Things I Love Thursday: Rainstorms And Getting Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Programming!
9 May 2013, 12:06
New York City is saturated, soaked to the bone. Today we’re promised thunderstorms and even more rain… But I’m smiling. The city is looking extra verdant, and in the last week, the trees lining the skinny streets have exploded with new shoots and greenery. We have returned to that magical time of year, marked by virescent canopies arcing between buildings, and pressed up against bricks.
To add to the happiness triggered by the cacophony of emerald outside my window, I am finally (finally!) starting to feel better. A week of bed-rest sounds wonderful, but when you feel crummy, it begins to take on more of a punishment kind of quality. Cabin-fever is real, you guys, and there is only so much trashy television one brain can possibly absorb!
I am so excited to get back to my life. Lying on my back for a week gave me plenty of time to think about things… And realise how much I still want to do. It was good actually, to have that sort of forced perspective. So often we just chug along, doing what we think we should do, and we rarely take a break to appraise our choices. Is this the right thing to do? Should I let go of this and recommit myself to that? Et cetera. I’m feeling clear and sharp. Being sick sucked, but I appreciate the opportunity to bring the important things in life back into focus.
...Oh, and as someone who rarely goes a day of her life without writing, I’m relatively exhilarated to be able to string a sentence together again!
Okay, so here are the things that are making me smile this week…
J’adore… Movies!!! I am so so so excited about Great Gatsby (of course) and I am going to race out and see Iron Man 3 really soon. Like, tonight. Or something. 
Hello Kitty popsicles (a rare bright spot during my week of plague) My rag-tag team of nurses, aka my husband and two dogs, who all did their best to make me feel less terrible (and, bless ‘em, suffered silently through my tantrums and grump attacks) Listening to music again — you know you’re unwell when you can’t even be bothered to do that! Delirious online window-shopping (I really did find the weirdest things. Thankfully, I was lucid enough at the time to know I shouldn’t trust my feverish judgement, and my bank account went unscathed!) The Ricky Gervais Show which we only recently started watching and think is HILARIOUS The Great Gatsby soundtrack (soooo good, eff a hater!) Madonna Categorically the best billboard ever Reading about Leo and Tobey’s bromance And finally, my cough, while still in existence, sounds less horrifying today!
“I’m concentrating on staying healthy, having peace, being happy, remembering what is important, taking in nature and animals, spending time reading, trying to understand the universe, where science and the spiritual meet.” (Joan Jett)
It’s meant to be gorgeous tomorrow and I am going to take full advantage! It will be fantastic just to walk around, take in some sights and fill my lungs with fresh air. I can’t wait!
Much love,
Photographs by the inimitable Made U Look.
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Things I Love Thursday: Press Play!
25 April 2013, 15:21
I often say that winter feels like life is on pause, and once the blossoms start to appear, it feels like some majestic being has pressed ‘play’ again. And so today I am grateful for the changing of the seasons, for the fact that life is always in flux, for the fact that nothing stays the same.
Yesterday was beautiful. Mike and I walked around the city, stopped in at One Lucky Duck for juice, explored the farmer’s market and enjoyed the sunshine. Always, without fail, when I walk around the city, I am struck with ideas. And when I had lunch with Rabbit this week, I had some major realisations about what is really important to me.
That’s what I mean by pressing play. Things start to move again. Life speeds up and becomes clearer, more purposeful and exciting!
Clearing out your physical space helps to speed up change, too. Over the weekend, I got properly stuck into my spring cleaning, and turned my office upside-down. I sold clothes to Buffalo Exchange, arranged my books by colour, and cleaned off my desk. I put a photobooth strip of Shauna, Kat and I into a snowglobe, and framed some art. When I was done, to quote Patrick Bateman, “relief washed over me in an awesome wave!”
Little things I saw this week…
J’adore… Hyacinths on my desk (they smell divoon!) Drinking chai while I write Springtime walks with my love Getting excited about good movies: The Bling Ring, Great Gatsby, Iron Man 3... ! Skype meetings with Shauna and Kat Writing dates with Rabbit Grease on a Sunday morning The DJ at my gym, who mixed White Zombie into NIN into Marilyn Manson into Corey Hart… New Zealand’s marriage equality bill — how good is that?! So proud! Dying over Jonathan Adler for JCPenney! Making gratitude lists on the go (anyone can play!) The Up All Night playlist Listening to The Hold Steady while the sun shines A jewel-collared shirt (one of my new favourite things) Hank’s snoring Good weekend plans Bad news: my pink suitcase is cracked. Good news: now I have an excuse to buy a cute new one! Could one of these be too far away?! Mike Mike Mike Kiss-print tissues Testing out new perfume Pink eyelash curlers!
...And don’t you forget it,
Mike took that photo of the cab yesterday, when we were walking around. I always love seeing the old Checker cabs! A rare sight.
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Things I Love Thursday: Blossoms On A Grey Day
18 April 2013, 14:06
One of the funniest things this week was getting back the film from the disposable camera we used in Los Angeles. We bought this camera which has heart, rainbow and star designs on every picture, then got a bit snap-happy. The results are so funny and silly! It reminded me of the 90’s, when disposable cameras were all my friends and I ever seemed to have…
Since I got back from L.A., I’ll be honest: it has been hard to get into my work. I keep thinking about California, how much fun we had, and how much I miss my BFFs. The post-Blogcademy blues are real! But I’ve also been struck by the truly great friendships I’ve been blessed enough to attract into my life. Even though it thoroughly sucks to be separated from my babes Shauna and Kat, I feel so fortunate to have met these girls who really get me. When I was a teenager, I felt like I would never meet anyone who really understood me… If you feel this way too, don’t worry — they’re out there!
When it comes to friendship, some people value quantity over quality. I’m not into that. I know and speak to a lot of people, sure, and I value those relationships, but if we’re able to move past the small-talk phase and really become friends, it lasts forever. That is so much more valuable to me than knowing 1000 people in every area code. I love that when I see my friends, we pick up right where we left off. Deep, reflective friendships infused with magic and positivity: that’s what I cherish.
I used to go out every night, but the older I get, the less I want to do that. For a few years, I’ve regarded this change as a kind of flaw — like I “should” be going out all the time, flitting around, being super-social. But that’s not who I am anymore, and I would rather see a couple of people a week — and have a truly meaningful interaction with them — than have the same conversation a million times a night. Of course, I love to go out and meet new people, but it feels like less of a “need” these days. I’m working on accepting that, and learning that that’s okay.
Have you noticed any changes like that as you get older (and supposedly wiser)?!
On Tuesday afternoon, Mike and I hopped on the motorcycle and rode over to Brooklyn to check out Rent Patina, aka The Blogcademy’s June digs! We pulled up to a nondescript building and my jaw literally dropped when we walked inside. What an exceptional space, and the Patina babes are the best! We’re also going to have the incredible June Cochran there to document the adventure! I can’t wait for our next class… Wanna join us?!
There’s a lot going on around here… This weekend marks the start of a grand spring clean! I’m feeling a little daunted by the challenge but it’s gotta be done… And I know I’ll feel a billion times happier once it’s finished!
Ich liebe: Lazy Sundays Mike’s green juice (especially with an extra apple added!) So Delicious chocolate and peanut butter-flavoured coconut (aka non-dairy!) ice-cream Watching cheerleading contests on ESPN2 (fascinating and impressive!) Working from bed (and calling the dogs in to join me) Coconut water Neon pink shirts (my new favourite thing to wear!) Random acts of kindness Unpacking my suitcase and finding purple crystal skulls, neon skirts, cards from Blogcademy graduates and weird trinkets Our upstairs neighbour telling us that he got rid of his TV, and he had reinstalled the disco ball in his living room (!!! I love to imagine him up there, dancing to Donna Summer in his y-fronts) Using Sesame to send out little gifts (best! app! ever!) Really thick black eyeliner (I’m having an eyeliner moment) Ready For Love — my new favourite tv show! Wait, I love The Ricky Gervais Show, too Laughing all the time Catbird’s Tarot Deck candle Spraying Lush’s Rose Jam perfume (instant mood lifter!) Walking around the city on a gorgeous day!
Looking forward to blue skies,
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Things I Love Thursday: Taste The Rainbow!
11 April 2013, 13:56
As much as I love to travel, coming home is just as sweet. I love to lace up my Nike Frees and trot across town, getting reacquainted with my favourite city. I love to cue up Q-Tip and turn my speakers to full blast. I love doting on Hank and Dolly, and watching MotoGP with my husband!
My flight from Los Angeles arrived at JFK at 7pm, just in time for me to catch a glorious sunset on my way home. Every time I cross the Williamsburg Bridge, with that view up the island of iconic skyscrapers, I am filled with the excitement and wonder I felt when I first visited NYC in 2006. Will the love affair ever end?
California was good to us, though. The Blogcademy: Los Angeles was a complete blast. We couldn’t have picked a cooler venue — McCadden Space is like a mid-century wonderland — and when you throw a photobooth and some hot 80’s tunes into the mix, you can’t ask for much more! We were blessed to have Caroline to shoot the hell out of it, too. I can’t wait to show you more as soon as we get the pictures back!
Shauna and I at the Coffee Bean; Kat outside Urban Outfitters; at Disneyland; with Amy at Umamicatessen; with Kandee in class; with Jazzi in Los Feliz. Yes, we are obsessed with Instax rainbow film!
J’adore! I completed my Invisalign treatment yesterday! (I’ll write all about it soon!) KALE This t-shirt, because, I mean, wow Gin and tonics made by the one and only RockNRoll Bride! Packing our suitcases with glitter-dipped feathers, sparkly bows, multi-coloured tassels, Ring Pops, and hand-drawn paper dolls… Our L.A. headquarters, otherwise known as the BLOFT Talking about blogger conspiracies with Jazzi! Getting my flapper on at Playclothes in Burbank Pepto-Bismol pink bathrooms Mind-blowing tarot readings from Paige Being so tired after day one of L.A. that I had to put on a Notorious BIG shirt and a pair of holographic leggings and just get horizontal Laughing until I cried with Kandee (my new favourite person) The best roof in the known universe Making the whole class sing Happy Birthday to Kat (who immediately went as pink as her hair!) Getting the best compliment from a woman wearing an extreme wig at the 99c Only store: “Girl, you WEARIN’ that hat!” Adventures on Hollywood Blvd Getting really 90’s and tying my sweater around my waist Green juice Shauna eating a 49c donut for breakfast Wifi on planes (a DELIGHT) Stacks of photos on my desk Being home in my creative bunker!
<a href="https://twitter.com/galadarling">galadarling</a> is wearing the necomeme. <a href="https://t.co/fdL8gXIMiV" title="https://vine.co/v/bTEzXrLhhBz">vine.co/v/bTEzXrLhhBz</a></p>— Vivian Mak Urata (vivianmakurata) April 8, 2013
Finally, at the end of The Blogcademy: Los Angeles day two, Vivian put a pair of Necomeme on my head and made a Vine. The Necomeme can read your brainwaves and moves the ears accordingly! I mean, amazing. I LOVE these. So cool!
Wiggling my ears at you,
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Things I Love Thursday: Disneyland!
5 April 2013, 11:31
I’m in love with California! ...And sorry this is a day late. Shauna, Kat and I spent yesterday at Disneyland with the babes from Made U Look, and by the time we got home, we could barely speak, let alone put together coherent blog posts!
But we did, of course, have an incredible day. Can you believe Kat had never been before?! It was our birthday treat — she turns 29 on Sunday! The weather was perfect, we wore matching silver ears, and we slurped frozen apple juice as we walked around the park. Going on The Haunted Mansion restores my faith in the universe. Happiest place on Earth, for real!
It has been so wonderful to spend a week in L.A., where the food is fresh and health-conscious, the people are bizarre and beautiful, and the weather is incomparable. Getting a bit of sun on these pale New York shoulders has felt so good. Just what I needed. All three of us head back home on Tuesday, but we’re already discussing our next trip…
After an action-packed week, we’re taking it easy today (and I’m going to do my best to drag the girls into an infrared sauna later this afternoon!). Tomorrow, we kick off The Blogcademy: Los Angeles, and we are AMPED! We can’t wait to meet a whole new slew of smiling faces!
J’adore… Rainbow Instax film! OBSESSED! Cute text messages and photos from my husband California sunshine Turning Kat into a green juice addict Umamicatessen with Amy and Kevin Tender Greens in Hollywood: L.A. does kale RIGHT! TopShop at The Grove (and their personal shopping service) Roaming the aisles at Trader Joe’s Buying bunches of fresh flowers for our loft Maxi skirts and crop tops Wearing big hats Neon dresses and crazy prints Scouting out all the raw food places in the area The Museum of Death (totally weird, totally recommended) $20 Barbie pink gel manicures (!!!) Introducing Kat to RuPaul’s Drag Race! Pink crystal skulls Trying to explain the magician obsession… And failing Watching Marilyn Manson’s Californication episode Doing very painful Boscia face masks (but seeing the benefits the next day!) DISNEYLAND! Captain EO (Shauna makes us go every time) Christina, Alie and Marielle Deep sleep!
Love and sunshine,
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