i’m not going to use my telephone

Today marks the third full day I have been without a phone. Only one and a half days to go until I can (hopefully) get my phone reconnected, aka HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO PAY MY PHONE BILL!!

Until then, I will go on feeling slightly disconnected from the world during work hours when I’m away from my computer.

all you'll get is a dial tone...

a bunch of photos.

The worlds largest pillow fight in Union Square

The cherry blossoms are out in full bloom, SO PRETTY!

Becks & Jules

Jules needed a job but then she found one

I already have one

(Indian) Summer in the city

Sitting on the steps of the Met, like a bunch of gossip girls

van Gogh is one of my favorite artists

More cherry blossoms in Central Park

The greatest thing about Turkeys Nest is taking their drinks outside and lying in Maccarren Park

a night at LIT LOUNGE

The day after Jaguar Love at Brooklyn Bowl was payday for me so festivities were sure to ensue. Jules and I started the night off after I finished work at our new favorite bar Mason Dixon in the Lower East Side. It’s a country and western themed bar and has a mechanical bull that you can ride for $5. I don’t think I’d ever EVER be convinced to ride it but it’s pretty hilarious watching drunk people think they can stay on and then laughing at them when they fall off after 5 seconds (I never said I was a nice person!).

After some happy hour drinks at Mason Dixon we headed on over to Lit Lounge to meet up with Mayan, Noa & Nira for some dancing fun times. It was rad to finally have all the girls out of Brooklyn and partying in the city for once!! Lit was pretty packed and even though Mayan, Noa & Nia left early, Jules and I stayed til just before closing time, party party!!! There was a weird English actor guy that tried to convince us that we should stay out and party with him, he didn’t seem to comprehend the fact that I had to get up in a few hours to go to work the next morning, and instead of ordering me a vodka sour like I asked, he got me bourbon which was absolutely disgusting so I couldn’t drink it. But apart from that, it was definitely a great night!

Bud at Mason Dixon

Pregaming at Mason Dixon

Reunited at LIT

I ❤ this photo!!!

Noa giving her best fierce look

Nira and Jules!

Jules' favorite drink

❤ ❤ ❤

DON'T TAKE OUR PICTURE!!!!

we went to virginia one weekend in the fall.

Only a week after the Texan adventures in Austin, Jules and I went to Richmond, Virginia for the music festival United Blood. Friday morning started before the sun even came up, we had to wake up at 5am to make it to La Guardia airport in time for our 9am flight. Not many people must want to go to Richmond early on a Friday because our plane was one of those tiny two-engine contraptions that only seat about 20 people. I’m pretty sure I spent the majority of the flight thinking I was never going to touch firm ground again!

We're hereeeeeeee

After a short flight we made it to Richmond and we were greeted by the prospect of no phone reception and no Starbucks. Instead, all there was Caribou Coffee, where they apparently don’t know what a Soy Chai Latte is. Oh well, the lady got it right on the third try.

Apart from those little interuptions, we got to our hotel nice and easy thanks to a very helpful cabbie, who took us on the scenic route through downtown Richmond and past all the pretty buildings and the Edgar Allan Poe Museum. The best surprise of the day though occurred when we got to our hotel room and discovered it was a suite, not a normal room! I swear the bathroom in the suite was bigger than my bedroom in Brooklyn, – having a living room, a huge bathroom and a huge bedroom was a bit of a luxury, even if it was only for the weekend.

Welcome to our living room

The hotel suite bigger than my apartment in Brooklyn..

The view from out our window

After we got settled into our room and unpacked we went for a walk to a local cafe and saw some of the sights along the way. Richmond is a really old city so there’s lots of super old buildings with pretty architecture, it gives off a feeling of ‘Old America’. We stopped at two thrift stores as well and I got a cute blue and aqua long sleeved mini dress as well as a 1960’s floral dress for less than $30 altogether.

I felt a bit like Little Red Riding Hood, but with a blue coat instead

We learnt the hard way that cabs are really unreliable in Richmond if you’re not getting picked up from the airport (we spent an hour waiting in the cold drizzle for a cab we’d called but never came) but finally made it to the venue Alley Katz for the first day of United Blood. The line-up for the show was pretty much amazing:

Friday (Doors at 3PM)
Alpha and Omega
Backtrack
Cruel Hand
Death Threat
Donnybrook
Dryspell
Mother of Mercy
Paint it Black
Title Fight
True Colors
War Hungry
Swamp Thing

Saturday (Doors at 1PM)
Blacklisted
Bracewar
Cold World
Concrete Reality
Fire & Ice
Foundation
Free Spirit
Harms Way
Madball
Maximum Penalty
Mind Eraser
Naysayer
Rival Mob
Steel Nation
Wasted Time

One of the early bands on Friday

More music.

The view from above

Cruel Hand

This was right before the DJ dropped Miley Cyrus and we lost it!

The next morning we got up early and went for breakfast at a cute little cafe that had lots of yummy vegan food. I think if I’d had enough money I would have ordered one of everything on the menu!

The yummy 821 Cafe

Jules' vegan chili burrito

My avocado and veggie burger

On the walk back to the Alley Katz for the second day of the festival we passed more pretty buildings and houses that looked like they were out of a scene in a movie.

This house was so perfect it even had a porch swing!

If you look closely, you can see the cobblestone road

Obviously Cam didn't get the memo that sunglasses inside isn't cool..

Resting our feet

Oh and the Virginia State Capitol Building was right across the street from our hotel as well. I swear its a mini version of the White House, for a state like Virginia it’s a pretty nice place for your governor to live.

The Virginia State Capitol, it totally looks like a mini White House

Goodbye Virginia

floating somewhere in the stratosphere

Since I left for Texas a few weeks ago I know I’ve neglected my blog. Things have just been super crazy and I’ve been super busy, – running on little sleep, working long hours and going out for even longer hours still. In the next few days I’m posting everything that has happened between March 17th and now, here is just the first bite – written while I was on the plane to Austin, Tx.

17th March – Somewhere high above Earth, in between Georgia and Texas

Texas is the lone-star state, and right now, flying a few miles above it in the pitch black sky, I feel like the world has been inverted, – the clusters of lights scattered below me look like stars and the endless black of the sky above me could be the ground for all I know. The outside scenery aside, the SXSW adventure has already started and I haven’t even planted a foot on Texan soil yet.

waiting for our plane to leave

waiting, pt. 2

bye bye New York (or this could be New Jersey!)

the compulsory 'sky and aeroplane wing' shot

The flight Mayan and I took from JFK to Atlanta, Georgia was fun, – intermittent sleep combined with episodes of 30 Rock and The Office. When we deplaned in Atlanta we made friends with some other people on our flight who were also Austin-bound. The airport was typical nondescript airport fare, aside from the fact that most of the fast food restaurants served southern food and the airport bar we waited in had a smoking section indoors. Obviously they do things differently in the South.

happy St. Paddy's Day!!

down the hatch!

look how green mine is!

To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day (we’re all a little bit Irish on March 17th), Mayan and I did one of the Heinkein Bar’s festive shots – mine had a combination of vodka, apple schnapps and triple sec, while Mayan’s had vodka, pineapple and some other equally green ingredients in it.

the yummiest three-coloured tortilla chips EVER

We’re now halfway into our flight to Austin and all there is to do is play the waiting game; the snack cart has already made the rounds, I’ve got my Ipod (actually a borrowed Iriver thanks to the person who stole my bag back in December) playing in my ears and am switching between writing and reading (Up In the Air – it seemed appropriate). There’s some turbulence and as much as I don’t mind the unplanned high altitude roller-coaster ride, I will be happy when I arrive in the home state of such notables as George W. Bush and Hilary Duff.

TEXAS, HERE I COME!

The clock has just clicked over to 12.02am on Wednesday so that means that later today I will officially be in Texas!! I’m so excited beyond words, I feel like my brain is going to explode.

It’s going to be five days of sun, music, parties and good times. The flight out of New York tomorrow afternoon connects with another one in Georgia (I will be in the actual South!!!!) that flies to Austin. I get in just before midnight but since I plan on catching up on sleep on the flights down, I will be ready for whatever happens as soon as I hop off.

I plan on taking a lot of photos and I promise I will try and keep track of all my adventures to write about on here once I get back on Monday afternoon!

falling in love (yet again) with the lower east side

It’s hard to believe I’ve been in the US for over eight months now. Everything is still going really well, I’m still having a blast; it’s only 14 days until Texas time. There’s less than five months left though and it’s hard to stop myself from getting into a melancholy mood when I think about leaving. A few weeks ago my manager at work was talking about trying to arrange with the store manager to have me stay longer, i.e. renew my visa or something along those lines and it was weird because even though I would love to stay in New York longer I was a bit relieved when my store manager said they couldn’t sponsor me. Apart from the fact that my parents would probably want to kill me for not coming home, I’m not exactly sure why I felt relieved, maybe because in my mind I’ve been mentally preparing myself to leave since I got here as I’ve always known my time had an expiration date. Or maybe deep down I really do miss Australia. I know I miss my family and it’s weird being away from friends back home when they’re going through life-changing moments. Toward the end of last year one of my best friends got engaged and instead of hearing about it straight away I had to find out about it from a post on my wall on Facebook; then earlier this week when another friend of mine gave birth and the only way for people to let me know was via Facebook. It will be nice to be in the same time zone as the majority of the people I love and be only a text or mobile call away.

ANYWAY, enough of all of that. I just wanted to get all that off my chest. Now onto more fun and interesting things…

Last weekend was really fun, Friday night I met up with Nira and Noa at Legion but there were a bunch of unfamiliar faces there so that was good for a change. That place is so boring when it’s the same old crowd there. Saturday night I met up with Napua and we had drinks at Pianos, followed by more drinks at Max Fish’s, both in the Lower East Side. I have to say that I have a feeling that Max Fish’s is going to become one of my new favorite haunts, they have cheap drinks (for Manhattan), a pool table AND lots of cute guys that hangout there. Really, that’s all you need in a bar!

Napua, me and two new friends whose names I don't remember at Max Fish's

Sunday afternoon I took some ‘me’ time and went to pig out on vegan food at Wholefoods and scare myself silly at the Chelsea Clearview watching ‘Shutter Island’. After the movie I wandered around the West Village, which I love, – the hippie/bohemian atmosphere from the 60’s is still present there, it’s probably as close as you’ll get on the east coast to walking along San Francisco’s Haight Street. There was a full moon in an almost-cloudless sky which looked particularly beautiful as well. I saw the gothic-esque Hotel Chelsea (of Sid & Nancy fame) but as a result of the wide-eyed, open-mouthed awe that came over me while I was standing outside the building steeped in so much punk rock infamy I forgot to take any photos of it. Don’t worry, it’s definitely on my list of places I have to go back to before I leave the city.

Some buildings in the West Village that looked pretty with the full moon above them.

There’s a sense of renewal in New York at the moment, – the temperature is creeping up day by day, the snow is starting to melt, the days are becoming longer and I can feel the change of seasons renewing me as well. Just when I thought I couldn’t face another drab day filled with oppressive snow clouds and frigid winds, the sun has finally come out. I never thought the weather would play such a vital role in my mood but earlier this week when the sun made it’s first appearance I couldn’t help but smile involuntarily. I won’t get ahead of myself here, – the warmest it’s been so far is about 7C but heck, that’s ALOT better than -12C!! I can definitely tell the difference between the two temperatures. My wardrobe is ready to burst with the amazing spring/summer fashions I’ve collected over the past few months from various thrift stores. It will be so nice to wear my shorts, dresses, tees and skirts without having to layer them with tights, jackets, coats, scarves and gloves.

Hopefully the last blizzard of this Winter

Someone other than me is braving the weather!

Snow-covered trees in Morningside Park

just being a stalkerazzi.

The next few weeks are going to be pretty crazy, – theres lots of shows coming up, SXSW is happening in Texas and Jules is arriving from Australia so there will be many many adventures.

Here’s my calendar of events for the next month or so:

6th March – Blacklisted at the Cakeshop
7th March – Copeland farewell tour with I Can Make a Mess Like Nobodys Business, Person L (Kenny from the Starting Line!!!) & Deas Vail at the Bowery Ballroom
8th March – The Ataris at Webster Hall
9th March – Useless ID, Smartbomb, Money/Paper/Hearts & Lugos at Party Expo
12th March – Alkaline Trio, Cursive, the Dear & Departed at the Nokia Theatre (still not 100% sure on this one, it depends how much money I have left)
16th March – God Loves a Challenge (feat. the singer from Armor for Sleep) at Webster Hall
17th March – FLY OUT TO AUSTIN, TX FOR SXSW!!!!!!!! hopefully make it in time to see Trash Talk
18th March – SXSW – Artery Foundation free show – Evergreen Terrace, Breathe Carolina, A Skylit Drive, I See Stars & more; Full Metal Texas day party – Darkest Hour, Iwrestledabearonce, Iron Age, Your Demise, Lions Lions & more
19th March – SXSW – Heavy Hitter Showcase at Emos – Lions Lions, Acaro, We Are the End, Defeater, Legend, Mychildren Mybride
20th March – SXSW – Alternative Press Party – Sum 41, Never Shout Never, Circa Survive, the Rocket Summer, Title Fight & more
21st March – SXSW
22nd March – fly back to New York City
25th March – Chronic Youth Pary at Union Pool
26th March – United Blood Festival in Richmond, VA -Alpha and Omega, Backtrack, Cruel Hand, Death Threat, Donnybrook, Dryspell, Mother of Mercy, Paint it Black, Title Fight, True Colors, War Hungry, Wasted Time
27th March – United Blood Festival -Blacklisted, Bracewar, Cold World, Concrete Reality, Fire & Ice, Foundation, Free Spirit, Harms Way, Madball, Maximum Penalty, Mind Eraser, Naysayer, Rival Mob, Steel Nation, Swamp Thing
30th March – Jaguar Love at Brooklyn Bowl
2nd April – The Bronx at the Music Hall of Williamsburg

This time next month I’m pretty sure I’ll be very tired and very broke but it will all be worth it!

if blondes have more fun, where does that leave me?

For the second time in a week I decided to do something drastic to my hair. I paid Duane Reade another visit and got some more dye to colour my hair. I was surprised at how much I like my new look, the results are below. I feel bad for every redhead joke I’ve made in the past now!

new hair and new dress that i scored at the salvation army for $7!

its the end of an era, its a new beginning.

Over the weekend I decided it was time to dye my hair. It wasn’t a decision I came to lightly, its one that I’d been thinking about for quite some time. I guess it shows how shallow I am to spend so much precious time and use of brain cells over such a simple thing as the colour of my hair but that was really part of the problem. I don’t think the colour of my hair should define me and after roughly 6 years of white-blond hair it really was time for a change.

Standing in the hair dye aisle at Duane Reade I contemplated becoming a red head for a few seconds and then thought maybe a dark brunette would be a good idea before I talked myself out of it and settled on a trusty ash blond colour. When my hair starts to grow out hopefully my natural colour and the dye will match almost perfectly (fingers crossed).

I was pretty apprehensive as I washed the dye out and towel-dried my hair but luckily the end result wasn’t tear-inducing. I debuted the new look to my friends later that night when we all met up to go out and I got approvals all round. Not as many weird old Mexican men on the street still whistle as I walk past but I’m pretty sure they’re not my target demographic anyway!

its just a webcam photo but you can get the idea. the closest i've been to natural in a LONG time.

PS. it’s been snowing here in New York for over 15 hours straight and it’s not meant to stop for another day and a bit. I heard someone on the radio refer to it as a ‘snow-a-cane’ this morning. The snow isn’t really sticking when it hits the ground though, instead it’s forming slushie puddles that make taking more than two steps outside both dangerous and extremely time-consuming. Plus all my shoes seems to have cracks in the soles which results in wet socks. Totally not impressed Mother Nature, can Spring please arrive soon??? It’s less than 20 days until I’m in Austin, TX for SXSW so at least I’m (99%) guaranteed good weather then.