Before moving on from the holidays, I can’t not also share with you our first family visit back to New York for New Year’s. I wasn’t sure about choosing New York as our vacation at first. I really wanted to relax after the bustle of a full on English Christmas, and I knew NYC would be loads of fun, but would it be relaxing?? My answer came when our friend Miranda asked us to house sit in Brooklyn while she and her family went off to Colorado. I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed staying in their beautiful country-fied house in Boerum Hill, which you can see for yourself in January’s Vogue. The house is so cozy and well loved and visually inspiring – you could wander around for hours just looking at all the books, pictures and hand screened wallpapers. It was the perfect retreat after a busy city day.
The trip could not have been more successful. The kids got to see all the friends and family they had hoped to, we ate at all our favorite restaurants, and we came back satisfied and happy to be home.
With bunnies and dress up clothes, Coco felt immediately at home in Brooklyn.
The living room of Miranda and Bastien’s Brooklyn home. Isn’t it heaven?
When living in New York I never had to time to look at all the things people posted on the streets. I love this jingle I saw on West 22nd Street.
The bunny hutch on Miranda’s roof where Coco and Zach spent countless hours visiting Peter and BunBun.
BunBun and Peter up close. My kids are so used to being around animals now that these two made them feel more at home. 
We couldn’t go to New York and not visit Freeman’s for a meal. It is the closest we could get to home. Literally. It is in the ground floor of our building (where our apartment is rented out)!
Poppy’s magical bedroom where Coco stayed. 
For sure the highlight of my trip was seeing Coldplay and Jay Z on New Year’s Eve at the Barclay Center. I felt so lucky to be there, and it exceeded my expectations even with jetlag! My favorite parts were when Chris Martin dedicated “Yellow” to Gwyneth Paltrow and “Us Against the World” to his kids. He is the cutest.
At midnight, Jay Z, Chris Martin, Gwyneth Paltrow and their kids all came onstage to celebrate. It was awesome.
Caliban, our furry roommate for the week.
Here I am in Brooklyn mode, hanging out at VanLeeuwen drinking coffee. I fell in love with Brooklyn on this trip. It’s like the suburbs, only cooler. 
I was so compelled to be in this lovely room I had to have two baths every day.
As long as Zach can find a bookstore, he is happy. Here he is at BookCourt on Smith Street – an excellent one. On this trip he told me that when he dies he wants to be buried in the graphic novel section of his old school library!
The garden at Miranda’s, in greener months.
Caliban is just so damn photogenic – I couldn’t stop taking pictures of her.
One of our best welcome homes was coming up from the F train on Bleecker Street and being greeted by our good friend Leo Villareal’s incredible light sculpture.
What kind of cat is Caliban? I'm kind of as obsessed as you are!
Great photos! I love Freeman's, probably my favorite restaurant in NYC, it's so cozy.
Nora
http://www.penchantforpretty.com
I wanted to let you know how much I enjoy your blog. Your posts are warm, personal and always interesting. Thank you for a good read.
Hi Amanda, I love that you were in Brooklyn over the holidays (I live in Park Slope). Miranda's house is gorgeous, and I too was amazed by those lights at Bleecker Street, I just saw them for the first time last month. Happy 2013, hope you are working on a new book!
We had a guinea pig called Caliban when I was growing up – I've never heard of another pet with that name until now! xo
Oh, sorry, got it now – it's online and accessible via your link. I can't normally access vogue.com from Scandinavia, as I'm automatically redirected to the German Vogue site, but this works. Thanks again for sharing.
My favorite is the bathroom and … Caliban so incredibly cute ! You too with your furry coat ! Sunny Side
Amazing … British or American Vogue?