Getting festive

New York really is magical at this time of year. This is definitely a city that knows how to do Christmas without a hint of cynicism. Almost every shop makes me feel like a small child (Kevin in the classic Home Alone 2!) Pretty much every street corner has one of these lovely Christmas tree stalls so the whole place even smells festive. Looking forward to getting our tree up later this week!

Columbia even has it's own Christmas tree lighting ceremony (which sadly we missed) and the campus looks so sparkly now!

Walking around the city on Saturday we kept seeing loads of people in full Christmas fancy dress too. Initially thought they were just getting in the spirit, then it became a bit odd. Then we got home and googled it and turns out it was Santacon. What a weird event!

The famous Rockefeller Centre tree is pretty enormous but so packed with people you can't even get close!

The departments stores really go all out with their Christmas windows which are so pretty. I had a lovely sunny walk round midtown on Friday just soaking up all the magic.

(Apologies - it is quite hard to photograph windows in bright sunshine!)

Saks fifth avenue had a snow filled window selection.

Henri Bendel had some spectacular indoor displays too. It is a lovely old-fashioned department store and was apparently the first place in the US to stock Chanel.

Carousel themed windows at Tiffany & co.

Pretty wreaths at Bergdorf Goodman.

Who also have my absolute favourite windows with a spectacular animal theme. 

Look at the crowds!

Not that Christmassy but I just liked the circus at Louis Vuitton.

Lady Gaga designed the windows for Barneys (involving a lot of frankly quite creepy hair).

 Classic New York Christmas at Macy's!

Couldn't quite face the crowds at Macy's to get proper photos of the actual windows as it was a manic Saturday morning and Dave was waiting patiently for his brunch!

A sunny weekend

A brilliant weekend in New York which included Friday night drinks (and lots of guacamole) with fellow former King's girl Elaine, an early morning walk along the fantastic High Line followed by brunch and mimosas in Greenwich village, lots of wandering (i.e. getting a little lost) downtown and plenty more exploring of our new neighbourhood (including essential cinnamon rolls and coffee from famous Columbia hangout the Hungarian Pastry Shop).

  

Morningside Heights

Our new flat is at west 115th and Broadway in a neighbourhood called Morningside Heights, at the top end of the Upper West Side.

For two people who have spent their whole adult lives studying or working in universities it's pretty great to have the Columbia University campus right across the road.

There is loads to see, eat and shop in our new area too. 

Here are a few photos.

Our busy stretch of broadway.

Regular local produce market at the end of our street.

Sunday bagel queue!

One of many local 'gourmet' food carts

Where we live now

Welcome to west 115th street! 

First of all I should say this is very much a 'before' post as we still have a LOT of work to do to make this place feel really like home. So, this is what I see from where I sit now. Lovely wood floors, nice new sofa but apologies for that 'coffee table'.

But I already love this place. As someone who thrives on little routines I think I was made for New York apartment living. I get super excited checking our mail box in the entrance hall using the tiny little key, I relish turning the secret lock in the lift to go to the basement (bins, recycling and laundry), I even quite enjoy having to go the basement to do laundry with our special pre-paid swipe card (this may not last).

And just to up the 'we're living in a sitcom' vibe we have a 'super'. He's called Dennis (and he actually wears a bomber jacket with his name across the lapel) and spends his day in his office in the basement surrounded by model trucks and his little white dog. He and his team are all very friendly and helpful. So different to how it would be in the UK! They even spent this morning decorating our hallways with Christmas and Hanukkah decorations.

In our lift (elevator) on the way up to our lovely new flat (apartment).

I think I could happily spend all day leaning out of these windows watching New York happen right in front of me. 

Look left to Riverside park (you can just see the river and then New Jersey in the distance)

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Look right to Broadway

Oh and the laptop is on the floor because we haven't got a wireless router yet. So this is our 'office' for now. Oreo cookies are an office essential I say.

Our bedroom is small but has great storage.

Kitchen is big but feels a bit cold and institutional. Obviously we need to get a dining table and put some things up on the walls but any other tips for cheering up a large, white, strip-lit kitchen gratefully received.

Thank goodness the boxes we shipped arrived yesterday so we finally have some stuff (including some much needed kitchenwares). Opening them up was kind of like Christmas come early. 

 I'm definitely looking forward to a few months of flea market trawling to find some great things for this apartment.