Manhattan

I just saw Woody Allen's Manhattan last night for the first time. It conjured up all the emotions I associate with the wonderful city of New York. I went to bed feeling in love with it again. I really enjoyed the movie- the acting, direction, and storyline. It might even have been the first Woody Allen film I've seen. I'm now a fan, so far at least. This morning, I came across these old photos I took with 35mm film on a trip with my mom there in 2006 I think it was. Still as beautiful as ever.

a rekindled love affair

I just returned last night from my first trip back to NYC after I left nearly 1 year ago. It was a whirlwind. The minute I got off the plane it was nonstop, go, go, go. But that's how the city is- and I squeezed in as much as I could in my 6 day vacation. I saw old friends, met new ones, went to a Kylie Minogue concert, celebrated Cinco de Mayo, had lunch at Tiffany's and dinner at Barney's, ate Magnolia cupcakes, enjoyed pizza nearly everyday, wandered around aimlessly on 5th Avenue, stumbled onto live jazz in Central Park, and ventured into Brooklyn to see old roommates and check out the flea market. It was absolutely delightful, despite the abnormally chilly weather for May; it was a nice respite from the sticky Miami summer heat. While visiting NYC is different from living there, I definitely rekindled my love for it. I was dragging my feet so much when it came time to leave yesterday that I missed my flight... I will definitely be back soon for another love affair with this wonderful city.

all above photos taken with iPhone 3Gs and enhanced with Instagram and CameraBag apps

Missing my photographer roomies

While I've been loving where I live and having an apartment to myself, I can't help but miss my photographer roommates from Brooklyn. We always had fun and would do impromptu photoshoots on afternoons or Saturday nights. Below is a picture from a shoot I did with Jennifer literally a day before I left NYC back in June (the poncho is from Peru).


The rest of the pictures and a lovely note she wrote about me are here

Help for Haiti

Being that I'm currently in the islands I can't help but feel physically closer to the trauma that has been going on in Haiti and want to do something (I awoke this morning to find out there was another big earthquake yesterday). I'm very appreciative for all I have and think these kinds of events tend to bring about that gratitude as well as a sympathy for others that aren't as fortunate. We can all give something- time, effort, goods, money...

For those of you in the NY area, here's a list of events raising funds for relief and donation centers on my roommate Jen's blog: http://jenniferpainter.blogspot.com/2010/01/httpidealistnyc.html

And for those of you not in the NY area, here's a fashionable way to contribute- a special Lady Gaga tee with all proceeds going to the relief effort that I found on Perez Hilton's blog: http://cocoperez.com/2010-01-19-lady-gaga-gets-haiti-helpful

These are just some of the MANY, MANY ways you can help. Or you can just go to one of the donation sites like Yelle, founded by Wycleaf Jean, or Haiti Relief Fund for ways to help or make a simple donation.