Things I Love Thursday: Make It Funky!
[ 17 May 2012, 11:48 ]
I have to admit: being without Kat this week has made things a little bit less colourful. Yes, it’s sad but true, she flew back to the United Kingdom at the crack of dawn on Monday, & New York City just isn’t the same without her!
Pout!
But life goes on, doesn’t it, & while I miss roaming around the city until our feet were bleeding & our brains went into remission, I have actually had an extremely productive week! For those of you in the middle of a huge project, always remember that stepping AWAY from it is often more helpful than chaining yourself to your desk… You have permission to take a break & refuel your spirit! Preferably in fantastic shoes!
Here are some things I’ve been LOVING, ADORING & SWOONING OVER in the last couple of weeks!
Revlon Lip Butter in PEACH PARFAIT (the perfect pigment for a pretty pout!) ...Alliteration Wearing a walloping stack of bangles on my right arm Working outside in my favourite secret garden Making real & true progress with a couple of big projects! Being sartorially re-inspired Looking at old photos & boggling Radical Self Love cupcakes! Taking heed of Parkinson’s Law — the amount of time you have to perform a task denotes the time it will take you to perform that task! — & having an insanely productive day as a result Eating burgers with Steve Gerrard & Lara Jade (I have been a not-so-secret fan of years for YEARS & she is so lovely in person!) Central Park Zoo Meetings in big, airy offices Dark Shadows (& a crazy audience) Late-night trips to Max Brenner for thick Italian milk chocolate drinks Hotel research (always!) Running all over the city with the girls from Made U Look Photography! Kat & I are dying to see the results & we had such a fun day with Christina, Alie & Marielle! The Cure’s greatest hits Satisfying noodles… Watching old favourite movies from my childhood (Addams Family & Addams Family Values, to be exact!) Wearing motorcycle boots with yoga leggings Grilled salmon sushi Holding a plank for a minute! The Big Gay Ice-Cream Shop Sunshine!
Really, this is all about the bedazzled Kitchenaid… Wouldn’t you agree? We discovered it in Georgetown Cupcakes & it was too irresistible not to photograph!
My desk yesterday morning; I adore this Kate Spade bag (& it seriously becomes my entire office on a beautiful spring day!); this flyer made me grin; & Kat & I from behind!
...Are you following me on Instagram yet?! Username: galadarling!
Have an incredible day… & remember to take a moment to think about the wonderful things in your life. There are only two ways to live your life: one is as though nothing is a miracle, the other is as though everything is a miracle. (Einstein said that, so it must be true!)
P.S. In honour of the title of this post, here’s your Thursday soundtrack!
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Central Park Zoo On A Fine Summer's Day...
[ 16 May 2012, 11:03 ]
The Central Park Zoo is the perfect place to spend a Saturday afternoon, especially when you’re hanging out with your friends from Britain!
Last weekend was a scorcher, & after a decadent brunch at Saxon + Parole, Kat, Gareth & I hailed a cab to Central Park for an adventure. We had a horse-drawn carriage ride around the park (our horse’s name was Socks), before braving the zoo, then sat down for a well-deserved ice-cream at Dylan’s Candy Bar. (The ensuing sugar rush was one for the books!) The perfect day, je crois!
It was so much fun having Kat in town, & even better to play tourist in my favourite city! I definitely recommend it to anyone feeling dissatisfied or stuck in their own hometown. There’s always something to discover, & a new way of looking at things can be just around the corner!
We loved going to the zoo, zoo, zoo… How about you, you, you?!
P.S. If you’re reading this in your email, click through to watch the video! Kisses!
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Help! I'm So Homesick! (Well, Actually, I Miss My Boyfriend...)
[ 15 May 2012, 12:20 ]
FROM A READER:
“I am a 20 year old theatre major studying abroad in Florence, Italy with a group of 15 of my friends and fellow theatre majors. I am lucky enough to be in a beautiful city for a month and I should be having the time of my life, right?! Wrong. Since I left, I have not been able to stop missing my boyfriend Chris… I don’t want to wreck my relationship by clinging and begging Chris to email me every second. Most importantly, I want to enjoy the time I have here! This is an amazing opportunity for me and I want to grow and become a strong, independent young woman. I don’t want to be afraid of doing things by myself, and I would hate to waste my trip feeling miserable. Please let me know if you have any suggestions!”
Trust me, I relate! When I was 15 years old, I was fortunate enough to go to Germany for a month with a group from my school. It should have been a dream come true, but it felt more like a nightmare. Why? I had just started dating my first ever boyfriend, & anything that involved me being away from him was like, THE WORST THING EVER.
We started dating just before Christmas, & when I went to Australia with my parents for New Year’s Eve, I spent almost all of my time in an internet cafe, chatting to him. My level of obsession didn’t wane at all in the next six months, & in fact, when our plane took off, heading for Germany, I remember sobbing in my seat. Very dramatic!
Our romance happened in the days before everyone was super-connected. The host family I stayed with (in Karlsruhe — represent!) didn’t even own a computer; it was like torture for my super-internet-addicted self. The only way we could communicate was when I would take a box of Lucky Strikes to the pay-phone down the street. I would smoke cigarettes while I dialled a million numbers (which, of course, I had memorised) & we would talk.
It probably went like this…
Me: How’s Wellington?
Him: The same. How’s Germany?
Me: Totally not like Wellington.
Him: Cool…
Me: Yeah…
God, what a waste of air-time!
Everything about the situation was pushing my buttons like mad. I couldn’t be online, I couldn’t see my boyfriend, & I wasn’t super good friends with anyone else on my trip. I didn’t really have anyone to talk to, just a Discman & a notebook for company. I felt totally out of my depth & really uncomfortable, but looking back, this was incredibly formative for me. In fact, it was GREAT. It forced me to participate in what was happening; I had no choice.
Instead of obsessing about my boyfriend, I was concerned with lugging my 25kg backpack across a foreign city, or stringing a sentence together in another language. It taught me the importance of good chocolate, & that Germans make some of the best sandwiches in the world!
It meant that when our bus pulled up at Schloss Neuschwanstein, with the turrets peaking out of low cloud, it took my breath away. I wasn’t staring at my phone, hoping desperately for a text message from my beloved.
It gave me time to browse record stores & buy Dig Me Out by Sleater-Kinney & Richard D. James Album by Aphex Twin. Even today, whenever I hear those albums, it transports me right back to a train in Germany, the soundtrack to an ever-changing view.
From Berlin to Baden-Baden & the Black Forest, I was immersed in all things German… & I loved it. My experiences when I was 15 years old cemented Germany’s place as one of my favourite all-time countries, & taught me a different way of seeing the world. Sehr gut!
What can you learn from my (mis)adventures in homesickness boyfriend-sickness? As with everything, the very best way to deal with it is to jump right into your present reality & embrace it with everything you’ve got. All the crying & long phone-calls in the world won’t change the cold hard fact that right now, there is an ocean separating you.
When you think about it, what do you have to gain from obsessing about your beau? Nothing. What do you have to lose? A thousand fabulous memories from the opportunity of a lifetime.
Even if this experience doesn’t strengthen your relationship, it will certainly strengthen you as a person. Travelling is one of the best things we can do for our spirit & our confidence: it shows us what we’re really made of in a way that we can never experience if we just stay in one place. It’s when we’re out of our depth that we learn to swim, & it’s in unfamiliar situations that we really blossom.
Don’t forget about him completely, of course — & I know you couldn’t even if you tried. Write him postcards or put together a scrapbook of memories which you can show him when you get back. But don’t spend this month in Italy — one of the MOST beautiful places in the world — wishin’ & hopin’ for something that is out of reach. Try to limit your contact, too. You won’t regret this!
Don’t let love-sickness stop you from going out there & experiencing the world! Aim to come back home with a glut of stories to tell, about summertime Vespa rides & great conversation in the Piazza della Repubblica. Return with stories of your favourite gelato place & the espresso you drank which kept you up all night, toes jittering.
I once knew a girl who was so excited to leave New Zealand & move to Europe; it was all she talked about. When she got there, though, she decided she missed her boyfriend too much. She came home after less than a week. They broke up, & she never went back to Europe. Yes, this is a cautionary tale. Don’t be that girl!
Travelling is sublime: a way of escaping the everyday & launching yourself into a new reality. It teaches us about the world as much as it teaches us about ourselves. It always changes you & provides new perspectives. Sometimes it even provides you with new shoes!
Get out there & earn your international playgirl stripes!
Has this ever happened to you? What advice would you give to this girl? Let us know!
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Carousel: The Cherry On Top Of A Beautiful Weekend...
[ 13 May 2012, 18:13 ]
Happy Sunday! Better late than never, huh?! Here are some things on the internet this week that made me smile, laugh, or make a pensive face! I hope you enjoy ‘em.
That’s why you don’t have any friends… WORD UP. Weirdness is best!
Lilly McElroy throws herself at men... Literally!
I loved Jane’s five minutes to glowing skin guide, it’s fantastic! (I have to add, though, that I don’t recommend washing your face with hot water. Every esthetician I’ve ever known has stressed that hot water is the enemy of skin, & sucks out all the moisture. Use cold water instead, & try not to put your face under the spray in the shower!.)
I really like this: Using Youth and Beauty to Get What You Want.
Live life joyously and authentically and, when you turn fifty, you will possess the qualities people automatically ascribe to you now because of your beauty. More importantly, you will have become beautiful by being the kind of person people used to imagine you were.
Here are 15 things you can do with your Instagram photos!
I loved these flower-arranging tips, with suggestions for every different kind of vase!
Kat wrote a post rounding up her adventures in NYC. It also features more pictures of her & I than you can shake a stick at! We have had SUCH a good time together this week!
So, Marie Forleo’s Rich, Happy & Hot B-School is just about to launch, & I wanted to let you know about it. Those of you who have been reading for a while know that I rarely, if ever, promote other people’s courses. I’m pretty skeptical about them in general, & I’d never encourage you to do anything that I wouldn’t do myself! But this one is different…
My first introduction to Marie was at Selling Your Soul, an event she ran with Danielle LaPorte. IT WAS AMAZING! Seriously, it was insane. I spent a day sitting in an auditorium, completely enraptured, making pages & pages of notes. I’ve never attended an event that taught me SO many great, actionable things about running a business. Since then, I’ve been keeping an eye on her, because this gal is definitely one to watch.
Her course, Rich, Happy & Hot B-School, is just about to kick off for the third time. It’s a course for women who want to take their online businesses to the next level. Marie’s business is worth over a million bucks, so you KNOW she knows what she’s doing — & her advice & presentation is SO no bullshit. Her testimonials are off the hook. I love it so much that I’m thinking of signing up for B-School myself!
If you want to push your business to the next level — & you’re prepared to do the work — then this is definitely something you should consider. Check it out.
Full disclosure: if you decide to sign up for Rich, Happy & Hot B-School, I’ll get a commission — but like I said, I really believe in this course & think you’ll benefit from it in a major way. Otherwise, I wouldn’t recommend it!
This article — 15 ways to stay married for 15 years — is brilliant & inspiring & probably not what you’d expect.
Dirty Girls & Bad Feminists... I love this piece on internet feminism. Yes, yes, yes!
I just discovered Leah Whitehorse’s astrology blog & it’s fantastic!
My mate Isaac did an unconventional tour of New York City & if you’re into travel porn, I think you’ll enjoy it!
Rabbit was interviewed by VICE about being a sex writer. It’s a cute behind-the-scenes look at sex journalism!
...She also wrote 8 ways to be positive you’re sex-positive for The Frisky, & it is ace.
I love Kickstarter for weird projects. I’m proud to say I backed Adult Rappers, & if you’re into hip-hop, you should too. It features interviews with some of my favourite rappers about how they are able to integrate “being an adult” with hip-hop culture, historically something which is very much a youth-oriented movement. To make this documentary happen, the director needs another $6k in 3 days… Can we make it happen?! (Tell people! Let’s do this!)
This video is the cutest!
Much love,
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Zig Zag Wanderers!
[ 11 May 2012, 12:34 ]
What a week! Kat has been in town & she has been distracting me (in the best way possible)! I’ve barely even been home!
Yesterday we got prettied up by Regan Rabanal (my favourite — & first ever! — make-up artist in NYC!), then met with Christina, Marielle & Alie from Made U Look Photography. From shooting on rooftops, to stumbling around the West Village, to ending up on the Brooklyn Bridge at sunset, it was a perfect day. Christina, Marielle & Alie all had about 5 cameras around their necks at all times, shooting in a variety of formats & experimenting with lots of different film… It was so exciting & we can’t wait to see the final results!
On the subject of iPhone apps, by the way, I used 8mm to film a few clips yesterday & made them into a little video!
Hooray! Here’s to a glorious weekend…
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