Don't dress up as Mr T

Ben Knight, our erstwhile photographer's assistant dressed up as Mr T for a party. This involved gluing a mohawk style wig to his head, of course. A week later he still had a bright red and painful welt across his head. Ten days in, it's fading...have a look here. The moral of the story? You decide.

Happy Christmas from Glen Dye

That's it really. happy -very cold- Christmas. this is the drive up to our house. Pedlars Towers is 100 metres further. It was 10 degrees below this morning.

Our favourite Christmas Trees, New York and Glen Dye

Here are some of our favourite Christmas Trees. The big one is at the Rockefeller Centre; it really is huge...goodness knows how they get that one up. The black and white blurry one is at The Mercer, New York. It's a bit blurry because it was late at night..... And the other one is one we put at Glen Dye this year, outside. We have always had a positive spin on outdoor lights. Okay, they may not be very environmentally friendly, but although some people see them as little more than trying to beat or keep up with The Joneses, we see them as spreading joy. So there. Happy Christmas.

Stain Boy by Tim Burton

Stain Boy is his name. He's better than Super Man.

Cafe Coloniale, New York

Cafe Coloniale is at the top of Elizabeth Street on Houston. It's much less hip than other local hang-outs like Gitanes, but it's a good place for coffee or lunch and you can generally get a table. There's a vague Brazialian theme. This is the main counter, which we like.

The High Line, New York

The High Line was the raised railway that ran most of the length of Manhattan, on the West Side. It was built in the 1930s, as part of a scheme called The west Side Improvement. It was abandoned for many years. A chunk has recently been revitalised as a wonderful raised urban park, and was opened to the public in June of this year. The views are great and there are shrubs and benches and viewing points. the High Line is being extended as we write. It is the sort of simple, engaging, innocent urban planning that makes us green with envy: New York at it's best. Here are a couple of views.

Great Clocks, New York

It's funny how few really lovely municipal clocks from last century we have in the UK. There aren't that many in New York either, but here are two that we love. The one on the left is in Chelsea Market which is one of the most inspiring food markets we have ever been to. The one on the right is on Mercer Street.

Crew Cuts, New York

We mentioned it a few days ago. But today we went to another Crew Cuts, the children's line of the fast-improving J Crew. There isn't a better children's range anywhere. Well, not one that we've seen anyway.

Go To The Top Of The Rock, New York

We've discovered that the Rockefeller Centre is much better for views of The Big Apple than The Empire State Building. The latter is more iconic, of course, but the queues are much longer and the views just aren't as good. You can see all of downtown and midtown to the south of the Rockefeller, and to the north you also get a great view of uptown and Central Park. We always go at dusk. This time it was superb.

Jack's Coffee & Cafe Colombe, New York

The Americans have a thing about coffee. They really care about it, and know their stuff. Not as much as the Italians, perhaps, but better than most places in the UK (except Coffee Plant, or Monmouth or Hawarden Estate Farm Shop perhaps). Anyway, given what a strong relationship Americans have with coffee, it is amazing how little great coffee there is in New York. We are pretty snobby about coffee, but we both drink espresso and, well, you either get that right or wrong....there's nowhere to hide. Our two favourite types of places in NYC are Cafe Colombe (scattered around downtown, seek them out) and anywhere that serves Jack's Coffee. Here's a picture of our eldest son Jack, and a sign telling him that great coffee is just around the corner. By the way, that's one of those Canada Goose parkas he's wearing. They really are the business. The other snap is of a neon sign in Cafe Colombe on Lafayette.

A diner like they don't make anymore, New York

This is The Corner Deli, on Lafayette, just south of Prince. It's hard to get a seat as they only have a short counter, and most people get take aways, but in the spring and summer you can sit outside. The food is predictably great, but it's the look of the place that we love. It reminds us of all that we first loved about the US on our first visits.

Danger! Wet Pavements. New York.

We spotted this on the pavement in New York on a wet evening. We weren't sure if it referred to the whole city or just this particular bit of sidewalk.

Best for Downtown People Watching, New York.

However hard we look, we can't find a more lovely place for breakfast than The Mercer Kitchen. The food is good, of course, but what is so lovely is the room -which is always full- and the fact that it sits on the intersection of Mercer and Spring Street and so you can sit and watch people traipsing by on their way to work or whatever. People Watching is one of life's great pleasures. And it doesn't get better than this.

Skating USA. New York

If you find yourself in New York during the Holiday Season it is almost obligatory to go skating. The Rockefeller Centre is the most popular rink, but it's small and often massively crowded. Try the Trump Rink at the south of Central Park instead. The changing rooms are pretty grotty (we doubt that the bequiffed magnate would enjoy that bit of his rink), but the skating is great and the view is spectacular.

Found. Vintage School Chairs in New York.

We came across about 100 of these in New York, from the early 1960s. They are for young children, from a school, somewhere just outside the city. We're shipping them soon and so they should be available for sale sometime in January. There's an amazing amount of good vintage stuff in the US, although it is often hard to uncover it, and shipping is neither easy or cheap. Interestingly enough, we tried to buy some New York destination blinds like those we sell from Britain. Two different dealers told us that Pedlars had made them so popular, worldwide, that they were becoming scarce and expensive. We're victims of our own success.

Charis Bike Company, New York

Jack is into fixed wheel biking and so we had a good look at some of the cooler bike shops in NYC. Anyway, Charis was the best and we liked their opening hours.

Spotted in a Window, New York

New Yorkers do retail better than almost anyone else (except the Japanese, perhaps). There are some fabulous shop windows this week. This wasn't one of them, but at least it plays it straight.

Mercer Hotel Lobby, New York

Fashionable hotels come and go in New York. The Crosby Street Hotel has joined the ranks in SoHo and is getting some great reviews (although we didn't much like the look of it). But The Mercer remains the best of them all. Twelve years on it still looks and feels fresh. Like all of our photos, this is taken on an iPhone, and so it isn't the best quality. But just look at that wonderful colour. Everything about The Mercer remains perfect; friendly, warm, efficient, unstuffy. The doorman even greets Caroline with a kiss. Yes, it is expensive, but, well, we're not in The Big Apple every day...

No Guns, No Smoking, New York

If you go to HSBC on Broadway, don't smoke and leave your gun at home.

Tim Burton Exhibition, MoMA, New York

It seems like the Tim Burton exhibition at MoMA is one of the hits of the year. Wherever we go, interesting people are talking about it. It IS very good; in fact it made us see Burton's work (which we liked anyway) in a fresh light. There are some wonderfully bizarre contraptions, some bits and pieces from his films and hundreds and hundreds of drawings, all of which are presented in a lovely hickeldy-pickeldy way. The show cleverly takes visitors through the evolution of Burton's work, from his first commission onwards. MoMA might have made a mistake putting this memorable show in a rather small space; it was mobbed when we went and incredibly. So, avoid Fridays when entry to the museum is free.

Barbeque Bike New York

We found this in a bike shop. As far as we can see this children's bike was originally made with the barbeque attached to the front; it looked like it dated from the 1970s. Yours for $500.

Freeman's Sporting Club, New York

Freeman's Sporting Club is a lovely, relaxed and perennially fashionable restaurant tucked away down Freeman's Alley in downtown NYC, a short hop from Bowery. The food is the best kind of comfort food; incredible macaroni cheese, artichoke dip, burgers and salad, and all served in a series of rooms that look like something out of an Upstate hunting lodge. There's a lovely bar to sit at as you wait for service (and you will have to wait...the place is generally full). The service is friendly if chaotic. At the other end of the alley Freeman's also have a traditional men's barber and a clothing shop selling the sort of authentic men's kit that is so hip at the moment; tweed jackets, tartan shirts, boots, that sort of thing.

Farmer's Market, New York.

We spotted these beautiful posters for a Farmer's Market that happened last year. Another example of great letterpress.

Gitanes, New York.

Gitanes is great; a French/Moroccan place on Mott and Prince, where the guys behind the bar wear those lovely old workwear jackets; blue for the bar staff, orange for the sous chefs and cooks. It is always humming and offers its own take on standard NY fare; baked eggs with tomato and basil, avocado on toast with chili, fruit salad with fresh mint. A really friendly, cool little place; in fact the sort of place that can only exist in New York. That huge yellow till actually works and that's a sort of shrine to Hendrix on the wall.

View from 28th floor, New York.

We went to visit our friends Ed and Rosanna on 9oth and Madison this morning. Here are two views from their window, taken on my iPhone using an app called Tiltshift.

More great packaging, New York.

Spotted in Dean and Deluca, fantastic packaging from California. Eye-wateringly expensive sweets, but almost worth it. There's a lot of letterpress about in New York this year and quite a bit of wax sealing too.

Smoke Quietly, New York.

We spotted this on the way back to the hotel last night. We know what they mean, but...

New York, J Crew.

Until a year ago J Crew was a pretty boring mid-range retailer of clothes for adults and children. But someone smart has got hold of it, and it is now definitely worth a look. The children's range, crewcuts, is probably the best bit. But there are a couple of really good men's shops downtown in New York, too. The best is The Liquor Store in Tribeca, and there's a good one on Broadway. They really do things well, mixing vintage bits and bobs with some proper heritage brands (from Red Wing to Mackintosh) and their 'normal' stuff. If you like great shops, check these out.

New York. Le Labo is Spreading

Do you know Le Labo? It started life -a few years ago- on Elisabeth Street in SoHo. It is one of those companies that got things completely right; scents, creams and candles, most of which are made in front of you on the premises, with personalised packaging so you can write pretty much any message you like on the -very chic- packaging. Anyway, they are now in Liberty in London and Colette in Paris and we have spotted these cool little candles in tins made specially for hip shops like Rag and Bone.

Jack Purcell For Children

New York. Jack Purcell are our favourite sneakers. Look at these children's Purcells, found in the hugely improved J Crew. You buy the shoes without laces and then choose the laces at the counter. We're taking these and some superb desert boots for Felix.

Crosby Street Hotel

New York. We took a look at The Crosby Street Hotel in SoHo. It's the first US venture by The Kemps, who run Firmdale Hotels (Covent Garden Hotel etc). It's a bit over the top for us, but we really liked this 'sign' in the lobby. At the top are Peter Blake alphabet prints and some lovely reclaimed letters below.

Endurance

Out walking with friends and dogs on Saturday, we came across this pine. It sits alone on a hillside, right on the edge of the moor. It's a lovely spot and often windy and brutally cold. The peat has been blown away around the roots of the tree and there is very little branch left on the right hand (hill) side, where the wind comes from. You kind of wonder how it survives, but it does.

Christmas Trees Are Here

Our Christmas Tree Wonderland is now open at Selfridges London and Birmingham. This has been a massive task for us...and we have no idea what the response will be. But both sites look great and it has been fun getting it all together. This is our friend Natalie -aka Miss Ballooniverse- helping to launch the project in London. She is ridiculously good at making things out of balloons as well as being an absolute charmer. Everyone slightly falls in love with her.