Black ... IS the New Black

Sometimes, nothing satisfies like black! And simply nothing else will do. We've had these fabulous black patent lip bags for months (courtesy of Amarcord, a great place for vintage clothes, as we've noted previously), and finally decided we just had to use them in a post.  Wouldn't it be fun, we thought, to match them with black lipstick?  The rest just fell into place. Nothing does the trick like black, so we went for it: black hats, black accessories, black dress and pants.  Even black nail polish!  OK, we know, it is over-kill. But it was also over-fun!

As it happened, Valerie had happened upon the wonderful five-sided sculpture of stark white faces at Rockefeller Center (called Masks: Pentagon), which seemed the perfect spot for our latest photo op.

Luckily, there were several very accommodating tourists and even a security guard (!) who offered to take our photos for us.  The guard gets an A+ because he knew - without having to be asked - to get our hats and our feet in the shot.

Afterward, we strolled to Brasserie Ruhlmann, just across the street. Since the weather had turned a little chilly and their outdoor seating area didn't have any heat lamps, we opted to go inside, and were pleasantly surprised at our good luck in getting seated at a very comfy corner banquette. The next surprise was the fact that the bartender humored us and acceded to our request to mix and match ingredients of the yummy cocktails on the menu.

We started with a very tasty Jalapeno Margarita, but asked the mixologist to add the raspberries and basil listed in the English Basil. We were warned (as we often are when we make these requests) that that would change the flavor. We said (as we often do when warned) that we would take responsibility, and that our instincts usually turn out to be right. (More than one mixologist has complimented us on our choices. Could that just be flattery???) Needless to say, the resulting drink was delicious.

Jean happily munched away on her basil leaves. This is what it looks like when you accidentally munch on the jalapeno pepper ...

Gratuitous photo to show off Valerie's black nail polish.

Ditto for Jean. (Eagle-eyed readers will note that more of Jean's drink ingredients have been munched than Valerie's.)

We were seated next to a table of five very lovely ladies from Scotland, who had stopped in for cocktails. After some coaxing, they agreed to allow us to photograph them for our blog. You be the judge. Don't they look great?

After they finished, they headed to the Top of the Rock, in good spirits. Having friends to share your experiences makes life just a little more fabulous, don't you think?

On our way out, we saw three women who turned out to be from the U.K. inspecting the menu and we encouraged them to go in, saying the drinks are great, the menu is very interesting, the prices are reasonable and the ambiance is warm.

So the next time someone tells us they had a black day, forgive us if we look a bit confused.