New York & the Week of September 11th

It was exactly 12 months ago that I was in New York, enjoying some beautiful late summer weather with both old friends and new. Isn't it crazy how fast time flies!?

And of course as everybody knows, the end of this week marks 10 years since the September 11th tragedy, so I decided to post/re-post some photos from our 4 days in the Big Apple.

DIY Framed Photoboard

Ever since Sarah at Bobbyrobin posted about her amazing DIY photoboards, I've been quietly harbouring my desire to make my own with all our holiday snaps. I'm talking, even before we'd been to half the places and taken the photos, I was planning on creating my own photoboards. Nuts much?

My photoboard ended up framed behind glass instead of being on canvas, after I got my sticky mits on an old picture frame that my parents didn't want anymore. I used the 'Poladroid' application that Sarah suggested to turn all my photos into polaroid style, and took them down to Harvey Norman to catch their 9 cents per print sale ($7.20 for all my prints? I'll take that thank you!).

I bought 2 sheets of matte board, and after an insane amount of measuring and sticking I got all the photos in place.

 A very handy builder man who I also like to call my fiance helped me to cut the frame down a little, sand it, prime it and spray it black.

I finally got around to putting it all together this weekend and wollah!

VERY stoked with my photoboard!

While The Sun Shines

I had big plans to head back into work today, (though we don't officially start back until tomorrow) ... however I peeked my head out from under the covers at 5.30 this morning to see the beginnings of a super glorious day and I thought, nah! So instead my sister and I decided to muck around with the camera down the back of our house.

It's funny how you spend ages trying to get 'nice' photos, and then your favourites often tend to be the 'in betweens' and the 'out-takes'.

New York, New York

I am writing this on a full stomach of scrumptious Pad Thai, after a full on four days of New York fever.

We have squeezed in as many things as we could possibly squeeze, like walking the Brooklyn Bridge at 3 in the morning, standing atop the Rockerfeller Centre, enjoying live jazz at the Fat Cat basement bar in Manhattan, learning to play shuffle-board, strolling central park, relaxing at Coney Island, marvelling at Times Square, doing laundry like the locals in Brooklyn, riding in the yellow taxis, navigating the subways and so much more.

I'm pooped, but no rest for the wicked! Let's see what Europe has to offer...

Los Angeles

Today we flew into Los Angeles, and decided to be tourists and hire a car to cruise the touristy spots.
We headed straight for Hollywood, then through Beverley Hills, and finished the day at Santa Monica pier.

It's not really my kind of city - it's grungy, it's dirty, it's run down and smoggy, but it is certainly an eye-opener!

Driving down Rodeo Drive, we rubbed bumpers with the latest Porsche, Mercedes and Audis, and you can see consumerism is alive and well in these parts considering the Versace, Jimmy Choo and Tiffany stores are still doing business! The 'beautiful people' are beautiful, the 'plastic people' look awfully plastic, and then there are all the cliched characters at the other end of the spectrum too, but you can see how this diverse range of people make the city what it is, even if it is all very superficial feeling.

Santa Monica Pier was tired and run down, but kinda fun all the same. I loved the buskers and pier entertainers performing weird and random things. There were parrots and maccaws, jugglers, hooler-hoopers, mimes, contortionists and acrobats. It was a good wander for the afternoon.

Next up we're off to New York, hoping that hurricane Earl isn't going to create problems for our flights!

Lucky

I follow the blog of a very talented Perth photographer Samm Blake, (whom I secretly have always dreamed would photograph our wedding). Her latest post, showcasing once again some stunning wedding photos, included a little bit about 'luck' and being a 'lucky person'. Here is a little excerpt from her post, but please pop over to read the full context and see her brilliant work! These words rang very true for me...

How to create your own luck:



1 – To be one of the “lucky” people, you need to share their amazing ability to focus. Clearly define your goals. Make them so vivid and real you can taste them. Regardless of the distractions and small detours, staying connected to your dreams is crucial.


2 – In order to arm yourself with the same advantages as “lucky” people, you need to become an ardent student. Lucky people thirst for knowledge constantly. Be prepared. Be determined to be ready when the opportunity presents itself. Only then will you be able to recognize it’s potential, while others ‘just can’t see it”.


3 – Motivation is a difficult task it seems for all of us. We’re either motivated or we’re not. But how does one become motivated? No “lucky” person lives by “Murphy’s Law”. When faced with a challenge, obstacle or downright failure, instead of being depressed and lose your motivation, do what the lucky person does. Become even more committed to try a different approach, a new way, but try again. Failure can actually be a motivator to the lucky person.


4 – Attitude and motivation go hand in hand. One acting as a catalyst to the other. No matter how dyer your circumstances, never let on by your demeanor and displaying a negative “oh, poor me” attitude. You can be a “glass half full” kind of person, but how about being a “How can I keep this glass refilled?” type person? A lucky persons attitude is contagious.


5- Expectations can be a tricky thing. Most of us are dosed with well meaning remarks like, “Don’t get your hopes up” or Don’t expect too much”. Lucky people were either never told or didn’t take it to heart. They DO expect much. Not as in a spoiled child throws a tantrum to get what they want. Rather they believe they WILL receive! Any great sales leader will tell you, “always ASSUME the sale”. It’s not a matter of IF, it’s a matter of WHEN and how much.


{Instructions from How to Be A Lucky Person}

'Poladroid' Overload

I was just re-reading through the great tutorial by BobbyRobin for making Polaroid style photo boards, (as I have big plans for all my travel photos when I get home), and followed her link through to this site and woooaaahh baby talk about getting carried away and having way too much fun with this application. Procrastinators beware!

The Swing

On the way into town is a field...

And in that field is a tree...

And in that tree is a really old swing...

And sometimes, when there's absolutely no breeze at all...

The swing swings all on it's own!

Freaky berjeezers!