A weekend of excess

Back to New York after three weeks on location and Miss P’s wedding. Last week I unpacked and settled into my new quarters, a fourth floor walk up on St Mark’s in the East Village. (I foresee hamstrings of steel in less than a month.) On Thursday I spent a very enjoyable three hours between The Container Store & Bed, Bath and Beyond on Sixth – I swear these stores are like crack for the 30-something – buying shelving, boxes, special hangers, and cosmetic organisers. Sheer bliss.

And then my social life kicked off with a vengeance: Friday was drinks in the East Village with an English writer, NC, over here on assignment, and a long boozey (almost inedible) supper on the Roof at Soho House, swapping dating horror stories with J&L and their glam actress friend A. Rather the worse for wear I jumped in a cab back to the East Village at 1am for delicious cocktails with SE at Death & Co, possibly my favourite speakeasy bar in Manhattan.

Saturday was a late lunch at her UWS apt with Christina Oxenberg (I can’t decide if I love her more for finding me & my hangover a Flake & a packet of Smarties or for letting me play dress up in her AW collection), followed by a two mile walk through Central Park and down Madison to check out the new season’s collections.

Supper was at Sip Sak, a mediocre Turkish in Midtown with an old friend Stephane and his Euro crowd. Then we cabbed it to EuroCentral (the seriously overrated Soho bistro Felix) for a nightcap. I walked the mile & a half home through the raucous crowds celebrating the feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy & Nolita – alone. Sunday was a long brunch in the East Village with SE at Yaffa, and a bike ride round the neighbourhood to try to work off the excessive amounts of food I ate all weekend.(Although none of it was very good. New York may be known for plentiful restaurants but I have only had one or two meals I would actually recommend since I arrived.)