Slow blitz & my apartment

I just had lunch with Kate and Tim, who are the latest in the growing ranks of Toronto people who are not just engaging but ENGAGED. Crazy!

Current blitzquilt is above, though "current" is a bit of a misnomer since the quilt is off the wall (literally) and packed away, and the sewing machine is in a box. No, I am not moving. Some nice men are giving my apartment some new ceilings, which should last a couple of weeks (at least...). When I left home my roommate's ceiling was coming down and the poor baby kitten was hiding deep inside some shelving (she was so hidden that I actually thought she had somehow got out of the apartment and went all the way up to the roof to look for her). When they do the living room I'm going to bring her to live at the office.

"Blitz" is also a bit of a misnomer, this one is taking a while. I keep changing the composition, and it keeps getting CLOSER, but it's still not done.

Bonus -- you have to look closely to see the message from my drycleaner:

Being comfortable and chic is a difficult balance (or, taking care of business casual)

Ok everyone. Since moving to New York my wardrobe has been undergoing overhaul. LL can relate I think (and she's helped me a lot, in part from clothes lending when we lived together and I had no appropriate clothes, and in part from inspiration/advice). No part of my wardrobe has changed more than my shoes. I wear heels on a regular basis now, instead of just for weddings. It's a good change.



In the bookstore last night I ran across this book, it is the best in the world, I will let myself dream about it for a while before I go and buy it to love it forever. It inspires me to dress more skillfully.



A gift from upstate, I wore it yesterday and had several conversations with strangers on the street:



New York fashion is not perfect however, this is on the Upper West Side:



Title credits go to the Sartorialist and that book.

Elevator men and a visitor preview

Only two more sleeps and one of my dearest friends is going to come visit me! It will be extremely nice to have Allison Guy to talk to in person, like in the old days, rather than on the internet as is usual now. Also, seeing as she saw me through the whole process of being depressed in my Master's degree (and being somewhat depressed in her own), but graduating after a million years by a miracle of God, then not knowing what to do, and dreaming of living in New York but having no idea if/how/when, and then the whole passport saga -- well, it's meaningful that she's coming to visit me here in my new city. I'm excited.

Also we will go to see Sex & the City; we watched the whole series together so it's just right that we'll see the movie in the the City itself.

Summertime

So it's extraordinarily hot in New York right now (95 F/35 C, and humid). Even though our office is more or less air-conditioned, I feel greasy and itchy and squirmy (the afternoon coffee I had isn't helping) and I just want to GET OUT. My house, on the other hand, is currently not air-conditioned (well it could be; I need to sort that out), so going home isn't actually going to help me.

The office also contains, for unknown reasons, many tiny gnat-like bugs, and they are driving me insane.

On a brighter note, yesterday I went to Princeton NJ, about an hour's train ride away, for a conference. The conference was fine, though I always get antsy sitting still and listening to people talk for hours on end, but the real highlight was leaving the city. Now, I love the city; nevertheless, it's so refreshing to go to places with more space, more trees, fewer people. I sat in a garden on Princeton campus, by myself, on and off with a bunny rabbit, for an hour and some, and it was the best thing in the entire world.

Hm, I feel like this is an incomplete entry, but I don't have much more to say. Oh, except I'm reeling from hearing that Karl and Dylan are both getting married (not to each other), and that Elna got a motorcycle license (as well as a motorcycle).

Stay tuned; blitzquilt news coming soon.

Ok one more

more cat pictures

Interlude

more cat pictures