"Back to the USA!"

Hi everyone,

I am back from an exciting trip to South Africa and the US of A.  Since it was my fifth visit to Cape Town, we spent most of our time there with my in-laws. The excitement kicked in when we landed at JFK airport in New York where we stayed for 2 weeks.  One of the highlights of this trip was the wedding of the daughter of one of my oldest girlfriend’s, whom I last saw in 1992 before I left Russia for Australia.

It was a wonderful event that took place at Midtown Loft & Terrace with a perfect view of the Empire State Building. 

Armed with New York: 50 Adventures on Foot, we experienced this megapolis from a totally different angle. The guide comprises 50 cards, each one outlining a self-guided walking tour with a detailed map on one side and insider information on the other. The majority of the walks take place in Manhattan and that - together with the position of our hotel, Le Parker Meridien on cnr W57 & 6^th Ave - made a perfect match.

It was whilst on “The Met” walk that we stumbled across Jonathan Adler’s shop on 1097 Madison Ave & 83^rd Street.  A man after my own heart, Jonathan Adler is a furniture and accessories designer with a penchant for Happy Chic. I couldn’t help myself and bought one of the many fun, funky, quirky and adorable porcelain figurines in the store, a Grey Fox.  When we finally made our choice, the salesgirl said, “I promise you will have a lot of fun with Mr Fox.” 

Well, I am not sure who had more fun because Mr Fox spent the next two weeks inside my suitcase in bubble wrap without a molecule of fresh air.  When we finally opened up the package, you could almost hear a sigh of relief from all of us including funky Mr Fox.  Needless to say, he now takes pride of place on the shelf in our living room. The two small vases on the left were purchased at West Elm on 112 West 18th St, a great destination for reasonably priced, not-so-trendy but modern and slick furniture and accessories.  I also ended up buying a cushion cover from the Allegra Hicks collection. 

To my delight, I’ve discovered that West Elm and Jonathan Adler both ship to Australia, but a quick calculation of the shipping costs proved that “reasonably priced” would no longer apply. 

However, considering the items they have, it may be a case of “sacrificing your wallet for the beauty of the purchase”. It may not be so sensible but what the heck!

On this note, I think its time to close Chapter 1 of my 2011 US of A trip. I will write some more about the trip next in the next blog.