roman(tic) holi(date)

sean may have skipped watching funny face with me (he's not into song and dance movies), but he more than made up for it with taking me out to roman holiday tonight. all dressed up, i might add. while me, on the other hand, came straight from the office - work clothes and all.

i love this movie. i have this movie. but i wanted to watch it on a 3 story cineplex screen. i laughed. i cried. i was thoroughly charmed (still) by audrey hepburn and gregory peck. in the battle between audrey hepburn's co-stars cary grant and gregory peck, i would choose gregory peck everytime. hands down. 

some fun facts about roman holiday:

* the role of princess ann was originally written for elizabeth taylor

* the role of joe bradley was originally written for cary grant

* roman holiday was the first american film shot entirely in italy

* it was gregory peck's suggestion to give newcomer audrey hepburn equal billing

* audrey hepburn won a best actress oscar for her role

* audrey hepburn was genuinely surprised in the mouth of truth scene, not knowing that gregory peck would pull that gag on her

i'm so glad to have a partner who loves classic movies as much as i do. and one who will take me on a movie date to see one. it'll be my turn next time, as i'll be taking sean out for the next classic series movie - the great escape with steve mcqueen. a testosterone movie!

monsters under the bed

well, what do we have here? if we were to play photo assumption, one might think that jonesy and charlie were caught in the act of getting up to no good. instead of secrets rooms in underground bunkers, the plot for world domination happens under our queen-sized platform bed. well, they are little masters of our house. 

although it's more likely that they might have been just playing hide n' go seek.

but then again, it's more fun to think nefariously, what with jonesy's specatacular 'cut a bitch down' side-eye. insert *evil laugh* here, erm i mean,  *evil meow.*

eat new york

the last vestiges from my most memorable trip. piecing out and savouring my delicious dean & deluca chocolates. sipping on cups of tea (with scones, clotted cream and strawberry jam!) and thinking of the next time we visit new york.

listen to clint mansell

oh yes, they did!

the live audio webcast of clint mansell's performance at st paul the apostle is online! so for everyone who wasn't able to attend this magnificent performance, have a listen and understand why were were blown away.

and in our case, with this webcast, we get the pleasure to relive the concert again. and again.

not only that, having clint mansell retweet my tweet the day after, will also add to me remembering this experience fondly.

i love that mansell feels strongly about fans putting away cell phones during concerts. i joined in the conversation and was super thrilled to get a reply. 

ahhh, that's why i love twitter. the ability to connect with someone whose work you've long admired. and if you're really lucky and they are as responsive to fans as mansell is, you might even get a reply.

don't you just love what the wildhearts encourage their fans to do at their concerts? i don't know who they are, but i love them already. and i think it's awesome that the yeah, yeah, yeahs have started this policy at their shows. hopefully, other bands will follow suit. nothing is more annoying as an audience member than to see a sea of blue pointed at the stage, obstructing everyone's view. 

as if a vertically challenged person like myself, doesn't have enough problems at a concert.

five by five

happy fifth blogoversary to me! 

FIVE!

how did we get here? i can't believe i've been blogging for this long. so much have happened in what seems like such little time. in the past 5 years, i've traveled to 12 different places, been employed by 3 different companies, went from apartment to house, gained a kitty (2 in fact) and am still mad about my fella. 

oh, and written nearly 1,175 blogposts!

i've always felt that 5 (or multiples of fives) is one of those significant numbers that makes one pause and take stock of one's life.  

looking back, i've had blessings galore, which i don't take for granted. i feel that there is still much more to be accomplished. i have big plans and big dreams to fulfill, damnit! and i will continue to do my best to jot them all down.

thanks to everyone, especially friends i have made online who shared in this little life of mine. hopefully, i have made you laugh or smile with my antics. here's to another year of blogging!

the inside track

culture vulture like us? thrifty too?

as a first timer to new york, one might not know that admission prices in museums may be of a suggested nature and that on some days, there is no entrance fee.

i remember when i first got there and someone told me this "insider tip", it was like a revelation. armed with this fact, i was able to go to the museums on a frequent basis. and not just museums, but also to gardens and zoos.

here are some of my faves and when to take advantage:

metropolitan museum of art - pay what you can afford (recommended $25)

american museum of natural history - pay what you can afford / free 445pm-545pm (suggested $19)

MoMA - target sponsors free admission fridays 4pm - 8pm (suggested $19)

guggenheim museum - pay what you wish saturday 545pm - 745pm (otherwise $22 admission)

whitney museum - pay what you wish friday night 6pm - 9pm (otherwise $20 admission)

museum of art & design - pay what you wish thursday night 6pm-9pm (otherwise $16 admission)

the cloisters museum & gardens - pay what you can afford (recommended $25)

new york botanical garden - free all day wednesday / free saturday 10am-noon (otherwise $20)

the museums may not be free, as they are in london, but they can offer that option at specific times.

days when museums are closed varies, so check before you go. for a full list of all new york museums and their admissions and schedules, click here. 

oh and if you're a movie buff like sean and i are, find your favourite locations that have appeared in memorable movies at on the set of new york or worldwide guide to movie locations. that's how we tracked down the headquarters in ghostbusters.

and now you know!

there's only so many minutes in a day

with only 4 days and 3 nights in new york, there's only so much that one can see.  sean and i were out from morning to night and covered a ton of ground and yet, there were sights we just couldn't fit in... i think we did pretty good, all things considered.

here's what we'll be sure to see next time:

* guggenheim museum
* whitney museum
* museum of art and design
* rose centre for earth and space and hayden planeterium at AMNH
* new york public library
* chrysler building
* flatiron building
* grand central terminal
* south street seaport

and let's not to forget about the other boroughs:

* new york botanical garden
* the cloisters
* brooklyn heights, prospect park, park slope, williamsburg
* brooklyn museum
* MoMA PS1
* new york aquarium
* museum of the moving image
* bronx zoo
* coney island

and of course, more time needed for:

* MoMA
* soho / east village / lower east side / west village
* central park: great lawn, bethesda terrace, alice in wonderland, bow bridge, hans christian anderson, shakespeare garden, strawberry fields, pale male and the central park hawks

as it was sean's first time and i wanted to make sure he saw the greatest hits, i was not able to indulge in a couple of things i would have liked to do, which is why the next time, the following goes straight to the top of the list:

* tea & sympathy for afternoon tea
* falafel at chickpea
* falafel at maoz vegatarian
* parkoras, chana masalas and parathas from baluchi's
* strand bookstore
* friends building - grove & bedford in greenwich village
* breakfast at tiffany's holly golightly's apartment - 169 w. 71st avenue
* see an opera at the met or a ballet at new york city ballet

there's always something to see or do in new york. and however long you visit, it always seems like there's never enough time. and every morning when you wake up, new york will have you thinking, "what AM i going to do today?" instead of "what is there to do today?"

how many cities can inspire that? until next time...

we heart new york

i'm in a new york state of mind....a wonderful trip that will be remembered for a long, long time. so happy that i got to share it with sean.

for a taste of all that we saw, press play for the slideshow or click here to go to my flickr.