back to the motherland

so it was my first trip back to the nyc this weekend... and it was, by all accounts, a blast... this was really just intended to give me a taste... i'm going back for two weeks in august, complete with a trip to the FIP, but even this little tease will tide me over until then.

some great times were had - surprise party for LL on friday night in tribeca, a cute little brunch find in the east village on saturday afternoon, followed by the LARGEST frozen margs i ever did see!  benny's burritos, you better work.

saturday night saw continued shenanigans at another birthday party, but it was early to bed to make the most of my 72 hours in the city... topped off with an amazing introduction to the highline... manhattan's newest resident and chelsea's finest... a converted elevated railroad track turned into a chi-chi park.  amazing.

and while i happily dreamt of $1.50 slices of pizza and $3 pashminas on my flight home, i know that nyc will always be there for me.  a few new adventures (and a few more cheeky pints) still await me here in the land of lads and lager.

what is it about sex and the city that still makes me laugh?

such a trite thing to say, i know.  i guess it's the fact that i (like millions of you, i know) see a bit of each of the four ladies in me.  or that no matter what rerun they are showing on one of the hundreds of channels that i get with virgin media, i have a chuckle or two.  suffice it to say, a few episodes of SATC gets me through the week with a smile on my face.

i *heart* the heath

hey there faithful readers - it was another lovely weekend in the city of london - i managed to stay outdoors as long as possible and got some great rays.  saturday it was back to london fields (see previous post) for some giggling at the fashion choices of my fellow east londoners and a pint or two with DL at the cat & mutton - tee hee hee. 

but alas, my house keys decided that they wanted to spend a little bit more time in the park and didn't make it home with me.  after a trip out to east ham to see lesia the cleaning lady who had a spare set, the weekend was finally back on track.

sunday was another adventure outdoors, this time to hampstead heath.  HH is just a few stops north on the northern line, and it consists of a series of parks and ponds that have been around since the 900s (yes, that's more than 1000 years ago).  one of the things that HH has kept over the years is a series of single-sex ponds, which you can imagine is a big hit with london's queer set.  i was just happy to be there, soaking up the sun, listening to GaGa on some ipod speakers near by and munching on some snacks from the tesco's down the way.  the single-sex aspect was just icing on the cake. :)

a couple of more observations though to help you set the scene:

1) aussieBum, like Lady GaGa, is everywhere.  unfortunately, the bodies that are usually seen in aussieBum ads, are not.

2) you apparently are not allowed in the park unless you have an open container of some sort.  that is what london's take is on the open container laws we yanks are more accustomed to.  i like.

3) the other big fans of male-only swimming ponds (besides the obvious)?  Hasidic Jews!  because apparently they can't swim in a pond where women may be menstruating.  i'm not kidding.

so, definitely adding HH to my top london picks for sure...