Things I Love Thursday

Okay, so… exciting news! This is the FIFTY-SECOND TiLT! Do you know what that means? YES! If you’ve been with me since the first TiLT, we’ve now been doing this FOR A YEAR SOLID! I can’t even begin to tell you how awesome that is. It makes me SO happy! & even better is that every week, TiLT just gets stronger & stronger! More new people join in & start to experience the glee! One of the coolest things is that TiLT is spreading all across the internet; I read SO many blogs now where they do a regular love list! It’s fantastic! The more happiness you can generate, the better you feel. Sometimes my mental image of TiLT is a girl on an exercise bike, pedalling like mad, with little heart-shaped bubbles blowing out behind her. I love it! Love it love it love it! So, kudos to you for sticking around & participating, thank you!

Practising my social skills — I have been doing this a lot lately, especially with all the travelling I’ve done. If you can be charming to the people who check you in, it pays dividends. They’ll give you good seats, I guarantee, & even though my suitcases are always over the weight allowance, I never get charged for it. But the thing is, everyone likes a bit of enchantment. Sometimes I almost make it into a game. I like to see how much fabulousness I can extract from people I’ve only just met; I like to give them a chance to prove how completely awesome they are. They almost always delight me, it’s totally great. You should try it, it’s good sport!

Cute emails from amazing people — On Tuesday night I received a really adorable email from… deep breath… Slug from Atmosphere. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Okay, there are not enough exclamation points in the world to adequately express my excitement. By the way, he read your comments & they made him blush! Awww!

Laughing until my cheeks hurt — There is nothing better than spending time with people who really know you & make you laugh. My parents, my best friend Jennie & my ex-boyfriend Alex all fall into this category, & since they’re the people I’ve spent the most time with recently, it’s all good. My cheeks are getting a good work-out. My grandmother’s nickname for me used to be “Face Ache” (charming, right?!) & this week it has never rung more true.

This photograph of Eva Carrière:

Eva Carrière

My new hair — It took me a couple of days to adjust to the change — after all, I’d been purple for about 10 months — but now I have & I’m LOVIN’ it! Wildilocks did such a good job, & I love that it’s not just a flat one colour all over like it used to be. In the olden days, I used to just slather a bottle of Atomic Pink all over my tresses & hope for the best. But this is a combination of Atomic Pink & Virgin Rose, so the colour is deeper & richer, & I adore it! It looks amazing in the sunlight, & it makes my eyes look intensely aqua. Mermaid eyes! Yay!

Makeshift winter outfits — I am wearing my grey Country Road cardigan as a skirt right now. It’s warm. I’m into it.

Life itself — I went from New York to Melbourne to Wellington in 5 days. I cleared out the life I used to live in four hours after spending five times that many hours on a plane. Now I’m here in New Zealand, quietest place on earth perhaps. To say it has been a drastic adjustment is an understatement, but I am doing pretty well, & I am actually really happy. Going from action central to the place I grew up in is pretty mind-bending, & has presented its own challenges, but I’m convinced that it is good for me! It’s important to be able to be happy wherever you are, because ultimately it’s all about how happy you are with yourself!

Billy Joel — Lullabye (Goodnight My Angel)One of my new favourite songs.

Honorary mentions: “I wish you were here so I could make you raspberry macarons at an obscenely early hour”; a conversation with my lovely friend Jo which incited her to throw double horns; smuggling cupcakes across the border (no kidding!); loooong talks with Jennie; sitting in the sun drinking tea & writing; the fact that even though it is cold, it’s not as bad as I thought it would be!; jumping back on the raw wagon; my super-uber-hyper-pink Barbie manicure with purple gems; making fun plans for NYC in September; sleeping in my new polka-dot hoodie from American Apparel (cozy & cute); awesome boy karma; stalk-o-vision @ the galaverse!; teeny little Fafinettes (see above!); good hands; barbeque rice crackers; soup with lots of pepper; Entourage (did you know I have a crush on Ari Gold?!); Darcy Clay; ugg boots (secret admission: I stole them from my father & they are so hideous but so warm, I cannot stop wearing them, but I promise I will never leave the house in them!), & that whole ‘when it rains it pours’ thing!

“Today I choose life. Every morning when I wake up I can choose joy, happiness, negativity, pain… To feel the freedom that comes from being able to continue to make mistakes & choices… Today I choose to feel life, not to deny my humanity but embrace it.” — Kevyn Aucoin

Your turn… ! Make it a BIGGIE for TiLT’s first birthday! Woooooooooohoo!