The Metropolitan Museum of Art aka My New Favourite Place in the World

My favourite thing about New York so far has been exploring some of the amazing museums and art galleries. The highlight has definitely been The Metropolitan Museum of Art. I took me two full days, yet I still didn't manage to make my way around the entire building!

It was a rainy old day as I made my way down 5th Avenue on day one. I got completely soaked and was rather jealous of all the girls in their Hunter boots.







I began with the ancient Egyptian section, which made me not feel so bad about missing the Tutenkamen exhibition in Melbourne. It was impossible to take good photos inside the galleries, but I was super glad that you were allowed cameras inside. It's nice to have tome pictures to remember your visit.





I loved how varied the museum was. Every section bought you to a completely new time and place.





The galleries for American Paintings were closed and won't be open until 2012. The paintings were, however, in viewable storage. It was almost deserted. I loved wandering down the aisles, looking at all of the amazing paintings, all hung above one another, line after line in big glass boxes.

























At about 4.30, I realised that there was no way I was going to see the entire museum in one day, so I decided to come back the following morning. It was nice to be able to go back and take my time looking through some of the parts I had rushed through.



My favourite parts were definitely '19th and Early 20th Century European Paintings and Sculpture' and 'European Paintings'. It's so exciting to be have the opportunity to see some of the amazing works that I have studied but never had a chance to see in real life.

















Despite spending two entire days at the museum, I still missed out on some very large parts: a good incentive to come back to NY one day!

hello new york!

After the most painful 20 hours of my life, we finally arrived in New York City on Saturday night. We spent Sunday exploring Central Park, Rockafellar Place, Madison Avenue and all around central New York. It was crazy busy and rather unpleasant. Today, however, we spent the day figuring out the subway and visiting the Guggenheim Museum. I was super excited to see the gallery. While I'm not hugely excited by modern art, I couldn't wait to see the post-impressionist paintings they had on display. The Thannhauser Collection was definitely my favourite.



















Tomorrow we're planning on visiting the Met, Soho and Babycakes Vegan Bakery. Exciiiting!

xox

Goodbye St. Andrews

So my bag is finally packed and I am ready to head off on my big trip tomorrow morning. I am feeling more nervous than excited at the moment, but am hoping that will all change when I hop on the plane. I'm rather sad to be leaving St. Andrews and so many of my beloveds - even if it is only for two months! I'm hoping that all of these lovely passionfruits, apricots and apples will be ready upon my return, and my dear old pup won't have forgotten who I am!











So goodbye St. Andrews, I will miss you!

xxx

to sassafras!

Yesterday was a little too hot for my liking, so we decided to head up into the Dandenongs for the day, where the air was lovely and cool. We bushwalked, picnicked and fed crimson rosellas!















Along the way we made a stop at Sassafras. We went to the hilarious Miss Marple's Tea House. I am a bit of an Agatha Christie fan from way back. I spent far too much of my late childhood reading Miss Marple novels, so I found the tea house particularly funny.







Sassafras is also home to Tea Leaves - a beautiful shop packed full of every kind of tea you can imagine, as well as lots of lovely teapots and teacups!







The Dandenongs are less than an hour's drive from Melbourne and are just the most lovely place to go for a day trip!

xxx

DIY iPod Pouch!

Not so long ago, I got myself a new iPod. I needed something to keep it in, so I made this little pouch from some old teal fabric. Of course this is a super easy little project, which took me less than half an hour to complete. I think that the white piping along the edges makes it a little more special than your average drawstring bag! Ha



Here’s what you need:

- fabric of your choice for the bag itself
- fabric of your choice for the piping
- scissors
- thread
- a zipper presser foot for your sewing machine
- a sewing machine
- ribbon
- twine – I used hay bale twine as it’s nice to put something to use that is only going to be thrown out. Any old string should be fine.

First of all, begin by making your piping! You will need approximately 75cm of string and a long strip of your piping fabric – around 75cm by 3cm should do the trick. Place the string in the middle of the fabric, length ways, and fold the fabric over.



Using your zipper presser foot, sew down the fabric, as close to the string as possible.



Now cut out the fabric for the actual pouch. You will need two rectangles approximately 16cm by 11cm. Round off the bottom corners of each piece.

Place the two pieces of fabric together, with the right sides facing each other. Take your piping and insert it between the two pieces of fabric, along the edges of the bottom and two sides. Pin all three together. Now, still using your zipper foot, sew along the edges, as close to the piping as possible. It might be a little fiddly around the rounded edges. Turn it the right way out to check that the piping is sitting smoothly.

Cut out a strip of fabric around 20cm by 5cm. Turn your bag back inside out. Pin the strip around the top of the bag, with the beginning and ending of the strip at the front of the pouch. Pin the excess fabric back the other way and sew around the top.




Turn your bag the right way out, then flip the strip on top over so it’s on the outside. Fold the very bottom of the strip under and then poke your piping under too. Sew all around the bottom. Thread your ribbon around the top, tie it in a bow, and you’re done!

Too cute.

Oh Arthur...

I recently finished off this lovely book about Arthur Rackham. I haven't read a biography in forever, so I really enjoyed reading this one, about one of my favourite illustrators.





I love how this book is packed with illustrations. I thought I might share a few of my favourites.