New York 3 - The Rose Bar

We stopped by the Rose bar at the Gramercy Park Hotel for a Berry Bellini. While it is expensive, it's more than worth a visit for the beautiful Julian Schnabel interior:




Images care of Flicker.

Tagged by Fleur Delice

I've been Tagged by Iris of Fleur Delice. Apparently these are the rules: 1. Respond and rework; answer the questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your invention, add one more question of your own. 2. Tag eight other people.

What is your current obsession?
Travelling around the Mediterranean on a freighter.

What are you wearing today?
It's 8 pm so I'm in my navy and white checked nightie sitting on my bed and blogging while watching Masterchef.

What’s for dinner?
Nigella's Moroccan Lamb and roast vegetables.

What’s the last thing you bought?
Poached eggs and bacon for brunch this morning at Manning St Deli with my friends, Megan and Therese.

What are you listening to right now?
The dulcet tones of Matt on Master Chef

What are you reading at the moment?
Latakia by Canadian Audrey Thomas, which is about travelling around the Mediterranean on a freighter.

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
Paris.

Which language do you want to learn?
Probably French, to help me on my travels.

What do you love most about where you currently live?
My bed is next to the boatshed doors, which open out onto the water.

What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?
Do boots count as clothing?

Describe your personal style?
A weird mix of things from the last 20 years.

If you had $300 now, what would you spend it on?
My trip to Europe next year.

What are you going to do after this?
Sleep.

What are your favorite films?
Something's Gotta Give, Room with a View, Brideshead Revisited (BBC program)

Whose work/designs are you inspired by?
Florence Broadhurst, Kelly Wearstler, William Morris

Do you collect anything?
Vintage china, quilts, mirrors

What makes you follow a blog?
Style.

Do you like to comment on blogs or just lurk?
Both.

What’s one thing you dream of doing?
Live in Europe

What is your biggest regret?
Not living in Europe.

What's the one place you'd like to visit before you die?
Europe (!)

Sorry I can't tag anyone - I've only just re-started my blog after a year, so I'm not sure who's out there any more :)

New York 2 - The Food

I must confess right now that, aside from the Virginia Woolf Conference that drew me to New York in early June, my secondary motivation for the trip was - the food. I meticulously researched the food scene and here is a sample of some places where we ate. At Amy's Bread on Bleecker St, I enjoyed the Red Velvet cupcakes:



The breakfast at Katz Deli was delicious, with either eggs, toast, coffee and orange juice or pancakes, sausage, juice and coffee each good value at under $10.00. The deli is very atmospheric and a fun place to eat:



The highlight of the trip was a special meal at Balthazar restaurant. I had a typical Parisienne bistro meal: Onion Soup and Steak Frites, and I felt like I was in Paris:

Chic Cushions

Over the past few months, I've been re-covering cushions in a simple envelope style, generally using remnants from No Chintz in Sydney. These ones are a mixture of Amy Butler and other fabrics:


I've teamed these ones on the veranda with vintage fabrics from the op shop:



This one is patched together from Designers Guild remnants:


I recovered this op shop stool in Amy Butler fabric:


Recovering cushions has been an an easy way of changing the boatshed's look on a budget.

New York

Now that I'm officially 'back', I want to post about my trip to New York and the fact that I didn't feel that I had to compromise on accommodation. I stayed at Tempo, also called Woogo, on West 73rd St near the corner of Broadway, for only $AUD1500 for 8 nights. The 72nd St subway was just around the corner. The apartment had a kitchen, so I was able to buy and cook food from the wonderful Fairway, also around the corner. I have to say that, in Australia, we have nothing like Fairway. The range of deli items, pastries, breads and pre-cooked meals astounds me. And it's all delicious.





The other thing about Tempo is the decor. For such a reasonable price, I like the fittings more than just about every other accommodation I've stayed in (and paid a lot more for). It also has a very big walk-in closet with ironing-board and iron. I think the reason I like it is that some of the tenants own their apartments. I often saw a dog-walker in the elevator. And there is a Gymboree in the lobby where neighbourhood children are brought by their mothers and nannies. Basically, you don't feel like you're in a hotel, but more like your own apartment. The staff in the lobby are helpful and friendly and it feels like home.

Boatshed Revisited

After almost a year, I've decided to take up blogging again. I stopped quite suddenly last July when I came home from Europe, so I could concentrate on finishing my PhD. That finally happened about a month ago, so I'm finding I have more free time now. During the year of no blogging, I consolidated my position on a few things. Firstly, the things I loved a year ago, I still do, namely walls of mirrors, walls of plates, bookshelves, library ladders, French chairs, chandeliers, marble, quilts etc. However, I have also learnt to embrace colour, particularly ones that may not appear to go together. My aesthetic now also encompasses mid-century. I've decided that if I love something, it doesn't matter what period it comes from. So, here on my deck is a 60s chair that I've covered in fabric from Ici et La, teamed with a table from the opshop covered in four tablecloths sewn together:


And my bathroom curtains are tablecloths from the op shop:


The main reason I've decided to revisit blogging is the global financial crisis. A year ago, who knew? Now its effects are ubiquitous. I have always, not being flush with cash, had an aesthetic based on thrift, without (hopefully) compromising on taste. So it really annoys me when stores, hotels, cafes etc sacrifice style when balancing the budget. At the moment I'm researching a trip to Queensland and trying to find accommodation under $AUD100 per night. I'm over the stock-issue quilted peach-toned bedspreads and smoked glass-topped tables. And vertical blinds, don't get me started. I have, however, managed to find a few inexpensive places that make me want to stay there, which I'll post about. In addition, I just returned from a week in New York where I also managed to achieve value for money fairly often and which I'll also be posting on.