Skull duggery

New York: Empire State Building, Muppet Making, Giant Pianos and ribs so good they make you sick

Emzilla's dilemma - Magners, or Bulmers?Veteran's Day Parade Princes and Princesses...I love NYPD.You dirty rat.Macy's.The view from the top.FAO Schwarz Whatnot Workshop.
We made muppets!They're totally BFFs (no homo).
I nearly didn't have a go on the giant piano, but I did in the end.Daisy May's BBQ USA for dinner. Best ribs in NYC apparently. Tennessee Whiskey pork ribs are so good, but so evil. I think I got some kind of food poisoning...
And finally... the Trouble & Bass night at Ella. Holy shit, epic day!

New York: Tough Love is AMAZING!

I met the AMAZING Jes from Tough Love NYC. We met up in the East Village for a few drinks, a mad chat and a slice of $1 pizza. We shared stories, and I think she really liked the one about how Australia uses magical, rainbow-coloured plastic money that you can wash and it doesn't disolve like paper money...
...And she blogs faster than me! She already blogged about it here! PROPS!
This girl has some serious flair! In the photo shoot I recently worked on for C.O.P., we used some Tough Love pieces. Jes was totally jazzed on the shoot - which is AMAZING! She also mentioned she'd be bringing out some dope new gear soon - can't wait for her next Tough Love drop...
Word of the night - AMAZING! Much love girl xxx

Knicks V Utah

Knicks lost. But beer + games = fun times!

New York: Exploring Downtown

New York: Magnolia Bakery & Carrie's Apartment

Being the Sex and the City (SATC) fan I am, of course I have a few SATC spots that are on my must-do list while I'm here in NYC. On of those being Magnolia Bakery - home of the famed cupcakes Carrie chows on when she first starts seeing Aiden.

It was a bit of trek to get to the store (they have a couple of stores) but I wanted to go to this one because it's right around the corner from Carrie's apartment (well, technically her stoop - but I'll get to that in a minute!).The store is really cute and the staff were super friendly. They had some amazing sweets aside from cupcakes too. I grabbed 2 butter cupcakes and 2 chocolate cupcakes.
For those of you who've been reading my blog for a while, you might remember that I've been known to bake my own cupcakes using the Magnolia cupcake recipe (and those who know me really well might have actually tasted them!). Here's some I prepared earlier...
They're always very popular when I do bake them, so as you can imagine I was really curious to taste a real Magnolia cupcake. I have my own description for my Magnolia cupcakes - heart attack flavour (because if you have more than one, you might have a heart attack!). The recipe uses a lot of butter and a lot of sugar and when I bake them, the cake itself always turns out quite moist and rich.
Although they were quite nice, to be honest, I was a little disappointed with the real thing. The icing was excellent but the cake itself was kind of dry. It's a big call - but I still think My Little Cupcake (who made my wedding cupcakes) in North Sydney are still by far the best cupcakes I've had.

Cupcakes in hand, I took myself off to 66 Perry Street New York - better known as Carrie's Apartment. Well, it's the apartment block they used for the exterior shots of her apartment.
It's funny how visiting the stoop brought back s many memories of watching SATC. All the nights Nic and I used to watch it at her place on a Tuesday night (correct me if I'm wrong there!) when it was airing on TV in Australia for the first time. It was quite a thrill to get to visit a place I'd never been to before, but feel such a connection with.

There was a little donation box on the stoop that asked you to leave a dollar for every photo you take - with the money going to help kitties and pooches. I threw more than a few dollars in. Money well spent, I reckon.

New York: FAO Schwarz

Tonight I visited FAO Schwarz on 5th Avenue. Holy awesomeness! What a freaking cool toy store.
Remember the movie Big starring Tom Hanks, and the scene where they dance on the giant piano keys? FAO Schwarz is the store that scene was shot in.
And I was lucky enough to catch the show! So fun.
You can also make a Muppet Whatnot at FAO Schwarz. I'm gonna go back in a few days and make my very own muppet. And maybe dance on the piano keys. Stay tuned...

New York: Modeselektor

Last night I went to watch fab French duo Modeselektor play at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. It was champagne-popping epic.
They played my two fav Modeselektor tunes. Heaven.

New York: Poor Pussy

There I am, minding my own business on the subway to FAO Schwarz. I get out at 5th Avenue and what do I see? A man walking his cat on the subway platform.
I'm not sure what disturbed me more - that a man was walking his cat on a lead - or that he was doing it at FIFTH AVENUE. WTF?
Don't get me wrong, I like cats.

But walking them on a lead is over the top. And you can't tell me this kitty looks happy about being paraded around on a train platform. Aside from all the people, noise and TRAINS, it didn't exactly want to walk.
Maybe the dude needs to read a book like this? If he's down with buying and using a lead for his cat, then he'd probably be down with buying a book to learn how to use it. Some suckers will buy into anything, when really, all kitty wants is a cuddle and some Whiskas.

And the saddest thing is, kitty doesn't have a voice to say no.
So might I suggest, when he finally lets you off the leash - run kitty, run.

New York: Bagels, Bedford Ave & Brooklyn

After a yummy bagel for breakfast, I took the L train to Bedford Ave and explored a little. I went to a few stores, including Boundless. Then I trekked a little further into Brooklyn and had a look around. Brooklyn Circus, WNDRLND and an awesome brunch at a cute diner - pulled pork sandwich and a pear cider. YUM!
At WNDRLND, I finally nabbed a pair of yellow Nylon x Nike Dunks - a bargain at just US$60!