G'Day Bklyn

And Now Makeup to Match

As if Target’s team-up with Liberty of London isn’t enough, MAC Cosmetics is launching a lush, springy MAC Give me Liberty makeup selection today. The bevy of limited edition lipsticks, glosses, shadows and blush, as well as makeup bags and a covetable scarf are springy and cheerful, and the packaging is knockout.

Primarily white with black detailing and splashes of color, the packaging features an open-beaked bird and simply drawn flowers. With shades including Prim + Proper, Summer Rose, Birds + Berries and Petals + Peacocks, the newest makeup collaboration channels the ladylike-boho chic of the British print icon that is Liberty of London.

At just $14, the Petals + Peacocks lipstick and the Blue India nail lacquer for $12 could be just the go in my own Liberty collaboration come spring. The Mac collection hits makeup counters  today, Thursday, March 11, as well as online at maccosmetics.com.

Loving Lady-Like Liberty

I never line up for anything. It has become a sort of personal creed for me, especially since moving to New York more than a decade ago and being  stunned at how willing people are to queue in this city – and in such an orderly manner. Australians are largely a cynical bunch, and lazy, so the whole lining up thing doesn’t work well. A French friend, also stunned at the orderly American queue, said lines in her homeland were notoriously rowdy and crooked, with people going in all directions.

That’s why today was notable. I surprised even myself and stood in line with about 200 other shoppers to get first dibs on the Liberty of London for Target range. Thankfully, the line moved fast, and I made it inside in about 15 minutes at what was probably peak time around 12.30pm. Was it worth it? Well, yes I believe it was. I scored three pretty sundresses, of course in Liberty printed fabrics; a couple of tea mugs and floral tumblers as well as an armload of frocks and bikinis for the daughter, all of which actually fit.

I was pleased to find the dresses were modern cuts and the fabrics didn’t feel cheap and nasty as has been the case with some other designer for the masses collaborations. Target seems to have really hit a home run with this latest teaming, raising the question among just about everyone I chatted to in that long line: why isn’t there a Liberty of London store in New York?

The pop-up store was beautifully decorated with planters galore of spring flowers, and hyacinth perfuming the air, which was also adorned with massive cutouts of home wares, umbrellas and yards of wallpaper and fabric in the famed Liberty prints. The umbrellas, by the way, were sold out by noon today and a lot of the smallest sizes in the lingerie and some of the most popular dresses were in need of restocking too. Still, a woman next to me was thrilled to find a row of bras in 36 DD and beyond! There were plenty of staff scattered about too to help answer questions, though most people wanted to know about sizing, and that was the one thing the staffers seemed clueless about.

Most things are sized x-small, small, medium or large etc., although in an odd twist, some maxi dresses were sized numerically in British sizes. For the record, a UK8 is about a 6 in the US and a UK10 is an 8. I found the dresses run large, so opt for the smaller size. It was also tough to navigate the children’s clothes, since there was no guide on what ages the S, M and L were for. If it helps any, my almost 5yo was fine in the 5T and XS selections.

So here’s what you need to know if you plan on hitting the pop-up store; go early and unencumbered because it will be crowded and you probably won’t see everything properly, partly because the layout of the pop-up store is muddled and partly because in a flower-filled room full of Liberty-printed platters, clothes, rain boots, lingerie, bathing suits and so on, it all begins to look the same after a bit; and don’t bother with the fitting room lines unless you really must.

Afterwards, head home for a nice cup of tea, preferably in a glossy new Liberty print teacup.

The pop-up store is at 1095 Sixth Ave. at 42^nd Street, near Bryant Park through Saturday. It hits Target.com and Target stores beginning Sunday, March 14.

Buns, Boyswear and Beauty

This bout of spring-like weather has me in an uncommonly good mood, so instead of ranting about the incredibly tedious Oscars, or the recent Park Slope-driven debate about whether it’s okay to take children to bars (though I might get to this shortly), I thought I would rave about a couple of things.

One-A-Penny, Two-A-Penny …

Every year around this time I crave real, fruit-laden hot cross buns, the sort I grew up eating toasted and dripping with butter. I have been into countless bakeries around New York and usually my request for hot cross buns is greeted with a blank stare. Or, if I can find them, they are cakey and light, sparse on the candied fruit and peels and heavy on white frosting and sticky glazes. I still haven’t found a version entirely reminiscent of the hot cross buns I remember from childhood, but I am thrilled to finally come close.

Bread Alone at the Union Square Greenmarkets has hot cross buns for the next few weeks preceding Easter. They are heavy with fruit and yeasty as I remember. The only downer is that like all the buns I have tasted here, they have an icing cross instead of a traditional dough one, which means you can’t put them in the toaster or the oven. Still, at around a buck a piece, they’re worth it.

Zara Boys

Also on the rave list this week is the boys’ section of Zara, my beloved shopping haunt, with locations dotted around New York. The store on Fifth Ave near 18^th Street, which is dangerously close to my office, has super stylish children’s clothes on the upper level. I discovered that not only are the accessories great and inexpensive for my children, but there are finds to be had for a smallish female too.

I picked up a graffiti-patterned belt for my son and grabbed myself one in brown leather with brass grommets too; I picked him up a spring-weight scarf with skulls + crossbones and found a blue + white striped one for me. You get the idea. The belt was about $15 and beat anything I could find in the women’s section, and the scarf was under $10 and totally sated my current addiction to blue + white stripes.

Liberty of London

And I am hoping to have a serious rave by the weekend, as I gear up for Liberty of London for Target range to go on sale. I’ve been a huge fan of the international fabric label since I was too young to buy it; with its pretty florals and oh-so-English Garden sweetness. I still have a little cloth Liberty print bag my mother bought me on a shopping trip to Melbourne some 30 years ago. Wind the clock forward, and now I’m eyeing a teapot and a heap of breezy sundresses for me and my almost 5yo daughter.

The designer range hits Target.com and select stores March 14, but we lucky New Yorkers can get a sneak peak and shop beginning Wednesday at a pop-up store at 1095 Sixth Ave. at 42^nd Street near Bryant Park.

Meat Pies and a Flat White?

Where do local Aussies want to hang out when they want to be around other Aussies, or at least drink a Coopers beer, nosh on a sausage roll or watch a footy game? Here are a few places in New York that I go if I want a slice of home.

For a decent meal, some kangaroo or barramundi perhaps, there’s the perennial favorite Eight Mile Creek in Soho. We’ve spent many an evening in the upstairs dining room or the heated outdoor area, enjoying top-notch Australian wines and slightly more elegant food than befits the misguided Crocodile Dundee stereotype that America has too long embraced. It’s one of the few places I’ve been able to find good pavlova too.

Tuck Shop in the East Village is the place for a quick cup of coffee – that’s a flat white where I come from – and a meat pie or sausage roll. And the lamingtons and vanilla slices are about as good as you can find in NY. I was here for Australia Day, the Aussie version of St. Patrick’s Day celebrated January 26, and the staff was great. The server treated us to lamingtons and threw in an extra one for me to bring home to the kids. A lamington for the uninitiated is an Australian childhood favorite; a slab of white sponge cake, filled with strawberry jam, dipped in chocolate syrup and dredged in shredded coconut.

There’s a second location too, at St Marks Place, and hot off the presses, they just got a license to sell beer and wine. As part of the long-awaited coup, Tuck Shop is introducing New York to the Esky. For $30, you can get six beers at the table in a mini Esky to keep it extra cold. The St Marks Place location also has Billy Tea, Tim Tams, beloved Vegemite and other Aussie treats for sale.

And while you’re downtown, the Sunburnt Cow and Bondi Road Fish + Chips are great spots for drinks and eats. Yep, you’ll get meat pies, burgers, lamb chops, fish+ chips – all the usual drinking food with a fun, laid-back vibe. I hear there is a The Sunburnt Calf now on the Upper West Side too, but I’ve yet to check it out.

The Australian is where you go for very large glasses of red wine (and very large headaches the next morning!) and non-stop sports action. Sports junkies are glued to the TV screens for cricket matches and rugby league, and the proprietor, a former rugby league player himself, will happily shoot the breeze about the game. Great place to take visiting sports writers or wannabe sportsmen.

If you’re in Brooklyn, the coffee and meat pies at The Pie Shop in Prospect Park come straight from the ovens of DUB Pies  (Down Under Bakery), which started out with its prime storefront on Columbia Street. The coffee is good, the pies and sausage rolls are pretty decent, there’s catering and delivery to boot, and chances are you’ll hear an Australian or New Zealand accent working the counter.

Then there’s Sheep Station on Fourth Avenue, Park Slope, where the shearer’s burger (a burger topped with beets, pineapple and a fried egg), lamb chops and fish + chips are worth the trip to the otherwise pretty barren block. There is a fireplace too.

If you just want to read about Australian food, hit the newsstand at Barnes & Noble for the occasional good, out-of-season and pricey Australian food mag. Donna Hay’s breezy, beautifully styled magazines channel Martha Stewart but with that laid back Aussie feel. And there’s usually a Vogue Entertaining + Travel lurking on the shelves.