Bedside Manner

After recently reading Miss Holly's post showcasing her fabulously arranged bedside table I was struck by a wave of motivation and finally got around to sorting out my own! My bedside table acts as a dumping ground of little things that don't have proper homes - I figure if I make it looks nice I will be more inclined to keep it tidy!

I have been collecting bits and bobs in colours that I intend to decorate my room with when I finally get around to painting it. Please disregard my lime green feature wall which complements my watermelon pink room SO wonderfully ( blame it on fifteen year old Gillian.....).

I had the opportunity to borrow my sisters Nikon with her amazing lens so I tried my hand at some non iPhone photography. I got a little snap happy so there are quite a few photos!

Some things I had already like the Australian Women's Weekly Cookbook which is perfect for giving my flowers some height! My favourite Ecoya French Pear candle also takes pride of place.

 I brought the three blue jars for $3.00 each from Bed Bath and Table.

The blue plate is part of a set of four I bought recently. They are by Freida Plumm, a Melbourne designer. She has some lovely stuff if you check out her website. I also brought some really pretty candle votives that match but I thought it was a bit much to have them all together? I might use one....hmmm.

Roses picked straight from the garden!

I bought this glass vase from Target yesterday ($16) and thought I might stick some hydrangea in it as it also grows in the garden, but I want to try learn some gardening skills so I forced T to take me to Bunnings, words he probably thought I would never utter. There was a bit of a ..... issue. I've had this plant less than 24 hours and I nearly killed it. I put it out in the sun to get some light and two hours later it was as flat as pancake! Thankfully some water has revived it! It only cost me $2.50 so I figure if it dies I can just replace it weekly haha. Cheaper than fresh cut flowers I tell you! Don't know how well it will go without any drainage. It's an experiment!

I put some blue stones at the bottom, can't see them as much as I thought i'd be able to.

I tend to collect pretty cards to be repurposed! This is from the Bond No. 9 shop on Bleecker Street NYC. Perfect to hide the stain from when a bottle of nail polish leaked out onto the table! Will be replacing the table shortly - hate blonde wood!

Chanel perfume card until I can find a suitable sized photo of my beau!

I'm so happy with how it looks! Can't wait till I can redo the rest of my room in a similar manner. I am imagining lots of white with splashes of blue- so fresh!

So there you have it! So much better to look at than a cluttered mess.

Back to work for me on Monday, it will certainly be a struggle after having the last 3 weeks off. I think I will go lay on the grass in the sun and read ( The Help is the book of choice at the moment) and make the most of what freedom I have left.....

Fish Eye 2

I recently brought a Fish Eye 2 and have been having fun experimenting.

Haven't quite got the hang of it, after years of exclusively using a digital camera and snapping away freely, a film camera has taken some getting used to! I have to admit I had trouble putting the film in, oh the shame. 

I didn't know you could get copies of your film shots put on CD now! Handy.

Here are some pictures from NYC. A bit dark unfortunately ( though it was really overcast) , I need to do a whole lot of practicing.  

Central Park

Midtown East

Super convoy of police during the U.N General Assembly

This was my second roll, I had some better shots on the first roll I took but unfortunately don't have them on a CD.

Does anyone else use a Fish Eye? 

NYC Part Three ft. A New York Moment

Despite some last minute self doubt on whether or not it was a good idea to do this trip by myself, it was without a doubt the best decision I have ever made. The sense of absolute freedom and independence was addictive, making coming back home that extra bit harder. 

To those contemplating a solo trip, I strongly encourage you to do so. It was a great chance to self reflect, get caught up in my own thoughts and helped me clarify my future goals. 

Despite this, there are of course times where you wish you had someone to turn around to and say "Did you just see that?!" or to be there to take your happy snaps. Rather than have my photo album looking like I robbed a post card shop, I took to accosting innocent bystanders when the view was too spectacular to pass up so I have a handful of photos with me in them.

On one particular day I was on an absolute mission to get to The Metropolitan Museum of Art as I had been told that they hold Friday evening drinks on the rooftop during the warmer months and the view was to die for. I had a plan formed that started with me visiting the MoMA and then going straight to The Met, this was of course thwarted by 5th Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Henri Bendal and Laduree. Somehow 5 hours disappeared into a retail black hole. 

By the time I got to the Met some hours later my feet were screaming for mercy. I also severely underestimated just how HUGE the place is. After seeing as much as I could, I began to try find the rooftop which was another mission in itself. I was THIS close to giving up, but I made it in the end and you know what, it was so worth the effort.

As it happens, my camera battery died just as I got there so all I have is my faithful iPhone snaps. Looking over the treetops of Central Park out to the city skyline as the sun set was a view I will never forget. 

I knew I had to have a photo, so I bit the bullet and asked the people next to me if they wouldn't mind taking one. The obliged, and the next thing you know ( and I am talking within the space of 2 minutes!) they have invited me to join them for dinner that evening! Now I am not the kind of person who usually does things on a whim and would usually politely decline, but I thought, why the hell not? The only thing I had planned was going back to the hotel to massacre some macarons. 

We got to talking there on the rooftop, and after deciding that it didn't seem likely that they would murder me,   we caught a cab down to Hell's Kitchen to a thai place for dinner. They were a great bunch of people, so much fun and their stories had me dying with laughter. Somehow I found my second wind and powered on through the evening and had the most amazing time before parting ways.

And you know what, I have my one photo from that rooftop to remind me of that evening for the years to come. 

Ahh, memories!

xx

NYC Part Two ft. Food glorious food.

It's no secret, I love to eat. There are frequently days in my life when what I had for lunch determines whether it was a good or bad day. I JUST LOVE FOOD ALRIGHT!

Surprisingly I didn't really eat any stereotypical American food. Not a bite of McDonald's, Burger King or even a hot dog passed my lips. I can tell you what did pass my lips often, bagels with cream cheese, each and every day. Bagels are amazing and I sob and weep that they are not more freely available in this country. 

I did have a burger from the Shake Shack which I had heard was amazing. Best. Burger. Ever. Bun was sooooo soft oh my goodness I am drooling just thinking about it. I went all the way to the Upper East Side with about a billion shopping bags in tow and sat surrounded by gaggles of private school girls who were like 8 and trapeze the city without adult supervision apparently ha ha. The peanut butter milkshake was amazing but I'm pretty sure it gave me a coronary. YUM!

Pretzel from Battery Park. Tasted like sand, and upon one bite I became instantly dehydrated. I don't know if  it was stale or just meant to taste like crap, but it was instantly binned.

Behold the greatness that is Pinkberry! I didn't even know it was possible to love frozen youghurt this much. Once I discovered it in Soho, I went back three nights in a row just for another hit. Pomegranate flavour with fresh rasperberries and these amazing mango flavour ball things. I don't even know how they make those balls, but they are delicious and I want more. Bring Pinkberry to Australia!

This is the first thing I purchased in the U S of A. I asked for an iced coffee and got this. I was young, I was naive, and I didn't know you had to ask for it sweetened with milk. I soon learnt the error of my ways. 

I was really really really REALLY looking forward to going to Momofuku! There are a few different Momfuku joints around the city, I went to Momofuku má pêche. I had this sandwich which blew my mind. It was called the beef & pork belly hero – crab mayo, green papaya. It was so freakin' good. 

Momofuku Milk Bar is right outside and I got a slice of their famous Crack Pie, which was a fitting name for the level of deliciousness the pie delivered. 

It taste of heaven and diabetes, and I loved every bit of it. Recipe here if you are interested in butterscotch/oatmeal goodness. 

I see Momofuku is opening in Sydney soon, rejoice!

I'm not going to lie, one of the best things about the whole trip was discovering Whole Foods, which I can only describe as my personal heaven. It's a massive supermarket with a HUGE array of fresh produce, ready made meals, deli items, cheeses, breads, pastries, coffff.....OH MY GOD I WANT TO GO THERE RIGHT NOW!

You could see the ladies who lunch type buying not ingredients for a lasange, not even a whole lasange, but slices of lasange for their families dinner. Mind boggling. 

I often went there and bought fresh raspberries ( for like $2.50 a punnet !!!!) etc etc and ate lunch in Central Park. 

These veggie chips were so good, devoured them on the plane.

When I wasn't single handily buying out Whole Foods I was enjoying cocktails and dinners at random restaurants all over the place. I was initially worried about eating alone but I used the time to write in my travel journal, or cry in relief over the fact I was no longer walking and could feel my feet again.

Plus you can eat at the bar at heaps of places, which is good if your on your own, so don't be afraid to go eat out!

Don't be afraid to drink alone either, I went to Gilt Bar at the New York Palace Hotel and it was amazing. I didn't get a picture but here is a visual cue sourced from the internet.

Amazing right? So were the drinks. I don't know if they do responsible service of alcohol over there because I only had 3 and was stumbling on back to the hotel ha ha. 

You may recall my post of excitement about the fact that Laduree had opened in NYC. You better believe I went there and waited 40 minutes in the line outside. I only wish I had my driver to stand in the line for me, as one Upper East Side lady had done whilst she sat in her luxury vehicle. 

The line was totally worth it. I got salted caramel, rose petal (my favourite!) and a few others. The box was so  pretty I brought it home with me, wish I had a photo!

The shop was gorgeous, just so lovely. A little bit of Paris in NYC!

Sheesssh that was quite long wasn't it? And I just made myself hungry.

What's every one doing this weekend? There is a 3 day long weekend here, and I plan on drinking a lot of cider whilst pretending to care about football grand finals.

NYC Part One ft. Touristy Stuff

Prepare yourselves for a series of long winded and picture heavy posts on my trip. You have been warned!

I flew into NYC on September 11 in the evening and was glad to finally be there after two flights, not to mention SO SO SO excited!

Driving into Manhattan with two giant beams of light shining up into the sky representing the twin towers was an eerie but unforgettable sight. Got to my hotel and dropped off my bag and considered going to sleep for about 40 milliseconds before I realised that would be futile with the levels of excitement I was experiencing so I went for  a walk. I have to say, I have never felt so at home walking out into a place I have no idea about at night. Yep, NYC was the place for me!

I made arrangements to meet up with a Big Apple Greeter before I left but didn't hear anything so thought it fell through but I ended up having a message at the hotel that he would be meeting me the next day which was a surprise. Big Apple Greeters are a volunteer program made up of NYC locals that show visitors around different areas of NYC depending on what your interests are, being art, food, shopping or what not. I know it sounds a big naff but my greeter Joel was really friendly and I had a great few hours with him on first day. He took me around Chelsea, East and West Village. 

Can I just say, I could easily live in any one of these areas, a brownstone building in a leafy street would suite me just fine!

Looking like a jet lagged hot mess in Washington Square Park  on my first day. 

Had the best weather while I was there, the first few days it was actually pretty hot and after that it was beautiful fall weather.

I did the usual touristy things like go up the Empire State Building. The glow coming from Times Square is amazing!

Please excuse my craptastic camera. 

Looking at the Chrysler Building

Also went up to Top of the Rock ( Rockafella Building) on a beautiful clear day. 

Reduced to taking photos of my self due to flying solo!

I love that Central Park was set aside for public use and it hasn't been developed on after all this time. 

Speaking of Central Park, I loved it. I LOVED IT. I hired a bike a couple of times and cruised around listening to Yeezy and loving life. It's massive, full of super hot fit runners and so many nooks and crannies....

....and views likes this. Yep a massive lake in the middle of the park. 

I walked over the Brooklyn Bridge and had a bit of a look around Brooklyn on one day. 

A walked around the former World Trade Centre site where construction is well underway on the new Freedom Tower. I didn't see the memorial as it was all booked out as you can imagine. 

St. Peters church is directly opposite and was still cover in white ribbons from the anniversary services. I mean every piece of fence etc etc was COVERED. 

I saw How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying on Broadway. It stars Daniel Radcliffe ( aka. HARRY POTTER). It was a great show, really funny. I usually pretend I like musical shows and then get really bored when I don't know the songs but I honestly liked this. 

Times Square, where slow walkers go to die. In my world slow walking is a crime. It was like being stuck in an Easter Show crowd. Couldn't get out of there fast enough!

There are some really beautiful buildings in the city, like Trinity Church which is down near Wall Street. The grounds were beautiful and the gravestones were from the early 1700's. Just a friendly reminder for ya'll, Australia wasn't even settled by that time!

Federal Hall, where the first President George Washington of the US was inaugurated. 

I took the Staten Island Ferry down past the Statue of Liberty one day for a look but didn't get off because I wasn't really that interested. Was good to see it from afar though.

OK I think that was enough for one post! More to come....

I'm Back Baby

Apparently all good things must come to an end, and thus I am back from my trip and back to reality.

To put it simply, I had the most amazing time of my life. Every hope and expectation I had in my head was exceeded, and then some!

I'll be posting all the bits and bobs of my little adventure ( including the copious amount of things I brought back with me) and I hope you don't get too sick of all this NYC talk as I know it's all I have been talking about for quite some time. Hey, not much exciting happens with me so this is the highlight of my year!

I'm back at work today and I have to say I have the sads big time that I can't go out for Pinkberry frozen yoghurt ( my new obsession) or grab a bagel for breakfast.

Keep tuned!

With love from a lady who is sorely missing these kind of views xx

Packed ( HAH!) and Ready

I'm going to NEW YORK CITY tomorrow!!! EEEK! 

I am so excited. No work for two weeks, the city of my dreams and copious amounts of shopping and eating. How could it get any better?

I am so not into the whole packing thing though......see Exhibit A 

Some undies and suitcase in a suitcase. Yeah, I've got some work to do. 

I had a few people ask me about the travel wallet I showed in the video I did a couple of weeks ago so I thought I would throw up some pictures.

The brand is Modepelle (never heard of it before) and it cost me about $60.00 from a bag and luggage store in Chatswood. 

Plain red leather and ticket/passport separators. That's all I wanted!

I've got my walking shoes sorted. 

They are from Zierra ( previously known as Kumfs haha!) . They are the closest thing to a plain ballet flat with some sort of support I could find. Luckily they don't have a orthopedic look to them but do have lots of support which is what I need as I have high arches in my feet. Unfortunately I spend $190 on  Kumfs. Name changes don't fool me!!!!

I've got my on board beauty products ready to go. Changed my mind a little bit from what I previously said I would take. In the end Vitamin E cream and oil, Kosmea Rosehip Oil, a travel size Bastiste dry shampoo, roll on perfume and deodorant made the cut!

Oh and these face wipes to keep fresssssssh!

I've got my maps ready to go!

Now I am just rambling. I am really really excited!

Can't lie though, I am a little worried about these news reports of a credible threat of a terror attack on NY/ Washington to coincide with the 10th anniversary of September 11. For those playing at home, I fly in on the evening of September 2011. I really didn't think when I booked that it would play on my mind too much but after spending a week re-living the aftermath of 9/11 through the media and these news reports, I just can't help feeling that it wasn't the best idea!

Nether the less, it's all booked now and there is nothing I can do about it. I am going to have an amazing time, I just know it!

I SERIOUSLY CAN'T WAIT!!