Hot, Hot, Summer

Summer is so close and it's editorial's like this that get me all hot under the collar!

Such beautiful photos from Koray Birand

 

All photos: Koray Birand

All the pretty things

 

 

 

A little pretty inspiration just in time for Summer

 

(Source: Unknown)

Zimmerman Swim '12-'13

 

Zimmerman Summer Swim 2012-2013 to die for!

4th and Bleeker

There are many blogs that I love, as I am sure you are all aware one of those is the Man Repeller another is 4th and Bleeker. Since discovering 4th and Bleeker by accident about 12 months ago I have fallen in love and become completely obsessed with Alexandra Spencer and her brand of self portraiture.

 

Is there nothing this woman can not do? Her whimsical and enchanting self portraits, her collaborations with Luv AJ and Harpers Bazaar's Style Network along with her beautiful blog posts. 4th and Bleeker is more than a personal style blog, Alexandra's photographs are beautiful, they are captivating and all tell a story, it's so easy to create a blog with some 'selfies' but 4th and Bleeker goes far beyond that.

 

This is one woman whose brain I would love to pick about all things fashion, art, and photography...

 

(Alexandra, if your interested I would love to interview you!)

 

 

 

A few of my favourites from 4th and Bleeker xx



New York I love you, but Sandy you're bringing me down...

Day nine and 10, a write off...found out our flights to LA were cancelled, over 23,000 flights were cancelled thanks to Sandy. Found out the earliest flight we could get out was the following Saturday...5 days after we were originally meant to leave. Realised that Disney Land and sunny LA was not going to happen, after so much excitement, there was not a lot that we could do. We couldn't do a whole lot all Monday, far too windy and dangerous. The bitch came that night, all power went off at 8pm. Our hostel delivered though, they had food for us, beer and a live band. HURRICANE PARTY all the way! The only way to live through a Hurricane is to party all night. We were really fortunate that we were in an area that was fine, we lost power and went with out for 2 days until we moved to an apartment on the Upper West Side. It was a strange two days, we couldn't do a lot, we kept hearing things from our parents about how bad all the damage was but seeing as we had no power we had no access to news. All I knew is that thankfully we were ok, just a little damp and windswept.

 

Sandy Snacks | Window Fridge | Wet view from our window

 



Day 11 we moved uptown, thank god someone had somewhere for us to stay with power. Deb's cousin kindly offered the four of us her beautiful apartment. We wandered down to Whole Foods to stock up on delicious treats and spent the remainder of the day eating and doing our washing. Dinner was a trip down Columbus Ave to Shake Shack, where I had the best hamburger and shake that I have ever had in my life. We also did a little star spotting, spotting Macaulay Culkin out to a family dinner at the Indian restaurant just down the street from us. We all got a little excited and my have walked past a few times tying to be super smooth and stealth just to catch a glimpse!

 

Central Park Closed | Clean up begins | Desperate for Wifi

 



Day 12 Kate and I ventured down to the MOMA, it took us the entire day to make our way through and I am pretty sure we missed a huge chunk. So much amazing art, my favourite bit was an exhibition on the Quay Brothers. These brothers are famous for their avaunt guard stop-motion animation, slightly dark and eerie. They use puppets and old dolls, freaky creatures created from bits and pieces to make confronting, frightful, enchanting stop-motion films. I had never heard of them before but was enchanted and slightly repulsed by all of their work on display. Once we finally left the MOMA we wandered up to 5th Ave and had ourselves a little retail therapy.

Day 13 our last day was spent having lunch and shopping, because we all really needed to do more shopping! I have brought that many things it is ridiculous! It was a great last day, so sad to be leaving New York and the girls, yet I was ready to head home. New York was so much fun, I am so excited to make my way back there soon, sooner rather than later I hope!

xx

Short Story

Summer is just around the corner and I am craving shorts. With so many delightful options it is so, so hard to choose. The metallics at Ellery, the graphic prints at Alice McCall and Manning Cartell and the simple silk Lover lace shorts.

 

Maybe I'll just take one of each!

 

 Ellery

 Ellery

 Alice McCall

 Manning Cartell

Lover 

 

New York I Love You...part #2

Day five was ANOTHER full on day, for a few different reasons. In the morning I went to Ground Zero to pay my respects to all of those innocent people who lost their lives on that tragic day back on 9/11/2001 and those who had lost their lives in other terrorist attacks. I felt it was my duty to visit the site, it would be rude and disrespectful to be in the city where it occurred and not take some time out of my day to remember those. It was a sobering experience, the memorial at Ground Zero is beautiful. The US government has done a wonderful job, transforming a space where so many people experienced pain in to a tranquil resting place. Kate and myself were both humbled and moved by our visit, we both knew what happened but its not until you are there, reading all of the names of those who lost their lives that you suddenly realise the effect and impact that this event had on so many lives. To all those who lost loved ones and to all those who lost their lives may they forever rest in peace in a place where conflict and power does not exist to bring pain and suffering.

 Ground Zero

 

I left Ground Zero quite overwhelmed and needed to pick up my spirits, Kate and I headed down to Battery Park to catch a ferry to visit the Statue of Liberty. Another token tourist thing ticked off the list, after waiting in a line for what felt like forever (Americans live their lines!) we finally got on the boat and headed over. She is much smaller than I had imagined! Lots of photos were taken and a disgusting fried lunch was consumed, we explored for a bit then got the boat back. That night the four of us got dressed up for our first proper night on the town. The Box is an interesting place, part bar, part club, part burlesque show, part cabaret, part freak show. This is a place I recommend everyone trying, it is probably not everyone cup of tea but it will be an experience none the less. I'll leave it to you all to go and have a look in to that one.

 

The boat to Lady Liberty | Lady Liberty | Token Tourists

 



Day six was a write off, hungover, tired and feeling very sorry for myself, I didn't rise until lunch time. When I did we all headed off to the Meatpacking District for a recovery breakfast, followed by a stroll down the High Line. The High Line is an old converted monorail, it is no longer used and has been turned in to a park/walkway/gallery/cafe spot. The perfect way to spend a day when one is regretting the night before.

 Hangover breakfast | The High Line

My Bebs | The High Line | Sick Street Art

 



Day seven Kate and I decided to be a little cultured, we began with a visit to The Met...AMAZING! Followed by Hot Dogs and Pretzels for lunch from street vendors and a wander through Central Park to the boat lake. Where we sat and people watched all the passers buy and the kids playing with boats on the lake. It was a really pleasant day, not as jam packed as most had previously been. This was also the day that we found out about the visitor that was on her way to New York...a little hurricane you all may of heard of that went buy the name of Sandy. There was a group of extremely nerdy dad's sitting next to us discussing with great enthusiasm how they were looking forward to the winds coming so they could sail their toy boats... Fully grown men excited to play with toy boats. Fully grown men excited to play with toy boats, who had also just informed us that our grand plans for the next few days were soon to unravel as Sandy was planning to get her windy ass in our way.

 

Hot dogs on the steps of the Met

Day eight was windy! That was the Sunday before Sandy, she came throwing her weight around on Monday. We stopped off at Duane Reid on our way out to stock up on hurricane supplies, most were buying water, canned food, torches and other useful items...we brought 1kg of Starbursts, chips, chocolate, lollies, one bottle of water each and some other useless crap. We were super well prepared! After our little supply expedition we jumped on the subway and headed down town to Katz's Deli, the one made famous in When Harry met Sally. Where we demolished one of their famous Ruben sandwiches, some GIANT pickles and some Chicken Soup with Motza Balls. Delish! The place was packed, that movie has done great things for them, I have not seen that many people fighting over pastrami sandwiches in my life! Once we left the wind had really begun to pick up, on our way back I experienced the highlight of my trip. As I was waiting for the lights to change on the corner of East Houston and Bowery I spotted the Man Repeller. And like the over excited person I can be I stopped her in the street to have a photo taken with her. God she was so lovely, I hear so many stories of people meeting people they admire and being utterly disappointed. I was not! She was so friendly and chatty, she did not mind me being a bit excited by her and invited the three of us back to her house to eat candy corn while Sandy did her thing. Meeting her totally made my trip! She is as fabulous in real life as she is on her blog!

 The best lunch with the best bebs

Loosing my shit with the Man Repeller