I ♥ NY

First day of my 40s... an early morning stroll across the Brooklyn Bridge.

Greetings from New York! Well, technically I'm no longer in NYC, but I'm still in New York State... up in the Catskills in an old one room schoolhouse which has been converted into a sweet little cottage. I am completely surrounded by trees, grass, streams and sky. It is bliss.

The celebration of my birth-day was more amazing than I could ever have imagined - five of my loveliest friends made sure that I had the most amazing time and I love them so much for it.

We started the day with a trip to Tiffany & Co. Two of our party had arrived a little earlier and informed the staff of our plans, so as I walked through the revolving door in my LBD, I was greeted by the doorman (and about ten other staff) with a resounding "Happy Birthday!" and an invitation to enjoy some champagne in a private room. Total VIP treatment! We then spent two hours enjoying lots of trying on and purchasing, then went to the Loeb Boathouse in Central Park for lunch. After lunch we got to recreate one of my favourite chapters from one of my favourite childhood books (Elizabeth Enright's "The Saturdays") and took rowboats out on the lake. Then it was a stroll through Central Park and martinis on the rooftop of 230 Fifth, directly facing the Empire State Building. A quick trip back to the apartment to change for dinner and it was off to Balthazar in Soho for more festivities. What an amazing day.

In fact the only glitch in the whole day was the total lack of communication from my so-called-Bestie-P, who couldn't even be bothered to call, text, email, skype or facebook me to wish me a happy birthday. I had a minor meltdown during dinner with the subsequent result that I was too tired and emotional to actually last until the end of the night and had to be taken home to bed, which spoilt things somewhat, but luckily I was with a wonderful group of women who understood what I was going through.

Our friendship has been pretty rocky the last few months - I think Bestie P feels like I've abandoned her and I feel like she resents me for moving to Melbourne and starting a new life - but to be so petty as to not even wish me a happy 40th birthday is pretty much a dealbreaker for me, especially given both her sisters (one of whom I've never even met!) both sent me lovely messages on the day. It's been 6 days and I've still not heard from her... now I'm not sure I actually want to, except that I am godmother to her children and feel like I've been pushed out of their lives because of her issues with me.

But I'm not going to dwell on it.

I have five wonderful friends (the Two S Wives, the Two Blonde Amazons and Edina, as they've been nicknamed on the trip) who made sure that I had the most fantastic week of my life and I made a couple of lovely new friends (Snoop and 25-Second-Matt) who both went to massive efforts to make sure I had a great time even though they'd only just met me. For these seven individuals I am filled with love and incredibly grateful for each and every one of them.

And that's more than enough.

In fact, to quote one Bernice Pruitt...

My cup runneth over.

x