Coney Island Girl

On our last day in NYC we decided to visit the famous Coney Island. I was so excited about seeing the boardwalk and the amusements, and even more excited as it was still wintery and I hoped for a romantic windswept walk along the oceans edge. I had read Just Kids by Patti Smith right before coming out to New York and I loved the photo of her and Robert in their crazy outfits standing on the boardwalk. She has a great description of coming out of the subway tunnel and arriving in Coney Island and I had been envisioning myself making the same journey with my significant other.

Some say that the name for Coney Island may have come from the Irish (Gaelic) for rabbit which is coinín. Ireland has many islands named Coney Island. Some claim that an Irish captain named Peter O'Connor had, in the 18th century, named Coney Island after an island (Inishmulclohy) in County Sligo, Ireland. There ya go!

When we got there the first thing we saw was Nathan’s Famous, so of course we had to go in…well, I told Mr. P. he had to have one of the famous hot dogs and he did not protest too much! (I’m a veggie so it was cheesy fries for me).

We headed off from there to the boardwalk. It was almost completely deserted. The wind was roaring through the amusement parks and howling along the beach, the grey sky was looming low over us and the atmosphere was eerie. We wandered around and enjoyed the wonderful light and the relics of a glorious past, where generations of people enjoyed summers filled with fun and happy memories.

Later with the sun going down the sky turned pink and highlighted the derelict beauty of Coney Island and one of its landmark rides, the Parachute Jump (inactive since 1968). This ride is nicknamed Brooklyn’s Eiffel Tower.

In the half light we found the famous Cyclone rollercoaster which is protected as a designated NYC landmark and listed in the National Register of Historic Places. I loved the sign at the very top of the ride which warns patrons to remain seated!!! Were there really people crazy enough to stand on this ride?

On one of the information boards I read that there had been a hotel shaped liked an elephant on Coney Island in the 1800’s. Apparently the trunk held the main staircase and there were spiral stairs in the 4 legs, with accomodation being in the body of the elephant! I just thought it looked so cool so I wanted to share a photo of it with you…

(Source: http://www.shapesoftime.net/pages/viewpage.asp?uniqid=12219)

So, while Coney Island in the winter may not be for everyone, we loved it and enjoyed spending our last day in New York imagining it in it’s heyday.

Wavehill House

A few months ago, sitting at home in Dublin, while reading Design Sponge (my must read blog for the weekdays), I saw a post about Wavehill House. At the same time I was planning my escape to New York, but had not planned anything to do there apart from sit in café's and watch the world go by. I clicked on the link to the Wave Hill House website, searched through the events and found that they would have an embroidery workshop on while I was there, so it was the first event to go into my diary for the trip. The place has an amazing history and I was looking forward to checking it out.

The day came around for the embroidery workshop and it ended up pouring rain. I dragged a friend along with me and we taught ourselves embroidery in very Jane Austen style surroundings in a mansion on a rainy day.

I was so disappointed with the weather because we literally had to run from the gate to Glyndor House and still ended up soaking wet, so there was no opportunity to look around the grounds. I vowed to go back.

When my beau came over I asked him would he be interested in a trip to the Bronx and we penciled in another viewing of Wave Hill weather permitting. Luckily we did it the day before it started snowing again in New York, and we had a gloriously sunny but cold day to enjoy the grounds. We almost had the whole place to ourselves, our own Secret Garden.

I hadn't realised until my hosts in City Island told me that what I had embroidered was the Wave Hill House chairs, which I found when the rain wasn't obscuring my vision...

Wouldn't it be so lovely to bring a book, some knitting or just a cold drink and sit out on these in the summer looking across at the Palisades...heaven.

While at this stage of the year there wasn't huge amount in bloom and very few trees with leaves on, we still found beautiful grounds with a covering of bluebells and plenty of birds and squirrels rustling around...a little bit of heaven in the Bronx.

If you are planning a trip to New York I would highly recommend a half day out at Wave Hill, you can get there by subway and they pick you up at the station (details on the website). The area around the grounds is also nice, Riverdale, with some amazing houses and views across to the Palisades.

And they call it puppy love...

This book cover sums up perfectly how I felt about the lovely pooches I moved in with here in NY (and isn't it just such a cute cover!)

I present to you the classically beautiful Lisbeth (Chow) and the roguishly handsome Chumley (Pug)...

We enjoyed some fun on our walks together, including Lisbeth running (and dragging me) after a group of 'youths'. Little did I know that the kids I was staying with were in the group but were probably mortified at the sight of me and Lissy chasing them down the street! Also, I got hit on by an elderly man when I was with Lisbeth, he came up quietly and gave her a dog treat (I had some concerns), when I commented on his preparedeness, he said 'It's a great way to meet pretty girls'!! Brilliant.

Beannachtaí Lá Fhéile Pádraig/ Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you!!!

From me and my nice green manicure...

Inspired by style queen Leighton Meester in last months Nylon magazine...

And from the sweeties at Magnolia Bakery...

Hope you are all celebrating in style with crazy green outfits and lots of fun and mischief! I'll miss you Dublin :(
xxx

Love, love, love....

This was the tea I got in the cute little coffee shop near our new Lower East Side location...

Today is the day!

Today is the day that my lovely boy arrives in NYC...I can't wait!!! I'm so excited about meeting him in the airport and about all the fun we are going to have in New York, yay!!

(Courtesy of Above)

Goodbye City Island...i heart you...

City Island is a little-known part of the Bronx that is connected by bridge to the east Bronx. A lot of New Yorkers I have met couldn't even point it out on a map! It is such a beautiful part of New York City. It is a small island that has one main avenue running down the centre, with streets on either side leading to the beach, I never thought there was such a place still within the bounds of the city. I was lucky enough to get a chance to spend just over a week here with a wonderful family. The domestic architecture is so attractive, and I can only just imagine what it is like in spring and summer with the gardens in full bloom and the beaches alive with day trippers and locals alike, there is also an abundance of wildlife that you can see in all the greenspaces and interesting characters roaming the streets!

For more information on the island check out this.
There is also a movie out of the same name, starring Andy Garcia and Julianna Margulies (ER) and lots of other great actors!

These photo's were all taken while rambling around with the beautiful pooches belonging to the house, photo's of which I promise will follow soon x

P.S. One of my pet hates is how hard it is to photograph a house without a car outside! Grr!