Explore: After the Storm

Just a wet, abnormally quiet morning.

Well, that happened.

I am awestruck at how badly Sandy got the city, in the truest sense of the word. I'm at home, and working - ish. As much as I can. I work from home anyway, so you'd think that this could almost just be viewed as another Tuesday, except for the fact that I've become virtually incapable of doing anything but refreshing my news feed.

Being uptown has kept me very sheltered. My apartment is warm, dry, and with power and internet. We had a few flickering lights last night, and a very unsettled cat, but that was as bad as it got. I've been pleased with our decision to move many times since we did, and right now is no exception - especially considering it looks like I could well be spending the rest of the week up here.

 I used to live by the hospital that had to be evacuated. I wouldn't have been there if I still lived there - the building was evacuated yesterday, and it sounds like the building management gave the tenants no choice in the matter - but I'm not too sure where I would have been. Any of our friends would have taken us in, but (like us) most of our friends live in Manhattan-sized apartments (read: pretty teeny-tiny) so I guess there would have been quite the amount of crowding. Crowding and no electricity, probably, as most of them also live downtown. A recipe for lasting friendship?*

As it is, we are totally safe, and well aware of how lucky we are to be so. We took a little walk in our neighbourhood this morning, already sick of being cooped up in our apartment for two days** and apart from a lot of leaves and twigs and other debris*** on the ground, all is calm, and proceeding as normal. The doormen are cleaning the footpaths in front of their buildings. People are walking their dogs, and other people are out running. Donald Trump is still d-bagging all over Twitter.

A little debris on Riverside Drive...

...and in the park, dog HEAVEN

From this vantage point uptown, it's hard to imagine what is happening in other parts of the city, but...it is. Unbelievable, constantly updating news feed or no.

*In our case, yes, most likely. This is why you make friends with decent people. I wonder if everyone can say that with such confidence?

**Yet another reason why it's a good thing H1 and I like each other so much.

***Dog HEAVEN.

Eat: Hurricane Cake

Hurricane cake, with hurricane tea, and hurricane newspapers.

I did it! I baked something! There are no more overripe bananas in my freezer!

Nothing like a hurricane to make you stick to your goals, apparently. I baked it yesterday afternoon, after a morning spent at the gym and grocery store. I was just intending to quickly pick up a loaf of bread, but after seeing the masses of people in Zabars, I decided it would be far more sensible to first of all visit another grocery store (spoilt for choice in these parts!) and secondly, prepare a little more for the impending disaster.

I now completely understand why bank runs happen. I had an academic understanding, but there's nothing like seeing it in person to get how mass hysteria occurs. When I ventured out yesterday morning, I was not in the slightest bit worried about the hurricane, as you may have gathered from my recent irreverent take on it. However, after watching nearly an hour of updates on the televisions scattered all around my gym (eye roll: America!) and seeing for myself how concerned everyone else was, I decided it might be wise to take it all a bit more seriously. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to take these sorts of things more seriously, and so I ended up standing in a 20 minute queue for the following:

1. One (1) loaf of health bread (very dense and filling, and therefore eminently sensible for potential no-food disasters.)
2. One (1) bottle of organic 2% milk (which will, of course, go off and be undrinkable if our power goes out.)
3. One (1) bottle of sparkling water (because if the water goes out, I want the replacement water to be fancy? Because my cat would totally appreciate it? I can't even explain my rationale here. I just like sparkling water.)

Suffice to say, I'm not great at this stuff. I did remember to get some more toilet paper, so was actually quite proud of that little trip out of the house, believe it or not, even if certain people (ahem, H1) were more amused than appreciative, despite them (ahem, H1) not being the ones who volunteered* to go out in the desperate, desolate streets in order to provide for their families.

And then - then - I baked a cake**. If we are indeed without power or water for any extended amount of time, we'll be eating health bread sandwiches and banana cake, and drinking coffee***, sparkling water, and red wine. I'm starting to think I'm better at emergency preparation that I've given myself credit for. 

The cake I chose to make was a banana cake. I used this recipe from the Edmonds cookbook, which is a Kiwi classic. I find I much prefer New Zealand recipes for sweets and treats to American ones, just because American recipes tend to go a bit too far on the amount of sugar/syrup/chocolate****. In fact, if I ever do use American recipes I usually halve the sugar, with no ill effects. I know you're not meant to mess with the quantities when you're baking, because it relies much more on exact chemistry than cooking does (this is what makes cooking superior to baking, by the way) but I guess I've been lucky so far - everything I've ever bothered to bake has worked out well and tasted delicious, as baked goods tend to (this is what makes baking superior to cooking, by the way).

The un-iced cake. Pro tip: that cooking paper is well worth it.
I never usually bother, but the cake was delightfully easy to
remove from the pan, as it never is otherwise.

H1 was in charge of icing the cake. Being less patient than I am (which is an impressive achievement - I am a hugely impatient person) he didn't bother waiting in the apocalypse-style queues to buy icing sugar, and instead ran to the nearest pharmacy for a couple of bars of chocolate, which he melted onto the top of the cake. It may have killed the last of the 'health' credentials I was trying to festoon my cake with, but it tastes freaking AMAZING. We have eaten three pieces each in the last 24 hours, which, coincidentally, is about the same amount of time that we have remained indoors, considering it unwise to go out in the rapidly-worsening weather. Looking at how much of the hurricane cake is left, and judging how much more bored we will be in the next 24 hours, let's all just hope New York is up and running again soon, for the sake of my teeth, if nothing else*****.

*In his defence, I did want to go to the gym, so was out anyway.

**Full disclosure: Upon my realisation that we had no icing sugar, because I never bake, H1 went out into those same desparate, desolate streets to ensure that we wouldn't have to suffer the indignity of eating un-iced banana cake.

***We bought more - it was top of our priority list for the weekend, in fact.

****Ah, old age. There was a time that I wouldn't have worried about that even a little bit.

*****But in all seriousness, fingers crossed. We will be fine - we are in a very safe part of the city and we have cake - but there are many out there who may be hugely impacted, and I am hugely hopeful for them that this won't be as bad as predicted.

The Weekend Has Landed! The Batten Down the Hatches Edition

Today is actually Friday! Whoo!

I have a bit more work to do, and then it is ON. And when I say it is on, I mean nothing is on, because for the first time in ages, I have no plans. Nada. Not even one. I am overjoyed about this.

I still have bits of the unread newspaper of guilt to read, as well as a brand new one that will be delivered this weekend, so I plan to spend a decent chunk of the weekend catching up with that. It's a good weekend for it, as the weather is looking like it's all falling to pieces in advance of Frankenstorm rolling in:

I can't stay inside reading all weekend (I'm bound to get cabin fever at some point) so I'll go for a little wander, probably sticking to the Upper West Side because I am in a local sort of mood. Maybe I'll buy some fridge bins (my fridge could look like this, except I'd never eat most of the crap in there!) And maybe some batteries, because the weather people are recommending it for Frankenstorm. I reeeeally don't want to, and I'm not sure why (buying stuff is not usually something I have a problem with). I haven't got too deep into any self-analysis on it, but I suspect it has something to do with Hurricane Irene last year, and my flight getting cancelled, and having to stay in California and impose on friends for four unexpected days. So basically - resentment. I resent hurricanes. I am a hurricane resenter, with not enough batteries (actually, never mind the batteries, I don't even know if we own a torch. I guess we could use the lights off H1's bike?).

Finally, I have plans to check out Uniqlo's new online US shop (reasons to leave the house just diminished by one), cook something yummy (this is a strong contender), drink some good red wine, and add to the long list of impractical things I really want:

This is something impractical that I want. Image: Fancy

What are you up to this weekend?

Turning it Around

This is me in my insane Parisian dress, in Paris! With H1!
You can see why I couldn't wear it today, right?

Today started out SO badly.

I woke up with this song in my head (warning! Click at your own risk). It was grey and dreary outside. There was only one coffee* pod left for the Nespresso machine, so H1 and I had to have a bargaining session to decide who needed it more. I won, but the guilt I felt all day about sending my poor hardworking husband out into the big bad world without coffee was nearly as bad as just starting the morning without coffee myself (nearly. I'm still glad I won, or I don't think this day would have ever got off the ground).

After my coffee and demanding H1 put some music on to drive the demons from my head, I cheered up, especially because it was Friday! Yay! Except, today is actually Thursday. Realising that was enough to send me back to bed - but I had to keep moving, as I had a morning meeting that I had to attend, in order to badly disappoint someone. Of all the things I hate doing, disappointing others is way up there, lurking just below ironing. And on this morning, of all mornings...wow. What did I do to piss off whatever deity controls bad mornings?

When you're faced with a morning like this, there's only one thing to do. And that one thing is to go back to bed. With that option firmly ruled out, however, I had no choice but to turn it around (babe**).

I'm quite proud of what I managed to do with today, so I've put together a little how-to for you, because we all have these mornings*** and taking an entire day to sulk at your misfortune isn't always viable. So:

1. Put on music. Whether you've got a bad song stuck in your head or not. I got H1 to put on Gotye, and specified that he must start with I Feel Better (just going with the power of overt suggestion there). This helped straight away, so I had the energy to...

2. Shower and get dressed. TOTALLY non-negotiable. And no sweatpants**** crap, either. Put on something that you love, that you look great in, and that makes you feel like you're invincible. If you don't own anything fitting this description, go buy something. For the full invincibility effect, I suggest a superhero costume, but you go with whatever feels right.

Today I wanted to wear one of my more insane dresses, a Parisian fuchsia lace affair that has a full skirt and a bateau neck, but the person I had to disappoint was in a fairly conservative office, and I just felt it would be inappropriate. Instead, I went with a black and cream Marc by Marc Jacobs dress with black tights, my trench coat, and black stiletto heels (extra height is always good). This particular dress meets all the above requirements, and also has the added bonus of being dryclean only - so while it costs me a fortune just to own it, it is always ironed. I can't stress enough how much not having to iron makes a morning better.

I wish I had taken a picture of this, but during the day there was nobody who could take a picture for me ("Hey, I know I've just told you something disappointing that's really let you down, but could you snap out of it for a sec to take my picture, please?") and I am now in my pyjamas*****.

3. Eat a good breakfast. Sorry to sound like everyone's mum, but ten or so years after my mum last nagged me about this, I've realised how important it is. This morning I ate what I eat most mornings - yoghurt with homemade granola and fruit - and, as is usually the case with me and eating, I felt much happier after I had.

4. Finally, I bought myself another coffee on the way to the office, because I wasn't quite there yet.

All of this worked brilliantly, by the way. Today turned out to be pretty awesome, despite the inauspicious start - and was then made exponentially better by some exercise, dinner, and pyjamas before 9pm, I am very pleased to say.


*One REAL coffee pod, that is. We have a concerning amount of decaf, which is good for late night affogato in the summer, and nothing else.

**Name that song!

***Oh God, other people have them too, right? It's not just me...right?

****I don't even own sweatpants, and I'm very proud of this fact. I suggest you don't, either.

*****Pyjama pants are absolutely a different thing from sweatpants, FYI.

An International Epiphany

A glimpse of the Blogcademy amazingness.

I love to travel.

I always suspected I would. I didn't go overseas until I was 12, and then that was only to Australia, but I delighted in every little thing that was different from what I was used to - which is odd, as when I went on holiday with my family in New Zealand, I was mightily unimpressed with everything that was different. Auckland imperialism? Or just an inability to see the beauty of my own country because I was too consumed with the embarrassment of being the only one of my friends never to have left*?

I never understood those (and believe it or not, I've met more than one of these people) who didn't want to travel. Who didn't care. Who were looking forward to staying in one place, with occasional trips to Fiji for good behaviour, for the rest of their lives. I would say I tried to, but I was a spoiled teenager, so I probably didn't. Hell, I'm a lot older and wiser now, and I still don't try. I just shrug and say to each their own, and cross the street if I see them coming**.

It therefore should be no surprise that I left as soon as I was done with university, taking off as if I had been shot out of a gun. I loved New Zealand, but all I wanted to do was travel. And I have - but while also getting and maintaining a life for myself. I think it's really easy to enter into a state of arrested development when you're away from home, and I think I could have easily entered into that mindset. Instead, I have chosen to make sure I have many homes, which has its drawbacks, but is mostly a good thing.

I saw this attitude pay off this weekend, in a really amazing way. It was the busiest weekend I've had in a long time, and I loved virtually every moment of it, despite now having one completely unread newspaper of guilt (aka The New York Times) sitting on my coffee table, taunting me with all I don't know. An old friend from New Zealand, whom I have known since I was all of five years old, flew in from her base in North Carolina for a weekend of gallivanting in the city. We partied in Brooklyn on Friday night, enjoying the highly American pursuit of bowling***, and ate a few meals together, but for the most part I left her to gallivant on her own**** because I was attending...The Blogcademy*****!

Blogcademy was a Big Deal. I attended the inaugural workshop, which ran over two days. It was held in New York (convenient!) but people came in from all sorts of places, including my other homes of New Zealand and England. In fact, the founders consisted of one New Zealander (Gala Darling), one Brit (Kat Williams of Rock N Roll Bride), and one American (Shauna Haider of Nubby Twiglet). I kind of felt like they were me split in three, but with more glitter (way more glitter!) and, let's be honest, success and talent******.

I learnt SO much. I can't even begin to talk about it, because it's all still churning round my mind, refusing to settle so I can decide where to begin applying those lessons. But even better than that, I had the most amazing time. Being surrounded by an international community of unbridled talent is where I want to be all.the.time. In fact, I came very close to inviting some of the other women to move in with me (though as I look around my Manhattan-size apartment I'm quite thankful that common sense prevailed).

This weekend taught me many, many things, and not a small part of that is the value of surrounding yourself with people who get you, and who are like you, but who have different backgrounds and experiences and points of view also. Those who can teach you things, and make you choke with laughter on your water while doing so. And I have to wonder - do those who don't travel get to enjoy those moments? Because if not, ouch. It's worse than I thought.

*We went on many, many holidays, always in New Zealand. My parents believed in understanding your own country before beginning to explore others, and probably also in not spending tens of thousands of dollars dragging three ungrateful kids around the world. I hugely appreciate this now. But at the time, I was an ungrateful little sod.

**Kidding! Obviously. I mean, they're not going to be in New York, are they?!

***No, I'm not very good at bowling. As if you have to ask. But yes, I enjoy it regardless, as much as I can when I'm not winning losing. (Let's call a spade a spade).

****That sounds mean. There were other friends of hers in the city also!

*****With about 25 other bloggers. I wonder how many blogs about Blogcademy will be posted today?

******For NOW (evil laugh).

C'est bon, non?

It always makes me laugh that the Michelin guide
is the same Michelin as the doughy tire man.

I'm on my way out to dinner tonight. I should be leaving in eight minutes. I think that's perfectly doable, but I don't fear lateness the same way that others (looking at you, H1) do. I am going to meet H1, so I will do my darnedest to keep this to an eight minute post. Actually, seven minutes now.

We are going out to dinner with friends, to a French restaurant in Chelsea. I don't know its name and I don't really care, because the most important thing is having a nice time with friends. That said, I expect it to be good. New York has too many good restaurants, in all price brackets, for ones that are not good to survive for long.

Speaking of French and price brackets, I got an email today telling me the New York restaurants that have got a Michelin star for 2013. I was very pleased that one of my favourite places, Public, has held onto its star. It has a chef who trained under a New Zealander, and a Kiwi wine director, and the menu (and wine list) is very New Zealand-influenced. And, obviously, outstandingly creative and delicious. I'm loyal, but you don't earn Michelin stars for customer loyalty.

I've been to Public twice, and three others on the list (Junoon, Aureole, and the Spotted Pig) once each. The list is 51 restaurants long, meaning I've got some eating to be getting on with. I hopefully have something to celebrate coming up, as well as a birthday, then Christmas, another celebration (?!), our wedding anniversary, and H1's birthday. Thankfully, as those places may range between one and three Michelin stars, but they all share the same three or four dollar signs on OpenTable. They are special occasion places.

Tonight it's no Michelin-starred French with friends that deserve three Michelin stars each (at least) and a four minute late departure. Good enough for me.

We all need goals

This is my actual reminders list
from my phone. I was going
to write some actual ones, but
this one made me laugh a lot and
I couldn't deprive you of that!

Is it only me who doesn't get people who don't make goals? I make goals all.the.time. They're not always good goals (meaning worthy, difficult, life-changing, or S.M.A.R.T) but hey, I make them regardless. Every morning, in fact, either over my morning coffee or while I'm 'working out', I have a little think about what I'm hoping to accomplish that day and set a few goals accordingly*.

H1 and I also always set new goals at the beginning of each year - some for both of us, some singly. I just went back and looked at mine from the beginning of the year, and I'm actually doing pretty well with them. My beginning of year goals fell under the broad aim of ending 2012 a better me than the one that started it, and I think I'm on track to make that happen. I'm healthier, fitter, and more knowledgable. I've taken up a few new activities and have done a few new courses and met a few new people. I have not got my New York driver's licence, as I said I was going to, but I have got hold of the correct form and have filled it half out, so that's nearly the same thing, right? Maybe I'll try for my learner's permit this year, and that way I'll have a near-new, only-slightly-tarnished goal for 2013 all ready to go.

My biggest fail so far is in becoming a kinder, more patient person. With this in mind, I should probably decide to spend the rest of 2012 becoming a kinder, more patient person, but I honestly don't think that's going to happen. I'm not a bad person - I tip fairly, I hold doors open, I'm (almost) always polite, I donate - but I am a very impatient and fast-moving type, and I do believe that that's just part of my personality. I'll try to remember to stop and smell the flowers more often, but not if that slows down my seizing of the day**.

Giving up on one goal makes me feel like I should set another one, as does that fact that it's now that crazy time of year, where the months are compressed into a crazy blur of LaborDaycolderHalloweenapplesmybirthdayevencolderThanksgivingbloodyfreezingturkeysSURPRISE!CHRISTMAS!!!HOHOHOHAHAHA!!!! and you wind up huddled in a blanket on Christmas morning wondering what on earth just happened and why it's so cold***, and who bought those presents under the tree (and for that matter, where did that tree come from?) because you're pretty sure it wasn't you. In short, this is a great time of year, and if I can look back at a nice tidy list of goals accomplished, I may be able to hold onto a few more memories of what actually happened during it.

So, goals for autumn:

1. 'Fix' bathroom.

I love my apartment so so much, but the bathroom really lets the side down. It's small (okay, fine, that can't be changed) and is completely tiled, floor, walls, and all. The wall tiles are a hideous pink fake marble. The floor tiles are a sickly shade of greige (similar to Chanel Le Vernis Greige, but without the designer seal of approval). The vanity top reaches out over the loo, and is another fake marble, this one a colour that I can only refer to as 'aged' yellow. I have no idea how I can do anything to actually fix this (H1 caught me googling 'tile paint' the other day, and quickly shut that idea down - thankfully, as painting tile looks to be a lengthy, difficult, and foolhardy idea) but I'm going to try, because I don't want my showers to make me sad.

2. Bake more.

I cook a lot, and I enjoy cooking, but I don't really bake ever (by the way, being someone who doesn't bake sadly doesn't make me one of those slightly strange people who doesn't eat cake). I would quite like to be the sort of person who bakes, especially if I was one of those super-impressive bakers who casually decorates all their creations to the point of sugar perfection and, I don't know, makes snowflake biscuits for Christmas****. That's probably not going to happen, but there are some overripe bananas in my freezer, so I'm sure I can churn out some muffins at the least.

3. Get my New York learner's permit.

Hey, why not make it official?

4. Blog more regularly.

This must be the seventh time I've set this goal, at least. Life keeps happening (um, thankfully!), but it also keeps happening to many other impressive and dedicated bloggers I know, and they manage to post more than once a week. I'm doing something this weekend that I think will help with this. I'll let you know.

5. Organise fridge/be more spontaneous.

These two kind of go together, right? I have a tiny fridge, and it's kind of crazy right now, so I'm thinking I might spontaneously buy some fridge bins and sort that space out. Or maybe I'll do that first, then be spontaneous. Who knows? It's just crazed mad spontaneity around these parts*****!

So I will, of course, let you know how these go. In fact, I will blog about them (regularly!) in a total rip-off of what one of my favourite bloggers, Bunny Eats Design, does. (It's worth noting that her current goals are things like 'live on $2.25NZ per day for five days for charity' and 'make cheese' and I'm just going to try to write self-indulgent posts more often. Please don't compare).

Fair's fair - anyone want to share their pre-Christmas goals? Anything goes! Seriously anything, just read mine again and instantly feel good about yourself!

*Others may call this a to-do list. I think 'goals' is a far more impressive term.
**I'm at an advantage here, because it's autumn and there are very few flowers.
***I'll actually be in New Zealand this Christmas, basking on the beach, but my memories of last Christmas involve many blankets and much huddling, so there you go.
****Ooh, do I really want to add something else to my lead up to Christmas plate? I just paged through a Crate & Barrel catalogue, so I can say a firm YES. Snowflake biscuits, to be exact.
*****Yes, sarcasm. I'd love to be spontaneous more often, but I'm rather busy, and I think the point of spontaneity is you can't schedule it. I don't think setting a goal's going to help anything - but we'll see!

Totally Adequate

This is not my photo. As if I would take a photo of a
disappointing meal. And as if I could take a photo as good
as this one. Image: Flickr/Michael Verhoef.

Despite the title, this post is not, for once, going to be about my sporting prowess (or lack thereof). It's going to be about something I'm actually quite good at - namely, cooking.

Two things have happened in the last few weeks that have made me think even more about food (who knew such a thing was possible?). I've been away for work a couple of times, and while I was away, the weather did a total 180° and started sliding down the other side of the steep parabolic curve that is the New York City weather graph. Salads are no longer cutting it*. You know what type of salads are especially not cutting it? Grilled chicken salads eaten alone in a hotel room at 10pm at night, when I'm exhausted but know I won't sleep if I don't get something in my stomach before crashing. Those are the worst kind of salads**.

I'm quite relieved, because I was utterly sick of summer food. This always happens - in the last month (three for winter) I just completely tire of a season, and all that it represents and all that marks it, including food. Especially food. I give it approximately a month until I'm bored of autumn, but for now, I'm into it.

Soups and root vegetables and roasts and hearty pasta dishes that make the most of the final summer glut of tomatoes and zucchinis. Apples! In everything. Pumpkins, if I was being faithful to the romantic notions of fall, but I find it tricky to find good pumpkin here (mostly, they are sold for the purpose of carving, and aren't something you'd eat - although I look forward to seeing what my new favorite farmer's market brings me). Roast kale and wilted spinach. Goat cheese and bacon***.

So with all these delicious autumnal options available to me, what do you think I chose to make for dinner tonight? Apple and gouda risotto with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar? Maple-glazed salmon with roast broccoli? Sweet potato bisque?

No. Not at all. Guilt over one too many meals away from home - meals that I didn't even choose to be away from home for - overtook me, and I indulged the screaming voice inside me that demanded vegetables. This is why guilt is crap. Because if you let it, it'll affect your eating decisions. Also, you know what else is crap? Laziness and busy-ness - otherwise known as the two demons that kept me from going out and buying some cheese this afternoon.

We have cheese in the fridge (what am I, a heathen?) but the cheese selection is looking pretty poor right now. There's some sliced Jarlsberg and some goat cheese, but no gouda (like I wanted for the risotto) and no sharp cheddar (like I wanted for a vegetable bake). I dug around a bit, and pulled out some ricotta, and realized that that ricotta, combined with roast onion, broccoli, capsicum, garlic, spinach, tinned tomatoes, and just a tiny bit of whole wheat penne, would create a not-too-heavy, vegetable-loaded dinner, that was bound to taste good. Delicious even...

...no. The word you want is 'adequate'. It tasted fine, but really, considering the amount of garlic and other seasonings I used, I was hoping for something a bit more interesting than what H1 and I ended up with. As H1 said, being his usual optimistic lovely self, at least it was a good nutrition conduit, and I can't expect everything I make to be a winner****, but man, what a disappointment. Food should taste good (and I firmly believe that if you start with the right ingredients and even just a soupçon of skill, it can taste good and be good). Next time (not that there will be a next time, actually) I'll add some bacon, and see how that goes.

*Not entirely true - I make something I call a salad all year round, but it contains bacon and goat cheese and roasted vegetables, and pretty much defies all preconceptions of what a salad actually is. Like low-cal diet food, for example.

**But don't feel too sorry for me - traveling for work, while hardly glamorous, does mean I'm doing something right.

***See also: spring eating, summer eating, winter eating. Goat cheese and bacon is always right.

****I can't? But I don't want to do it if it's not a winner, every.single.time!

While we're on the subject...

De Beers necklace. Via

Talking about the cost of things, this beauty cropped up in my October Elle magazine.

Isn't it gorgeous? I gasped out loud when I saw it, then avidly read the description. It's from the De Beers Imaginary Nature collection, and is composed of 96 pear cut diamonds, with an attached brooch made up of a center 8.49 carat pear cut diamond, 163 baguette diamonds, 376 round brilliant cut diamonds, and 33 pear cut diamonds.

(Price on request, and if you have to ask...)

Lessons learned from Sex and the City

They're laughing because their shoes are so cheap. Via

A weekend spent depressingly ill at home meant I caught up on a lot of TV viewing. I don't really tend to watch too much TV, and I virtually never watch it by myself, so having a whole weekend of it is a little bit of overkill, really. I hadn't the energy or the brainpower to do anything else though - both of those were fully occupied making sure I had tissues and throat lozenges surrounding me every second of the day.

I did enjoy re-watching most of the second season of Sex and the City, though. I've watched the first season so often I can virtually talk along with the characters, but the second season was a bit more of a mystery to me. Who knew that Steve came onto the scene so early? Or that Carrie and Big would get together and break up again*?

The most interesting part of the season, for me, was how different Manhattan is in 2012 when compared to their 1999 world. It's not just the obvious differences, which have more to do with how TV portrays the life of a single writer living and dating in the big city (unrealistically glamorously, in case you hadn't guessed) but the little ones, which don't seem enough of a big deal for the writers to bother lying about them, but that I can't quite imagine to be fully accurate.

Number one is working hours. Remember when Miranda's dating that horrible, bad-tempered, shouty lawyer**? He makes partner. Yay! (Kind of yay. Bad people don't deserve good things). So she congratulates him, and he responds by snarling that he's real excited about getting to work 60 hours a week for virtually the same salary.

Wait. Hang on a minute. 60 hours a week?

Sometimes - and it's not as infrequently as I'd like - I work 60 hours a week, and no matter how insignificant that (fake) lawyer thought his salary was, I guarantee it was more than what I make, even if you directly compared his 1999 figure to my 2012 one. Pretty much everyone I know here often pulls 60 hour work weeks. I asked one of my friends who is a lawyer, and he laughed long and hard. Later, he told a story in which he didn't leave the office until 2:30. As in am. How he feels about that is a different matter, but I'm pretty sure he'd love to make partner without working 60 hours (at least) work weeks. Did Sex and the City just get this grossly wrong, or are lawyers, and all of us in fact, just expected to put in more time now, for the same money? Is this because of the recession? In short, huh?

I can't even begin to answer that, or figure that one out, at least not while I'm still recovering from the dread cold of doom***. So we'll move onto a difference that I find a bit easier to grasp.

It's the cost of things. Some stuff is a lot cheaper. Carrie's shoes average a few hundred a pair, and she wears really nice shoes. I don't think shoes that cost well in excess of a thousand dollars existed then - which makes no sense, because 1999 = internet bubble pre crash = everyone's already a millionaire many times over on paper, and 2012 = longest recession ever = work as hard as you possibly can, and if you're lucky, someone might flick a little bit of money your way.

Some stuff, however, seems much more expensive. I'm thinking specifically of when Miranda tries to buy Steve a suit (sob - the suit that ruined it all****) and they she picks out an $1800 one. You can certainly spend $1800 on a suit - and much, much more, should you want to - but you certainly don't need to. There's a lot of difference between an aged gold corduroy suit and an $1800 one, but was there always? Is it really a thing that they couldn't have gone to J.Crew and spent $500 or so on a nice enough, completely serviceable suit that would have been fine for her law party?

It is possible, of course, that yes, that could have been done quite easily in 1999, but Miranda just didn't think of it because she's wealthy and successful and her lifestyle creep has completely obliterated her memory . It's also possible that the writers just wanted to cut Steve out and get some dramatic tension going, because Miranda, of course, is not real. I think I'm smart because I just worked out a way for Miranda and Steve to work through the problem and stay together (hint - it's called compromise) but I'm also the one trying to rewrite history for two people who don't exist, so...yeah. This is why I don't watch a lot of TV.

Also, because it would be easy to now be just a little bit dissatisfied with my life, where I work all the hours for not all the money, and can't afford any of the Manolo Blahniks, or $1800 suits. Thankfully, I'm not, because I don't wear suits (and H1 has a very nice one already that is not gold, corduroy, or too expensive for our means) and I kind of feel like if I did care, I have time. The longest recession can't last forever*****, and nor can this cold, or Sex and the City Season 2.


*The answer to this latter question is everyone, obviously. Because that's what they do, always.
**Don't worry if the answer's no because you need to catch up on SatC Season 2 also - I'll explain all you need to know. He was shouty, and bad-tempered, and Miranda dated him.
***H1 says I had manflu. He was impressed, as he didn't think women could get that.
****Steve is totally my favorite male character, closely followed by Aidan.
*****Right? RIGHT?!