The Guggenhiem 2008

Today I woke up to a beautiful blue sky and speckled clouds but it didn’t stop the weather being absolutely freezing outside. I lumbered around the house leaving myself 5 minutes to walk 5 blocks to meet Tash. The more of the rush I was in, the faster I would walk and the warmer I would be. We met at her fathers on 70th and Park Avenue and continued up to 87th and 5th Avenue to the Guggenheim museum. The Guggenheim was designed by frank loyd Right and the exterior itself draws a lot of tourism. Unlike when Sam and I walked around Tash and I decided to enter the museum and look at the art and the interior. When we bought our tickets they informed us that all the side exhibits would be closing in half an hour for the light exhibition where the viewers were the art. After running through all the photography and a few art spaces we kicked out to the lobby where everyone one was distributed with head lights…. Then all the lights went out. All the doors were covered with black cloths leaving only our head lights and EXIT illuminating anything. The point of the exercise was to allow the guests to view the art and exhibits in a different perspective. I think their idea would have been more effective is there were less lights because there was so many people every where was illuminated by someone else’s head light. Tash and I spent a lot of time making animals; bunnies, crocodiles, foxes and butterflies on the ceiling or cloth and catching up on my Europe trip and her university tales.

On the way home Tash was humoured when I told her we sometimes spent Christmas Day sailing on the harbour and the afternoon sleeping or in the pool. Then suddenly I got the BIGGEST surprise of my day… a puddle on the side of the road had completely frozen and with it a plastic trash bag and fall leaves. I want it to snow again, I want it to snow forever! I cannot wait for a white Christmas.

Now I am sitting on Alice’s bed while she is screaming from the bathroom as the hot water has run out and she’s stuck in a cold bath with half shaven legs. I offered to boil some water from the kettle and pass it through but she said she’d wait for the water to heat. She’s been waiting a while, and complaining even more. I just hope she jumps out before she uses all the hot water!!

p.s. this is totally irrelevant but this is the little chest of draws I found at Hells Kitchen Markets under all the mess..

xx m

Long Text but I shall add photos when i get apple internet!!!!

OUI OUI EFFIEL TOWER

Sam and I decided on booking the earliest train to Paris from London because it was the cheapest however staying at Reece’s, well out of the city in Uxbridge we had to get a cab to the station so we didn’t save money but only lost sleep. Lucky for me I can fall asleep anywhere and so I did for the whole trip on Sam’s lap whilst he stayed up straight straight straight in those B grade seats. We got to our new hotel, which was very sweet, a bed and a sink. The toilet was shared with the whole level, another 5 rooms and the shower was located on the 2nd floor and cost an additional 6E to use. Fortunately for us Sam and I were smart and after the first use we discovered there was an unlimited hot water so we would have a relay where after 6 minutes Sam and I would come and dance our knuckles on the shower door, swap positions and he or I would continue the shower without having to pay another 6E. The only draw back was that the lock could only be turned once so when you opened it for the other to come in the shower would not lock. Lucky for us no walked in on either of us or caught us in the act. Other than the inconvenient shower and bathroom our little hotel was located close to the metropolitan, the Louvre, cute shops and inexpensive restaurants.
We had lovely weather so spent a lot of our time walking around seeing the sights. We went to the Louvre but Sam was not interested in art so whilst he raced through the exhibitions I walked slowly through looking at the beautiful ceilings and artworks around the place. The setup of the Louvre was different from when I last went and there was a lot of restoration underway as well as the beginning of the construction of a new area for Iraq artworks. There was an area for plans of the building being built and Sam and I both agreed it was horrible. Right in the middle of the square a huge white, hologram, and chameleon skin coloured rippled sheet that covered the whole area. It did not go with any of the surrounding buildings and looked like it would block the view of the lovely old buildings. Maybe that was the point but it was not very tasteful.

On the second day of Paris Sam and I decided to go to Versailles. The day was cold so we rugged up as it were even colder once you get out of the city. Our trip was going very even meeting fellow Richmond travelers on the train until we had to transfer trains for the last two stops. Unfortunately for Sam and I the next train was delayed, then cancelled so we had to wait two hours in the freezing cold, Sam thinks about 4C. We couldn’t sit still for too long so after half an hour of walking the station we found an open gate and went exploring the cute little French town. I even order un croissant and un elcair chocolat for Sam et moi. At last we arrived in Versailles and it began to rain ice. It was so cold, we waited in a long queue but finally got our earpieces and took ourselves on a tour of the beautiful castle and gardens. The castle was still very beautiful as it had all been restored with fresh stone and vibrant wallpapers, each room a different colour and detailed extravagantly.

The only let down was there were these huge, grotesque, bright coloured ‘modern art’ sculptures that littered the rooms and cloisters of the castle. They were supposed to be a modern interpretation and reflection of the room in which they were in however unlike the Asians tourists I found them distracting and in the way. As the day went on the weather got worse but Sam and I were enjoying the castle too much to care. We walked down through the beautifully geometric and excessive gardens lined with marble statues and vases, parallel grass fields, sweet little fountains and sky high hedges. Because it was raining and absolutely freezing, we had the gardens to ourselves so we walked freely around. I thought the castle of Marie Antoinette suited me very much and I would happily live there is someone kept it heated as it was for us, while Sam agreed it was also for him “can you imagine, you could play inside cricket all the time and no one would care!!!”. Sigh!! Walkie Talkie hide-and-go-seek Winnie? After reaching breaking point were we were too wet and our jackets were beginning to turn to ice we decided to head back to Paris.


Five minutes from the exit Sam decides to dance around a water fountain, unfortunately for him his high spirits were killed when his camera fell out of his pocket and into the pond. His new $500 touch screen, 10.1 megapixel camera SPLOOOSHED into the ice cold fountain. High highly trained fast twitch fibres extended and retracted so fast that he caught the camera before it hit the bottom and pulled it out. We ran to the nearest restroom and held it under a drier… it is still working today just a little bit slow!

The next couple of days we did tourist things and absorb the culture and beauty and taste of the city. Baguette and éclair, baguette and chocolate, baguette and croissant, Panini and pain de chocolate, etc. We went to musee de’orsey and saw Picasso’s interpretation of Manet’s après dejeuner sur le jardin. Sam and I put on the Aussie smile attitude when we almost got escorted out of the museum for taking photos of ourselves and Picasso’s work in background. Whoops.
We also climbed the Eiffel Tower, Arc de triomphe, saw the Moulin Rouge, Notre Dame Church, River Seine and Champs Elysse. Sam and I had great weather and timing for Paris, we managed to fill in the cold days with museums but stole beautiful clear sunny days for climbing the Eiffel tower. Sam and I looking “Swedish” so everyone was very nice to us including the man with a limb in from of us, “Nash”. Since the day was so beautiful the queue was very long so we were inclined to talk to this poor lonesome man for a while. He was very sweet and said he would take photos for us from all four sides of the Eiffel Tower when we reached the top and so we could do the same for him. Sam and I were very careful when taking photos for Nash Torrez ensuring that the background was in focus, of cultural significance as well as including a smiling Nash in the photo. Nash didn’t quite have our artistic and outlook of taking photos as we did and every single photo although was encouraged by Torrez “beautiful, great spot, fantastic photo” was absolutely terrible. There was tourists walking across most, no background, scaffolding, sun behind out heads, closed eyes or blurry. Sigh. I think out of thirty photos we have one which after cropping and editing is okay. Unfortunately we did not stay too long up the top because I got vertigo and felt like I was going to be sick the whole time. It wasn’t much fun for me and I was so happy to have my feet on the ground.

On Saturday night my French friends, Adeline and Marc that I became good friends with in NYC decided to take Sam and I out for a night. We met Adeline for dinner, she took us ironically to an American Diner but it was so good to have a red meat burger instead of another white bread Panini. Our loud neighbours began talking to us about the American election then about Australia saying how odd it was living on Oxford St, I tried to practice my French after 3 cocktails yelling “je t’aime” instead of “ils t’aime”. They all looked at me oddly then continued eating their dinners, for English-only speakers I yelled, “I love you” instead of “they love you” whoops. I also made the mistake within fifteen minutes of saying to Adeline with the angriest look and voice “je taime profiteroiles” instead of “je deteste”. Everyone was crying with laughter again. After dinner we headed out to some exclusive clubs just off the Champs Elysse with Marc and their friends. They were all so glamorous and I felt so frumpy in my dirty white smock, scruffy big shoes, and messy hair. Marc being a high roller in Paris took us two of the most exclusive clubs in Paris where we walked straight in, no line waiting for us. When I was wondering around with Zoe, a girl I met, we began chatting to a friendly French man who after discovering I was Australian asked “how the hell did you get in here?” as I looked around I realized the place was infested with super skinny and tall models. Tehe. Feeling depressed about my dessert pear shape I went to buy Sam and I some drinks. As clubs do not cover charge and tips are given sparsely two drinks cost us 40E. We only bought one drink that night. All in all it was a very fun night were I had an entire conversation in French with a couple of guys. I asked them their names, how they are, and answered a lot of their conversations with “je ne sais pas” then ran away before they discovered my real origin.
Sam and I also met up with my friend Georgie, 18, from school. She is the gorgeous redhead that ran away from Australia with her boyfriend currently 34 to pursue modeling in Paris, London, and Milan etc. She has been in London for 3 years and she has the strongest English accent I have ever heard. Even when we were in London no one spoke with such a fervent accent, it was almost comical and it was waterloo accent so not even that pleasing to the ear. So weird.

As Sam and I’s money begins to deplete we try to save our money but filling up on coffee for breakfast and having a lunch/dinner as late as we can in a day. One day Sam and I got so preoccupied with exploring the Lafayette and Printemps shops (most gorgeous stores full of beautiful clothes) that I was getting close to 8pm and we still had not had lunch or dinner. We could not find an open patisserie but only pizza shops which were selling pizzas for 24E each. I was happy to continue walking around the area in hope of coming across something less expensive but Sam was feeling sick with hunger. He decided that he would shout pizza hut pizza that was bound to be cheaper than 24E. Having to ask the clergyman down stairs to order but finally our pizza’s arrived. Unfortunately the clergyman did not speak much English either so ordered wrong pizzas, instead of one large costing 10E, he ordered 2 medium costing 40E!!! To top it off they forgot to slice the pizzas so Sam and I had to tear pieces of pizza off to eat. Oh well, Sam’s shout!!

After Paris we headed to Florence. Unfortunately we did not realize you had to book train tickets at minimum three days ahead we found a cheap airline that cost the same amount as the train to take us to Florence. After finding out the flight had been delayed two hours Sam and I made a picnic in the middle of the airport floor with beer (from duty free) and sandwich’s. Finally the aircraft was ready to be boarded, we walked out on to the ash fault and up some rickety stairs then it was first there first served with the seats. Sam and I got two together but as usual a large man sat next to Sam so Sam couldn’t sit his broad shoulders back. The plane was definitely not worth what we paid for, no food, rude airhostess’s, no TV, small seats, and the engine was so loud Sam and I had to watch a movie on my computer. When the plane landed EVERYONE clapped and cheered. I could not stop laughing, why were people clapping, was it not often that with RyanAir you did not land safely getting from A to B? Were they usually more than two and a half hours overtime? So weird. After climbing down more rickety stairs we jumped onto bus thinking that since there was a bus we were a long way from the terminal. After fifteen minutes of waiting the bus moved 30 meters across the ashfault were we collected our luggage.

We arrived at our hotel 3am and fell instantly asleep in our authentic Italian room. We got up early to ensure we did not miss out on breakfast, devon and cheese sandwiches and coffee. I tried to be the good traveler and save one for lunch but meat doesn’t travel and they were not all that tasty, 5E margarita pizza is so much more appealing. The next day weather was wet but not cold, I remembered Florence quite well and took Sam to the markets, the Duomo, Ponte Vecchio and to my favourite Pizzeria. The next couple of days the weather warmed and dried so Sam and I were walking in tshirts and dresses. After the Uffizi where we saw works by Botticelli, LeonardodaVinci and Michelangelo I tried to show off and take Sam the “back route” to the real statue of David. I got lost but instead of accepting defeat I pretended that the little town we came across had the greatest gelato in Tuscany and ordered him a cup in the best Italian. After an hour of walking up a green, cobble, back street where we found a beautiful non-tourist ridden lookout spot over Florence. We self timed a few photos which are horrible, I had removed my usual flowy top to reveal a tight white tank I had underneath that showed my huge bump on the front, sides and back. So upsetting I am so fat. When I went jean shopping I was two sizes up from when I left Sydney!! ARGH. I cannot help but taste the sweet delicious morsels from the gourmet heavens.

My Italian came in very handy when I bargained at the markets saying it was too expensive or asking for different colours. However they all speak perfect English and obviously picked up my little Australian accent and replied in English. One night Sam and I needed new towel and glasses for our Tuscan Wine and the clergyman spoke no English. I got two fresh towels, two mugs and two wine glasses, I thought I did okay.

No other stories really, except being called pregnant by a leather salesman saying I could use the two way zipper when I was due, another leather salesman getting his cigarette lighter and put the flame to the leather jacket or getting called wife, boss by others. I guess I just know what I like and finally found a nice jacket for Sam. Sam and I did our first washing the other day and two hustlerbeggars came into the room and tried to grab my bag that was on the table. One took a heavy right hander from Sam and other a back kangaroo kick and they never hustled again….


I’m on a speed train now… Off to Roma!!!

Love my fattsy self. … . . . . P.s. no one is replying to me… I am all alone except my second stomach. How is Sydney and nyc?
X x x x

"These Toy Soldiers..."

Salut family.

Sam and I are almost a third of our way through our Europe travels and we’re still smiles. We have lived on people’s floors and uncomfortable mattresses but have managed to stay away from hostels… so far.

My last week in New York was very chaotic getting ready to leave and my road trip with Alice. After having my roommate very kindly drove me to the Upper East Side in his Tarago I found a blow-up mattress and slept on Alice’s floor. After our road trip of Inns, Motels and guests bedrooms I returned to my blow up mattress on the floor. The next couple of nights Alice stayed at her friends as her shower and toilet were being renovated. Twice I had to run down to the local pub, pulling trackies over my PJ’s to go to the bathroom. Luckily I slept through the nights so there were no emergency fire window escapes or kitchen sink!!


Without a shower and bathroom I felt it was hygienically necessary and appropriate to have a shower before I saw Sam for the first time in 5 months. Having become quite close to Nathasha’s family I went over to Natasha’s dads place 4 blocks from Alice’s place and asked to use their shower. They were very happy to see me and fed me tea and delicious chocolate. At 4am I woke to my alarm clock, brushed my teeth, packed my bag, arranged my stuff more neatly and stumbled out the door in the close-to-zero temps (forecasted for snow!) to find a cab.

After a long cab and a lot of waiting I finally was seated in my airplane seat. Being a terrible girlfriend I hadn’t really gotten sam a birthday present so I picked him up a small, inexpensive treat from the duty free area. However the airline and duty-free pickups did not line up so all customers had to gather at the front on the plane blocking all the isles and entrances to revieve their items. Finally they matched my ticktets and allowed me back to my seat. Two minutes later “Miss Millicent Fox” was announced over the speaker and I had to excuse myself past my patient neighbour. My luggage tag had come off and they were just confirming the lovely huge, purple, gumstained travel pack was mine. I had to wait again next to the air hostess as they decided what to do with my unlabelled bagged. Unfortunately that day I decided to wear a red cardigan with gold buttons and standing next to an air hostess was a bad idea as people kept flashing their tickets or looking at me oddly as if I should greet them. Finally if I stared blankly, half wittedly with a smile on my face the just kind of ignored me. At last I was at my seat, we took off and flew 35,000 feet in the air. My neighbour was very sweet, he was 20 or 30 something and was doing his cardio residency at the Belair(?) I cannot remember but it was a famous hospital he said on the UES. He was transferring to another hospital that is number one for cardio, again I cannot remember the name.

After arriving at the airport I was so worried how Sam and I would respond with each other, it was awkward at first but then I started talking and it was all perfect. The next day I was excited and full of energy so Sam and I embarked on a huge walk. We started walking through Hyde Park, down Oxford Street, down Regent Street, through Piccadilly Circle, To Buckingham Palace to watch the guards change over, to Big Ben and the … Cathedral, across the River Thames past the London Eye, 35L = $110 so never went on. We travelled back across the river to trafagular square, down back down to Buckingham palace, up Regent street across oxford and through the park. I found it so lovely but little Sam was so tired from his 27 hour flight, feeling like he had stayed awake for 3 days and night did feel the Sam. Being the day of my birthday however he followed behind my by the hand. The only part of the whole day that Sam finally seemed to have a bit of spirit was when he saw a squirrel. He had never seen one before and found them so adoreable and sweet he could not resist trying to catch one. He never caught one but he is determined to try again in Central Park. That night we headed to Oxford to meet my good friend Tash and her best friend Michaela. We caught a long hour and a half train and there were no seats and Sam was so exhausted he sat on the floor, the office workers were all jealous but could not stoop as low. We arrived at michaela’s apartment at Oxford university, she is studying French and Italian, had champagne sushi and headed to a few Oxford Uni Bars before a party we had tickets too. It was very fun and people were very nice buying me birthday drinks. Sam disappeared at one point leaving Tash, Michaela and I and we somehow found our way on the stage with the Crookers. Mom, dad and whoever else doesn’t know their a globally known DJ duo. It was very fun and they loved us.


The next day Sam and I walked around Oxford, it was very beautiful will massive mansions and old stone buildings. It had been two days since I had seen Sam and we’d talked about friends, family, things, work, pets, farm, cars, plants, clothes, sisters, brothers, weddings, travels and we were walking in semi silence. To break the ice I began freestyling. I thought I was getting pretty good but Sam just kept telling me to shut up. When we pet up with Michela that afternoon when she took us on a on a mini-tour of Oxford university she laughed in my face and said I was terrible. I am not content with silence. Michaela showed us the ‘old tree’ the famous cloisters but most importantly showed us areas were Harry Potter was filmed. I instantly felt like a witch and wished for a robe.

Sam has a friend from school who plays soccer for England who came and picked us up and let us crash at his place. In return Sam and I cooked burgers. During the two days left in London we went to the Portobello Markets, walked the Tower Bridge, went to Harrods, Shakespeare’s Globe and Carnaby Street.


At the markets Sam and Reece did not have much of an interest instead it was me picking through vintage boxes, jewellery, watches, badges while they would pick up an old hammer and hit each other on the arm until the seller told them it cost 90E. At one point we passed a TAB and the two boys stopped and talked about a automated Roulette machine which sam was SO interested by I said I was going to walk-on down Portobello road and they can catch up. As I walked off I had to go to the restroom but I had no idea where I was. There were no commercial chain stores or public toilets so I tried to hold on till the boys came. After 15 minutes I could not hold it any more so I asked this gentle looking man selling old vintage army and navy jackets. “Of course sweetie” he said “I’ll take you there myself, I was just on my way”. He took me by the arm and led me off to the nearest cafeteria talking away about his jackets. I was just so happy to find a restroom I was so surprised when Sam RAN up behind me grabbing my by both arms almost knocking me to the floor “AH there you are, WHERE ARE YOU GOING???” Awww poor Sam, he had caught up just in time to see me being left off by an older man by the arm. I reassured Sam of my safety and went off to the cafeteria restroom.
The end of London… Off to Paris..

The Road Trip for A - Z

The Road-trip for A – Z

You’ll never believe where I am writing from, 34 000 feet above the united states of America on my way to cross over Finland and then traveling south to England. Unfortunately they have no internet wireless up here which I do not understand cause we’re closer to the satellites up here. Oh well, I will save, exit and send on arrival.

On the morning of Thursday 16 November I woke from a terrible sleep on an air mattress on Alice’s new Upper East Side apartment. It wouldn’t of been so bad if I hadn’t moved at all or I was a tube and was the same weight all over. Every time I moved my hips especially would sink quickly and SMASH onto the floor which hurt and made me wake. Then I would lie awake waiting for the fridge generator to stop humming for just a little bit. After a quick pack Alice and I headed down to the Grand Central Station to catch our train to White Plains. After an hour and a half Alice and I arrived at the desolate(?) ‘city’ of White Plains. We collected our car from the airport and began our journey. We headed West across New York State and North to Woodbury Commons, a high end fashion retail outlet complex. We arrived early and the place was almost empty. Alice and I have big expectations were slowly let down as we went into each department store and finding only small discounts, used items or just ugly cloths. We tried and tried to make the most of the Chloe, YSL, Gucci, Juicy Couture, Valentino, Missioni, TSL, Jimmy Choo etc stores but it was just useless. Alice and I finally left defeated without purchasing anything at all from the whole entire complex so headed to Walmart which we saw upon entering …



Walmart is amazing, we went to a superstore which included everything and a supermaket! It was equilivant of Kmart, Target, Coles, Woolworths, Farmland with more options and over the largest space. Alice and I tried to stick together but as I would be drawn to something across the way Alice would wander so we were constantly separately then reuniting when we were both drawn to the same thing, cheap nickers!!! We decided to buy some food and Alice thought it was so funny that I had 24 OZ of beef jerkey, carrots, prunes and “fibre plus” muslei bars. Alice then explained the lethal combination of prunes and fibre plus so I swapped them for some other ones. I didn’t realized they made you go to the bathroom a lot, I thought they were just healthy as they advertise fibre plus everywhere. So gross! We left with our bags and headed to Albany. As it started to get dark Alice and I decided we should find a place to rest at the next town. We pulled into a holiday Inn and asked how much a double room would cost, $149!!! We refused and were determined to find somewhere cheaper. Alice told Asheesh, her doctor friend in NYC who said he would help us find a nice safe cheap to stay. He booked us a room at the Holiday Inn in Albany, unfortunately Albany was a 3 hour drive from where we were and my poor map skills, the nighttime, tiredness and frustration kept leading Alice and I in and around, in and around Albany till finally after getting so 

The roadtrip

A white dove flew onto my window this morning...

 A white dove just flew on my window this morning and woke me up. I wonder what that means....

My last week has been very quiet and lonely. I have spent a lot of time by myself wondering around and occupying myself with my own hobbies.

On monday, I took myself to The Strand, the large antique bookstore to buy a travel book that would help Alice and I plan our journey to New Hampshire,  New England, Vermont, Mass, Connecticut and abouts next week. The strand didn't have anything so I twisted my way through Washington square where there was a base singer playing to his own beat. He was really good singing all kinds of classics. It was nice to see he wasn't in it for the money but instead the pleasure (including all the homeless and mentally insaaaane people that had gathered around and were  swinging their heads

 and clenching their lips to stop them bursting out in praise) of people listening to his music. As I passed through WS I was in the top of SOHO so I wandered around seeing if I could find something soft, my poor teeth, and cheap. I finally found a sushi parlour which was really nice, dark wood, soft lights, oriental music, just what I felt like. I had two sushi rolls, miso soup and half an orange for $5 ! Bargain. It was so lovely eating alone. After that I headed back up to union square where all the want-to-be-creatives are. People who try and be artistic but just look weird, a lot of NYU stu

dents. I saw this lady that had covered her entire face with blush. Yes blush. She looked like a 5 year old dressed up as a raspberry. Strange. I went into Barnes and noble and bought a Road Tripping USA book. 

I had interning again this week and it was same old same old. I  had to go to the Hearst Cooperation tower on Columbus Circle. It just so happen on that particular day I was lazy getting ready, I wore minimal makeup and a big t-shirt paired with oversize cardigan and jeans. A regular hobo. So I recognized the name when they told me where I was going but I couldn't put my finger on it, the Hearst tower is the

 most environmentally friendly building in NYC and it highly recognizable by its triangular structure.   I went into the beautiful cool foyer with the three storey waterfall with the escalators running up and down the middle and natural light streaming in from all sides. Not having a magnetic pass that all these beautiful and smartly dressed women had that they swiped their chanel, prada, fendi or LV bags across I hobbled up to the security desk. I said I was here to see someone on th

e 33rd floor to pick up some jewellery, they called me a "messenger" and pushed me off to the side entrance door. I asked again to go up to the 33rd floor but I was denied entry again because I didn't have a messenger pass. After talking to work I was to wait in the main foyer for a phone call which would allow me access upstairs. As I waited I saw many young and old fabulous people coming in. Many of the younger ones stopped and changed their shoes to skyhigh stilettoues and went upstairs. Finally my access was granted and the security and guards all wished me Goodluck as I asscended the escalors. Did they think I was going to a job interview or a model casting?! Craaazy, looking like that?! Damn~ The hearst building is home to Beautiful Living, Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, The Advocate, The Conneticut Post, The News Times,  A & E Networks, Cosmoploitan TV, Black Book, Electronic Engineers, Hire.com, ivillage inc just to name a few. So since I wasn't looking the part I decided to act it, I went to area of elevators 17 - 40 and waited with two smart looking girls. I looked for the Up button but I couldn't see it so presumed they'd obviously pressed it or you needed a pass. As I jumped in the elevator with them I turned to press the button "34" but there were no buttons in the elevator! Whoops. Finally we reached their stop and I built up the courage to ask how to get down a few levels. The secret was a key-pad. There was a key pad next to the elevators where you dialed the floor which you were heading and the computer would tell you what elevator you were to get onto. The elevator would then take you to your floor. Scary. I picked up my $15 000 diamond earrings from a girl 23 years of age, so jealous of her job and workplace!! The earrings look frightening similar to the ones Oli and I bought for Winnie at canal street all those years ago, and headed home. I now learnt my lesson in looking nice, I dressed up for the rest of the week but typically I wasn't sent anywhere special. Sigh. 

I have recently been trying to be healthy, not eating but physically and follow in mom's footsteps and walk to work. It is soooo much more interesting however the other day I was late so jumped on the subway and saw a man get chased and arrested. What people do not to pay the $2 metro card price. Although I am almost at that stage - it seems so much when you can just walk or ride a bike. I really want to get a bike, as I walk over williamsburg bridge 100's of bikes fly past, although I am jealous I am cold walking they must be freezing with that wind. On Tuesday as I walked to work I randomly looked up and saw a man washing the outside of his windows. This wouldn't be so amazing if he wasn't 10 stories high and had no visible signs of safety! I stopped and watched, no else saw him until I stopped and looked up and then quite the crowd gathered. It was scary, he was standing on a ledge about 1ft wide and was happily cleaning away. SCARY. I get scared going on the roof and there isn't any wind. The next day, it was cold so I wore all of my warm clothes, a cardigan under my leather jacket, i think I am going to die this winter. I was walking past the same intersection and a homeless man had fallen asleep in the middle of the walkway and two police officers were trying to move him out of the publics way. He was still asleep so they tried yelling at him to wake him up but he had fallen asleep on top of the subway vent (all the hot air from the subway line escapes up there - I guess he was warm throughout the night but deaf because the subways passing are soo loud). Eventually the police officers nudged him hard with their steel capped shoes which woke him and then they continued to yell... 

Tuesday night is sewing night which I was very excited for, I jumped on the subway and was taken back immediately by this man that had one eye, the other had literally been taken out of its socket and so he had this big whole, fortunately his eyelid covered most of it but there was still a cm of red nothingness pocking through. GROSSSSSS. That night at sewing I attempted to use a factory sewing machine. They are made completely out of metal so that they can run 24hr/7days a week and they go aaaalot faster. It was very hard to control, to gain maximum control of my machine I had to take my shoe off and show my halloween socks. Tehe. It made everyone laugh... at me =(. 

Like I said I have been trying to be a bit healthier and a bit fitter. My main motivation is not being the girl that went overseas and came back 10kg heavier. I refuse to be her and I am determined. I am not lookin

g forward to what my motivation will be like in a month when it gets soo cold. I am the only person running in leggings and tshirt, people are

already wearing vests, beanies an

d tracksuit pants. The idea of running with clothes on it so weird to me. One evening as I was returning from my run fireworks went off over the Brooklyn bridge, the williamsburg bridge is about 1km from it so I had a perfect view of manhattan, brooklyn and  the bridge. They looked so pretty especially reflecting off the glass facades of downtown and they were such awesome fireworks. It took me 10 minutes to run across the bridge and they were still going when I ran off the other side. Was quite the display, I think it may have been for the Jewish New Year. Last night I ran to Manhattan bridge about 100m short of brooklyn bridge but I did not want to push my knees - I self diagnosed myself with patella tendentious. I am really upset about it but as there is nothing you can do I will just run through the stabbing pain. On that run I saw the New York waterfalls. I only saw two but there are 4 waterfalls funded by the The Public Art Fund ranging 90-120ft costing $9-10 million dollars. The point of them are the raise money but they also double as filters for the east river and generating electricity. I do not find them particulary amazing, I have only seen them at night and they look like water being spurted out of scaffolding...

I think that is all the news I have. I am completely and utterly depressed by the stock market at the moment. I want to cry, my zero money has turned into negatives. I went out once last week and I met these 4 austr

alian blokes who loved talking to another australia and me likewise. One had worked for the lehman brothers and another got layed of the day before because 20% of his company was owned by them. It is all such a shame... for me. Joking. Everyone is suffering. I think working in medicine and food is the way to go, everyone gets sick and injured and everyone needs to eat... 

Well I have been trying to rent out my room for the last week, it is really tedious having people coming in and out of my room and I am determined to get rid of it TODAY ! Fingers crossed. 

Well I hope you're all enjoying the hot weather, I am so jealous. I want to be at the beach, sunbaking by the pool or eating fresh fruit and lemonade. Yum delicious. I miss the food of home. I leave for work 15 minutes earlier than I usually do so I can go to this supermarket in lower SOHO called gourmet garage so I can buy a 60c bagel and $2.99 caesar salad (no meat) and a piece of fruit for lunch. All under $5. I am such a bargain hunter but I secretly want to go to Peter Lugars Steak House which I run past, mmm steak, mashed potato and a vino.

... xxx m

This is a gallery that I came across when walking to a cocktail bar with Chelsey. It was cut-outs in a tiny space. The debate was shown.
We also saw the filming of Gossip Girl.

"If I were rich I would wake up to a pomegranite cocktail"

Living in brooklyn is always entertaining but it has its up and downs. When bored I can walk around the area and imagine living the lives all the weird people living around me.
I ventured one block south looking for a fabric store and found myself in the middle of ascetic jewish community. It was so insane that I snuck out my camera facing the wall and snapped a few photos of the villagers around me, I am not too sure about their whole religion but I tried to conceal taking photographs. I left their quickly and headed down to brooklyn.

There it changed again to the ghetto hoochie - skinny jeans, diamonte belts, nike air's for girls and oversized jeans and shirts for guys and glittering belt buckles. I did not really fit in with my blonde hair, neither did this other white guy which is probably why he started talking to me. Well actually other way around. I went into a drapery store still looking for a fabric store and asked this man if he knew where it was. He didn't but walked me to the door asking questions why I needed fabric. As I got to the door I thanked him for his help and walked out, he followed STILL talking. When I asked whether he worked there he said no but instead he owns a shoe brand that sells at Bergdoff Goodman. Jealous. He then tried to compliment me by saying "you look like a designer" so I left. Strange man. My day finally ended when I went to 'Mood' some may recognize this name from Project Runway and bought a cute light cotten fabric to go with my 60's style dress. I think it will turn out quite nice, even though it is semi-transparent.
On Tuesday we had our second Pratt lesson. People's personalities are starting to come out and some people are soooo annoying. This one girl particulary thinks she is really funny, really nice, clever and stylish. I personally she is none. She makes a comment to almost everything the teacher says but the teacher is always so nice that she never says anything and returns a friendly comment. So we "passed-the-pattern" and pulled out our material we could get an idea of what everyone else was making. Now I thank mom again, I have always had problems choosing a pattern because they always look so dull, however mom always said it was the material that made it interesting, hence my cute floral cotton. Most people got plain, plain, PLAIN colours, literally just green cotton, a blue pinstripe woven, a purple silk no wonder everyone commented on my cute pretty fabric. Oh well I just hope mine turns out and I do not chew my words. Because of this jeering girl it took us 3 hours to cut out our patterns, learn about the names of threads in a woven, how to lay your pattern on your fabric and cutting it out. I got home at 10 to a beautiful cous cous, lettuce and balsamic salad. mmm tasty?!
If you head north from my living area you get into the tattoo territory, every body has tattoos and none of them look good. I guess that is why I do not fit in there. On my way up to brooklyn to raid my favorite store, we also have them in Australia, The Salvation Army ($3 cardigans!!!) , and it was hot and humid. My legs were sticking together as my thighs passed, the whole of Brooklyn had an aroma of BO and my hair was curly. As I walked around I almost gagged the whole group of average size African American girls had tied up their shirts to expose their wobbling, jiggling, swishing, bouncing, fat stomachs to the world. SOOO gross and who let them do that? What reflection did they walk past that made that 4 inches of overflowing fat on their low hipster jeans made them think that it was appropriate and okay to show that flesh. Gross...

Now that fall is here the weather, especially to me has gotten a lot colder,  I have tried to stay warm but these $3 cardigans do not provide much shelter from the wind. I was walking across the Williamsburg Bridge after work when it was drizzling and windy. The wind swept up the 

So my weekends lately have been very low key, Chelsey and I have been lazy Brooklyn girls going out in the neighborhood and going out only consists of a cocktail at a bar. If I were rich I would wake up to a pomegranate cocktail every morning. So delicious, personal favorite (of atmit - oli remember? ). So I have had one or two dinners our locally including five leaves which was a restaurant that Hieth Ledger invested in, it was sweet and dainty.

Last Sunday Alice and I decided to go to the zoo. After a miscommunication, taking an hour, Alice waiting underground at the station and me above the station we finally headed up to Brooklyn Zoo. The weather was wet and humid and the grey skies must of turned off the casual tourist. Alice and I went in and spent a whole 6 hours there, alone. The only enclosure that we saw other people was the lion and the safari. It was a beauitiful zoo- so spacious and the monorail that imitated a safari was so fun. We passed through the lioness's cage and the driver made special note to keep all heads and all limbs inside the carriage as we passed. Freaky. Because I am the smartest cookie in the bunch I wore my $10 shoes that have turned from black to a dark olive green, after a day of walking in these soggy numbers my entire foot looked like it had been soaked in a bath for 6 hours and was stained black... Fiiiilthy. 

Last week at work, nothing much happened except it was decided that the $25 000 earrings that went missing have officially been lost. It was all tense at work because the lady at vogue who packed the jewellery said she sent them but Austin the girl at work, but Austin never received them. That left me to have taken them in transit. Luckily it was on video tape that the bag was sealed and when those security bags are sealed they cannot be opened. I am surprised Austin did not get fired as $25 000 is her whole salary!! and mine combined for that. Tehe. 

Yesterday Alice and I met Jo for lunch at the Astoria, we were walking to the restaurant when Alice and I explained how glamourous this lady looked walking in our direction, she wore a fitted, long winter coat, 4" heels, big sunglasses, a big bag and red lipstick. Alice quickly realized it was joe, we greeted then sat down for ice tea and salad and talked about all of our sisters and what each is up to. She was very interested in what everyone was doing and glad to hear we're all well. After dinner Alice and I went to her apartment and roamed downtown. Now there is somewhere I know better than alice!!