4th, 5th and 6th June 2011

All the days here are rapidly rolling into each other, even though each one still presents a new experience for us. We still have so much to see do and see.

Here's a few of the highlights of the last 3 days:

• Laura wants to be individually snap happy. We hop over to 23rd + 6th to Best Buys and get a Nikon digital camera. 
• We're really getting on with Ginger (or as we like to call her 'Gorgeous') so we all meet in Hell's Kitchen for a bite to eat. Ginger points out a naked man just over yonder.
• Finally we've gone to Central Park. Our little busking session raises $15. People are so friendly. It's been a fun busk .
• On Ina and  Daniel's lat night we have dinner at the Rabbit Hole. We have a right good chin wag about Daniel's work and music videos we like and where we've been in our trips in New York. Laura's ethics go a bit squiffy and she orders grilled Fois Gras to start. Oh it is so nice! Next we head over to PT Bar to meet Ginger. She says it's the first time she's been out with all her guests at once. Awwwwww innit nice :-). After beer, cocktails and wine, a fine array if mixed beverages good enough for any terrible hangover, we go to the Lucky Dog. We play Shuffleboard and drink, Scotch. Straight up . 
• Harlem with Ginger to see her apartment and meet Joel her new tenant. He's a tour manager who's in NY for a writing session with some members from his band. We see the beautiful Brownstones of Harlem and imagine Big Bird walking down the street and Oscar hiding in the trash cans. The Black United Front Fund Plaza AKA the Shrine and adjoining French cafe. Mary consumes 2 Bloody Mary's before 1pm. Well done that woman. We get invited to Miriam and Amadou's after party at the Shrine. How exciting! We like all the reggae and juice bars dotted about Harlem. What a great concept. 
• We meet Lou Reid in the flesh, a jazz trumpeter who plays at the shrine every Sunday with his band the All-stars. We exchange cds. 
• On the street, just walking down to the Village Underground and after the initial shock of hearing an English accent we get chatting to James. He's in town performing his 2 man rap show about evolution which he brought over from Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He's a lovely fellow from London.  Hopefully we'll be going to see the Highline with him to have a few jars. 
• The Village Underground is a highly recommended venue to see RnB and gospel singers take the open mic with backing from the most amazing pro session musicians. Hot Damn! Those guys are good, and tight and blow us away. Mr Grant and Kim the lead singer from Chic are the hosts and backing singers! We leave around 2am busk on the subway.  
• Thanks for your jokes Brooklyn Boy
•  The Plaza Hotel Food Hall. Too posh! A pistachio macaroon is all we can afford. Mary dopes a bt of window shopping at the Milliners and tries on the most amazing huge hat with stuff blackbirds and peacock feathers on it.  No photos allowed unfortunately. 
• Ai Wei Wei - the Chinese horoscope sculptures. We are really lucky to catch this street exhibition whilst we are in NY.
• It was the Israeli Day Parade earlier but we see 6 trucks with big anti-Zionist banners on the side. The trucks were driven by orthodox Jews. 
• MoMA - the Museum of Modern Art. Picasso's guitar exhibition, Hungarian revolutionary posters, I am still alive exhibition, the contemporary art collection. Vast impressive place.  We enjoyed it plenty.
• Macy's - Laura buys another dress and another lipstick. Mary buys MORE shoes. We're on the 5th pair now. Oops.We play dress up in the prom dress department and put on loads of make-up at the MAC counter before leaving to meet Stewart.
• We think of our good friend AMOS and meet her good friend Stewart at his swish 6th Av NY apartment. It's like we've stepped into our TV sets. he takes us to an amazing restaurant called ABC Kitchen. We eat at the bar:

                        2 Old fashioned cherry sours
                        1 Gibson with onions
                        1 Ginger margarita
                        1 Citrus thyme lemonade
                        1 Oven roasted wood fiddle head fern
                        1 Snap pea and Parmesan salad
                        1 Crab and lemon aoili on toast
                        1 Wholewheat tomato mozzarella and basil pizza
                        1 Suckling pig garlic creamed potatoes tomato marmalade,
                           scallions and asparagus
                        1 doughnuts with bacon chocolate fudge sauce
          Did we tell you how amazing it was? It was amazing........

• Stewart has invited us to Nantucket for the weekend. We need to buy bathers. All our plans for this weekend are out the window. Fuckit, we're going to Nantucket.
• We meet Joel at Union Square for late night drinks. Lots of talk about the music industry. he doesn't like our music :-) but he appreciates out 'talents'.