Five days spent in New York City.  Chelsea by day, Astoria by night, with Brooklyn catching the light in between. 

As my visits to the city take me to the same address as I work on The Book, I now have my haunts, one of them being the Telegraphe cafe.  Right beside my editor’s office, it is the perfect spot to while away some spare time before our meetings.  Its allure lies in its ordinariness.  It has the right feel, you know?  Bright yet worn in.  I always sit at the narrow bar in the window which gets the afternoon sun.  And there is an interesting French woman who works the counter, she has this great Montparnasse-style about her.  I imagine her to be a superb milliner, making curious cloches and sultry Salomé veils in an attic studio.

Had a terrific meeting with my editors, Liana Allday and Melanie Falick. It was great to talk shop and of course fit some laughter in.  After more than two hours I left there charged for the next group of work and filled with more ideas.....

But truly, the real fun began when I met up with one of my dearest friends, Emily Bicht, artist extrodinaire and maestro of all she designs and creates. I can’t even begin to illuminate on her fantasticness. She is an artist who never fears trying her hand at something new. And though she is a top-notch painter, handling paint with the effortlessness of John Singer Sargent and the execution of Francis Bacon, she’ll make an enormous bundt cake as part of her MFA installation work, teach herself how to flock, and reupholster an Eames chair (with piping, no less).  I geek and gaw over it and she’s like, yeah...well...it wasn’t that hard....

So on we went from the home she shares with her equally amazing husband, Will, in Astoria back to Chelsea to fabric shops and gallery openings. To Brooklyn to trawl and drink lemonade in the afternoon, where we stopped into A & G Merch (love these salt and pepper shakers--anything with letters!). Also attended a show Emily has a piece in called Willoughby Windows. The developer-owners of empty store fronts on a block on Willoughby Street in Brooklyn agreed to allow a group of artists to exhibit in the blank bays, keeping the the stretch of sidewalk active and vital rather than desolate and a little glum.  The reception held on the street included a DJ and, naturally, two circus girl dancers in lace bodysuits with parasols.

I so needed my regular hit of NYC (if anything just to eat delectable food and have a real bagel). I feel like it keeps me honest. And like any getaway, it helps to recalibrate your innerness so you’re updated.  Rut-free.