Goodbye

After a bit of 'gentle' persuasion from my fans (thank you Angela Shelton), a couple of glasses of Malbec and a night in with the pooch, I've decided it's time to update you on the final chapter of our time in NYC and put the 'Gravestones do NYC' blog to bed - calm down Angela, I'm not hanging up my blogging boots - watch this space!!!

I remember claiming in my last post that the littlest man in my life had 'turned my world upside down.' Little did I know that at the end of April, as I lay on the sofa recovering from an op to remove my ruptured appendix, the biggest man in my life was about to turn my world in a totally unimaginable direction - in fact as always he had to take it one step further and literally walk out of it.

Sadly my final memories of NYC are of losing my amazing dad (the Turk) and rushing back to the UK to say goodbye. It's hard to know where to take this post from here, what my fellow Margraves and I have experienced over the past five months is indescribable. Personally I'm not entirely sure I have got over the shock and half imagine him walking in bellowing, 'you making the tea Donks?'

If I'm totally honest a lot of my grief so far has been for my son, after all I know what a total dude the Turk was, with his larger than life personality, magnetic yet-not-entirely-pc sense of humour and his amazing ability to simply just make everything ok, but Huds will never experience this for himself. And while I'm at it, I'm also pretty bitter that dad will never get to see what an absolutely amazing little boy Hudson is becoming. They are missing out on each other and so far not a day's gone when I haven't thought about this. Yet every time I look at Huds with his big blue eyes, multiple chins, trademark mop and infectious laughter, I see my dad and that's where I find my peace. There simply wasn't enough room in the world for two such big personalities and not being a fan of growing old, dad graciously stepped out and let Huds steal the show. I'm just eternally grateful that they got to spend the first month of Hud's life together and that I got to spend some quality time with dad away from the stresses of work - January 2015 will always be one of the most precious months of my life.

Mum's birthday bash 

Accepting Dad's Lifetime Achievement Award

I've got a lot of love for these ladies

However despite our tragic loss I want to let you know that the Margraves are doing OK. The love and support we have received from our nearest and dearest has been overwhelming, from close family members and friends who've been there with us every step of the way, to mum's girls who provided daily meals on wheels until we got back on our feet - not forgetting the bottles of wine that arrived from America (thanks Catherine Whyte), words can't explain our gratitude. Of course we all have our moments but I am so proud of my fellow Margraves for their unbelievable courage and strength and strangely feel lucky to still have such an amazing family that is closer than ever. I know the Turk would be so proud too!

Ironically the weekend before dad gave me a big bear hug and left NYC to return to the Big Smoke - following a month on the IPAs and a diet of burgers - I decided to throw him a bit of a leaving bash at Central Park's Tavern on the Green. Thanks to mum this wasn't the last party for me in the Big Apple, as in June she offered to take master Stone off my hands for three nights so that I could rejoin Jonny for a few care-free days and nights of NYC fun, and what fun it was. Ticking off a final few bucket list entries, namely a trip up to the newly opened observation deck of One World Trade, dinner at Gramercy Tavern and a marathon walk in Central Park with the pooch, it was seeing my NYC chums that made the trip. There's no denying we made the right decision to come home, after all there is no place like home, but what I wouldn't give for a bottomless brunch with the girls (and bubbas of course), I miss you all, thanks for making our time in NYC unforgettable. Xxx

Home is where The Hud is

It was just a casual Saturday night when Jonny and I decided to head off to the Paris Cinema (Carrie Bradshaw's fave) - as one does when living in the heart of Manhattan. Little did we know that less than 5 hours later, pillow in hand, I'd be throwing my door keys at the doorman, so Margot could be fed, and rushing out onto the street to hail a yellow cab to New York Presbyterian Hospital, 68th Street and York Avenue (I had memorized the address, as quite frankly these NY taxi drivers are no London black cabbies)!!! I'll leave that story there and skip to the best bit, this face:

Yep, at 6.44am on Sunday 14th December 2014 - three weeks early - Hudson Leo arrived in the world and was handed to two utterly gobsmacked parents. It has always been a running joke in my family that if I ever gave birth none of them wanted to be in the same country as me, given my rather non-existent pain threshold and the fact I am a complete hypercondriac, so as luck would have it here I was across the pond in NYC - poor Jonny was unable to escape. 

I'm not sure how I imagined this little dude's arrival, in fact I think I tried desperately not to imagine it, but all I can remember now is Jonny's first words: "bloody hell look at the size of his balls" - I'm guessing it's a boy then Jonny! Followed by bursting into tears as I introduced the biddies (and Chops as luck would have it) to their first grand child via FaceTime. It was emotional, amazing and to be honest pretty terrifying but now nearly 12 weeks on, I can't imagine life without my little man and feel so blessed that I am the first one to be greeted by his gorgeous smile each morning - I could however do without the 2am and 5am meets. 

Look at that face. Oh how we've moved on from the first days as a newborn, getting to grips with the burping technique... "blimey, what are you trying to do to me mummy?!" Poor thing, thank goodness Nanny Goat and Granddad Turk arrived a few days later to offer a few words of advice, followed by a helping hand from Nanna and Bumpa Stone, who are already well versed in the art of grand-parenting.

So now our visitors have gone, Margot is back in her orthopaedic dog bed, Hudson even has a new girlfriend Holly, and life is getting back to normal - well a whole new normal that is - and I'm loving every second with my boys. 

We've also made the hard but exciting decision to move back to the UK in September - it was either that or Rita was moving out here and Margot says there is simply just not enough room in her bed! No, seriously we have had the most amazing experience in NYC but all great things have to come to end and our time is definitely up. Yet while we are excited to introduce you all to Hudson and settle back into life at home, we have a summer of fun, fun, fun, planned here before we depart, so watch this space!!! Actually, manage your expectations just a little as we do have a bubba now ;-).

L xxx

Dirty little leaf peepers

If you ask Jonny or I what we'd expect from a dream holiday, cocktails, sea, sunshine and amazing food would definitely feature high on the priority list - that along with lazing on a sun lounger and doing little else. Picture us in St Lucia, the Maldives or somewhere equally exotic with Jonny in his trademark Lobster-print Ted Baker trunks (ok maybe don't picture that bit), but you get the idea. Now rid your mind of far flung adventures in paradise because for our last 'vacation' before the not-so-wee Stone arrives we headed up norf, where we were greeted by rain, spent most of our time in wellies and got rudely awoken by a very excited pooch every morning! But we had the best time...

Cool runnings
After bundling Margot's worldly belongings into the hire car and a few bits for ourselves, we hit the open road en route to Lake Placid in the Andirondack Mountains, New York. It was a four hour journey and as we neared the mountain district the scenery was breathtaking. We'd hired a little cottage that I spied on Air BnB (another first for the Stones), which was really cute and the best part was that it had a garden for Margs who was in her element.

Margot's room!

Making a name for itself by hosting the Winter Olympic Games in 1932 and again in 1980, Lake Placid  was an adventurer's dream. Leaving aside the bobsled slope and hairy mountain hikes, we spent many an hour leaf-peeping at the fall foliage and generally soaking up the cozy alpine atmosphere and marvelling at the famous Mirror Lake that sits in the centre of town. 

The Mirror Lake

Put me down goddammit!!!

Three words: Vermont Maple Syrup

Next stop on the Stone's freedom tour was Vermont. I'd heard a lot about how beautiful this state was in the fall but I'd be telling porkies if I said I wasn't more excited for the copious amounts of maple syrup I planned to eat on pancakes, a trip to the Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Factory and lunch at Burlington's American Flatbread pizza restaurant!

I think Margot was dreaming about the food too

Taking the car ferry across picturesque Lake Chamberlain - unfortunately it was pouring with rain - we arrived in Burlington just in time for lunch - how funny ;-) - and so made a quick stop before heading on to the cute village of Stowe where we had booked to spend a couple of nights in a mountain lodge complete with fire. It felt like Christmas! Stowe was such a quaint little town and the people were so friendly, no running into your ankles with trolleys like they do in Whole Foods, oh no.

This one's for you Pip!

Did you know Ben and Jerry's best seller is Cherry Garcia? I had my money on Half Baked!

It's a dog's life

The Maine event 

Short but very sweet, we bid farewell to Vermont, jumped in the wagon and drove five hours through New Hampshire's White Mountain National Forest to our final destination in the little seaside village of Kennebunkport in Maine, where George Bush also has a holiday home. I'd done a lot of research into the route we should take for optimal fall leaf-peeping and despite the downpour the Kancamagus Highway didn't disappoint and allowed us to arrive in perfect time for some lobster bisque and clam chowder, mmm.

Words cannot do this little town justice, so here's a few piccies to give you a flavour…

The view from the back of our motel room

The Bush abode

Ball + beach = happy pooch

Bit late for leaf-peeping here, oops!

Margot was considering staying and becoming a country pooch

Sadly it was time to wave goodbye to Maine and make our way home to the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple. I wonder what our next holiday will have in store…

Summer of 2014

As the sun sets on an awesome first summer in NYC - well as good as you can get without being able to partake in roof top drinking sessions - I thought it about time I dust down the computer and get my fingers tapping to update you on what's been occurring across the pond.

                                     The view from our new Manhattan pad

You probably all know by now that the Gravestone's summer got off to a shocker (good shock) of a start in April when the discovery was made that a baby Stone was brewing. Excited as we were - aside from Margot, I fear her excitement for the arrival is somewhat limited - panic ensued as we found ourselves trying to understand the confusion that is the US private health system. I'm not entirely convinced we're there yet, or in fact ever will be, but we have a doctor at least and a hospital and the once pebble seems to be growing into a rather big stone, so everything is gravy (fingers crossed, I'm a self-confessed pessimist).

The Moon
Our wonderful whirlwind wedding in Landan Town made it pretty impossible for us to have a honeymoon after the big day, so in May Jonny and I made the mammoth journey across to the other side of the US and beyond, arriving on the stunning island of Tahiti in French Polynesia. Ooo ahhh! It was beautiful, so lushiously green and tropical, and most of our time was spent sipping drinks by the pool and dining Tahitian style at the Roulottes - mobile dinners that set up shop on the Vaiete Square in Papeete.

Is it a mermaid??

But as if that wasn't exotic enough, our next stop was Tahiti's magical little sister Moorea, where on arriving at the hotel we discovered we'd been assigned the cabin on sticks (yep, just like the ones you see on the Seychelles adverts) next door to the dolphin pond!!! And you say I'm never happy Jonny…

I'm in para para paradise

I wasn't allowed to swim with the dolphins because of the insurance so I had to make do with me snorkel. Think the mermaid look is more me

The British landing… and a few Irish

Earlier this summer we also had a visit from two of my besties, aka the Jolly! From first class luxury on Virgin to a blowup bed on the floor in our former Brooklyn abode we had an absolute blast pretty much eating and drinking our way around the city - Olly V's food style! We also managed to squeeze in a trip to Coney Island and a stop off at one of Jonny's faves David Burke's Kitchen on Grand Street in SoHo, mainly for the chocolate cake dessert, which I believe you may have passed out through Olly?! Ha

Just in case we forgot where we were Jonny helpfully wore his Brooklyn hoodie AGAIN!!!

Next up was a visit from the Stones, who in between a quick trip up to Cape Cod, also managed to sample plenty NYC cuisine, my favourite being at the West Village branch of Sushi Samba. It was a fabulous evening catching up and the food was delicious - and that's coming from someone who was not so quietly dribbling in the corner as the other three devoured raw fish after raw fish, complete with running commentary. The Stones do like to talk about their food as they eat it! 

Finally to wrap to up, the mothership made an appearance and the two of us drove off into the sunset bound for the Jersey shore. Think we were too busy chin-wagging as I don't seem to have any pictures.

Lauren day

Contrary to popular belief (my dad and Jonny) not every day is Lauren day so when it comes around once a year in August I do tend to get myself into a bit of a tizzy adamant that I must have the BEST DAY EVER!!! and this year I can honestly say was a bloody corker. Thanks to my trusty Irish lad, I felt like a princess - despite failing to win this year's card count against the Turk. I'm back next year for a re-match!!

First up I got the mother of all presents, my very own LV bag complete with initials - I felt like the girl from St Louis in the Sex in the City movie, no rental for me, oh no, followed up by a trip to Hakkasan New York. Given that we got engaged in the London equivalent exactly a year ago, I felt a little teary as I sipped on my berry cocktail at the bar before devouring the most amazing crispy duck and pancakes I have ever tasted. My dessert even had a candle. Oh Jonny, I'm so excited for next year!!

The next day donning our pearls and flapper dresses, a bunch of us took the ferry over to Governor's Island for the annual Jazz Age Lawn Party. The 'prohibition gathering,' was so much fun, with tons of vintage stalls, Charleston dance lessons and tasty food, what more could a girl ask for. 

There's no place like home

Ok, so this year it appeared the 16th August was to be over shadowed by a slightly larger event, that involved a hog roast to feed a small village, a rave tent at the bottom of the garden, a sterling play list thanks to Olly and some rather large cardboard cut outs of mum as Marilyn Monroe and Cleopatra and dad's face plastered on Golum from Lord of the Rings. Happy 60th birthday to the biddies and what an amazing bash it was. Even the Brazilian cleaners had the time of their lives, throwing some shapes on the dance floor with my parent's amazing nearest and dearest - apart from little Luce, who was greatly missed :(. The Turk even made a tear jerking speech - crowd pleaser! 

As well as the big 6-0, dad was also celebrating his retirement while I was at home, which was a truly amazing evening. I felt proud as punch as more and more of his colleagues took to the microphone to talk about him - some nice things, some, well, not so nice. Ha ha, but that's why we love him. 

The bus making its way round London, did you see it? 

While I was at home enjoying some much needed TLC, a good curry night with the girls and a trip to the farm with my gorgeous god daughter Sophie…

Jonny was left holding the fort back in the Big Apple. He assured me that everything was under control, but I'm not so sure…

 Thank god our buddies Tash and Al were on hand to help out with the unruly pooch. In fact Margot had such a splendid time at chez Murg/Mic that it's like a second home...

And Jonny did manage to find us a marvellous Manhattan pad, which is just perfect. All in all it's been a pretty great summer, come on fall we're ready for you!

Fabulous February

It's been a busy month, what with 6am starts at New York Fashion Week (get your violins out for me people), Jonny's birthday, visitors and gigs - I love my life right now! So without wanting to bore you, here are the highlights:

1. Step into Wonderland
Let's start with the important stuff. Welcome to Alice Tea Cup - such a highlight of the month I have been there thrice. Having always been a huge fan of afternoon tea - I stick my pinky finger out at the mere thought of it - discovering that Alice Tea Cup had not one, but three chapters (aka locations) throughout the city, was a pretty spectacular day. As a British girl who loves nothing more than a good brew, this little gem has a tea list to rival all others; it's just a shame I can't seem to get past the 'Extra Fancy Earl Grey' (It's nearly as good a trip to the Crane household!). And when my buddy Becky arrived last week, I even managed to pass the Upper East Side cafe off as a tourist attraction, just so I could sample another pumpkin and caramel scone. Seriously good!

2. The BIG day
Sorry for cutting off your head Jonny! After a few too many vinos I clearly got my priorities straight and thought it more important to get the birthday pudding in shot instead of my husband's head. It's ok, he's not got much on top, so as another year passes by maybe for the best?! - unless it's Saturday of course when he likes to wear Pippa's winge (wig-fringe for those who need explanation)...

Jonny's birthday fell on a Monday this year, which turned out to be a bit rubbish when it comes to attractions in a very snowy NYC - or at least any the boy was particularly interested in - so we amused ourselves the best way legal aliens of the city should, with copious amounts of food and drink (you'll notice a theme to my blogs). First up was a trip to a Cafe Luluc, a cute French cafe around the corner from our apartment block for breakfast pancakes, followed by a slap up meal at Buddakan, an Asian fusion restaurant in Chelsea. Mmmm

3. It's that time again
As SATC's Carrie Bradshaw once said: "Every year the woman of New York leave their past behind them and look to the future…. It's called Fashion Week." Can you believe that this year I was one of those ladies???!!! Yet, as excited as I was to get behind the scenes at the shows, as the week loomed closer, reality hit and I began to dread the early starts, snotty fashionistas and standing around waiting for shows to begin. I imagine it's a different story for the Anna Wintour's of the world, who leisurely arrive in cars to take their rightful place on the 'frow' (front row) - alas my time is yet to come. A seasoned reporter backstage at the London shows, this Fashion Week came with the added obstacles that being in a new city - in ridiculously cold temperatures - brings. Needless to say I spent a lot of time willing my dying iPhone battery to survive long enough to guide me to the next show and sweet talking a LOT of people to let me backstage once I arrived. Moaning my way through the week (sorry Jonny and a few of the girls), I was determined to remember what an amazing opportunity I had been given and as I arrived for celebratory end-of-fashion-week tea and HobKnobs with the ladies following my last show, I was feeling pretty damn pleased with myself.

4. Party time's over pooch
Finally Margot is fit as a fiddle, fully vaccinated and ready to hit the streets. Well that's the way I see it, she has other ideas, seemingly preferring to chase me round the apartment nipping my ankles rather than taking a step outside on her lead. Even some stern words from 'Nanny Rita' on FaceTime haven't done the trick. Well pooch, have I got news for you; next Saturday we are off to our first puppy class to teach you some manners!