The NYC Shopping Hitlist

I have well and truly fallen off the wagon. Almost 3 years ago I wrote THIS post about selling all our worldly goods and since then have stuck to my minimalistic lifestyle. Well it all started to unravel (literally) when my one rock solid pair of jeans developed a concerning hole in a crucial area. Also, our sweet,old foster cat Berry had used my second hand Radley bag as her scratching post. Oh, and that $5 pair of sunnies I got from a New Orleans market was really hurting my eyesight. OK so I'll just replace a few things I bought on our last US trip 2 years ago. 

Well, since I landed in NYC 2 weeks ago, I just went nuts. Like a fat kid who loves cake (which actually I had a lot of as well) - I just switched off that little inhibition switch and bought everything I wanted. Granted the British Pound is trudging along quite happily at the moment so most of the things I got were either on sale or were cheaper anyways with the conversion. Well that's what I told myself as my backpack started to get tighter and tighter. I have no regrets. And luckily, I got a work bonus this month which means everything was practically free! Hah! Delusional I know. Anyways, here's my NYC shopping hitlist.

Warby Parker Sunglasses

Since Luxottica have a stronghold on the sunglasses industry and hence can charge whatever the hell they want, it was cool to find out about Warby Parker, an American brand who do some really nice, good quality pairs without the $300+ pricetag. I bought the 'Laurel' for US$103.44 and they even tightened it a little with their on site optometrist for no extra charge. Also, we had a field day with their in-store photobooth.

Fjallraven 

OK it's a European brand but I'd be paying the same in dollars as I would be in pounds so it makes sense to get it in the US. I really just wanted to get a durable bag I could carry my camera and a jumper around in. I don't love backpacks but I really need to look after my spine a bit better and as trends go, this one at least is socially acceptable amongst the East London crowd. I was a happy camper when I found the Kanken Mini in beige in the 40% pile making it US$42.47. Total score.

Kate Spade New York

I had all but given up on proper designer stuff. What's the point of spending all that money on something that you'd be too scared to use. Or worry it was going to get stolen. But since I was in NYC and this is a New York brand, I might as well pop in and have a look. Firstly, the sales people are so lovely, it was a good 40% discount that was my downfall. I bought this Large Monday in this cute turquoise (officially called Cedar Street) for $151.34.  My one, slightly not practical purchase but remember that bonus I was taking about?

Uniqlo

I was in Barcelona a few weeks ago and forgot my well worn Primark peacoat in the airport. This was the exact same coat but of much better quality. Women's blended wool peacoat bought for $129 which is on par with what would have paid in the UK but I've already made good use of it. Also I bought some snazzy heattech print trousers for $40 and superwarm leggings for $20. Boring purchases but necessary staples.

Madewell 

I just needed a good crossover bag that was classic in style and a good size that could fit a cardigan, phone and wallet but wasn't too bulky. It's much nicer in real life than in the photos and the quality of the leather is amazing. It just does everything I need it to. The mini transport crossbody in 'English saddle' for $161.14.

Rollie Shoes

I found these shoes in DNA in Williamsburg and they are just ridiculously comfy. Really soft leather and I like the extra touch with getting both black and cream laces. Also, they're an Australian brand. Extra points. It has a really nice treaded speckly coloured outsole for extra traction. Good thinking. London can be pretty slippery. Rollie Derby Black Distressed $100.

American Eagle Outfitters

So my perfect pair of jeans is the Hi Rise Jegging in short and black and my last pair I wore til it fell apart. It's last adventure was hiking up Breakneck Ridge so it went out with a bang at least. I bought two pairs as they were having a buy one get the 2nd 50% off - $67.42.

Zara 

Another item I could have got in the UK but I needed something floral for a Frida Khalo outfit I was working on for Halloween. And considering costumes are generally a one time thing, at least I'll get more wears out of this pretty printed dress. It's really comfy and I'm thinking I could dress it up for a wedding or down for a brunch. $69.90.

Sephora

OK so I don't really wear a lot of make up but since retiring from the backpacker lifestyle and living in London for the past two years, I've found the desire to look presentable when I step outside my door. I quite like that they have these little packs with a bunch of stuff in it. So you don't have to overthink the situation. I bought a eyeliner pack, lip and cheek pack, nail polish pack and face mask pack. Half of those things I grabbed on a whimsy whilst waiting in line to pay.  Total sucker. $107.79 in total. 

I also bought socks/undies/wallet from Century 21, art supplies from Blicks and gloves/jewellery from Aldo but these were all under $30.  The grand total was probably about $1000 but I'll be covered for the next few years. Don't forget we're talking about a former shopaholic here, that budget would have lasted me about a season. And at the end of the day, it's just a nice treat as I've been working ridiculously hard here in London and it feels good to reward yourself every now and then. 

Holy Shit, I Love New York City

OK, I've written four different posts about New York City and none I have been happy with. I just can't seem to capture the spirit here without using super lame words like 'magic' and 'buzz'. So instead I'm just going to tell you about tonight. 

It's currently 5.30am in the morning. I'm writing a blogpost because I'm still hyped up from the two whole ciders and shot of whiskey that I had earlier tonight. And as you may or may not know, that is WAY over my usual limit. It was Sophie's (our roommate) birthday yesterday and we all had a bit of a house get together at the Spritzelhaus. We're in Williamsburg, Brooklyn so it being super trendy but in a nonchalant way is a given.

It doesn't sound that exciting on paper, drinks at a local german beer house. But it has been one of the best nights of my life. All of our roommates have been so crazy awesome in our airbnb place and have made us feel so much at home. Sophie is this amazing photographer/creative but looks like sexy fairy (and yes, I did mention this to her multiple times over the course of my drunken evening). It's a compliment so it's fine and not at all creepy in my books. Isaac, who sings and laughs all day and smokes weed (very happy to share with us btw) all night out in the courtyard is also, super nice. And Maria and Greg who have the most romantic story and again, so nice. But you know, not nice as in boring, white bread nice. Like LOL, WTF, OMFG crazy nice. 

And then there's their friends who are now our friends too like Coop, Camp, Schlomeet and Mosche. Holy shit, we have made a lot of friends here in New York now and we've been here 3 weeks. It's beautiful and wonderful and I can't tell you how much I love this group of people like they were old buddies that go way back. We all went on a road trip to beach together, we went to Congee Village, we have had constant periods of just 'hanging out' in various places around the house. On the stoop, in the courtyard, at the local meatball shop. The options were limitless.

Hanging out at the beach.

Hanging out on the stoop.

I've been watching a lot of HBO 'Girls' since I got my new laptop and my body clock won't let me sleep til at least 4am (which is terrible since there is construction next door and we are woken up by incredibly loud jack hammering everyday at 8am).  Anyways, Girls is set in Brooklyn about young people just hanging out and getting into weird but kind of cool situations, I'm kind of feeling like we're all in our own version of 'Girls'. 

Anyways, we just drink and smoke weed and have awesome conversations all night until the angry Polish neighbour yells at us and tells us we have 10 minutes before she calls the cops with the exception of Sophie who has the angelic voice of all the Disney princesses meshed together so she would be the only one who is allowed to continue talking. Then we just go inside to Isaac's room and continue our rambling because this house has no living room. 

I can't verbalise why this night was so special for me. It was better than getting in free at MoMa (famous NY art museum), or riding the Staten Island ferry and seeing the statue of liberty, or even doing some amazing shopping. It was just a night I could be me, people liked me for it, and I felt like I belonged here in this house with these people. This has been the grand finale. Because it doesn't really matter where we go and what sights we see. And the end of the day, it's the people we meet and the experiences we have with them that has made this amazing journey what it is and why I love the shit out of New York City. Mad love for you guys. 

p.s. I'm sorry if this post is not quite the usual coherent collection of words I come up with, but again, I am drunk and it's now 6am. 
p.p.s It is now 8am and I just went for a jog across the Williamsburg Bridge because I was still feeling hyped up and now I'm very sleepy.
p.p.s I've been told that the angry Polish neighbour was actually saying that she could hear Sophie's voice the most (probably because it's so distinct) but not in a good like I had thought. 

Texans Take Their Ribs Seriously

What's the first thing you should do in Texas? Well eat some BBQ meat y'all. And Franklin BBQ in Austin is pretty much an institution. It's fame is so widespread that there are some very specific things you need to know about this place before you even think about coming here. Firstly they open at 11am until they run out of food (which is roughly around 1pm). Then that's it, see ya later. Come back tomorrow to try your luck again. And if you showed up at 11am thinking about having some ribs for lunch then that ain't happening because you're probably going to be at the back of a very long line, sweating it out in the Texan heat and worrying about missing out.

Going to Franklin's is like going camping. You need to be prepared. Firstly it's going to be hot. 40 degree kind of heat. So I froze some water bottles the night before to keep us hydrated and cool. I also brought sunscreen and borrowed an umbrella. Because standing around in the sun for 3 hours unprotected is a terrible idea. 

A lot of people brought those portable camping chairs. Excellent idea as sitting on the concrete  cuts off circulation to your legs and bum pretty quickly, as we found out. You can also hire chairs from a very entrepreneurial fella who sets up shop every day at 9am across the road. See what I mean when I say this shit is serious. 

$5 per chair, pretty good deal.

So I haven't set my alarm clock for awhile now. If I wake up at 10am then the day starts then. It's a holiday after all. But today, 7.30am I was up and ready to go. Luckily we were only 6 blocks away so we walked and even at 8am we were not the first there. But we were 4th which was pretty good and soon after the line pretty wrapped around the building and all the way across the parking lot which is about two blocks long. 

We had brought books and our ipods but luckily we had a very entertaining line mate, Ella, who had come into Austin for a drug prevention convention. She had spent 28 years in the NYPD as a detective and had a few awesome stories about her time there and some great life advice on being a short, black, woman in a predominately white, male workforce. The hours flew by, we had cool breezes, had some shade and before we knew it, people were quickly packing away their deck chairs and ready to head in. 

Chillin' like ice cream fillin'.

We ordered 2 pounds of pork ribs and a melt in your mouth pound of beef brisket which was probably one of their smaller orders they got that day but it still added up to a hefty $60 (including tax and tip). We sat down with Ella and the conversation continued. For some reason she mistook 'Toni' for 'Peggy' so I was Peggy for that day but I didn't mind. It's a nice name and I didn't have the heart to correct her. The meat was so tender and juicy yet full of a rich and sweet BBQ flavour. The ribs had so much meat on them that just fell off and you smear it one of the three BBQ sauces they had to offer and you're in BBQ heaven baby. 

It was super hot by the time we finished our meal and the walk back was uncomfortable compounded by the meat sweats we were having.  Needless to say I was in dire need of a quick shower and a long nap. Overall, going to Franklin BBQ wasn't just a meal, but a true Texan experience. Yeeeeehar!

xoxo

Peggy

Southern Hospitality

'I have always depended on the kindness of strangers'.

Blanche DuBois, A Streetcar Named Desire.

If you're too young to remember the actual play written by Tennesee Williams you may recall the Simpsons adaption where Marge plays Blanche in a local production and Ned Flanders plays the primal Stanley. I was very interested to discover that the play is actually based in New Orleans.  In fact, they even have a competition once a year where actors battle re-enacting the inflamous "STELLLLA"!" shouting scene here. We even stayed near Elysian Field's Ave in Marigny which is where Stella lives.

Now the infamous line about the kindness of strangers at the end of the play is meant ironically as Blanche is actually getting committed to a mental institution by Stanley after he rapes her. But down here in the South, there's a ring of truth to it regardless of it's orginal context. People are just so damn nice here. 

We flew into San Antonio in Texas, where the elderly owner of our airbnb place had offered to pick us  up from the airport despite it being quite late. He then preceded to show us around the neighbourhood and took us out for a drink (even though we were exhausted from traveling all day). In my suspicious mind this was quite alarming as we had just met him, we were in his car and we were driving down unknown, pitch black, narrow roads. Was he getting us drunk on purpose?! 

No (as we are not dead in a shallow grave in his backyard) he ended up been just an overly hospitable, harmless man who just couldn't stop talking about his first cousin, a famous jazz musician and kind of creepily flirting with young waitresses, pretending to know them. He was just lonely I think as he did take us out and paid for our riverboat cruise which ended up being dinner and a drink as well. Though I don't know if it was worth it as we then had to endure his endless monologue, omg, he was just so old.

These were ACTUAL conversations we had.

After a very long 24 hours we bid old George farewell and drove ourselves to Austin. We had such an awesome time in our week here thanks to the hospitality of our airbnb host Aleza, who was the opposite of George! She was our age, so friendly and funny PLUS she had two awesome dogs for me to cuddle all week (they probably got a bit sick of me). She even invited us out dancing one night which was really cool as Austin is the live music capital and she taught us a bit of Columbian salsa like dancing. There was an easygoing, casual feeling in the bar and it was just really easy and fun to talk to people and do a bit of dancing. I wish Sydney had more casual places like this. I even got in wearing thongs (flip flops)!

And now, we're in New Orleans. Just on a simple trip to the local grocery store for a poboy, we met a lovely elderly African American man and his wife waiting for their order who just struck up a conversation with us and shook our hands and wished us the best of luck (in a really genuine way) when they took their leave. Just after, we were chatting to the Vietnamese owner of the store who showed us his recent holiday picture in good ol' Cabramatta in Sydney. And THEN we saw a crazy lady walking towards us ranting and swearing for no reason but when she reached us, instead of verbally abusing us as we expected, she paused, smiled and greeted us with a friendly 'Hey y'all'. We are constantly smiling from the kindess of strangers in the South. It's infectious in the most beautiful way.

It'll probably be a rude shock once we hit New York. I can just picture the old stereotype now "Haye wortch it, I'm warking hare!". I'll just try to keep up my Southern manners for as long as possible.

Top 5 Things To Do in Yellowstone National Park

1. Check out Mammoth Hot Springs

These amazing geothermal waterfalls and rock formations make some stunning photographs with the bright oranges and sulpurous whites. I have yet to see anything like this.

2. Take Instagram photos of Grand Prismatic Spring

It's hot and smells like rotten eggs but the springs in Yellowstone again, make some beautiful photographs. The bright colours are due to thermophilic bacteria which form the rich reds, yellows, blues and greens in these pools.

3. Swim in the Boiling River

I went on my birthday and it felt like the fountain of youth. It's a natural river that is also fed by a hot spring river making it lovely spot to sit for hours if you can find a spot that has a good mix of both hot and cold waters. 

4. Swoon in the West Yellowstone Discovery Centre

I loved the bird talk where they brought out this tiny owl called Arcadia who was the size of a cup. Cutest thing ever! It was a good place to check out bears, wolves and bald eagles up close as they are pretty hard to spot in the wild.

5. Pretend You're David Attenborough in Hayden/Lamar Valley

Thousands of bison and their babies (we went mid July) is quite the sight. We were lucky enough to have them cross the river and get really close to us. We also spotted heaps of other animals like a grizzly bear, pronghorn deer, osprey and normal deer. Amazing when you can see these animals in their natural habitat.

A Tightass in Seattle

For those that are unfamiliar with the term it's not as gross as it sounds. It just means that you think very carefully about how you spend your money. I've always tried to spend my money wisely, but the last few days has really showed the extent of how far I'll go.

Every city has a few touristic sites it has on offer, whether it be a zoo, rose/Japanese garden or large monument. The majority of these rarely offer anything new and really interesting and the ones you do end up going to you do so for the sake of saying that you've been there, with a few photos to prove it. And they are usually stupidly expensive which is why only tourists go.

I often prefer to just get a feel of a new city we're visiting by strolling/biking around the different neighbourhoods, eating a awesome local restaurants and try to find free local events/fairs/festivals that are on. Our first day in Seattle we went to the 'wooden boat festival' and signed up for a free sailing lesson on a vintage wooden sailing boat. Now this is an example of just normal non tightass behaviour. Sailing lessons in Sydney are really expensive so who wouldn't jump at the chance for a free one right?

 

Well later that day we were walking around downtown Seattle and a guy offered us some help because we were staring at the street map for awhile. This guy ended up working for a timeshare company and asked us if we would be willing to go to a sales 'presentation' in exchange for $70 worth of tickets to Seattle's attractions. Now I would have normally walked away from these scammy-feeling deals but he was offering tickets to see the Chihuly glass garden which was the ONE paid attraction that I was willing to part money with after I fell in love with his installation at the Bellagio in Vegas. We also got the visit the space needle (like centrepoint tower in Sydney) as part of the deal.

I thought the presentation was going to be this boring powerpoint presentation in a big room full of equally tightass people and it was going to be SELL SELL SELL. But actually it was a smallish room and it was Kevin and I talking one on one to this young, friendly guy whilst eating free cake and sandwiches for 1 1/2 hours. We all knew that no timeshares will be bought that day (even though he was offering a heavily discounted rate of just $18 000) but he did his spiel, we got free cake and at the end we walked away with free Chihuly tickets. Huzzah! We also got a $25 restaurant voucher but it was an expensive restaurant we probably would spend another $50 there anyways because entrees would start at $20 or something.

 

So we went the space needle (which was ok but kind of boring) and Chihuly glass garden (which was stunning and of the likes I have never seen before) but this unused restaurant voucher was eating at me. There was no minimim spend on it so it would be like throwing away money if we didn't use it right? Even if we just had dessert there just to use it up? Kevin told me to forget it as it wasn't worth the effort but at the end of the day my tightassness won and I found myself rushing to this fancy pants waterfront restaurant to order two desserts and a clam chowder to takeaway 10 minutes before closing time.

 

I knew it would annoy them and I palpably felt how cheap I was being as I handed over the extra 25c I owed them but I have reached a point of such zen-like tightassness that I no longer care what people think of me as long as I'm saving money. To which the ultimate goal is not to hoard like Scrooge McDuck and just look at it but to put it to better use like buying as much ice cream as I want.

Best thing at the space needle was seeing this guy, remind you of anyone?

 

 

And since Kevin didn't even want any of the two pieces of cake or clam chowder I ended up sharing it with some folks at the hostel and bought their love through free food. One girl was eating a microwaved bagel with grape jelly for dinner for god sake and another guy was eating canned spaghetti that looked a lot like Hills I/D canned food (dog food). They were really happy about my offerings and happy to hear me yammer on about how I obtained all this free cake. And as canned spaghetti guy says "any story that ends with cake is a good one", and so ends mine.  I will now go lie down to nurse my bursting belly.

Fireworks Are Fun!

We were meant to be in Seattle for Independence Day but we ended up staying in Portland for 3 days longer as we couldn't bear to leave it earlier. As life would have it, this worked out in the most awesome way possible. There were a few places we could have went to watch the official fireworks that night but we thought it would be more interesting to buy our own since they are illegal in Australia. So that afternoon we walked down to the local fireworks stand with our hostel buddy Blake and bought an assortment of goodies to blow up that night. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing, playing frisbee, drinking tea and eating scrumptious gelato from Salt & Straw. I was kind of hoping for a more exciting day but hey, at least we had fireworks.

 

 So whilst we were frisbeeing in the backyard Dave the compost guy* came by and casually invited us to his friends house party with the promise of food and lots of illegal fireworks that one of them had gotten on an Indian reservation or something like that. I was a bit hesitant freeloading off a stranger's party but Dave being the nice Portland guy that he was assured me it was more than fine. So as awesome as our current frisbee game was we abandoned it to search for the 'red house with the canoes in front of it' since Dave came on bike and had to quickly return to the party with the coal.

The house we arrived at was as Portland as Portland can get. It was a lovely red, wooden two storey building with fairy lights at the front, communal fire pit and vegetable garden in the back. The food was all vegan but actually tasted really good and even looked amazing thanks to all the edible flowers they had used from their own backyard. We met Molly (one of the housemates who lived there) who looked like how I imagine Blossom** would look 20 years on. She was so nice and seemed genuinely happy for 5 complete strangers to be in her houses, scoffing down her beautiful food and drinking her organic punch.

 

There was a MASSIVE pile of fireworks by the front door that looked like a pile of Christmas presents under a tree. The piddly pile we had brought to the party was almost embarrassing but it was nice to contribute something to the festivities.

So after an initial introduction of blowing some fireworks off the roof and some fire dancing courtesy of our new friend Ryan (who appeared to be a pyromanic with circus skills) we all piled out on the road for the  real fun to begin. The one firework I was most intrigued by was the chicken one that we brought. It had the firework in it and a balloon attached at the butt end. So after making a hilarious 'why did the chicken cross the  road' joke I lit that baby up and what unfolded cracked everyone up.

 

 The chicken spun around a bit and then made a loud exploding noise and sparked a bit. Then for the finale the balloon inflated which supposedly represented it laying an egg. It was yellow after all. Afterwards it was a good hour of consistently blowing stuff up which included a watermelon cut in half with an explosive in it and then taped back together. There were firework wands that would shoot sparkles right out as you hold it up and really big ones that you light up and run away really fast.

Being that close to the action was surreal and a little scary. There was one big one that blew out sideways rather than up and scared the bejeezus out of everyone. We all had ringing ears for awhile but after the initial shock wore off the fun continued. All the neighbours who had their cars parked on the street got scared about how big the blasts were and moved their cars out of the way but were still surprisingly nice about it.
 

 

 

 So with smoke filled clothing and singed fingers we eventually said our goodbyes to our new friends and the best thing was being so warmly thanked for crashing their party and getting the longest, warmest hug I've ever received in my whole life by Molly. For me it was one of the craziest and best nights of my life filled with noise, light and kindness but for them, it's probably just another day in Portland. 

I love you Portland.

*Our hostel was also a community centre where Dave was running a compost program and we went to a compost skillshare he ran one morning. 
** Blossom was a 90's TV show about a quirky yet charming teenage girl with a distinctive hat.