With love.

I'm writing this from home, so I'm feeling very strange indeed. Each day I lived in the city of love, lights and laughter I created a new cherished memory. Whether it was our walk in Central Park where we watched people and soaked up the sunshine, or the Wasabi-flavoured ice-cream, or exploring the Soho stores and loving the world each place creates for itself in its own corner of this crazy city. This place, I have realised, belongs to me. New York is my city. It is, however, also Jerry Seinfield's city, and God help me, "Carrie Bradshaw"'s city. It's Aaron's city, it's Gail Anderson's city. It has been Andy Warhol's, Audrey Hepburn's, Frank Sinatra's and John Lennon's. This city belongs to the guy on the corner making hotdogs, and the girl in the cafe who served me coffee every day.

Little wonder the city's brand is the simple red and black timeless "I love NY". It's the city's continued commitment to love and be loved, by anyone who'll embrace it. 

99 bottles of beer on the wall

You gotta love this city

Anyone fancy a hotdog? Or a handbag?  I took this pic near the Empire State Building one warm spring night. 

The best things in New York are free

There's still something for those of us who feel like they've blown their life's savings for 3 months of bliss in the worlds' richest city.

Kindness at the Met

Ok, so I haven't been to the Met quite this many times, but I've been a good few. Yesterday when we visited, we were on our way in and Aaron spotted a Met token on the ground. Just as he proudly and discreetly scooped it up, a guard approached and said sternly: "Ah-hem, that trick ain't gonna work guys..." Eek. We'd been caught. Were we going to be kicked out? Banned from the museum? Apparently, no. The guard added with a smile and a wink: "You'll need one each if you're going to sneak through", and handed us his. It made our day.

A little different to the scene we watched from the bus the other day: A girl was walking with her boyfriend into the Apple Store, and a bill fell from her pocket without her knowing. Immediately a passer by grabbed it, went to hand it to her, but then checked to see if anyone was looking before stashing it in his own pocket and scooting away. We looked on from the bus window, open-mouthed and helpless. I hope it was just a dollar.

NY and Tokyo are lovers

After visiting both cities in less than one year (I know, I'm super lucky), I've concluded that these cities are having a love affair. They are quite public about it. They want each other's food, culture, fashion, and lifestyle. Each city wants to make it well known that it adores the other. It's like a happy, jealous, competitive, romantic obsession. 

My funny father

Sad day today: Dad's gone after a 9 day visit. He came primarily for business (I know, he's retired, and is school teaching 'business'?) and I needed to do a bit of juggling with my hours so that I could get some work done, but we managed to find a couple of windows of time to have some serious fun. He came armed with a list of things to see and do such as: a broadway show (see left), the boat trip around Manhattan, a wander through Harlem and other equally interesting and fun touristy things, and equipped a great guidebook from which he'd ripped all the pages out which covered 'dining and nightlife'. Didn't need those, he explained, and it made his day pack lighter.

 Last night we ate at a s(wanky) restaurant called Casa Mono. Meal was amazing and we sat at the bar to watch the artist/chefs prepare each meal. I don't think I realised how much the beer and wine had gone to dad's head until the very end before we left, when he roared "BLOODY GREAT SHOW FELLAS! A REEEEAL CABERET!!" and the guys in the kitchen, who possibly had never smiled amidst the concentration of a-la-carte meal preparation, each cracked a proud grin. Oh, and Dad, if you're reading this, could you please send me your New York pictures? I think we know they're 18x better than mine, and I'd love them for the ol' blog.

Another brush with fame

Lucky me. Not only do I have the best and most dedicated team back at Boheem Base, making it possible for me to flit about the American countryside on this self-indulgent journey of self-discovery, today I got to meet Gail Anderson, Broadway poster designer extraordinaire. She has about 15 years experience on me in the design industry, and when you think about the experience she's had working with Rolling Stone and then Spot Co, the key Broadway agency, you could probably multiply that by about 100. 

Gail started in visual communication long before Adobe made it possible to delete an unwanted element at the click of a button. She uses real ink and paper, and continues to encourage her staff to do the same. Besides art-directing at one of the city's arguably most influential design studios, she also teaches at the School of Visual Arts. On top of this, Gail has co-authored a number of books. As I sat and listened and silently admired this woman who has transcended the gap between art and design amongst other superhuman accomplishments, the desired affect: a thing called inspiration, started to once again come over me. Maybe I could teach? (Mum, don't say 'I told you so'!). Maybe I could write a book?! There's something incredibly liberating in those moments of raw realisation: the world is my wood-block printed, scanned and retouched, and conceptually developed oyster.

One interesting thing we talk about was the new generation of design students graduating at the moment. Apparently I, 10 years in the industry, was one of the last designers to graduate without some solid education in motion graphics and animation. Apparently these days it's a must. Seems I slipped through fairly unscathed by After Effects and the like; only time will tell if I can continue to get away with that.

The other pearl of wisdom, or more so a truth which Gail articulated and to which I found myself nodding and frowning; was the fact that 'in the past', clients were shown simple sketches as ideas first before any time was spent on design development. 'These days', with Adobe etc making new possibilities available, projects are more often than not presented as almost finished, final art: first round. Gail noted that more and more, clients are becoming used to getting everything: they want clever ideas, fully developed AND fully editable, immediately (oh and on budget please). It's the marketing culture we're in, and there's not much we can do to change it but good to acknowledge and manage as best we all can.

Designer Bootcamp

Fabulous, darlings. Last week I got the chance to design some perfume packaging. What could be more glamorous? Here's one of the mood boards which I developed as part of one of the concepts. The mentoring I've been receiving from people here has been truly invaluable. It's been really great throwing ideas around with other designers and being given feedback and guidance on my work. It's intense, I'm learning something new every day and it's been just what I've needed. Unfortunately I won't be able to show much of what I've done until (or unless) it's approved and launched. Not to worry!

And you may ask yourself

Here are a few shopping tips which have been passed on to me from my faithful friends and family. Without them, I would be holed up in my apartment, cradling my credit card, rocking myself in a corner being too afraid and overwhelmed to embrace the joys of shopping which New York giveth. Please post a comment below if you have further wisdom to add. But here's a start:

1. If it's on sale, it's because other people don't want it. It is too big, too small, last season, or not right in some other way. Consider this carefully before you purchase. (thanks Aaron)

2. Ask yourself: "Do I work?" (thanks Mum, and yes, I do.... really hard actually!)

3. The memories are worth the dint in the credit card. (thanks Bec)

4. Don't be overwhelmed; just take each day at a time. (thanks Kass)

5. Ask yourself: "How can I leave this here?" (that's mine. This especially applies alongside its partnering question, "When, if ever, will I return?")

I laugh. I applaud. I love.

I am a new being. The old has gone, the new has come. I have seen the king of television, and have seen the light. As soon as I was inside those doors, I was filled with CBS Joy. As soon as David was on stage, all I wanted to to was laugh out loud and clap. I did not want to "Whooo hooo": those days are in my past now. I did not want to use the bathroom after 3pm. Every time David finished a sentence, even when I didn't quite follow, I felt compelled to laugh. And applaud. 

Please do not pee here

Just when you think you've found a quiet corner, and a spot where there are no signs saying "bathrooms are for cafe customers only"...

Rodrigo Corral

"Being a famous designer is like being a famous dentist."
Noreen Morioka - Principal,  AdamsMorioka

This is to say, the name "Rodrigo Corral" may not mean much to you, but it's a household name in the New York design scene. And today, I got half an hour to ask him all about creation and the meaning of design. His work is smart and simple, and it was encouraging to hear that it really has taken him some time to get to a point where he can unclutter his thoughts in order to arrive at one clever solution. Being American, he didn't quite know what I meant when I asked him about 'turfing' the less successful ideas, lucky I had Aaron with me to interpret! A real pleasure to meet him, and we chatted about his range of work and the work we do at Boheem. He even gave me two of his books as a parting gift. Oh, and hot typeface news: it seems a few studios here are using Gothic. Actually, word is that it's been popular for a year or two (where have I been?) and now they're trying to 'move on'. Hm. Anyway, I like it. find it at: www.typography.com/fonts/font_overview.php?productLineID=100008 . See more of Rodrigo's work here: www.bookcoverarchive.com/Rodrigo_Corral

Times Square

And here it is, in its blaze of glory: Times Square. Since we currently live quite close to the centre of the centre of the universe, the other night we decided to take a stroll uptown towards Times Square. It's a pretty crazy place. I have tickets to see Wicked with Dad when he gets here; should be fun! And there's a new show starting every week it feels like – we are planning to see Waiting for Godot in the next week or two, and Exit The King if we're lucky...

Church

We've found a church and have gone for the past two weekends. I'm loving it. It's only a few blocks from here and we go to the 11:30am service where they serve coffee and bagels. It's held at at the Blender Theatre and the people there seem really great. The pastor is really clued on and gives relevant, smart messages. I especially like the visitor's welcome card, where you can tick one of 3 boxes under 'occupation': student, professional or artist. Aaron and I are heading over to Alphabet City next weekend to help out with a ministry they partner with there, to hand out hot breakfasts and groceries to people in the community there. www.forefrontchurch.com

Dumpling Dynasty

I have a Dumpling Dynasty wallet from my trip to Tokyo last year and I love it. Today I found more goodies from the same collection at a quirky little gift store in Alphabet City called – you guessed: Alphabets. The Dumpling Dynasty online store is at www.wuandwu.com .

Kippenberger at the MoMA

I think the exhibitions at the MoMA at the moment must have been especially curated for us. There's currently a show on photography and the history of print, one about paper, a Beuys show and then this amazing collection of Kippenberger works. From the MoMA site: "The scores of posters he designed for his exhibitions begin to suggest the creative energy channeled into his thousands of works, including paintings, sculptures, installations, drawings, prints, multiples, books, and recordings". Kippenberger died in 1997 at 44.

I need a hero

This store is loads of fun: it sells everything a superhero needs, from cans of muscle, to capes and other costume essentials, to X-ray vision glasses. The best part is the turning bookcase, which leads to a secret office out the back. This is where a really fantastic volunteer-run operation takes place, and kids ages 6 to 18 from Brooklyn come along for short courses on film and writing. The proceeds from the stuff sold in the store goes toward this really worthwhile cause...  

Seventy-three, seventy-four... nearly there

 Here are 10 pictures of the 84 stairs I climb each time I come home. Ouch.

Don't care if it even tastes good

Went to the wine shop at Chelsea Market the other day. These wines perhaps a heavy souvenir but almost worth it for their sweet packaging...

Katz's Deli

From my understanding, Katz's Deli was pretty famous for quite some time before Meg Ryan caused a scene in When Harry Met Sally. I'm not sure what they do to that meat before they serve it up on their sandwiches but quite frankly I don't care; they're bloody good.

Them bones

The American Musuem of Natural History is fairly mind-blowing. I think perhaps that as a child I was loaded up with facts like "We can figure out what a dinosaur looked like by piecing together 400 million year old bones" at the same time I was learning that toothpaste gel wasn't the same as hair gel and they couldn't both go in my hair. Back then, It was all information of about the same value which I processed and in which I grew. But it was an extraordinary moment indeed, when given the chance to ask a real paleontologist "What is a fossil?", I was given answers which made me start to realise for the first time as free-thinking adult, that these creatures actually existed as living, breathing reptiles, and that these are their spectacular remains.

On top of (this part of) the world

Here we are! On the edge of the East Village, atop our apartment building. We're actually not allowed up there, but we knew the alarm had sounded and the door was open so we crept up for a quick peek. Pretty spectacular, which I guess you can't really tell since our fat faces are taking up most of the frame... Who needs to pay US$20 to be on top of The Rock when you can be on a cruddy rooftop, 6 floors up: for free!

www.fishseddy.com

Fishs Eddy sell mostly ceramics and dinnerware, and have about 10 ranges, most of them with illustrations and / or typography referencing New York. Some really simple, quirky ideas and lots of things I just want!

www.katespaperie.com

Now will you just look at these beautiful wrapping papers I found at Kate's Paperie in Soho. They are lovely enough to frame. 

Not-so-quiet Little Abode

So this is our pad. It's our haven, our own space away from the hustle and bustle on the streets below. They're jack-hammering across the street most hours of the day, so that combined with honking, yelling and the odd siren makes for I suppose a fairly typical New York symphony.

Week 1

This city is so big. This apartment is so small. We went to the library as well as Grand Central Station the other day and felt quickly dwarfed. Then last night we ate at a typical East Village cafe: tiny and cosy. This city has an inbuilt system of scale which throws you from one extreme to the other.

It also feels to me like every person here is in the arts in some capacity. Each person is either a novelist, a poet, a designer, an artist, a curator, a musician, a dancer or an actor. And then there was the hobbling black man yesterday who, hearing music  blaring from the store on a corner of Times Square, sang along, exclaiming loudly and proudly "Give it to me New York City! Yeah!!".

On Tuesday, it was St Patricks day. On that day, for one day, every person was Irish.

New York

New York City. Centre of the universe. 

Flying into New York was just breathtaking. We were on the side of the plane with the magical views, and we flew oh so close to the dazzling lights of the city which apparently truly never sleeps. It was so fantastic I actually forgot to blink.

So we're here... finally. Our flight was 2 hours delayed which got us to our apartment at 1am. We have a sweet little studio-type space with a loft bed, a tiny kitchen and bathroom. It's 5th floor walk-up, which was a challenge with 6 bags! It's tidy and self-contained and in the middle of all the action, right by East Village and Union Square. Today we took a wander and walked through Central Park and slowly started to absorb being here. The metro pass is great for US$81/month: we're planning on hopping across to Brooklyn tomorrow. Couldn't be more polar opposite than Kansas I'm sure! It was nice when we thanked the cabbie last night, he turned to Aaron to say: "and welcome home".

Kansas

There's no place like (this home away from home). This is a typical Kansas field next door to Aaron's parents' property. They live on a dirt road in the middle of, well, America. When asked where the road led to, Aaron's reply was, "There are a lot of roads around here, most of them don't go anywhere in particular". Hmm. Riverton is a typical mid-west small-town, where everything happens at half speed and comes with ranch salad and fries. The bloke sitting next to me on the flight on the way over here even gave me a quiet heads-up (after observing the prompt manner with which I put away my laptop and keenly ordered my ginger beer with no ice) that if I was a city girl I should understand that things might not happen around here at the pace I'm used to. He was right.

Pool Sharks

Aaron and I have been playing a bit of pool. So far I think the score so far is about 5-4. This is a classic pool hall we went to in Joplin. It was dark and smoky inside and the only other people in there were just a couple of toothless bums (who happened to also be very talented pool players).