Hip Tastes Blog

Spring in New York!
filed under: Ramblings

I've been in New York doing some early publicity for the book (official release date Oct 4, 2007), and want to share some AMAZING snaps I took in Central Park. Being here in late April means the city is FINALLY waking up from its long winter sleep, and everywhere I look trees are blooming and people are outdoors enjoying some of the first serious rays they've seen in a long time.

I walked into the park from the southeast corner in midtown, right by the Plaza Hotel. You can see in this snap that the historic spot's undergoing renovations to convert most of its rooms to condominiums. When I first heard about these sweeping changes at one of New York's most famous landmarks, I'll admit I was pretty bummed. But, turns out the developer plans to retain some of the rooms as well as the ballroom and the historic Oak Room restaurant, so I don't feel quite so squeemish about the whole thing anymore. Construction's rumored to wrap by year's end.

guys&horses.jpg In other Central Park news, I love the horse-drawn carriages that hang out picking up tourists just outside the entrance to the park. I've never actually been in one, but I just love that they're such a NYC fixture - the kind of fixture you see over and over again in movies. On this visit there were some dreadlock-ed dudes break dancing in super bright shirts just outside the park, and I thought they made a great contrast to the horses and buggies just behind them. So NYC!!

In other snaps, you'll see my trusty Starbuck's latte (I wouldn't dream of cruising the Big Apple without one) and the famous bridge we've all seen time and again in photos of the park. In keeping with the spring theme of this entry, there was a couple being photographed on the bridge for their wedding photo; check out the zoomed-in version of the same pic to see them. What could be more "spring time in New York" than newlyweds in Central Park!? Enjoy.

Posted by Courtney at 02:16 PM • Comments (0)

Why I love living in San Francisco
filed under: Ramblings

When you live and park in San Francisco the natives can get a little testy if you don't follow the tacit rules of the road. One of these is that you never, EVER take up more space than you need when parking your ride. There are, as this "charming" note left on my windshield reiterates, simply not enough spaces to go around - and certainly not enough for any one undeserving soul to take up more than her fair share.

But now that I have my snazzy new car, I did the unthinkable the other day, not wanting to inch up too close to the car in front of mine. And this is what I found the next day, a clear message (which included, I might add, the author's address!) that I was disrespecting these unspoken rules. It's sort of like parking Darwinism. If you get out of line, you'll get thumped right back in. If you can't take the heat (or the lack of parking), then get out of the city. Needless to say, I've rectified my parking style. No current plans to go anywhere else.

Posted by Courtney at 10:13 AM • Comments (4)