darlings

it’s all a bit of a whirl right now, after yesterday’s news.

we tried to stay in Reality (never easy) while attending a few social/business/keepingInTouch type occasions and spent the rest of the day walking from one t’other and enjoying having an hour and a half to get across town, by foot, ah – the pleasures to come and a couple of hours to get back across town-and-down-and-East.

the first appointment was a breakfast – early – Madison and 38th – we walked – enjoying Manhattan as it woke up; plump pumpkins lying insolently in their autumnal-ness on restaurant front benches. Later on in the day, these benches will be full of small’ish dogs, looking eagerly for their owners to finish up eating and walk some more in the crisp air of fall.

we still had time to stop by the flower stall as we knew we were walking past our literary agent’s office and could drop off some thank-you-roses before the first pot of coffee was ready to brew at the breakfast meeting.

it felt lovely walking through washington square carrying roses and a card in one of those special envelopes with a bit of tissue paper for extra pillow-y-promise.

we chose creamy-white roses because we always do (and because it reminds us of Noel Coward leaving alabaster roses for Gertrude Lawrence before the opening night of Private Lives or carrying them on top of his weekend bag on the train to Connecticut to stay with Jack.)

Manhattan looked in fine form this morning. People rushing from subway to office holding a bagel in a brown bag (or perhaps a doughnut or two for their first Team Meeting) and a coffee in one of those Greek blue and white paper cups.

we went to scoop up our breakfast guests from their hotel (and bumped into very Friendly people from Hamburg in the lifts/elevator/conveyance and spoke just a few words of German – with an insouciant accent – just to be welcoming to the city and were treated with a deep belly laugh and a slap on a cashmere chest – theirs, not ours, thankfully).

However, our guests had already popped to the diner on the corner (too many carbs at the hotel, we nodded understandingly) and so we Dashed Over and we all Talked for ages over poached eggs and coffee and small glasses of grapefruit juice while they winningly described life back in Europe and what’s going on there and here and elsewhere. Oh, it was lovely.

Then – with our new walking regime (lots of time to get places – such a treat) – we hit the streets (in a non-working girl sense) and enjoyed the new light of mid-morning-manhattan).

we paused for an almost-across-town-cappucino and a thorough combing of the style section for people-we-knew and ideas-afresh (we haven’t done That for a long time).

and then we slipped into the east village and down into the Lower East Side until lunch.

I’ll have what she’s having…..

remember?

so a couple of meetings and a Delicious Lunch (we adore meeting people-we-love-with-their-new-Loves)- some email not necessarily on-the-go – mostly over coffee in a cafe with some idle or not-so-idle thoughts and some writing and taking notes and cutting things out and then onto the next social/friendly/congenial occasion and there it was – a whole day – many Hours of Walking.

and smiling.

and – now – after a long day walking and thinking and floating from reality to fiction and back, we’re now at home and enjoying a Thrilling story from Garth Nix - it’s one of those Fantasy and mysterious type of multi-edition-sequel-prequel-strangeness – the sort of a book that would be huge to hold on the sofa and Daunting to break into at the beginning and with a floaty, dark purple/black/green witch-like seer and all-seeing cast of Characters on its cover.

we never actually read such books, these days (although we enjoy Fantasy as much as the next fantasist) but we Adore them as an Audiobook.

especially when it is read by the fruity-caramelly-voiced Talent called Tim Curry.

actually Tim Curry (may we call him Tim?) would have been a perfect companion today in our trip up to Very near the Morgan (Library) and across town to the east village, slipping into the lower east side post-lunch and all the while thinking about what’s about to happen. We feel so elegant right now in our Fall coat (a light trench, in black) and upgraded to the cashmere celestial blue long-long-scarf and a slightly most moisturizing moisturizer to combat the effects of heating inside building contrasting with the Crisp air outside (we feel sure Tim – if we’re not mistaken – would have a small tube of something expensive from Asia in his deep overcoat pocket to avoid dryness too).

Tim would be so glorious to walk around Town with.

Maybe we’ll write to him and ask if he’d like to have tea……..

Or if you know him, would you put in a good word for us?

oh, that is Kind.

so – Question for you – who would be Your favo(u)rite fantasy companion for a walk around manhattan in the Fall?

do. tell.

you know – in the bit below…..