What is Your Starbucks Name?

Right, so a bit of a delay on the blog updates. But I have big stuff to show for it -we found a place. Let me rephrase - we found a shoebox with bedrooms! At 1,200 sq ft it's meant to be "generous" Manhattan accommodation. At least on the Upper West Side. Funny that - the apartments seem to be directly in opposite proportion to the size of, well, just about everything else.

Spending copious amounts of time at Starbucks. To those of you in Europe or Australia, this may sound HORRIFIC. But let me say, if you want espresso based coffee, Starbucks has the market cornered here (and seriously on EVERY corner!). Here's this blog's dilemma: What do you say your name is when they ask? I started innocently by saying "Nova" to which I received the following responses:
* Did you say NON Fat?
* Melva?
* Nadia?
* Because we need to call you.
After a few attempts at honesty, I started saying my son's name "Hayden", to which I usually end up accepting will become Kayden, Brayden or Aiden. But then my partner suggested I put on an exaggerated Yankee accent and say "Jen-uh-FER". Coming from an Aussie this was ridiculously funny. Especially considering the response would very likely be, "Jonathan?" - correct! So we came up with some other Starbucks names that, when yelled out, would provide serious entertainment:
*(With a straight face) "Serial Killer" - "Serial Killer, Double Tall Non-fat Latte for Serial Killer?"
* Biatch (or Bee-atch, to which you can say "WHAT did you just say!?")
* Tyrone (but only if you are a white blond girl, try "Sarah" if you are a six-foot-six black man)
* Coffee (say it with a Parisian accent - the guy writing it is never the guy yelling the name)
* Aussie (use when you miss home, then yell in response: AUSSIE AUSSIE - OI OI OI!)

Don't fear you won't be believed - I met a guy named Breakfast this week!

Bigger and Better

There is a saying that in Texas everything is bigger and better. Apparently those Yanks didn't make it far enough north to see how inadequate their little ranch ramblings were because in the BIG Apple BIG takes on new dimensions.

Our first night we arrive at our serviced apartment in Murray Hill (visitors, don't bother with this area - BORING!). There are no take away menus in the room, nor is there a phone book. So we look out our seventh floor window and see a pizza place across the street advertising it's number. Perfect. We order a couple of large pizzas (er, here that is PIE) - we're hungry.

Not hungry enough. The pizzas arrived and I stood in front of the delivery guy aghast - were the boxes going to fit through the doorway? These puppies were the approximate size of our coffee table. Inside was more horrifying - each slice was big enough to serve as a tank top for my four year old. Oh my God, are they serious?!

And bigger is something I am adjusting to - the Footlocker is the size of the ANZ stadium, the Toys R Us is the biggest in the world - boasting a full sized ferris wheel ride inside, and the gargantuan sized meals everywhere you go make you shiver with disgust. But we're learning. We hit shops when they open to avoid the masses of people that fill the masses of space and we order "starters" instead of "entrees" (yes, yes, that's what they call the entrees and mains, but that's for another day).