I'm Huge With The Under Five Set

The kids aren't mine, but they're pretty cool.

Avec mon pere

Average Manhattan Rent -- May 2011

Average Manhattan Rent -- May 2011, originally uploaded by La Pauline.

I got a request for the latest rental numbers. Here you go!

A Personal Mystery: Solved!

This weekend I went up to Boston (unsupervised!) and solved a mystery that has plagued me for months: Bolt Bus versus Megabus. After riding Bolt up and taking Megabus back down to Manhattan, I can say with the utmost of certaintly: Go Bolt. The Megabus was 45 minutes late, the Wifi went in and out and it didn't stop for a break. (I really needed a snack.) Also: what was up with arctic air conditioning? I can't even tell you how many people I heard on the bus say, "I'm only on this because I couldn't get a seat on Bolt."

While on the bus I watched the following documentary about another mystery: The Hope Diamond. Below is the preview, but you can download it for free off of iTunes. If you're a diamond/gem nerd like myself, you will like it.

If an alien asked me what New York City sounds like on a sunny day, it would be this. (Specifically the East 60s and 70s.)

Oh, Birthdays.

The Day of Days was marked at Rosa Mexicano in Union Square.

Pop et moi -- in town from Sonoma County. (Petaluma, if you're nasty.)


Andrew et Kristin


Three out of five


Millards!


We found a cat in Union Square. TR caught him with his bare hands.


Kristin and the very sweet beast

It's The Day Of Days!

It's my birthday! Party dresses on!

If You Can't Get To The Beach, The Beach Can Come To You

The joy of living on the 21st floor is seeing how creative people can be when they want to catch some rays.

I realize I'm a total creeper with my zoom lens. This building is two blocks away from my window.

Courtesy of Bruno! Seen at a house party in Brooklyn.

Happy Birthday Andre!

Yumm, originally uploaded by thomasr9.

The big guy is two today!!

This Is New York City, On Crack

This time of year all the new college grads want apartments in the East Village and the Lower East Side. I've been in Manhattan since 1999, which wasn't that long ago, and even then that far downtown and east wasn't exactly the prime destination for the young and upwardly mobile. Apartments were dumps, had bugs, and not every block was as pristine as it was now. That's all thanks to a boom in development that started around 2005.

This piece in The New York Times today talks about how a small group of mothers cleaned up Washington Square Park in the early 1980s, essentially paving the way for making downtown the grown up playground that it is now. If you live in one of the many overpriced units downtown, you can thank them. :-)

Dating Flow Chart

sometimes a lady just doesnt know the answer...so @mari18 & I are making a flow chart. , originally uploaded by Chelsa Skees.

Sometimes a lady just doesn't know the answer...

Weekend In Connecticut

Took a quick hop out to Connecticut this weekend.

With my oldest friend, Jen.


Serious birthday cupcakes


Andre surveys the room


You would think a fluffy beanbag chair would induce a nap. You would be wrong.


I came home from the Westport Playhouse on Saturday night to this. Both were snoring.


Tom is officially a father: He wears socks with sandals.

Willy Wall = Best Kept Secret In Manhattan

Three Graces, originally uploaded by La Pauline.

I have lived in Manhattan for 12 years and never did I know about the Willy Wall, the floating bar in the New York Harbor.

A ridiculously good time was had this evening on it. Merci, Anastasia, for turning me on to it!

This Is Just Bad

Yesterday this came over the e-mail, and from the minute I saw the name, I was worried. Any product -- especially a financial product -- that is peddled directly for women automatically makes me twitch, and Motley Fool's video about why one should invest in Timberland may have set the sisterhood back about 20 years.

The video is operating under the stereotype that women can't make their own financial decisions and therefore need a few gal pals -- who are clearly reading off of a poorly written script -- to show them the way. It's problematic because there is no such video/website/etc. for men, nor would there ever be. (I'm betting Stock Tips For Dicks isn't a companion product.) Why do the ladies have to get the cutesy video with the chick-lit inspired logo? Can't they turn on CNBC like everyone else? It may be pink, but The Financial Times is not gender specific.

Motley Fool, indeed.

Cat On A Leash In The West Village

Untitled, originally uploaded by La Pauline.

It's 300% humidity outside but it seems like great weather to preview some places in the West Village. Along the way I found this lovely beast on a leash, sleeping outside her store.

The best part about this video is the singer in the white dress. She is my alter ego.

Best. Hummus. Ever.

I'm not a huge foodie, but this afternoon while walking back to the apartment from the nail joint, I stopped for some free falafel from Taza on Third Avenue and 27th Street. Half an hour later I dragged the whole crew back down there for some Saturday night dinner.

I love Mediterranean food like it's going out of style. It started with Hoomoos Asli in 2002. I lived in Chinatown at the time but would walk up to then undeveloped Nolita from Bayard Street for the Hoomoos. (If I ordered in Hebrew, the owner beamed with pride.) Hummus and coffee are my two diet staples, and Taza had some of the best I've had in a while. In my quest to make Murray Hill cool, this place is well worth a trip. Even from downtown.

A Wonderful Night At Bryant Park

The bathroom rules are somewhat bizarre.

A 104-Year-Old Copper Heiress Livied Among Us -- Who Knew?

Over the past few days I've become fascinated by the story of Huguette Clark, the 104-year-old copper heiress who recently passed away. She was a bit of a recluse, but owned fabulous properties, including one in New Canaan, CT, and a palatial spread on Fifth Avenue and 72nd Street. All this, depsite living in assorted hospitals in Manhattan for the past 22 years.

I'm a bit of a nerd about Gilded Age Manhattan ever since reading 740 Park. This story taps into whatever reptilian part of my brain digs stories of heiresses and all things Brook Astor.

The New York Times had a great piece about her here.

MSNBC has a whole bunch of well done videos.

The New York Observer has the requisite piece about brokers licking their chops for the listing for the apartment, which is actually so large it would give any future owner a disproportionate amount of shares in the co-op, which could be an issue.