Sunday 19 June 2011

Weekend Life....New York City, February 2011



New York City, February 2011.

Look away now if*:


a) you don't want to see an indulgently long post of NYC travel photos (I'm sneaking this post in on a Sunday to give me more of an excuse-weekends are for self-indulgence;);


b) you are sweltering in NYC and don't want to be reminded of the slightly cooler weather in Feb.


If not, read on!


I was over in NYC for fashion week in February and snuck in a little bit of time for some sightseeing. Highlights from this trip?



  • Crunching through the snow in central park on a very cold afternoon followed by drinks at the beautiful Oak Bar in the Plaza Hotel. (Weirdest, most "I don't want to look but I can't look away" moment was when we were in Central Park and a red-tailed hawk nabbed a squirrel for supper.eep!);



  • Watching the Super Bowl at Oliver's Bar&Grill in the West Village (boo to jet-lag);


  • Awesome coffee at Stumptown Coffee Roasters in the Ace hotel. Thanks to the guy (who will probably never see this!) who let me take his photo with the coffee cup. I first came across Stumptown roasters when they had a pop-up coffee bar in Amsterdam last year so it was nice to experience the full Stumptown experience in NYC.


  • Wandering through Mario Batali's Eataly and picking up provisions for dinner;



  • Lunch at Momofuku Ssam Bar in the East Village. The steamed pork buns and bbq rib sandwich were incredible;



  • Brooklyn Farmacy&Soda Fountain (see the retro photos above) in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. Wish we had something like this in London. Followed by a brisk stroll along the Brooklyn Heights Promenade to take in the view of lower Manhattan;



  • Coffee at Tom's Restaurant (had to do the Seinfeld experience at least once ;)



  • Watching the ice-skating at The Rockefeller Centre;



  • Chocolate chip cookies from Levain bakery on the Upper West Side; Warm, gooey goodness;



  • Breakfast at Bubby's in Tribeca followed by a wander around Tribeca (is Robert De Niro in Tribeca the equivalent of Rick Stein in Padstow?!);



  • Walking from the East Village to Columbus circle- best way to experience a city is to walk it


  • *I realised when I was typing this that if you have got this far, you will have seen the whole post anyway ;)

    40 comments:

    1. Oh thank you for the photodiary! I am visiting NY for the first time this summer so great to see some of yur favorite spots.
      Beautiful pictures! Love your travel photos as much as the fashion ones :)

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    2. I want to go there.... Aaaaaaaaaaah
      Wonderful pics ;D



      Salomé's Thoughts: Sex & the city Later
      http://magmoiselle.fr

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    3. @amica- you will LOVE it!!!! New York is so,so awesome. Make sure you do Top of the Rock plus the Empire State Building- great to get a perspective on how massive the city is. I also have an old post on New York (think it is back around November 2009) which you might want to take a look at. So excited for you!!!

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    4. J'adore !!! Bravo Mademoiselle Vanessa !
      Vos photos me donnent envie de prendre des photos et de voyager

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    5. Pictures are so beautiful. I fell in love this city and hop to go back soon!

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    6. I love these, I can almost feel the crisp air looking at your pictures...please keep posting your travel photos along with your street style ones!

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    7. Beautiful post, I'm longing to go back to New York!
      x

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    8. such great photos Vanessa! are you heading to NYC in september? i dont think i will be this time..

      stateofsunday.com

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    9. great photos! It's my big dream to visit NY!

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    10. beautiful collage of pictures !! love it..

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    11. @sunday - yep think I am going back in Sept for fashion week. Keeping my fingers and toes crossed as per usual...

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    12. Oh my goodness Vanessa, beautiful photos! I was in New York for the very first time 2 weeks ago - and we had dinner at Hill Country too! (My friend and I split one portion between the two of us and still couldn't finish it, huge but gooood.)
      This post makes me want to return straight away. Levain is going on my list for next time!

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    13. @Kim-omg the cookies are SO good! And when we went they were still all warm in the centre. Argh- I want one now and I have just finished dinner! I actually didn't go to Hill Country bbq (just walked past) but we did go to another BBQ place on the upper East side which was awesome. But you are right- the portions are huge.

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    14. Awesome Vanessa! I'm a NYer and experience these photos by default but/and that doesn't stop me from oohing and awwing at your photography of the city we know and ♥! Thanks so much! xx from Soleil

      http://sharpthreads.blogspot.com

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    15. @soleil- I think it is almost easier to photograph a place you aren't familiar with just because everything is new and exciting and your senses are stimulated! However later this year I am going to try and photograph some of my fav bits of London. Anyway, glad you enjoyed them.

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    16. These photographs are AMAZING Vanessa! Please keep sharing these even if they aren't fashion related! I think it kind of sets apart your blog from all the other street style blogs out there.

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    17. @Chaucee- thank you! This is a little bit like writing a journal for me I guess otherwise I never actually record fully (except for random receipts and tickets) what I have done while I am travelling. Although I have just purchased one of those My Life giant diaries from suck.uk(think they are called that) so I want to start printing a few photos and sticking them in there with all the other bits and pieces I collect.

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    18. Fantastic photos as always Vanessa! NY is on top of my list of places to visit asap.

      I very much like your blog, thanks for sharing these beautiful moments.

      Cristina
      http://wearingrightnow.wordpress.com/

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    19. Such AMAZING photos!! make me want to go to NYC more than ever.

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    20. This. Is. The most beautiful blog post ever. *sigh* I think, sometimes, it takes someone with an unfamiliar eye to make the same old things fresh and magical and seductive all over again; Witness the power of your post to make me long for a visit to New York, that most cliche'd of small town dreams! ut, oh, the snow in Central Park...you make it look like another world, almost.

      And I loved your shout out to Stumptown! I grew up in Portland, OR, home of Stumptown Roasters. I worked in their flagship shop, down the street from Portland's ACE hotel, and my rigorous barista training with them has often been far more applicable to "grown up" life than my time at university! I do think that one of the reasons their coffee is so sacredly scrumptious is because they make sure all of their employees understand coffee; the whole process, from the growing to the picking to the drying, roasting, grinding, cupping, etc....its like a science, or an art form, and you get very invested, you fall in love with it. Of course, it makes getting coffee anywhere else almost unbearable!

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    21. @Rose-that is so cool that you grew up in Portland and worked in their flagship store, Rose! When I did the link to Stumptown I clicked on their latest news and was interested to see they have a new investor to fund the new stores and the roaster in Red Hook. I would really love to visit all of the Stumptown coffee bars but particularly the one in Portland. Every article I have ever seen makes it sound like such a great place- lots of cool shops and bars. Sigh. Hopefully one day! You need to get out to Australia and try some if our coffee- St Ali,Merlo, Seven Seeds...the list goes on!

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    22. hi vanessa! I adore your photos. they are absolutely beautiful! anyway, if you don't mind me asking, did you take the photos with analog camera? I really love the tone.

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    23. oh goodness, definitely on my top list of favorite places! Your photos are outstanding!

      http://twitter.com/#!/Shelbyhamilton1

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    24. Your photos are brilliant Vanessa. I love your style of photography. I had to relatively recent holidays to Europe and I aimed to take photos similar to yours, but mine are nothing at all like these. Clearly it's a very talented skill. Sadly I have photos, with family, that really don't represent my holidays at all. I feel inspired to pull my camera out and go and have some lessons. Thank you

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    25. @Meaghan- glad I helped you along your photography path a little bit Meaghan. Most important thing is to enjoy your holiday and it sounds as if you did! I think it is wonderful to have family photos- they will be your best memories of what happened on the trip in years to come. I need to take more family photos ;)
      @Hanna- yep, these are analog :)

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    26. just LOVE this post - every single image. you are so talented! hoping i can do something even remotely close to this during my upcoming europe trip :)

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    27. ah these photos are absolutely amazing! I'm moving to NYC in the fall for school and these pictures made me so much more excited :)

      best,
      sophia
      www.trashbagblack.blogspot.com

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    28. These are lovely! I'm going to New York for the first time in december and this post got me very excited. Also, good to see there's a decent coffee spot - being a Melbournian I was getting a bit worried. I'll have to check it out!

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    29. one of my dream cities! beautiful photos!

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    30. Wow lots of lovely images, I really wish I was there right now! :)

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    31. yum yum yum!

      www.geenafashion.blogspot.com

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    32. oh my! thank you so much for your NY photos, can't wait to visit again! x

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    33. Gorgeous, Gorgeous photos. I wanna go to New York SO BAD!!

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    34. gorgeous photographs vanessa! i adore your blog. also love the filters/presets you used on these photos.

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    35. Vanessa, this is the guy who posed with the coffee cup @ Stumptown. I'm working at Kava Cafe now. Come by for your coffees this upcoming fashion week! The espresso's like caramel and butterscotch in a small cappuccino or latte. Ciao.

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    36. Hey Brian - that is SO weird that you found this post!!!! And so cool that you are now working at Kava! That is one of my go-to coffee spots when in NYC. We stay in the West Village so it is a fav place to grab coffee on the way to Milk studios. The guy last time explained the difference between a cappuccino and a latte (cappuccino's mean very different things in Australia and London). I am now a cappuccino convert. I will be in!

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