photos from new york

So whenever I get back from a holiday I always kick myself for not having taken more photos, I did alright this time but oh well. Here are the highlights I managed to get my phone out for! Top right to left.

1. A plate of meat. Yes, yes. All flavoured amazingly (can you see that red bit, yeah that's spices!) From Peaches, the best restaurant in Bedford-Stuyvesant. It was also followed with the best brownie I've ever tasted in my life.

2. Central park on my 21st birthday, the weather swung between sunny and cold and snowy and cold. Luckily this was a sunny day so I could just about get away with my silk birthday dress.

3. Kiosk is an exhibition of everyday things from around the world. It's a nice little break from Broadway (which is like a crazy shopping boulevard) up some dodgy looking stairs. Every item comes with a little personal story or some information. It was lovely! Plus they had a doughnut map of New York. Definitely a must investment for my next trip to NY!

4. The view out my window in Brooklyn

5. Birthday breakfast at Pershing Square across from Grand Central Station, waffles, waffles, waffles. (did I already use this? Oh well, waffles, waffles)

6. View out of the MoMA which was an experience in itself!

7. The High Line in Chelsea. Reminded me on the one in Paris, but converting old disused railways turned into gardens is such a good idea, just imagining it in summer...

8. Shark graffiti on Mulberry Street!

9. Coney Island classic view.

10. Screw the Guggenheim, my favourite gallery in New York is the one next door. The National Academy Museum and School had the best modern art exhibition I've maybe like ever seen. There was so much breadth, from textiles (this is just the sculpture in the circular stairway up to the exhibitions! I wanted to take it home with me...) to sculpture to everything in between. It was just lovely. And after the hectic MoMA definitely some needed relief.

11. Williamsburg after the snow, just round the corner from the Barclays Centre (where the Nets play) and Brooklyn Flea. I did my most successful shopping here because the boutiques have the most amazing stuff in the world but the people who work there don't make you feel like a lesser human being (does that make sense?)

12. Narwhal skeleton!!!!!!! In the American Museum of Natural History (from Night at the Museum haha) a bit of a disappointment but it was our last day & we were kind of exhausted so... It was still amazing to see it though, all the dinosaurs and that. & it was the best gem exhibition I've seen, ever. Plus you can touch everything! Which makes it surprisingly better somehow...

11. Again the exhibition at the National Academy Museum, this was just sharpie on fabric but I've made a note to try it myself!

12. The Strand bookshop, (in the snow!) 18 miles of books! It was so overwhelming to go into a bookshop and have it all buzzy and busy (is was a Sunday) and it was just so overwhelming  We spent like an hour in there and barely scratched the surface. I grabbed a mug as a present and left before it swallowed me forever & I spent millions. Definitely going back though every time I'm in New York.

13. Green eggs and ham! Not sure which came first, the book or just pesto in scrambled egg but this was so fucking delicious I'd eat it again even if it wasn't Dr Seuss. From Brooklyn Label which also had amazing coffee. So. Good.

14. BIG BIRD IN CENTRAL PARK

Seems like the perfect note to end on. Phew.

observations from new york

Going over the Williamsburg Bridge (complete with yellow taxi, hell yeah!) from Brooklyn to Manhattan. Anyway, BACK. Hello, hi, how are you? I see some comments have built up that I'll attend too and need to get back on with reading etc, but I think I'll prioritise washing and getting back to the right time zone first if that's cool. In the meantime here's a few photos and some of my observations from New York.

VISITING THE MoMA WAS BOTH INCREDIBLY INSPIRING AND SCARY AS FUCK

Seeing extremely famous works of art in real life is always incredibly surreal, Gogh's Dolce Vita, Rosseau's the dream, Friday Kahlo, Mondrian, Picasso, Matisse... You see where I'm going. And then we came to the work on the cover of the MoMA's current programme, The Scream by Edward Munch. Now this to me was incredible, to see this close up and real. Every fucking stroke of the pastel. But instead when we got there, the painting itself was illuminated by a thousand flashes and lights from cameras and phones and the crowd of people around it were stood back, not because of an enforced fence, but to get a better picture. The irony and absurdity of travelling all the way to New York, fighting your way through the crowds to the exhibition and then to simply stare at it through another screen just, well, I was speechless. So after standing in front of their flashes for a few moments to really see the piece I moved on. But man I wish I'd got their picture.

THE BEST WAY TO DEAL WITH HIPSTERS IS TO EAT

Ok let's get more specific. One of my main aims in NY was breakfast food. Waffles, pancakes, French toast, eggs, whatever, as long as their was an option to swamp it with maple syrup I was there. One of the unexpected consequences of this is that the places where we wanted to go (mainly Soho and around or Williamsburg) are like hipsterville. This is probably an outdated method to refer to them, but I'm not too down with the kids so let's just say, all in black, apple laptop, iced latte and granola (if any food at all). Sitting in the middle of all these skinny hipster boys and girls (often though not always vegan) and eating plated piled with stodge, calories and bacon is like THE most satisfying thing ever. If you don't understand then you're probably "one of them". (Just kidding guys you know I love you really)

FREE WIFI BREEDS ROBOTS

I don't know if its because of the "hick" town I live in or because I'm at work most weekdays but the whole going to a cafe with a friend to sit opposite each other on laptops thing really hasn't caught on here yet. And I hope it never does. In fact Grey Dog had a sign up about not hogging seats and using laptops (which sort of makes up for putting all our pancakes on one plate...). But in Williamsburg we were looking for a bun and a cup of tea and were faced with two places both with rows of people's backs against the windows, laptops in front of them. We dubbed them the robot cafes. I guess if you don't have Internet at home, but to actually sit there with someone else and barely look up just seems like, unnatural to me.

CONEY ISLAND IS EVERYTHING I HOPED IT WOULD BE

After looking at what to do in Coney Island before we went and realising that everything was still recovering from Hurricane Sandy, I was a little apprehensive about what we would find. But to be honest everything was back together, Nathan's had a sign up saying that it would all be fine and since everything was due to open in time for Easter like a week after we were there, it was all done. And however cool it would've been to see it in full swing, there's just something about seaside towns in off-season that intrigues me. It's sort of the appeal of the abandoned park in Berlin, even though there were more people about. The creepy face too was just perfectly eerie and seeing the houses on the way as well as being able to go on a beach just 20 minutes out of the city is amazing. I really can't wait to go back and do everything, the museum, the hotdogs, the mermaid parade!

So yes. My birthday in New York was just perfect. It's a city I've always sort of idolised in that way that Europeans do about America and vice versa, but this was something else. I thing I've eaten my body weight in maple syrup, batter, pizza and Mexican food and I've spent enough money on incredible clothes to (hopefully) last me the year. I've also made a little map of my favourite places in New York and Brooklyn, mainly for me but its public so yeah, if you want tips! Shout out to Chuck too who guided some of our best food adventures. And well just phew, 25 hours of travelling there and back makes it almost nice to be home!

mother's day and new york

Once on Mother's Day me and my sister (or was it just me?) sang Mama by the Spice Girls to my mum. Nowadays though I think the Kanye West one would fit much nicer. In fact another nod to my sister, we went to see Kanye West together just after his mum had died he did this song stripped back, spotlight on him and there was no one left without tears in their eyes. I've been listening to a lot of early Kanye recently. Like remember how he was always so political? & yet people were surprised when he said all that stuff about black people in New Orleans. & that people don't know that his whole jaw has been reconstructed & is made of wire, when like his whole first album was about that is kind of weird to me. He's also an amazing artist, he dresses impeccably & shit I mean, sometimes his lyrics are just insane. Anywho, back to mum. Happy Mother's Day!

I'm off to New York for my 21st Birthday tomorrow, because you know, it seems fitting to be in America when I turn their legal drinking age. It's gonna be a different holiday than I expected but I really can't wait to explore & we're staying in Brooklyn so hopefully I can just pretend I live there for 10 days. I'm not timing any posts because I figure you guys are used to me disappearing & sticking up some half hearted shit seems against the point. I might be a-tumbling though since we're meant to have wifi... So yes, I'll come back with lots of photos & stories & hopefully some perspective (too much to ask? definitely).

See ya!

Needing something to look forward to in the midst of the awful student season at work I took off to Paris for two days. In a studio flat in my favourite, the 11th Arrondisement, just down the road from Belleville. Jean Seberg, Simone de Beauvoir, Jean Paul Satre and Serge Ginsbourg at Cimetiere Montparnasse, which was stunning. Not the best thing to do in suede creepers on a rainy grey day, but it was amazing. And the Chloe exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo, which was stunning. I spent about two hours there. The windows that each selection was in worked beautifully and actually getting to see the clothes up close with the embroidery and detail and everything was amazing. This exhibition really let you do that unlike other fashion ones I've been too where the clothes are mostly behind glass or whatever.

Anyway, I don't seem to have that many photos, like the first day was spent mainly shopping - lots of underwear & a jumper from COS - which isn't that interesting. Apart from getting lost in the Galleria les Halles, twice! & having people continuously try to have conversations with me in French which I got through by nodding & saying "Qui" until a point where they needed a reply & I had to default to English. Not much vintage on this trip, I didn't make it to my favorites & the low end Kiliwatch & Episode didn't have the perfect leather skirt I was hunting for. But I guess, I'll always go back to Paris.

Ok I know, I'm sorry, I didn't do any of the things I promised too in the last post. Mainly make some timed posts & read blogs & reply to comments. So basically I suck. But in my defence I've been working & really ill (food poisoning ew) since, interspersed with Paris! So yeah... I hope the fact that I managed to actually take some pictures of Paris makes up for it a little. Maybe? Anywho...top to bottom.

View from the top of Galeries Lafayette after we'd negotiated our way through the canteen & shoe horned ourselves into a window seat. The Christmas Tree plus the whole floor of underwear was totally worth the longish metro journey. 

My favorite stuffed to the brim vintage shop in Paris. I tried on lots of amazing underwear type slip dresses & dressing gowns & teddies. As well as, dresses & uhr... a vintage versace knock off gambling emblem printed skin tight body suit that had the weirdest proportions ever. The body was soooo long. But yes. I only bought a couple of things (one for my mum) but scooped up some less exciting vintage from the cheaper stores that are aplenty in Paris.

We sort of made the mistake of going to Le Bon Marche after the 3 hour Eurostar & a night of no sleep. Which led to me having a little bit of a breakdown in the food section. But... anyway. Some food & a sit down later I was fine. To swan around the clothing section, gawping over Givenchy & Celine, pretending we were genuine customers, not just sneakily on our way to the toy department.

Cute graffiti dotted around everywhere. This particular one in the 4th Arrondissement just around the corner from Cos. I know it's a bit of a cop out, but we don't have one in Bristol so it didn't feel too bad. Roughly translated I'm informed it says, "Who do you follow?/What do you follow?" Something along those lines...

Les Arts Decrotifs in the Lourve is my favorite gallery in Paris. It always has the most amazing exhibits. & has a special place in my heart as the place I finally got to see a Hussein Chalayan exhibition. This time round it was Jean-Paul Goude & Stefan Sagmeister. A total contradiction really. The Goude one was overwhelmingly indulgent & at one point I got stuck in the dark on my own with two motorised Grace Jones heads, one of which unexpectedly opened it's eyes & lit up. The Sagmeister exhibition was much more up my street, having studied him in GCSE art (oh, good times) with little snippits about his experiences of different places. Like how he had to ask a Japanese lady on a train to remove a broken Q-Tip from his ear. What an amazing man.

And finally the lights on the Champs Elysee, pretty much why we wanted to go, to feel all Christmassy & such like. They were a tad disappointing. But the Louis Vuitton windows with a circus theme were fun although the thought, "Why would you want to show your suitcases as being heavier than elephants?" came up... A little pissed to have missed the Karl window though. But we made our way to the Christmas market that was hectic to say the least. But full of vin chaud & uhr...churros. Very French.

Image overload. Word overload. Welcome back!

Berlin photos! So these are the only from the one's I took on my phone (hence the often shitty qaulity), but it's a start. This is why I am a rubbish blogger, not with the quickness of the internet. Anyway, so the one's of the ferris wheel, creepy boarded up candy coloured housing, broken dinosaurs & swan boats is from our (including my mum!) spurt of breaking & entering. I know I know, but it was into Spreepark. I've already shared by slight obsession with Coney Island & this for me has the same sort of eerie, fake happy sheen that I love about there. A few months ago some Berliners put on a gig here, becaue it's in the heart of the East, which is now like the cool bit... So there was an abandoned stage at one point, plus a cafe that looked like it could be open with some dinosaurs that weren't missing limbs.

But around the rest of the park (dodging through the security tape & caravans that have pitched up on the vacant plot) there were rusting rides, with all the trains & tracks overgrown with weeds. There were broken bridges, falling into the rivers & of course, the most beautifully abandoned ferris wheel. I'm sure the lomo shots I took (about 2 films worth) will look fucking amazing, so I'm holding out for that. But honestly, if you're in Berlin for a while you can get the S-Bahn to Treptower Park & walk round to it in about 20 minutes. There's a little board that lifted up for you to crawl under the fence. We followed some people who looked like they were trying to break in too, but we never saw them again & they carried on round the fence so we think they bottled it. It was such an odd thing to explore & I'm so glad we actually made it over there!

The clothes are in the best vintage shop in Berlin (fact.) Tony Durante of Surezstrasse. I can't remember how we got there, but it's in the West district of Charlottenburg. West Berlin still feels extremely different, in contrast to Treptower Park & Spreepark, they have the Tiergarten that has memorials all over it & proper flower beds etc. It's next to the Reichstag, but once you head into it there were like no tourists. & it was a nice way to get the the Bauhaus Archiv which was so fantastic. But anyway, on Surezstasse there's a collection on antique & vintage shops, a lot of them are just decor, but we found at least three or four with clothes. One with a scary lady who was impressed I could pronounce Yohji Yamamoto...

But Tony Durante's was simply everything an amazing vintage shop should be. He was really enthusiastic about the clothes (less so about Berlin & the rent prices in London) & my mum liked him because he actually talked to her rather than ignoring her whilst trying to get me to try on as many clothes as possible like most other shops. Although when I told him she'd thrown away all her vintage Ossie Clarke, Biba etc from the 60s he said I should kill her. All jokes though! He also showed us this amazing house coat by the guy who makes tweed for the queen, & lots of pieces he said he didn't put out because he didn't want to sell them, just because we showed an interest & actually knew a little what we were talking about. Unfortunately I didn't buy anything, the one dress I wanted to he wouldn't let me because it was slightly too tight around the shoulders. Very upsetting, but he was right. There was also amazing jewellry. & in September (I think) they're having a Surezstrasse street party where all the shops will have stalls. Kind of want to go back for it... oh if only I was a jetsetter. But yes, if you like vintage clothing, even if you can't afford the higher (but totally justified) prices, he is an absolutely lovely man just to talk too. He also has an accessories stall in London (from which he told us a funny story about Kate Moss) for something a little closer to home!

& finally the smiley face and the big mud circle are from the Hamburger Bahnhof museum. The first was from the toilets... but there was much better stuff to see too! The mud circle is by Richard Long who brought over mud from Bristol's very own river Severn to make the Berlin Circle, how weirdly awesome is that? Travel all the way to Germany to see an artist from my home town. Or mud from my home town! This was an interesting museum, because it was stupidly hard to get to from the S-Bahn, with barely any signs for pedestrians. Then when inside it was like a microcosm for hipsters. Literally. Outside there were none, on the way there, on the way home, we saw no hipsters. & yet walk through the door & it was crawling with them. Very weird. We actually found this with quite a lot of museums, or maybe that was just me. So yes, even if you're not into modernist art, or Richard Long, there was some very good people watching to participate in!

Oh & plus a waffle from our very first day (almost forgot about that) I don't think I took a picture of Currywurst, but we had the whole range. From upmarket in the biggest foodhall I've ever seen at KaDeWa to proper rank in Treptower park where the sausage was covered in ketchup & then sprinkled with curry powder. Nice. Anyway, I brought some curry-ketchup back with me from the super market so maybe I can recreate it!

I miss Berlin.