Things I Love Thursday

The iCiNG community — You all continually amaze me. I received this email from Mica a few days ago.

“Just wanted to say a huge thank you to you for organising the contact page for us all. I had to go down to Melbourne for a graduate position and I had a break before my flight home, so I asked one of my new Melbourne-based iCiNG facebook friends what I should do. I got some great suggestions although I actually ran out of time to do much, it was still helpful! When I got called back to Melbourne again the next again week I made sure I had a bit more time to spare so I could meet my new Melbourne friend! I met up with the lovely Nora yesterday and we sat in a little Melbourne coffee shop, drinking hot chocolate and chatting. It was a perfect way to relax and unwind after an interview, and I’m really glad I got to say hi to her face to face… My favourite part was being thrown out of the coffee shop as we had overstayed our welcome, we’d both not noticed the time! hehe. Not something I would have expected to happen after meeting a complete stranger…!”

Telephones — This is going to sound silly maybe, but have you ever thought about how incredibly amazing the telephone is? You press a sequence of numbers & you are connected to your best friend, your lover, your parents; instantly transported to a kitchen in Bombay or a library in Boston or someone climbing a tree in Dunedin. I love it!

New York — Oh, come on! You knew that was coming! I’m really starting to feel at home here. It has been fabulous roaming the city with Simon, but now that I am here alone, & have been a bit nervous about it, I feel like New York is cheering for me. It wants me to stay. It’s doing its best to make me happy. The weather is warm & beautiful, & when I stepped out the front door today, here’s what I was greeted with. Blossoms.

Raw food — Man, New Yorkers have it totally sussed. I went into a tiny health food store on the Upper East Side yesterday & found an entire wall full of raw food. Not to mention the amazing food I’ve eaten since arriving here — mind-blowing, to say the least.

Being open to opportunities — I’ve made a conscious effort to open myself out to new people & experiences while I’m here, & it’s paying off in a major way! I have had offers to stay all over the city, go vintage shopping, explore Brooklyn, scope out street style with Altamira (aka Craig), stay at someone’s summer house in East Hampton, visit Disneyworld, hang in the Egyptian wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, go to Minnesota & stay with a guy from Rhymesayers, & way more than I could ever mention! It’s absolutely amazing & I’m so excited. I love having so many choices that I’m not sure which one I’m going to pick!

Warm weather — New York has totally been putting on the ritz in terms of weather. Blue skies, sunshine, blossoms & butterflies are everywhere. Even better, as you read this, I am 30,000 feet in the sky, flying to Florida, where it is even warmer! It feels kind of like cheating to go from the Australian summer to the American one, but you know, I’m okay with that!

Feeling a bit Carrie Bradshaw — Oh, I know it’s a cliché, but here I am, a girl in the city, laptop in hand, writing about her experiences & trying to make sense of them… Of course, there are probably thousands of girls in Manhattan who feel exactly the same way, but it’s a club I’m pleased to join! (Also: can’t wait to see the movie! Squeal!)

Honourable mentions: Lots of books to read (I am dying to get into them but have been too busy thus far!); Disneyworld (can’t wait to go!); spontaneous phone calls; yerba mate tea (yummy!); my bathrobe from the New York Palace (it is pimp); the New York Palace in general (I’d be happy never to stay anywhere else again); the East Coast raw community (aaaaaabsolutely… faaaaabulous!); Zappos.com (upgraded me to overnight shipping for free & were generally amazing); plotting out an informal Spring uniform while I’m here (pictures to come once I’ve obtained it!); marvelling at the things in the supermarket (really, it blows my mind); my new Frye boots (pictured above); pink (it’s everywhere & I’m embracing it); my New York City Moleskine; new friends who want to help; tulips (they are all over the city, huge & vibrant) &… well, pretty much everything! I am a little bundle of loved-up loveliness right now! Mwah!

“Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.” — Gloria Steinem

So, gorgeous, tell us! What’s ringing your bell, turning your crank, keeping you awake at night? The promise of Spring? A new Winter coat? Stolen kisses? Trapeze lessons? Let us know!