July 30, 2006
July 26, 2006
Surprisingly, kind of scary
My subletting friend found a monkey suit under her bed. Tonight I went over to her place to listen to Kenny Rogers and drink prosecco before she heads to Capri for August.
"There's a monkey suit under the bed," she said.
Long pause.
"You mean, like, a tuxedo?"
"No, a monkey suit," she says, making monkey arm movements.
July 25, 2006
Fw: Owls are the new Birkin bag
Paul & Joe for Target.
Tweed, pom-poms, and owls.
Best Target designers ever.
Owls are the new bunnies
From the Paul & Joe for Target line, due to hit stores next week. Thank god, since before now cartoon owls have been greatly under-used in mainstream mass market fashion.
July 19, 2006
Question
Why do people haul through the airport with heaping sets of blatantly
fake Louis Vuitton luggage?
En route
Back to reality.
Oh, and Lily Allen is brilliant - "Kate Moss" rhymed with "weight loss."
See?
One night in Hackney
First stop, the Angel in Mayfair. Next the George and Dragon (just like old times). Last, the Joiners Arms.
Big kisses and Lots of love to Aleksi, Rob, Maria, Calle, Conrad, Liliana, and everyone else.
July 17, 2006
Click
With just three days of holiday left, I find myself beginning to panic, mentally ticking off last-minute to-dos on my vacation checklist. The staff at Top Shop must think I'm absolutely bonkers because I visit everyday. Similarly, I have started to use the self-checkout tills at the Marks and Spencers food hall because I don't want them noticing that I have decided to buy and consume as many packages of their potato, pea, and broadbean salad as humanly possible. I mean, we just don't get these kinds of things in America.
Have also automatically clicked back into work mode, which is totally annoying. Am pulling tearsheets out of magazines and newspapers, looking for ideas and trends, and consciously (but unintentionally) sorting out what I need to do when I get back. Am very irritated both in and with this mindset and have to keep reminding self that I am indeed still on vacay.
If I was really brave I'd just run off to Italy for the weekend instead of going home.
July 16, 2006
July 15, 2006
Post-traumatic shopping disorder
Maria is Swedish. She is also very thin and very glamorous. Here she is being non-chalant after trying on a thousand Vivienne Westwood dresses at Liberty.
Dover Street Market
Cooler than anything ever, Dover Street Market. Filled with things I cannot afford, even during sale season.
Anglitalian
Another eating(Italian)/shopping jag, this time with Maria, former flatmate, at Selfridges.
July 14, 2006
Gas is $9 a gallon
While New Yorkers whinge about the $3.30 gallon, let me just point out that gas here is averaging ₤4.40 a gallon, just under $9.00.
Luckily, you can put fuel in your car and still look nice. These Louboutin look-a-likes are just ₤8.00 at Primark, a chain megastore of super-inexpensive clothes that is like designer Target, but even cheaper and trendier. Matte opaque 60-denier tights for ₤2? Wham, bam. Thank you ma'am.
July 13, 2006
Song of the summer
Forget Gnarls, Pussycats, and Nelly Frittata. The song of the summer, as declared by the Finns (and seconded by the Danica) is "Young Folks" by Swedish outfit Peter Bjørn & John.
"If I told you things I did before,
Told you how I used to be,
Would you go out with someone like me?
If you knew my story word for word,
Had all of my history,
Would you go out with someone like me?"
The Village
Andrew and I have a great Oxonian tradition of eating huge amounts of pizza and then hitting the shops at Bicester Village, the outlet center just outside town (ok, a $10 bus ride outside town). Since we are now real grown-ups with jobs and stuff, we decided to have drinks and pasta afterwards at Carluccio's instead. And we did so much retail damage I had to buy a new wheelie suitcase to cart it all back to America.
July 12, 2006
In the garden of good
The weather in Oxford is incredible today and I'm back to outdoor dining -- in the garden at Wadham. It's nice to get away from the crazy tourists on the streets outside once in a while. And garden dining makes my Sainsbury's egg-and-cress sandwich seem much more glamorous than it is.
July 11, 2006
Dining in
English breakfast at Mortons in the Oxford covered market -- only the second meal I've eaten indoors all week.
On the agenda today: visiting Aleksi at Marimekko, Topshop, Selfridges, Dover Street Market, Browns, dinner and a show (Fuerzabruta at the Roundhouse) with Andrew, a playwright (Borderland, his latest, will be published Stateside this autumn), overall genius, and one of my closest friends from the Oxford days.
July 10, 2006
July 9, 2006
July 8, 2006
Night
Birds are chirping, the sun is rising. It must be... 2:46am? It didn't
even get dark til about midnight. Better get some sleep before
sunglasses become do-or-die.
Grin and bear it
On our walk home from the picnic, we passed a Russian restaurant that serves bear.
Too bad we already ate.
Professional picnicker
Linda is a pro at this. She's even got a battery-operated record player.
I've never been more impressed with anyone. Ever.
How to pass time on a 29C day in Helsinki
Picnicking with friends, including one of my favorite people in the
world, Rami, who is pictured here. Rami's graphic design company,
Vanskap (www.vanskap.fi) illustrated my book, How Not to Look Fat.
July 7, 2006
Wunder-kind
The coolest new shop in Helsinki opened this morning - Wunder, opened by Daniel Palillo, stocks the best indigenous designers along with Marjan Pejoski (Bjork swan dress designer) and Laitinen, a brother-sister design duo that won a special jury prize at this year's Festival d'Hyeres. Look for huge cult fashion names starting with fall shipments this summer.
They eat their own
I've talked so much about this, it's practically an urban legend, but here's photo proof!
In Finland, groceries are so fresh, they sell lettuce in planter pots. Yes, here you have to kill your own vegetables.
July 6, 2006
Rip out the wings of a butterfly
Seen: H.I.M (His Infernal Majesty) lead singer, Ville Valo, wearing a Spongebob Squarepants T-shirt, drinking beer and scribbling in a notebook all by his lonesome at Erottaja bar in Helsinki.
Funny how I have more celeb sightings here than in New York.
I heartagram Helsinki.
July 5, 2006
Fort Humungous Island
Suomenlinna is the island home of the biggest fort in Europe -- now it's a day-out sunshiney destination for Finns and tourists. Wander through a maze of narrow passageways and hiking paths. Take in the scenery at the top of a stone cliff. Then stop for a beer and sandwich... and be sure to beware of the vicious, type-A predator seagulls.
Guestbook
There's a series of framed artwork on the living room wall at Kolo, the flat we're letting in Helsinki, depicting famous faces who met their ends at famous hotels. From left: Jim Belushi (Chateau Marmont, Overdose), Michael Hutchence (Sydney Ritz Carlton, Hanged himself), Robert Kennedy (Ambassador Hotel Los Angeles, Shot).
July 4, 2006
Compelling reason to fly BA to London this July
Two words: Fashion Channel.
Two and a half hours of fashion industry documentaries -- one about Yves Saint Laurent, another about Sarah Doukas of Storm who discovered Kate Moss, and the third about Perry Savage.
By far the most insightful is the second, all about Sarah Doukas's day.
Here are some interesting things I learned:
- Sarah was sent to boarding school (and later a convent) at age seven.
- Girls in London only make about ₤300 per LFW show.
- There are no magazines for ropey-looking girls.
- Richard Branson backed Storm when Doukas first started.
- Bookers at Storm make around ₤30,000 - ₤40,000 a year, get private health insurance, bonuses, and pensions. Um, I am SO in the wrong field.
July 3, 2006
World Traveller is a euphemism for Sweatpant-land
Today I'm flying in Juicy sweats, a Hooters T-shirt, a hoodie from
Intuition in LA and Converse All-Stars. My dad looked at me and said,
"Are they really going to let you on the plane dressed like that?"
Intuition in LA and Converse All-Stars. My dad looked at me and said,
"Are they really going to let you on the plane dressed like that?"
July 2, 2006
Funny slogans on the ta-tas
.
should I take to Suomi?
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