My apologies for my silence over the last couple of weeks. Things have been slightly manic, to say the least. I’ve been packing up my life to move to New York for six months, tying up all the loose ends and trying to see all my friends here before I go. At the last minute I found an apartment. My best friend went to view it for me the morning before she zoomed out of town to come home for a week before we fly out again together on Tuesday. It is perfect. Completely perfect. It’s in the East Village, it has artwork on the walls, a fish tank to look after for the owners, a shower in the kitchen, and a real New York fire escape. I am the proud owner of a set of keys to my Manhattan apartment, and I couldn’t be happier.

I’m terrified, obviously, but currently that is slightly dulled by the chaos of getting ready to leave. As people keep pointing out to me, it doesn’t have to be a complicated process. As one friend succinctly put it, all I actually need are two passports, my wallet, my tickets and my daughter. Apart from the fact that he made no mention of PG tips pyramid bags, I see his point, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable of me to want to be slightly better prepared than that. Poor Ruby has been utterly neglected while I have been sorting everything out. Luckily for me she is brilliant at entertaining herself, but apart from anything else she has been living on a rotation of about four meals for God knows how long now. I don’t remember the last time I prepared any meal other than spaghetti bolognese, pitta bread and hummus or fish fingers and peas. If nothing else I am really looking forward to a whole new array of food supplies to spur me on to create some more inspiring menus! I wonder if cave women had this sort of pressure on them, to do something different each day with the lifetime supply of mammoth meat at their disposal.

I know I don’t need to worry, really. As soon as I get myself set up there I will have all the time in the world to spend with Ruby, and to cook up a storm for her. I’m chomping at the bit to get going now that I am more or less ready. Part of my excitement is purely down to the prospect of getting to live in the same city as my best friend again. Things just simply aren’t the same without her. Skype is a wonderful thing, but it’s just not the same as having a glass of wine and a giggle with your favourite girl. More than anything, to employ a very American turn of phrase, I am psyched to be jetting of on the insane adventure with my baby. I still can’t quite believe I am lucky enough to be able to go on this journey with her. It seems almost sad that she will be too young to remember any of it, but I guess I’ll just have to do that for her. On that note it seems quite fortuitous that my best friend is a photographer!

So, friends, the next time you hear from me I will be a newly installed inhabitant of the city that never sleeps, unless I manage to sneak in a quick snippet on the plane, but I have a sneaky feeling my computer is due to be commandeered by a little girl who has worked out that I have downloaded an entire series of Charlie and Lola from iTunes…..

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