A special afternoon at The Plaza, New York

I’m a high tea kind of girl. I love all things delicate and lady like and an experience from another era. I’ve enjoyed high tea at the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney a number of times and have hosted my own high tea. I enjoy baking and eating scones, little sandwiches and delicate pastries.
For me, high tea is all about a more elegant time when ladies could dress up to enjoy a few pastries, a lovely cup of tea and do it all with delicate china. It’s about the history and enjoying a period in time I can hope to recreate but never truly experience.

We’ve all heard about or seen New York’s The Plaza in movies or tv shows. You know the New York landmark where Monica and Chandler got married, or the hotel from Home Alone 2 spectacularly overlooking Central Park. Well when I found out they offered a particularly lovely high tea and I could go in and actually eat there while we were on holiday, well a booking was made immediately.

The original plan was to go with a girlfriend who was living in New York, but plans changed and she moved back to Oz. My gorgeous hubby courageously stepped into the void. I suspect he may have been a little frightened by the fanciness, the delicate crockery and the price tag. So my catchcry became, but it’s The Plaza. If you haven’t yet worked out from reading my blog and this post, I like a little fancy in my life.

On our first foray into Central Park on day four in New York City, I spied The Plaza. Hopping excitedly from side to side and pointing I said, ‘Look hon, it’s The Plaza, you know, where we’re going for high tea later in the week’. Hubby’s reply, ‘hmm’. My thoughts were: rightio, he’s not quite as excited as me, but he still has three days to get excited.

The day of high tea at The Plaza arrived. After some further exploration around Central Park and a visit to Bloomingdales we were ready for our 3pm booking. Hubby was still not quite as excited as me, but he would be once he was inside. We stopped to take a few photos from the outside and then we were walking up the magnificent carpeted steps. We were in! Hopefully we could pass for fabulous New Yorkers.

Ok, we were early which meant we had time to take a stroll around. And it is everything it looks like in the movies and more. Beautiful chandeliers, piano music floating through the air, exclusive shops and The Plaza teddy bear. Who could resist a photo?

At 3pm we made our way to The Palm Court where we were seated and offered the menu. As I said before I’ve had a few high teas and knew what to expect. For my hubby, this was a first. He leaned across and whispered to me, ‘the last time I had afternoon tea I was sitting on an esky with a couple of guys from work’. My response, ‘well honey, this will be a little different’.

We ordered a high tea each: for me, the Chocolate Tea and my hubby, the New Yorker. Here’s what we had.

The Chocolate Tea

Chocolate Fondue

Strawberries, pound cake, pretzels, house-made marshmallows, golden pineapple

Scones

Freshly-baked, warm seasonal scones, nutella, double Devonshire cream, lemon curd and preserves

Sweets

Chocolate profiteroles, mini pot de crème, chocolate cupcake, chocolate macaroon, sacher torte, chocolate truffles

The New Yorker

Sandwiches and savouries

Cucumber, radish, green herbs

Smoked salmon, endive

Roquefort, shaved red grapes, watercress

Prosciutto, mozzarella, pesto

Roast beef, horseradish

Scones

Freshly-baked, warm seasonal scones, double Devonshire cream, lemon curd and preserves

Pastries and sweets

Black and white cookies, mini canoli, chocolate cupcake, New York cheesecake, lemon tea cake, profiteroles.

Served with our choice of tea

We made our way through the three tiers of chocolate, savouries, scones and pastries accompanied by quite a few cups of tea sweetened with a few lumps of sugar (one of the things I love about high tea – lumps of sugar – so very English).

One of my gorgeous girlfriends who had been to The Plaza previously warned me about the amount of food and to definitely have any leftovers boxed up to go. So we did, together with a bag bearing The Plaza crest. And yes, that bag made its way into my luggage and safely back home with me. It’s a keeper.

Our final take on high tea at The Plaza is that it’s a must do for anyone who loves elegance, old world glamour, romance and the experience of eating in the Palm Court. Food wise, it was really lovely, but the QVB in Sydney was definitely on par. One thing I do love about the QVB is the beautiful floral Royal Doulton crockery – it feels like you have a piece of history in your hands each time you take a sip of tea. The Plaza offers plain white which while very classy, is just a little plain for my liking.

If you’re ever in New York, take a few hours to enjoy high tea at The Plaza, you won’t regret it. And for my hubby, it was definitely a step up from afternoon tea on an esky with a bunch of workmates.

I didn't plan 12 hours of sightseeing in Washington but it turned out better than planned

I’m a planner and an organiser. I like to know what I’m doing, when I’m going to do it and how. I like lists and schedules and order. For some, it’s totally different to how they like to live, others will be nodding their heads with a total understanding of what I’m saying. So that’s how I went about planning our recent holiday. We planned to be in each city for a limited time and with so much to fit in, we didn’t intent to waste precious hours each day planning the next day’s activities. So we departed Australia with a diary of what we planned to see and do.
Of course, plans change, especially when you’re in an unfamiliar city. I like to think I’m flexible enough to go with the flow. And we did. With just two days of sightseeing in the American capital, I learnt how quickly plans can change and how fantastic it is when you not only experience what was planned but lots more again. Let me explain.

On arriving in Washington the weather forecasts for the following day were not looking so good for our planned visit to Arlington National Cemetery. There was rain forecast and lots of it. So we opted for the indoor options – the White House Visitor Centre, the National Museum of American History, a trolley tour around DC and the Newseum. At the end of day one we still had so much we wanted to see and just one day to do it in. As a result, day two went something like this.

7.45am 
Cab to Arlington National Cemetery. Gates opened at 8am. John F Kennedy’s grave and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

9.15am – 10.30am
Walk to Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the obligatory photo outside the White House

11am
Hop in the lift to the top of the Washington Monument to take in the views of Washington

11.30am
Visit the National Sculpture Garden and US Botanic Garden. Stopping to take dozens of photos of the stunning US Capitol building and National Mall along the way

1pm
Visit the US Capitol. Sit in the gallery to watch debate in the US House of Representatives

3pm
Grab a quick hotdog for lunch and head for the Jefferson Memorial.

4pm
Hop on the trolley for a tour of Georgetown and embassies

5.30pm
Head to Union Station for a little bit of shopping and dinner

6.30pm
Dinner at Union Station

7.30pm
Walk from Union Station via the US Capitol building to our hotel to rest our weary legs.

By the end of the day we were exhausted, but thrilled with all that we had seen. Take a look at our route on Google Maps and some photos we took along the way.

A return to blogging

View of the incredible Central Park. It was love at first sight.

I’m back in the blogging world after a break and an overseas adventure.
It’s been an eventful few weeks filled with amazing experiences, sights and sounds, romance and plenty of shopping thrown in on top. If you’re wondering what I’m referring to, my hubby and I recently spent two and a bit weeks in the United States and celebrated our third wedding anniversary in the amazing city of New York.

Our destinations included San Francisco, Washington DC and New York. It had been a while since hubby and I had shared a holiday just the two of us. We’ve had a few breaks in recent years but we’ve holidayed with family members. That has been lovely, but it’s always wonderful to have some ‘us’ time and with the dollar so strong, it was time to cross America off our must visit list, or at least partly cross off. After this, our first visit, we’re keen to go back at some stage in the future.

I plan to share a small selection of our photos here on my blog and some of the experiences we had in the US. And I'll be sure to include details of our shopping expeditions - including a marathon seven hours.

We've come home relaxed and actually feeling like we've had a holiday. It's back to work tomorrow for me and I'm hoping the post-holiday blues steer clear.

I’ve been reading all about the Aussie blogging conference and it sounds like everyone had a fantastic time meeting fellow bloggers and exchanging and sharing information, tips and experiences. Sadly I missed the conference. I was really looking forward to attending, but we’d already booked our holiday when the dates were announced. Next time!

A little break

It's been a bit quiet here at the purple notepad. It's been a hectic time in the month or so since my last post. I must admit the creative juices haven't been flowing freely. I think I've been overthinking a lot of it.

So time for a little update. My hubby and I heading off on holiday. I'm looking forward to some much needed time away from work and some precious time with my hubby. We'll celebrate my birthday, our third wedding anniversary and 10 wonderful years since we met. It's been an amazing journey for both of us, there have been many, many ups and the occasional down, but the ride has been incredible. It's an exciting time, looking back at the past decade (yikes, feeling a little old) and looking to the future and all that we have planned together.

To sum up (I got a little off track) I'll be away from the purple notepad for a little while, but will be back fresh and super keen to share some photos and experiences.

See you soon!

Saver or spender?

 

My hubby and I have a long list of projects and goals we want to complete over the next 12 months and like most things in life, they’re going to cost us money and lots of it.

My way of working out a budget often involves standing in the shower or sitting on the train and roughly calculating our income and then convincing myself we’ll spend way below it, thus saving lots of money and said goals become doable. Sometimes I get there, sometimes I don’t.

My hubby is the opposite; he works best with spreadsheets and figures. All reasons as to why I chose a career in journalism and writing instead of economics or science. My brain is just not wired that way. Plus I’m a Pisces and we’re known as the creative, dreamy ones. The one contradiction here is that I am a planner and organiser. I have to know what is happening, when and how I will deal with it.

So, back to the budget, I’m the spender and optimist and hubby is the saver and realist, veering a bit too close to pessimist for my liking. Actually a small clarification, I can save when I really really want something, like my 3 month European holiday and deposit for our first house. But generally, I’m pretty good at spending.

So to avoid tension, my hubby sat down and spent a number of hours (yes hours) on our household budget for the next 12 months. He did the hard yards, calculated our incoming and most of our outgoings. Sitting down and actually working out what you spend can be a huge shock. All the little things you don’t think about that can add up to significant savings, like a bought lunch, in my case a hot chocolate every day. So my little bit of advice here is if you have the patience and the courage to sit down and work out a budget, I really recommend it. But once you do it, you really need to stick to it. Otherwise you have wasted your time.

Ok, back to our budget. The verdict: our budget is good. It’s detailed, realistic and achievable. Hopefully.

As I mentioned we have a list of projects and goals – mostly household renovations like a new kitchen, new carpet and blinds. The biggest goal for me apart from the new kitchen and carpet is an overseas holiday. I’ve been overseas four times, twice with my husband and I love it. Our last overseas trip was our honeymoon two and a bit years ago in Malaysia and I’m super keen to travel overseas again. There’s something magical about jetting off with your passport in your hand for an overseas adventure. Totally worth all the scrimping and saving.

So for me, I pretty much just wanted to know we could safely spend money on an overseas holiday. And you’ll be pleased to know, I am thrilled with the answer! Holiday planning begins...