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New York — Being back here is better than words could possibly express. It is a blissful, Bacchanalian full-body experience. Oh yes. The first morning I was here, I rode on the back of a 1968 Triumph across the Brooklyn bridge, where we went to a 1950s diner & ate breakfast in a garden full of roses while listening to Bauhaus. Hello magical city, I missed you, did you miss me too?

My new apartment — One of the first orders of business in getting back to the city was finding somewhere to live. Craigslist has not failed me yet. On Sunday night I went to see a furnished sublease; on Monday morning the owner called me to tell me it was mine. & I love it. It’s beautiful with strange wallpaper & taxidermy, in a fabulous location in the East Village. I don’t get to move in until the 13th of July but I can’t wait & I am so excited!

Dogs wearing birthday hats — Someone should start a website about this, it would be a total hit. Anyway, The Dish’s dog (Hank Williams!) turned 9 on Tuesday, so I bought helium balloons & party hats, because I am obviously a complete lunatic. Regardless, how cute is that photo? EXTREMELY. I am in love with this dog. He is lying down with his head in my lap right now. I even love him when he gets scared by thunderstorms & has to be cuddled back to sleep. I estimate he spends 60% of his time asleep, 30% of it staring at me adoringly & 10% on a walk. & he has velvetty ears! So cute, argh, death. I had forgotten how much I love dogs, they put me in such a good mood.

Getting back into my life — Being anywhere but New York City feels like being on an escalator where the handrail is moving slower than the rest of it. Does that make sense? When I’m here I feel like everything gets caught up again & I can start making progress again. Happy.

Honourable mentions: Flirting with immigration officials; laughing every morning until I can’t breathe; the result of New Zealand’s Next Top Model; really really really good coffee; brainstorming with Molly Crabapple; hearing Journey on the street & thinking of Nubs; dogs who sleep with their head resting on your stomach; going out for amazing meals every night; sugar cookies; night-time cuddling; good morning kisses; freshly pinked hair; discussing “internet fame”; submitting speaking proposals; when people in real life talk as if they are Tweeting “@galadarling hello” (hahah); making my friend laugh so hard he spat tea all over his computer; catching up with my work; making holiday plans (Las Vegas, is that yoooou?!); Jim Rohn; messages which say “I miss you” after only an hour apart; holding hands & getting to know people & The Dish’s impersonation of Danny Zucco. “SANDY!”

Photo by Tim Walker.

“It may be that you are not yourself luminous, but you are a conductor of light.” — Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Et toi, my beautiful gazelle? What’s got you bursting into song in inappropriate places today?!