Here's to you, New York

Today I say goodbye to New York. It has been more than my home for fours years- it has been my inspiration, my challenge, my teacher, my love. So with a lump in my throat and a glow in heart I would like to make a toast, to the greatest city in the world:
Here’s to waking up one day and seeing the beauty in the city’s dirty streets
Here’s to once living in a room with one window, and to views of brick walls.
Here’s to thinking a studio the size of a walk-in closet is a great find.
Here’s to my five-floor walk-up. And to east 11th Street.
Here’s to hailing down cabs in peak traffic. In the rain.
Here’s to cab ride stories. And to the enviable driving skills of the drivers.
Here’s to wearing black.
Here’s to knowing where to get the best cup of coffee.
Here’s to the best bagels in the world.
Here’s to Sunday brunch in the village. And runs along the Hudson. East Village Yoga.  Endless summer days. To late night dinners and later night parties.
Here’s to a city that never sleeps.
Here’s to the delicate intricacies of the different neighborhoods. To countless cities on one island. To discovering a different world on your doorstep each day.
Here’s to getting around without a map. To knowing which way is uptown. To understanding the subway.
Here’s to the one train. To the art of jaywalking. To waiting inches away from speeding traffic rather than waiting safely on the sidewalk to cross the street.
Here’s to New Yorkers. To those that make you laugh. And cry. To those that drive you insane. To those that make you know why you live here.
Here’s to my Mexican flower vendor, my Israeli grocer, my Italian super, my Korean postman, my Japanese flatmate, my friends that are family, my Chinese laundry guy, my favorite Croatian bartender, and my Indian newsstand man. To the strangers. And the people I’ve yet to meet. To those who make the night worth dancing away. Who make the food taste even better and the dreams flow to the rhythm of the city's beating heart.
Here’s to the firemen. And the gentlemen. And the whistles of the builders.
Here’s to fire escapes. And rooftops. And to Central Park.
Here’s to not noticing sirens anymore. To a silence that never is. To sweltering summers and subzero winters.
Here’s to extremes.
Here’s the changing colors of the Empire State Building at night. To the lights above the skyscrapers, the closest thing we have to stars. To infinite possibility.
Here’s to you, New York.

PS. I'll be back.

Coldplay rocked!

The city skyline behind us, a mudbath below, the Statue of Liberty to the East, clear skies above, friends around and Coldplay on stage. What a Sunday!

All Points West

I'm off to APW today. It's a great lineup: Coldplay, Lykke Li, MGMT and others. I have never seen Coldplay live so I am very excited. In true outdoor concert style the rain is pouring down. I will turn to Kate for wardrobe inspiration- bring on the gumboots!!

My fiance

5 weeks until I marry this guy!

Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast

I cannot wait for the genius of Lewis Caroll, Tim Burton and Johnny Depp all combined in the curiouser and curiouser world of Alice In Wonderland, coming out March 2010. 

“No room!” The March Hare and Mad Hatter shouted. “No room!” But Alice plunked down, desperate for some biscuits after a long day of living backward.

Speaking of Wonderland, this Annie Leibovitz's shoot for Vogue is one of my all time favorites!

Fantasy on Houston and 2nd Avenue

I have just read some fantastic advice

My sister, grandmother and I reading 101 Dalmatians

This evening I picked up a book of mine called "The Art of Travel" by Alain de Botton. An old friend of mine gave it to me over four years ago when I was getting ready to leave the place we had been living for four years. Although I have read bits and pieces of it I have never really read it. I rediscovered it on my bookshelf and since I'm about to embark on another journey I thought it was time. To really read it. It's amazing how often one reads books that are meant to be read just then (although perhaps certain things are just brought to your conscience as a result of the book...).

Anyway, on page 8, I read Chamfort's dictum that "a man must swallow a toad every morning to be sure of not meeting with anything more in the day ahead." Botton was using this as a metaphor for the climatic circumstance known as winter but its applicable to many circumstances beyond the weather to day to day survival in this crazy world. To me it's an encouragement to be brave and strong and true in what you do, because you have probably faced worse.