Pretending to be a Rich Movie Star

After spending all morning at orientation (once again!), I made plans to meet up with my friend from Vancouver, E. She's an Upper West Side resident, so she met me on her turf and showed me around!

Our fun and relaxing afternoon involved (a lot of) window shopping, browsing super expensive stores that neither of us could afford (but hey, isn't it fun to stroke a 1,500$ fur vest sometimes?) and some catching up.

The lovely E sporting a pair of vintage YSL sunglasses.

Flowershop on Columbus.

L'Occitane en Provence.

Rag and Bone, aka Cute and Unaffordable. Also the land of very intently staring sales associates.

Brooks Brothers - the lair of preppy. The wonderful store associate made my day by calling us lovely ladies all the time!

Some very nice home decor store on Broadway.

After a couple of hours, I had to split and hop on the train uptown, but the lovely day certainly woke some fashion cravings in me and I spent the evening thumbing my September issue of In-Style. None of the clothes in there were in the least bit within my price range. I personally think of that as a really great savings strategy. I can't afford them, so I don't buy them - hence, I have more money. Capiche?

Of Delightful Home Decorating

So a couple of weeks ago, I wrote of a wonderful evening I spent at my friend Jill's house. She has just moved in to this apartment and wasn't fully unpacked, but already, little touches in the decor shone through giving the place a delightful French feel.

An antique vase in cream with pale hydrangeas in a pastel lilac - adding a soft and nostalgic feel.

Vintage dresser - the bowed legs and the detail on the drawer handle bring you back to more refined times.

Carved wooden chair with flowered seat. Normally, one thinks of florals as being dated, but here, it gives a whimsical feel to an otherwise very solid piece of furniture.

Heavy gilded mirror - the fine details in the frame add a classical touch to the room.

And it's not just the furniture - accessories add just as much to the overall feel of a space. A blue-glass jar filled with pennies is a simple and yet elegant way to decorate a bar windowsill with a bit of grace.

And adding a simple bouquet of greens livens up the place; a string of white lights twinkles invitingly and creates a fairy-like atmosphere.

An old-style canister of tea adds colour to the kitchen ... and while not in the same classical style as the vases or the furniture, it nonetheless contributes to a wonderful old-time atmosphere.

These are just some of my favorite little touches from Jill's place ... here are the rest!

Of a Surprise Superhero that Saves my Saturday

Spent ALL Saturday afternoon at a cafe, working like a horse. Or an ox. Basically, like all the farmyard animals combined. By the end, my brain was so fried, I was just taking notes on automatic, writing stuff down but not really retaining anything. Ah well, at least the notes are there for me to review later.

So overall, it was a meh sort of day. But then, superhero Jill swooped in to save the day.With her wine.

Apparently, it's been awhile since I've last had alcohol because that little bit of wine (interspersed with cups of tea) somehow managed to give me quite a headache. Gone are the days when I used to brag about being a heavyweight drinker ... My transformation to grandma is complete.

But seriously, friendtime is SO necessary. It's so easy to get caught up with work and running around like crazy. So I'm glad Jill and I met up to bitch about life and rant (quite coherently, actually) and get things off our chests. And of course quite a bit of fun was had ...

Of Brunchtimes and Packhorses

Can I just say one thing about the weather?

I don't get it. Yesterday, it was all:

And today, it's all gross and rainy and slippery and puddl-y and slushy. Believe me, wearing your winter coat in the rain is NOT ideal. The smell of wet dog becomes pervasive and people would look at you weird, except that they all smell that way too. It's just lovely.

But back to beautiful sunny memories.

As per my usual Tuesday/Thursday schedule, I always plan to get work done during my break, but am inevitably derailed. This time, my lovely friend Jill had some very persuasive ideas of the brunch-variety.

Like I said, she's very persuasive, so I HAD to give in.

Actually, I'm pretty much up for anything when I'm supposed to be working. So brunch it was, at our fave diner. Yum yum, scrambled eggs :) I also snuck in some of my katlety and hid them in a napkin when our waitress was around. I'm sneaky like that.

On another note, can I complain about the current state of my back? (Why yes, I can, cause it's my blog).

I live somewhat far away from my university, so I usually have to bring everything with me to campus. Which means carrying all of my books, plus any homework I plan to do, plus about 5 tupperware containers full of my various snacks, plus (God forbid) if I want to go to the gym, there's also my gym bag, and if it's raining, I also bring an umbrella, and usually I also carry a mug in my hands ... Well, you can see how it gets complicated super fast.

Just some of my food. 

Doing dishes at my house is a nightmare. 

Or rather, 'doing Tupperware' ...

Anyways, it gets unpleasant. And the result of it is this:

Let's just say walking upright is a bit difficult, since my backpack weighs me down so much that I'm always in fear of falling on my butt. It's real attractive, I tell you. For now, I guess I just have to wait until the world realizes I'm super important and I get to have a special limo to transport me+all my stuff to school.

Of Social Lives and Egg-Related Fights

So let's just say that when midterms/finals/assignments/life roll around, my version of socializing is sitting and working in a cafe that is full of people. I mean, I'm near people, right? So that's almost the same as actually socializing. My new idea is to bank some socializing time. Basically, the plan is to hang out with a lot of people now, so that when I'm a hermit later, my 'average amount of time spent with other people' isn't embarrassingly low.

Yea, I'm cool like that.

But in the spirit of seeing old friends and reconnecting after the Christmas break, my friend Jill and I hit up our favorite diner for the breakfast special.

I love breakfast. It is the BEST meal of the day. I will fight you over eggs. I'm serious. Breakfast is the only thing that makes me a decent person to be around. Also, hating all of my classes this semester is very exhausting, so of course I need to refuel.

And since that's about the most noteworthy thing I did yesterday, I figure I'll round this post off by complaining about the weather.

Why is it that when the Weather Network tells me it's -8C and windy, and I dress in my warm coat and hurry off to campus, I arrive a big sweaty mess (and let me tell you - sweaty puffy coats aren't pleasant!)? And yet, when I leave campus and it's supposedly 'only' 0C, I'm freezing all the way home? What is this madness?

I also get cold allergies when it's too cold or when the temperature changes. So why I chose to live in a city that's as temperamental as Britney Spears (during her shaved-head stage) and freezing cold pretty much 6 months out of 12 is beyond me.

I probably made that decision on an empty stomach, before the eggs knocked some sense into me.

Of Small Pleasures

After my epic museum visit in the morning, I took a little coffee break (yessssss, caffeine flowing in my veins = happy Anna) and fulfilled one of my lifelong dreams. Well, not lifelong, only since the start of college (because it gets so impossibly busy) - I sat in a cafe, and I didn't do homework, or discuss group projects, or drown in assigned readings. No, I just sat there and read. Read for pleasure. For myself. Some trashy fantasy novel. And it was perfect.

Small pleasures are what make life magical.

As do good friends. So to make this day extra special, I met up with my friend Erryl for a gossip-filled trip to LaSenza. And then some more chatting and catching up. We are a bunch of chatterboxes and around her, I say the most outrageous things. Like even more outrageous than I blog here. I know, impossible, right?

I have the prettiest friends. Waiting for the pretty-bug to bite me, any day now ... No. But seriously.