seasons: now and then

A friend-of-a-friend is in New York at the moment and as I was scrolling through her photos on Facebook I exclaimed to her I had pretty much the EXACT same photo, only in a different season! As it is their winter over there, the trees are bare, whereas when I was there the trees were still green with lush folliage. We both decided we kinda liked the bare trees better... I said I thought they looked a little more whimsical :) But you be the judge... which do you like better, bare or green?

ride

3 of my favourite things- beautiful words, bike riding and NYC :)



musical joy

I have watched this performance several times now and everytime I do it uplifts me :) Oh to be casually strolling through Central Park and stumbling across this! There is such a great vibe here-  it's summertime, there is music is in the air and everyone feels like they are a part of something special.
I really admire Beyonce- she epitomises a strong, empowered woman who proves that if you chase your dreams you can make them a reality! She is also an incredibly heart-felt performer and so self-assured. Loving this song 1+1 from her new album "4".
I hope this brings a little happiness into your day :)

Time-lapse

Mindrelic - Manhattan in motion from Mindrelic on Vimeo.

To make the video, Owens spent the first month and a half of spring staying at eleven different Manhattan hotels, shooting from their windows and roofs for around twelve hours every day, weather permitting. (Lodging was free—in return, Owens is letting each hotel use the footage shot from its property.) His only real obstacles, he told us, were wind, snow (in April!), and people on the street. “I would often gather a crowd, mostly other photographers asking what I was doing with this strange-looking nine-foot-long thing on tripods,” he said. The tourists were more of a hazard. “People are so distracted by the lights in Times Square that I would often have to physically keep them from walking into the camera.”

Until recently, Owens shot photographs by day, then worked the night shift in the transportation department of the University of Rochester. Now he mostly makes time-lapse videos for a living. The work, he said, has made him aware of the rhythms of the universe. “Anyone who shoots time lapse can most likely tell you what phase the moon is in, what time to the minute the sun rises and sets.”

It’s also been a way, he said, to recapture with digital photography the suspense and surprise of working with film. “You don’t really know what you shot until you’re able to get home and animate all the stills together,” he said. “It’s a rush when you get to see your shot moving for the first time.”

credit: The New Yorker

Colouring-in-kit

My all time favourite childhood present was a colouring in set (2 actually) that my dad bought me home from FAO Schwartz on a work trip to New York City! At the time he was the editor of TIME magazine Australia, and as it was headquartered in NYC, so he was lucky enough to fly there twice on business conference trips! The first time he went there he bought me back a colouring in set that looked just like the one below- black, smallish (if you can call it that, I guess because I am thinking of it in comparison to the second one!) with the array of oil paints, crayons, pencils and textas you'd imagine to find in a colouring in set. I loved it dearly and it was well used.

Thanks to my beloved friend Jess for posting this picture- was a good opportunity to tell this story :)

The second trip my dad went on to New York (I'm guessing about two years later) he bought me back, in my mind what was a, gigantic colouring-in-set inside you could call nothing else but a wooden suitcase. I loved it for two reasons- the first being that I had my own suitcase just like the one my dad had for work, I felt so grown up. The second reason being that it was any child's dream- when you only know the 7 colours of the rainbow and a few more , to suddenly discover there are multiple shades of pinks and blues and yellows....it opens up a whole new world. My mum wouldn't let me take them to school so they were extra special. My favourite were the coloured pencils.  I was careful not to sharpen the pencils down too much as I knew they were from the other side of the world and were practically irreplaceable!

I had always tried to imagine what FAO Schwartz would be like- all I knew was that it was a toy store, and one of the biggest and best in the world so I had pictured some sort of fantasy toy land. So I promised myself if I ever went to NYC I would definately visit the FAO Schwartz shop in memory of my dad. So last year I did! Here are some pictures I took while I was there...

I scoured the store for hours to find my wooden colouring in suitcase, but over 15 years later it's no wonder it is still not in stock! I took a picture of the closest thing I could find:

I got talking to the FAO Schwartz "toy solider" guarding the entrance and, feeling sentimental, told him my story about how my late father getting me 2 colouring-in-kits from the store and bringing them all the way back to Australia and ever since it has been a life long dream of mine to visit the store! He said he was very touched and asked a passerby to take a photo :)

Overstated romance

I'm in love with this public art installion. The Roses by Will Ryman is currently in full bloom on Park Avenue in New York. It is described as a large-scale love letter to New York City, feauturing 38 red and pink sculptured roses, and 20 scattered rose petals.

credit: Will Ryman via Paul Kamsin Gallery

birthday presents

This past week I received some lovely birthday presents from my nearest and dearest and thought I would share with you a few of the special ones...

My mum gave me a blown up, white framed photograph I took of my reflection in a 5th Avenue store window in New York. I love this photo because it captures a really special moment in time for me. I was in awe to finally be in a place I had dreamt about for so long.

As a former photographer, mum liked this photograph as she thought it was "artistic"-  It juxtaposes the elegance and compsure of Manhattan (Tiffany's high end designer window- Some style is legendary) with the energetic fast-paced reflection of New York's iconic yellow taxi cabs, the people, the flag, the buildings. And me with my FAO Schwarz shopping bag, wrapped up in gloves and scarf, amongst it all :)

 A special mention also goes to my gorgeous friend Jess for my Ladelle "flock" tea towels (pic shown is ladelle treetops), and T2- Just Peppermint tea. I love both of them! Such thoughtful gifts... will definately be going to good use.

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Well I am back from Sydney and tonight my family (auntys, uncles and cousins) came over for chinese takeaway for dinner; which seems to be a bit of a traditional in our household! As I was away for my birthday on Monday, my extended family members gave me my birthday presents tonight.  A selection of my presents I received include...

i've been wanting one of these for forever! beach towel by country road

my favourite body wash- neroli jasmine by the body shop

Gelato bath sponge by annabel trends (such a cute product!)

interior crush

OK so I have become slightly obsessed with Lonny mag- a web-based magazine that focuses on lifestyle and home decor.  The best thing about this is that it is free, with the entire magazine avaliable for viewing online!  There are lots of gorgeous interiors, and the below photos are a few of my highlights. This particular story features the interiors of two sisters and their individual homes. See the full article here.

home # 1

home # 2

 

 

credit: lonnymag

holiday windows

I love, love, love holiday windows! I think visual merchandising would be such a lovely job.. it reminds me of when I worked at a department store for 3 years during my university studies, and the VM team would be pottering about adding a reindeer here, a bauble there. The festive season may come and go, but it's nice to let it linger for a while, and I couldn't resist posting this creative genius! I can't believe it was only a few months ago I was standing outside these Berdorf windows... It makes me want to go back to New York.... Oneday we will no doubt reunite.

p.s. how delightful is the soundtrack? follow me by audrianna cole.