 Dumbo

 The cool kids

Love in Dumbo

Concrete jungle

The wild side of Dumbo, NY.

One of those days

I won't try and explain how I spent my day but it involved the second full-day workshop of setting up territories for one of my large clients, only to lose the map. Twice. Out of context this probably makes no sense. And as I said above, I am not even ging to try to explain further than saying it was one of those days.

{taken in the East Village, NY}

Long shadows and messages in the sky

The High Line is one of those things that you can't imagine NY not having. It is so perfectly part of the city in its design above the streets with views of the world below maximised by framed scenes, the pops of ideas that surprise you along the way, from basil-favoured ice-cream to awesome billboards. Seeing eye-to-eye with buildings which usually require some major neck tilting to take them in. The hustle of fast paced foot-commuters.

We found ourselves there quite often this last trip, as our apartment was a block away. Not a bad place to have your morning coffee and croissants. Or to take late afternoon strolls as shadows stretch longer and the air reminds you its Autumn.

See pics of the latest extension here.

city of stars

Autumn sail on a steel grey Hudson. Cheese from Eataly and bubbles onboard. Wrapped up in woolens and a borrowed blanket. Lady Liberty herself raising her flame. Celebrating 30 as the sun sets and the city becomes a low lying sky of stars.