i am a very slack little blogger

oh my gosh my last blog post was in november, and early november to boot.

so what's been happening lately? i'm thirty weeks along now, meaning in just seven more

 short weeks this baby girl is term, crazy stuff that.

oh and nick tells me my feet are puffing up, so of course that just made me feel swell. 

recently he also started referring to me as a chubby bunny and while i know i should be 

offended it is actually rather funny.

here's a bit of what has been going on round these parts

made these for the lovely work girls

polaroid magnets! i know, right?

ohh, i'm thinking about twenty eight weeks

our christmas stash, unfortunately we are just too lazy for a tree

christmas morning, i think baby girl scored the most over nick and i combined

christmas day at mum's. you can't half tell i was in charge of decorations

beautiful forster

i developed a skin condition more commonly known as stupidity sunburn. 

oh and then this happened

so ima gettin' an iphone, yippee!

Things to do in new york city baby

planning to visit new york city? 

looking for free, cheap or fun things to do?

may i suggest the following...

day one

1. start with columbus circle. watch the skateboarders strut their stuff around the fountain. if you're feeling peckish get a $4 gyros from a street vendor and savour just how good that delicious mess is.

2. walk east along 59th and head down 6th avenue. nice photo ops at radio city music hall and rockefeller center.

3. keep on heading down to times square. spot queen latifah on your way outside the lateshow studios. werd.

4. head on through times square to bryant park, if it's fashion week stand and gawk at the impossibly thin models with their bulldog clipped skirts.

5. continue south down 5th avenue for lunch at shake shack in madison square park. no matter what you order make sure it comes with a chocolate shake, it will be the best darn thing you've tasted. if you can stomach it (i could), get a gelato from eataly on the corner of 5th and 23rd.

6. now it's on to washington square park (further down 5th avenue). lay in the sun and watch the kids play in the fountain while the nyu hipsters debate ginsberg and kerouac. 

7. if you've still got anything left, keep walking south and wander through the shops and villages of soho, tribeca and little italy. get a big slice of new york style pizza for dinner

day two

1. use your metrocard to catch the subway to the jay street metrotech stop in brooklyn. head across the street to the tkts window. tkts sell half price tickets for same day broadway and off-broadway productions. there's a booth in times square but you'll be waiting at least two hours. hit up the brooklyn booth, for your $2.25 subway ride, it's worth it. it opens at 11am and we waited all of about 10 minutes.

2. with your broadway tickets in hand it's time to see brooklyn. walk down montague street for the trendy brooklyn shops or go a block over for the brownstones in their tree lined streets. wish as i did that you lived in brooklyn.

3. montague st leads to the brooklyn heights promenade which has a great view of lower manhattan and the lady herself, ms. liberty. walk along the promenade towards the brooklyn bridge.

4. just before you reach the bridge, get an icecream at the brooklyn icecream factory and thank your lucky stars you're doing so much walking. 

5. walk across the brooklyn bridge and into the financial district. 

6. your feet are threatening to fall off by now, so grab some lunch and rest a little.

7. visit wall st, the stock exchange and the ground zero memorial. in order to actually get into the ground zero memorial (while most of it is still under construction) you may need to register online. i'd google it all first.

8. from the financial district walk north along the hudson river until you're done sight seeing for the day. head home, clean up, grab dinner and go to your broadway show!

day three

1. it's time for central park. see it in style on a bike (the only way to travel). if you hire bikes online before you arrive it's cheaper. i'd hire bikes for between 2 - 3 hours.

2. once in central park and officially mobile on your bike visit the pond, the boathouse and fountain by the lake (you'll recognise it from a bazillion movies), the reservoir, the great lawn, the zoo, whatever floats your boat. 

3. hide under a tree with other bike-laden tourists while it pours cats and dogs for twenty minutes, then resume your pleasant afternoon.

4. return your bikes and find lunch anywhere. you'll be starving. after which, head along to 5th avenue. 

5. visit fao schwartz and wander down 5th avenue. peruse the fancy shops if that's your thing.

6. around here there's subway stations everywhere. get the subway to 34th st. from there walk west along 34th until you turn left at 10th. when you reach 30th st you've reached the highline 

7. walk south all the way along the highline. don't rush, just enjoy it. the highline used to be a lifted freight train track. it has now been rejuvenated and repurposed as eight or so blocks of elevated parkway weaving through apartment and office blocks (think of me as this was maybe my favourite thing in nyc).

post script

i'm pregnant in these pictures,

not just fat.

things to do in new york city

things to do in new york city

things to do in new york city

art prize

every year grand rapids hosts art prize. it is now in its third year and there are over 800

 pieces on display in downtown grand rapids. the public are invited to come on down, check

 out the works and vote for which one they think is best. the winning artist receives 

$250,000 and some vindication.

many of the pieces are large outdoor installation pieces. they are simply amazing.

 particularly the monkeys hanging from the bridge (we'll get to that later).

talent is like a billion dollars to me. i can't comprehend a billion dollars, that number almost

 means nothing to me, in the same way that the talent of these artist is just so 

incomprehensible to me that i just accept it as something that exists but i will never fully 

understand it.

if i were a better photographer this post would probably be better, but alas, i am not.

here's what i've got for now though

this was probably my favourite work. it's monkeys hanging from one of the bridges  downtown. they are like the monkeys from the barrel of monkeys game.

they are apes made from forks. awesome. 'nuff said.

a five layer masking tape stencil of the chicago "L" train. seriously. incomprehensible talent.

okay not art, but this was my lamb chop at dinner. look at the size of that thing, just sayin.

needless to say i got a to go box.

post script

with two pregnant women this was

always going to be a slow endeavor

half way through we took a rest stop

on the couches of the amway grand plaza

kelly "kristen's rating everyone 

that walks by on their attire,

so far, most people suck"

true dat.

a weekend by the photos

dear winter,

firstly, i loathe your presence and long for the return of your arch nemesis 'sunshine'. but if you and i must get acquainted, at least it is with good friends and good food by the seaside.

thank you for a lovely, wintery weekend ladies

post script

naya did you hear amy winehouse died?

nick who is amy winehouse?