I'm sorry it's been a while since my last post. Friday I left at noon to have some fun with my friend Katie in New York. Despite a HUGE flight delay, followed by a nothing-short-of-miraculous landing at LGA, we were able to have a great dinner at Gramercy Tavern. We had a bottle of champagne that was like the Everlasting Gobstopper -- because we noticed a waiter (not ours) take the bottle and disposed of it before we'd finished. To compensate, they just brought us another bottle! Wuhooo. But by 1:30 a.m. we were too tired to get tipsy, and ended up leaving a bit. Looking a little tired in this picture and still wearing my airplane clothes because we didn't have time to glam. Oh well. It was after midnight, and officially my birthday!

Saturday we got up and went for a jog in Central Park. More like...I went for a shuffle/trot and Katie loped like a gazelle around the whole thing. Back at the hotel, we met up with coffee I procured and a yummy, rich beautiful chocolate bombe that she gave me from Payard. Also in the picture, you can see Katie and Nick are so thoughtful, they gave me sheet music for my oboe for my birthday.

Then we hit the shops! We went down Madison Ave, caught a cab to Soho, and grabbed a bite at the L'Occitane cafe on Mercer. We battled wind and rain, and managed to do a little damage at my favorite boutique, Nanette Lepore. We also had fun getting cheap chic jewelry at So GOOD! and Katie found some Mark Jacobs jeans for a steal at SCOOP.

Somehow we squeezed in a divine massage at Bliss Soho before catching a cab back to the hotel. We were shocked to find that we only had 10 minutes -- YIKES! -- to degrease, dry off and get ready. Lucky for me my traveling companion is not high maintenance, so fun, we scurried and hurried and dashed across Broadway in our heels to get in line just as the doors opened. Al had procured excellent seats for The Odd Couple starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick. We enjoyed it. More champagne at intermission, too. After the show, we hopped in a cab to The Modern, at the recommendation of my friend Danielle. Dinner was delicious. I had a fish tartare starter and squab. Katie had fois gras and venison. I was very impressed with the wine list. Great Bordeaux for under $100. That is a real find in NYC. We also were amused by the unisex restrooms. The sorbets they served between courses were on little mini ice cream cones. We had a cheese plate for desert. It was a wonderful night. We walked outside, and it was snowing.

Katie is much more athletic than I. She was up and at 'em running in the Park again Sunday morning in the gleam of a glistening blanket of snow. I read my NYT and went to EAT for pastries and more coffee. Given the weather, we opted to see a movie. Brokeback Mountain. It was very moving and heavy.

Nothing like a little shoe shopping to cure depression! We went to Bergdorfs at the urging of more than one friend. Sure enough, they had a room dedicated to tall girls like us with big feet. It was great fun, especially when a Gucci evening shoe dropped out of the sky (not really, a sales lady found it in the wrong box in the stock room) and right infront of me. Katie insisted that I get them. They are sparkly and so amazing.

Back home this week, I got together with a few of my girlfriends at Bar Annie for, you guessed it, more bubbly! But the fun is winding down. I've been up for most of the last 24 hrs nursing sweet Graham with his stomach bug. Luckily, Al returned from his UK business trip and was helpful with the kids today so I could catch a big fat 2 hour nap. Yeah Al! Tonight it's nothing but water for me. Sparkling water, though!