Slip Slop Slap!

Summer is officially here so its time to de-fuzz the legs, paint my toes and bring out the oversized sunglasses!

With all the excitement heading up to warmer weather, I decided to do the most sensible thing possible and book myself in for a skin check. Unfortunately the dermatologist had to remove 2 moles on the a spot and I have had to be re-booked in for a full body check later in the month.

I urge everyone to please make the time to have your skin checked - sooner rather than later.

And of course SLIP SLOP SLAP: Slip on a teeshirt, Slop on some sunscreen, Slap on a hat.

Candy's Last Night

For Candy's last night we headed to PJ Clarke's, one of the Curtis family's favourite places in NYC. Its easy to see why, it could be best described as America's finest attempt at a pub! It had great food and a good atmosphere, and we sat at Frank Sinatra table in the corner.

It was a lovely way to end the trip, the time went too quickly, we miss you already!

Dylan's Candy Bar

Once the boys had headed home, Candy and I decided to re-live our childhood and go to "Dylan's Candy Bar". This is a 3 storey candy and chocolate extravaganza that was founded by Dylan Lauren, daughter of Ralph Lauren.

You can buy sweets from all over the world as well as discontinued treats from all era's. Most importantly upstairs is a traditional sundae bar, complete with ice-cream sodas and over 15 varieties of chocolate sundae's.


















Heaven!!

Memorial Day....Part 2

After the service at the Intrepid, we all met for lunch near Central Park. It was wonderful to see the boys after almost 2 months!!

Poor Miles was tired after a long day......

...........but Davis was wide awake and ready to see Central Park.............

So David got the pleasure of carrying Miles......

.....but who doesn't love to be carried?

Memorial Day...Part 1

For David's first Memorial Day back in the USA, he headed to the service at the Intrepid Air-Space-Sea Museum.

He was joined by Mick, Erin, Davis and Miles and together they enjoyed the memorial service, the aircraft carriers and other things warcraft!

















Note the Rabbitos hat :)

Cue the Top Gun music........

Big D. and Little D.


















Can you spot Candy and I in the crowd?

















No? That's because we were shopping :)

Mama Mexico

After the shenanigans at brunch we arrived home for a quick nap before heading out to dinner. We decided to try a local Mexican restaurant called "Mama Mexico".





















It was somewhat appropriate given our guest and our love of mexican food.
















We enjoyed an authentic Mexican meal complete with crab crepes and Mexican flan - thank goodness we had a small walk home!

Sunday Brunch at Pastis

Is there a better way to spend a Sunday than at brunch? I think not.

Around noon we arrived at Pastis a traditional French bistro located in the Meatpacking district. It was a glorious day with the sun shining and temperatures well into the high 20's. It was truly the start of summer and it was fantastic to have everyone together to celebreate with some champagne!

David forever surrounded by the ladies.

After enjoying too much champagne we decied to take full advantage of the long weekend, and headed to the Penthouse Bar at the Gansevoort hotel. We enjoyed a fabulous view of the Meatpacking district and the Hudson river................

............some more drinks

.........a few kisses.............

..............and then some dancing to Madonna.........

"......True love .......You're the one I'm dreaming of....... Your heart fits me like a glove........ "

..........oh the embarrassment!

Carnegie Deli

On Saturday morning we headed out to New York's most famous deli - the Carnegie Deli. It is famous for mile high sandwiches full of pastrami and corn beef, matzo ball soup and of course pickles!

















As you can see we had enough food to feed an army, and we only ordered for 2 people not 3!
















However, we were as happy as clams and it was a great way to start the long weekend!
















Afterwards we headed out to Columbus Circle and Central Park.....





















..............before heading downtown for some serious shopping at Century 21! Needless-to-say we were exhausted by the end of it, and in much need of a drink at the Cipriani Dolce before heading home to rest our feet.

Girls Night Out!

Last night Bridget, Candy, Mary and myself headed to the East Village for some girl time! We dined at a Mexican/Italian fusion restaurant called Matilda, who's speciality drink is a "projito" which is a Mojito made with Proscecco wine - mmmm!

We had a lovely meal, with lots of giggles! It was great that Bridget and Mary finally met each other..............

















...............and Candy got to see Mary, Bridget and me.............

.............and i got to enjoy my mother-in-law!

Candy's Visit

Yesterday my favourite mother-in-law arrived for the Memorial Day long weekend. We are so happy Candy will be able to spend some time with David and I in our new city.

We kicked off the festivities last night with some champagne followed by an meal at a local Italian restaurant, Fabio Piccolo Fiore. There specialty is ravioli filled with lobster and it did not disappoint!!

Afterwards we took a short walk and visited our neighbour - the Chrysler Building!






















................ta-da!

Peggy Carlyle Elliott

It is with great regret and sorrow that we heard that Candy's mother has passed away.

At 92 years old she had a great innings, but she will be sadly missed by all the Curtis'.

David and Conner were very close to their grandmother and have very fond memories of her, especially of how she taught them to gut a fish and to play golf.

Many thanks to all those who have passed on your condolences and well wishes at this difficult time.

Furniture Update

Despite a busy week, we still managed to soldier on and put together more of the furniture - we are making progress!


As you can see David was very pleased he had completed the dresser!!

Visit from Pam

Last week we had a visit from one of my mum's good friends, Pam. She was visiting NYC with her cousin, Lindsay, and as always it was nice to see a familiar face. We started the night at Chez Curtis with some champagne.....................

















................ before heading to Rosa Mexicano for some fun mexican food and margaritas! One of the highlights of the night was the made-by-the-table-guacamole, and trying to capture it on film!

Furniture Arrived....

After many weeks of decision making, we finally ordered our furniture last week, and it finally arrived this week.

However it was not assembled as we had thought, so poor David has been a busy-bee with the phillips head!

Stay tuned for the final reveal................

Mother's Day in Brooklyn

On Sunday, we headed over to Brooklyn to celebrate Mother's Day with Bridget. It was a lovely day and wonderful to celebrate with friends who were also far far away from their Mother's. Bridget, who is well versed with trendy brunch places, lead us to Teddy's the oldest pub in Brooklyn. This obviously sat well with the Australian and the Irishman :)



































One more burger before Anthony leaves...




















We enjoyed a lovely brunch before wandering around the streets, scouting the vintage stores and in general being a little ridiculous!

Phantom of the Opera

Whilst Anthony & Bridget were in town we decided to treat ourselves to a night at the theatre. Luckily we managed to get tickets to Phantom of the Opera - the longest running show on Broadway. For some indulgence we had dinner at the famous '21 Club'.

It is one of the oldest establishments in New York city, and still enforces a dress code. Most notably part of the movie "Wall Street" was filmed in the restaurant, introducing the concept of the power lunch and later resulted in Forbes magazine claiming "more deals are done at '21' than on the stock market floor."




















After dinner we headed to the show, and not without enjoying some champagne at interval.
















Afterwards it was off to a Russian Vodka bar - for obvious reasons not caught on camera - and then home to bed!
















It's confirmed by David - a great night had by all!















However the vodka caught up to everyone the next day, resulting in a pizza emergency!

Can't.... even..... smile ......................eating

Introducing Mikaela Mathias Browne.....

After a week of anticipation I received news yesterday morning that my good friend Nicole had finally gone into labour. I was so relieved to hear the good news this morning that a little bundle of joy had finally arrived at 6am! This is the first baby for Nicole and Michael and we are thrilled that everyone is doing well, despite the long labour and last minute c-section.

On a personal note, being Aunt and Uncle to 3 gorgeous boys, David and I are beside ourselves to finally have some fun and shop for a little girl!!

Congratulations to Nicole and Michael, it is truly a wonderful day for all your family and friends!

Tortilla Flats

Friday we headed over to the Meat Packing district to a New York institution - Tortilla Flats. It is a kitchy mexican bar/restaurant complete with hanging glitter tassels, karaoke, hula hoop competitions & tequila shots. We had a great night, were joined by my friend Bridget and far too many very strong margarita's!















Anthony and Bridget getting along....
















.......and being silly............