Love Fridays

A different type of love this Friday girls - the love of beautifully manicured nails! I have long suffered the affliction of being a pianist, and so whenever my fingernails get longer than a certain point, they have to be cut. I can't handle long fingernails! And especially once they have any sort of polish on them, they feel heavy. Toes on the other hand (or foot, haha) I rarely leave bare. Right now they have a fabulous Kit Purple on them from a few years ago. I know - the polish likely needs to be chucked by now, but it brightens up my little toes for winter!

I'll be 31 on Monday so I'm going to treat myself to a manicure this weekend (and maybe a pedi too). I haven't had one since my sister's wedding in 2006. And to celebrate not just my birthday, but the start of spring, I'm going to go for a bit of colour rather than the French Mani I had last time (was trying to be classy for my sister..!)

The divine Garance Doré has moved to New York, and she loves pretty nails even more than I do.... Check out her latest discoveries about that wonderful city..

Life in New York Manicure ! Pedicure ! Facial !

Pic: Garance Doré

Have a wonderful weekend ladies! xx

Bookworm

Many of my nights since my Boy has been away have been pleasantly spent reading. I go through phases of reading two or three books in a row, then not reading any for about 12 months. It's terrible! I was a little bookworm when I was a kid. I used to get sponsored for the MS Read-a-thon every year!

Anyway - Entertainment Weekly put out this list a couple of years ago. Yes, I'm way behind on my reading.. And I'm sure this list is as good as any to work from - I'm no book snob. I've read two of the Twilight books (that's my limit) and the occasional Marion Keyes so I have something to discuss with my gorgeously Philistine baby sister. I do love to get engrossed in another world - hence my love of films - so I'm usually more drawn to novels rather than non-fiction. Currently I'm reading a lovely Kiwi novel - "Mr. Pip"  by Lloyd Jones - it's in the process of being turned into a film. I'm loving it - it was shortlisted for the Booker Prize a few years ago. I recommend it!

So from this list following which I haven't properly perused as yet - what have I read...? I'm a little scared to find out how small the number is..!

The New Classics

The 100 best reads from 1983 to 2008

1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)
3. Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987)
4. The Liars' Club, Mary Karr (1995)
5. American Pastoral, Philip Roth (1997)
6. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane (2001)
7. Maus, Art Spiegelman (1986/1991)
8. Selected Stories, Alice Munro (1996)
9. Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier (1997)
10. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami (1997)
11. Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer (1997)
12. Blindness, José Saramago (1998)
13. Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (1986-87)
14. Black Water, Joyce Carol Oates (1992)
15. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers (2000)
16. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986)
17. Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez (1988)
18. Rabbit at Rest, John Updike (1990)
19. On Beauty, Zadie Smith (2005)
20. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding (1998)
21. On Writing, Stephen King (2000)
22. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz (2007)
23. The Ghost Road, Pat Barker (1996)
24. Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry (1985)
25. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (1989)
26. Neuromancer, William Gibson (1984)
27. Possession, A.S. Byatt (1990)
28. Naked, David Sedaris (1997)
29. Bel Canto, Anne Patchett (2001)
30. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (2004)
31. The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien (1990)
32. Parting the Waters, Taylor Branch (1988)
33. The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion (2005)
34. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002)
35. The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst (2004)
36. Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt (1996)
37. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (2003)
38. Birds of America, Lorrie Moore (1998)
39. Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri (2000)
40. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)
41. The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros (1984)
42. LaBrava, Elmore Leonard (1983)
43. Borrowed Time, Paul Monette (1988)
44. Praying for Sheetrock, Melissa Fay Greene (1991)
45. Eva Luna, Isabel Allende (1988)
46. Sandman, Neil Gaiman (1988-1996)
47. World's Fair, E.L. Doctorow (1985)
48. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver (1998)
49. Clockers, Richard Price (1992)
50. The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen (2001)
51. The Journalist and the Murderer, Janet Malcom (1990)
52. Waiting to Exhale, Terry McMillan (1992)
53. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon (2000)
54. Jimmy Corrigan, Chris Ware (2000)
55. The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls (2006)
56. The Night Manager, John le Carré (1993)
57. The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe (1987)
58. Drop City, TC Boyle (2003)
59. Krik? Krak! Edwidge Danticat (1995)
60. Nickel & Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich (2001)
61. Money, Martin Amis (1985)
62. Last Train To Memphis, Peter Guralnick (1994)
63. Pastoralia, George Saunders (2000)
64. Underworld, Don DeLillo (1997)
65. The Giver, Lois Lowry (1993)
66. A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, David Foster Wallace (1997)
67. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)
68. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (2006)
69. Secret History, Donna Tartt (1992)
70. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell (2004)
71. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Ann Fadiman (1997)
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
73. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (1989)
74. Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger (1990)
75. Cathedral, Raymond Carver (1983)
76. A Sight for Sore Eyes, Ruth Rendell (1998)
77. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
78. Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)
79. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (2000)
80. Bright Lights, Big City, Jay McInerney (1984)
81. Backlash, Susan Faludi (1991)
82. Atonement, Ian McEwan (2002)
83. The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields (1994)
84. Holes, Louis Sachar (1998)
85. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson (2004)
86. And the Band Played On, Randy Shilts (1987)
87. The Ruins, Scott Smith (2006)
88. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby (1995)
89. Close Range, Annie Proulx (1999)
90. Comfort Me With Apples, Ruth Reichl (2001)
91. Random Family, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc (2003)
92. Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow (1987)
93. A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley (1991)
94. Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser (2001)
95. Kaaterskill Falls, Allegra Goodman (1998)
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)
97. Jesus’ Son, Denis Johnson (1992)
98. The Predators' Ball, Connie Bruck (1988)
99. Practical Magic, Alice Hoffman (1995)
100. America (the Book), Jon Stewart/Daily Show (2004)


Ok - the results.. I've read numbers 2, 19, 20, 34, 36, 72, 88 and 96. Shameful. I seriously need to sort this out! Once I've finished Mr Pip, I have Ian McEwan's "Atonement"  waiting patiently on my bedside table.

How many have you read?

Drama Drama Drama

Some people thrive on drama. And it's not always a good thing..

I have been aware of the working style of a certain person, let's call them Godzilla, for quite some time. And I've learnt to work with it and survive. Don't ask me how..

We had someone new start working with us a few months ago, let's call them BooBoo, and only this week did BooBoo come to me to comment on the sense of heightened drama that seems to follow Godzilla around. It was like BooBoo had only just noticed it.

It is just me? BooBoo asked.

Oh no.... I said. This is not a new thing. I experienced this all of last year, with many tears shed in the safety of the ladies toilet..!

Most people here are aware of it, but Godzilla does have a way of casting a spell of drama over people. With Godzilla, everything is made out to be so much more stressful and important than it really is. The way I survive it? My mantra is 'it's only a movie'. We are not saving lives, but the way Godzilla carries on, you'd think we were in a warzone..!

What I love is that BooBoo is going to be an awesome ally. BooBoo is calm and intelligent and so awesome to work with. And I love that I have someone else who is determined not to take any of Godzilla's crap. We will not get sucked into the vortex of drama. No we will not!

I feel that I'll be chasing the drama by moving to NYC, but I love good drama! Bad drama makes me want to crawl under my doona and never come out... My Boy has been having trouble getting used to the reactionary personalities of many Americans. Apparently they also love the drama. They fly off the handle at the smallest things, then move on to something else. Just a whole lotta Godzilla's roaming around NYC. Apparently here in NZ, we mull things over for a while, and let things simmer, and we only explode when things are really worth exploding about. I haven't noticed that myself, having lived in NZ coming up two years, but I'd say when faced with an angry New Yorker with steam coming out of their nostrils, I may cower in fear...

Any other sort of drama (especially of the Broadway variety) - bring it on!

Red Meat

I'll be eating steak tonight. I've been craving it. Craving in the absence of other things perhaps..

A bunch of us are going out to the Crazy Horse Steakhouse here in town. My mouth is watering at the thought.

I need to make the most of nights like this with the Boy in NYC.. He is vegetarian. Well... more like flexetarian.. He eats seafood, and meat on extra-special occasions. But a night out at the steak house I think would be out of the question.

My first meal when I arrived home from 2 years in the UK was, by special request to my parents, steak, baked potatoes with sour cream and chives, and green avocado salad. Divine!!! I think it would be my last meal, should I ever end up on Death Row.

What a thought. Your last meal....

Now, to decide on my sauce. Bearnaise, Cafe de Paris butter, freshly grated horseradish and creme fraiche, wild mushroom cream (umm... no.. not a mushroom fan) or rich red wine and bone marrow glaze....

Love Fridays

Almost forgot my Friday blog post! It was a busy day today and I've only just now had time for a break. Feeling a bit low tonight - it's been 6 weeks and it's not getting much easier, especially when it's a busy day and you realise at the end of the day it's too late to chat because it's already 4am on the other side of the world.

I came across this incredible blog recently - My Interrupted Fairytale - it is desperately sad and beautiful. Don't go visiting it until you have a chunk of quiet time to kill.. I won't spoil it for you by attempting to explain what it's all about, because the clarity with which this girl writes makes it easy enough to work out for yourself. She kindly links you to this post to give you the basics..

Anyway - I read this and my heart broke for her..

"again the english language fails to have a word to describe the depths of sadness, 

the way a heart can feel heavy, 

how a stomach can drop to your feet, 

or how missing someone can cripple you."

I know I can't come close to comparing my current situation with that described in My Interrupted Fairytale, and this quote is possibly a little melodramatic for me to use, but it helps me because when I read it, I realise that my situation is really not so bad. And I'm grateful for that.

I also know that I can't wait for this long-distance period to be over..

Pic: tumblr

Outer balance, Inner calm

It's been a while I know, sorry! I've been taking much more pleasure in reading other blogs lately.. One in particular that I remember being introduced to many months ago, but then promptly forgetting about for some reason (perhaps it was around laptop changeover time..) is Sarah Wilson's blog "this blog makes life better, sweeter." It is fantastic! Almost every post hits just the right note with me.

Some of her recommendations have been taking their rightful place in my life this week. One of these is..

Make your bed. Every day.

It's now Thursday and I've been doing this since Monday. It's working! It's something I absolutely have to do before I walk out of my room to go to work. I don't leave anything on the bed that doesn't belong there. And when I walk in the door at the end of the day and see this welcoming bed lying before me, I can report that it's actually a fantastic feeling! And it's not difficult at all - strangely satisfying, like doing a really big load of dishes, or getting sweaty with a really great hoover of the whole house, but so much easier!

Now the trick is you have to do it EVERY DAY. Not just most days.. Every day. Without fail. The suggestion originally came from Gretchen Rubin, a fabulous New Yorker who has written a book, and has this blog about the year she spent developing The Happiness Project. And I love this little nugget of wisdom that she drew on to come to the idea of making your bed every day - from Andy Warhol..

“Either once only, or every day. If you do something once it’s exciting, and if you do it every day it’s exciting. But if you do it… almost every day, it’s not good any more.”

Pic: countryliving.com

Love Fridays

Pic: Le Love

Wishing you all a lovely, lovely weekend. I can't believe it's mid-August already. 5 weeks down. It's not looking like the sun is going to show this weekend - it's kind of grey and rainy and windy here in NZ at the moment.

It doesn't take much to put a smile on my face most of the time. I take pleasure in many little things. Right now I'm appreciating every little email or text message or photograph that comes my way. Especially the ones I don't ask for. I'm even lucky enough to be shown the view out the taxi window on my Boy's way home from Manhattan... Just a little bit jealous...

Splish Splash I was Takin' a Bath..

The Boy tells me of plans to go for a surf on the weekend. Surfing? In New York? When I think of swimming in New York, two images come to mind.

The first is of Kramer doing laps in the East River.



The second is of the SATC girls getting some rooftop poolside action - though of course Samantha had to impersonate a British socialite to actually gain entry to the pool..

Pic: flavorwire.com

I've discovered a much better option, though not so sure a surfboard would actually fit in any of these pools.. Dumpsters have been set up on Park Avenue for New Yorkers and tourists to cool off in the heat of the New York summer! I hate to say it, but I am actually craving some heat right now - I miss the humidity of a Sydney summer that sees you sweating the moment you step out of a shower. And I think queuing up before 9am just to get one of the 420 daily swimming passes (they are free!) would be well worth it, even to be constrained in such close quarters for 20 minutes with a bunch of other hot and sweaty people..

For more dumpster diving pics, see here!

The Single Life

Some things I've been loving about have all this me-time available? Things that I perhaps took for granted for that whole other 30.5 years of my life before my Boy came along?

Not getting out of my pyjamas for an entire weekend. Not even to go to the supermarket - my lovely winter coat hides a multitude of sins.

Not having to shave my legs for 4 weeks, until it's time to go to my monthly massage appointment and being too ashamed to subject the poor masseuse to such horrors. Then remembering how nice it feels to have freshly smooth legs!

Watching episode after episode of Mad Men on weeknights. Accompanied by blocks of Cadbury.

Not having my stuff scattered over two different houses. There is so much more thinking to be done when you have to consider what you're going to wear to work well before the time that you usually have to think about - that being when you're actually getting ready for work and you have an entire wardrobe to choose from...!

Ordering Pizza for dinner two nights in a row. Not from the same place though - what do you take me for?? Hell Pizza one night, Pizza Pomodoro the next. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

You know what? There's not a lot else I can think of. I loved having my Boy to hang out with! I love that he's in New York and working hard and playing hard and hanging out with his old friends and experiencing the greatest city in the world, and I get to hear about it all first hand. We're in contact every single day, and the one-month mark suddenly descended upon me today without so much as a whimper. Time is totally flying!

Rosemary's Baby

And because I can resist another New York film reference, how divine does Emma Watson look with her new Mia Farrow/Rosemary's Baby haircut?? I think she's totally rocking it.

Pic: Go Fug Yourself

Pic: Marie Claire

Love Fridays

I've just stumbled across this fantastic project through Frankie Magazine  - check out the Facebook page for Me&Megan. It's a documentary that is being made on Flip camera phones (!!) about a Sydney couple who are living on opposite sides of the world for 12 months. Megan has gone to Ethiopia to do a volunteer placement, while her man Jason remains in Sydney.

12 months!!! And I though 4 months was going to be hard..

Of course they're hoping to turn it into a feature length doco when it's all over. I don't know if I could put myself and my relationship out there like that. But it's so great to see how others do it, and to know that I definitely don't have it as bad as others! It's been 4 weeks already since my Boy left for NYC - I can't quite believe it. Time actually is flying, which is a lovely feeling in this particular situation.

Some thoughts that have been on my mind lately...

 Pic: Unknown.. If you know who took it, all credit to them!


And some lovely light in the sky of my current city - I took this photo back in April..

Happy Friday!

x

Bloomingdale's

Shopping Tour - 2nd Stop : Bloomingdale's

This place totally speaks for itself right? Does anyone not adore a gorgeous department store? Well, actually, if you're anything like me you avoid them at all costs at certain times of the year (Boxing Day Sale anyone?? Anyone?? Thought not..)

They sell pretty much everything a shopaholic could desire. I totally forgot that I have actually been to Bloomingdale's, however it was the San Fran store back in 2008.. I did pick myself up a small brown bag, and carried it home in a medium brown bag.

The New York store however, has that magical aura surrounding it.

The Brothers' Bloomingdale started selling hoop skirts in Manhattan in 1861, and opened their first store in 1872 on Third Avenue. The fabulous Christmas window displays that I used to love at David Jones in Sydney when I was a little girl have their history with Bloomingdale's, where theatrical visual merchandising pretty much made it's trademark.

1930 saw the famous art deco Lexington Avenue store open, and this is where you regularly will find me, most likely window-shopping, in NYC.

Maybe I'll run into John Cusack when I'm shopping for gloves at Christmas...

Overheard in New York

I love this website. Some of my favourites recently:

Wasn't That a He-Man Villain?

Stoner: How do you spell "helter skelter"?
Friend: ...exactly like it sounds.
Stoner: H-e-l-k-e-t-o-r s-k-e-l-e-t-o-r?
Friend: (shakes head in dismay)

--N Train

Otherwise the Human Race Would Soon Die Out

Employee #1, to customers with a baby: That is the cutest baby I have ever seen!
Employee #2: I think my boyfriend and I would have an ugly baby.
Employee #1, in front of couple: No. Ugly people usually have the cutest babies!

--Subway

Overheard by: Drew

Yes.

Loud mother: So that's what this is about? Really?
Unhappy young son: (looks down, says nothing)
Loud mother: Really? That's what this is all about? An orange drink! This is all because of an orange drink?
Unhappy son: (looks down, says something barely audible)
Loud mother: I'm overreacting? You think I'm the one who is overreacting??

--Union Square Park

Overheard by: tycho anomaly