i heart NY

I just had an exhausting weekend in the Big Apple...I survived the crushing crowds of Christmas crazed shoppers on Fifth Avenue and took in the spectacle that is the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular (so cheesy but something to cross off on my once in a lifetime list) and the chorus line moves of the infamous Rockettes. Also, got in some great runs in Central Park. I succumbed to a Sex and the City tour of New York which sounded ridiculous but actually brought me to some areas of NY that I had never before explored. Found a great little maternity shop in the Village which I photographed obsessively. NY mums are interesting (well, at least the ones that I saw): firstly, all of them are dressed to kill with Gucci belt bags, Prada sunglasses, Kate Spade nappy bags and the latest in Bugaboo. I swear I have never seen more Bugaboo than in NYC. Bleeker playground in the Village (a very posh area known as the home of SJP, Liv Tyler and a long list of celebrity mums) was the hub of well-heeled mums and their bubs. Everyone had a pram that probably cost more than my car...And the children! Dressed in baby North Face (expensive American outwear), Burberry and Gap, NY kids look just as amazing as their mothers. I didnt notice as maternity shops as much as I noticed the overwhelming number of specialty children's clothing shops and baby accessory stores. Strangely enough, I was flipping through the channels in a moment of brief shopping respite in my hotel room and landed upon an interview with Liz Lange, the doyenne of fashionable maternity wear here in the US. Lange started her business in the early 90s and was basically the first designer to do stretchy material for pregnancy..and look how far we have come! Her big break was in 1996 when Cindy Crawford was pregnant with her first child and considering the choices at the time were pretty minimal, Crawford only wore Liz Lange and the rest is history. Lange is exclusively contracted to supply maternity wear for all Target stores here (too bad Target Australia doesn't contract her as well!). She has a pretty amazing story and I am hoping to make contact with her in the next few weeks.