noël

We have had an absolutely magnificent christmas, which began in the finest of fashions when we purchased a stunning little lens, a prime f1.4 50mm beauty as a christmas treat for ourselves!

In the lead up there has also been baking galore, including some potent truffles and my first ever attempt at baking a fruit cake (outcome still to be decided). Spending time with a lot of wonderful friends and enjoying some much needed and anticipated time off of work. 


Christmas day was delightful, we got many wonderful presents, feeling quite spoilt and very very lucky, as well as enjoying wonderful friends, family, fun, food, festivities and just the right amount of indulgence.


Hoping that your christmas has been wonderful and filled with much love, whimsy and merriment.

mighty p's

After making it all of the way to the united states of. we decided it would only be right to spend a weekend with a lovely dear friend of mine, her lovely dear man, and their lovely latest lovely addition - Bernoulli - not a child destined for torment, but one playful little kitten. Both the loverly friend and lovely man are undertaking phd's in Princeton where we found ourselves for the weekend...we wondered the quaint little town, ate drank, and got very merry.

While there we went on an adventure to Philadelphia. Since a road trip was in order, it seemed necessary to fill ourselves with a solid donught breakfast. Onwards, the short trip, we parked and walked our way through the historic town, and learnt a lot more (I am ashamed to admit I know or knew very little) about american history (especially since I did a history minor...) This involved asking numerous irritating questions to my lovely american friends, testing both their knowledge, patience and probably our friendship also. I am pleased to say, they knew their stuff (and they let us in the car to get home again)! The Liberty Bell was seen, along with more historic buildings of note, of which all I can say is, were really beautiful.

The stunning day certainly helped. Managed to have a philly steak, and I have to say whether it was the abundance of cheese, mmm, or caramelised onion, or perhaps the big bun it was enclosed in - Philly your steaks rock!

A lovely little leafy town, and a lovely way to finish our trip...

 

 

new yoik. part deux.

Most of our ny days were spent wondering through the boroughs with no real plan in mind, but simply enjoying discovering many wonderful delights. The food that we ate (more pizza than either of us would care to admit, okay maybe I am a little bit proud) burgers, shakes, fantastic mexican, cupcakes, and some more mexican. The galleries that we explored. The books that we bought (many of which I am still making my way through and somehow we still got our luggage home - mainly thanks to A's rather stern tone when asking if I really needed ALL 15 books I attempted to slyly purchase at each store). The architecture - such a wonderful mix of new and amazing architect, buildings evoking european grandeur, repetitive brown brick that is somehow charming in its own right, and beautiful parks that made our day as we sat to watch ny go by, doing what it does...

nyc High Line

In my overwhelming excitment (comparable only to christmas or the week of my birthday) regarding the trip to nyc I had devoured a wonderful little book that I received for my birthday "City Secrets - New York City". It is a glorious little book that is as much delightful stories about nyc as it is a guide for great food, art, architecture, parks and hidden secrets of all five boroughs. It has insights from New Yorkers - writers, artists, historians, and other amazing people - as to where they frequent.

When A and I read about thehighline it zoomed to the top of the must must must go list! Beginning in the Meat Packing District (oh so trendy on a Sunday afternoon) and moving up through Chelsea and Hell's Kitchchen, some wonderful people have converted an old freight line into a magnificently landscaped park, that is utter bliss to wonder along.

Standing below the park, you would not even know what lay above you, but walking up the stairs you discover a stunning bit of jungle amidst the concrete. It is not only the stunning and clever integration of plants to compliment the very industrial setting. It is the wonderful views of the city and river. The trendy people. The icecream vendors. The art instillations. The way the seating and walkways incorporate the old rails (see wooden lounges on wheels that actually slide along the tracks) BRILLIANT!

Needless to say, I very happily passed an afternoon strolling the high line with two dashing boys at my side...

new yoik. new yoik.

Earlier this year A and I went on a little adventure to New York City. I have to be honest in saying that I had been somewhat eager to get to nyc for quite some time. In fact at various points I think I may have made some preposterous demands about visiting it NOW NOW NOW! Then one day at work, a day like any other I decided to buy tickets and A did not complain. 

So many book stores to explore! Parks to wonder! Cupcakes to consume! Shops to shop! Galleries to marvel at! And many places to love!

My excitement was amplified ten-fold by the discovery of a nifty little plastic convertor that enables a diana lens to fit onto your DSLR. Simply, as A put it, we spend thousands of dollars on an SLR and magnificent lenses and you want to put on a $30 peice of plastic that takes blurry photos. YES YES I do!!!

So here in lies some of Diana doing New York - some other highlights of adventures in nyc to come.


A picnic in Sheeps Meadow for a friends birthday...



The Three Bears in Central Park (not to mention all of the other beautiful statues, corners, trees, turtles and other treasures to find there...)



Above the Met - a bamboo castle arose. A few glasses of champagne from that roof top that Friday night was also a pretty spectacular view, and just a little bit luxurious!

A quiet visit into the superb Guggenheim Museum, a peaceful reprieve from the summer sun, a magnificent space that is absolutely flawing. Watching people move through the internal space - the amazement on all of our faces says it all.

Watching people pass by in the Guggenheim was just as fascinating as the art on the walls.

  

Stumbling upon the Lomography shop (maybe or maybe not by accident) the very lovely display of all things camera absolutely delightful, did not hurt that this also happened to be on the very same street as MANY cowboy boot shops - yeeehaaa. And yes, yes, a pair did happen to sneak into my suitcase.