Birthday Pavlova

Meringu-erang!! (as in Bang-er-rang!!... Anyone? No?)

Well, it took one failed attempt (Note to self: don't add the sugar too quickly because you're in a rush.. slowly does it, or the egg whites collapse and then you tear your hair out - It's 'Not Worth It'), but I finally got there! My very first meringue! Woohoo!

 Refrain from drooling, your keyboard will thank you

Pavlova's normally strike me as a summer pudding, but I have made this one to celebrate Holly's birthday today. It was the perfect alternative to a birthday cake, as she was being whisked off this afternoon for a chocolate afternoon tea, so I thought she wouldn't want anything too heavy after gorging herself silly on scones and petit fours.

I used a Delia Smith recipe, which was very straightforward and easy to follow. As I've already mentioned, my first attempt did go completely wrong, but that is because I was worried I was overwhisking the egg whites and so tipped in the sugar way too much at a time. Start adding sugar when the peaks start to stiffen, take it a tablespoonful at a time, and whisk for 10 seconds between additions and you will be left with a sexy glossy stiff mixture. Boom ting.

Berry berry good

So I'm now absolutely knackered after a busy weekend of birthday festivities, on Friday we had dinner at Pizza East and then boogalooed til we puked at The Book Club. (Not ACTUALLY!) I might might have got a little bit boozy and may may not have been able to move until 2pm on Saturday. But this is merely rumour and has not yet been confirmed as fact. So don't believe everything you read folks!

Right time to tuck into that palava pavlova before I get overcome and start rubbing my face in it. 

Wait, what? No.. I would never do that. 

Honest.

Going Back

I can't believe this was taken just over 3 years ago. It blows my mind.

I'm so excited. You may have guessed why. I'm going baaackkk! 

Sadly, not forever. Just a holiday, after Easter. But it'll be my first time back in NYC since I left in September 08, and therefore likely to be quite emotional. 

But I don't want to spend my whole time there blubbering like a big girl - I'm also SUPER excited about visiting some of my old favourite places: Bubbies, Brooklyn Bridge (♥), Guggenheim, Central Park in the springtime, cannoli in Little Italy, maybe a little Magnolia visit for old times sake and then a stroll along Bleeker, Banana Republic/J Crew/Sephora at non-redonculous prices, a show or two on Broadway, Cafe Wha?: MY GOD the list is endless!

 Stealth

But I also have a huge long list of things that I want to do that I haven't done yet. Balthazar, Abraco, Momofuko, and the recently re-opened for brunch (BRUNCH - only my most favouritist thing!) Minetta Tavern are just a few of the places I want to eat my way through. And of course since I left, there's Topshop NYC to check out (and laugh at the extortionate prices), and I'm desperate to see the High Line Gardens.

Miracle on 34th St

Basically I have way too much stuff to do and not enough time to do it. Some editing will be needed.

But it's going to be magical, amazing and beautiful. I can't frigging wait.

The King's Swan

Natalie Portman in Black Swan (Photo credits here)

I love this time of year for movies. In the run up to awards season all the big guns start getting released. Yes we've already had the pleasure of Inception and The Social Network (not seen and on the LoveFilm list/seen and loved, respectively) and the superb Toy Story 3, but January is the time when the front runners get their time to shine on the silver screens for us to see what all the Hollywood noise has been about.

Last night I went to see Black Swan. I was looking forward to it because I loved the idea of a thriller set in the gruelling world of professional ballet. The pain they put on their bodies, the pressure of a cutthroat profession, the beautiful dancing and costumes and stories they tell. OH THE MELODRAMA! Surely this would be right up my alley?

First things first - props to Natalie Portman, holy crap, she puts the method in method acting. I read somewhere she lost 20 pounds to play the role of Nina and trained as a ballet dancer for a year before filming started and boy did it show. It was an intense and believable performance of a young woman carrying the burden of prima ballerina. Loved Winona's brief appearance as the cast-aside hasbeen fallen star of the New York ballet (especially in that scene - at the risk of getting too spoilery - I haven't been able to go near a nail file since), and Mila Kunis was a welcome laid-back rebellious foil to Portmans uptight lead, and it was nice to see her not in comedy mode. And she can also do lesbian sex scenes too, so you know, there's something for everyone.

Mirrors were used in nearly every scene to convey the split personality themes, and the use of black and white and dark and light with flashes of (literally) blood red to punctuate key moments in Nina's descent into madness were the right aesthetics to set the mood. If anything I felt the soundtrack borrowed too much from the book of cheesy old-skool horror (scary moment = LOUD CHORDS!), but I can forgive that, as the storyline was so gripping (butt-clenchingly so) and the cinematography so gothicly gorgeous.

 Colin Firth in The King's Speech (Photo credits here)

The other Big Movie That Everyone Is Talking About is The King's Speech. I went to see this a couple of weeks ago and loved loved loved it.

I've never been Colin Firth's biggest fan. I mean don't get me wrong, he's not on the hate list (see: Tom Cruise, Nic Cage, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley - and that's just for starters) but he never really struck me as a stand out actor.  I was never part of the whole Mr Darcy wet shirt brigade, thought he was alright in Bridget Jones, pretty inoffensive in Mamma Mia (although nothing was more offensive in that than Pierce Brosnan's singing, but that's a whole other story). But then along came a A Single Man and I saw him in a whole new light. Well, a whole new different kind of role to be precise.

This guy can act. And he's proven it all over again in The King's Speech. I've never suffered from a stammer but I've heard from people that have that its the most suffocating, frustrating feeling. Firth really portrays the lifelong struggle of a pretty ordinary guy, with a loving wife and doting daughters, suffering but muddling through with an almost dibilitating afflication, when fate deals him a cruel blow. For this ordinary guy just so happens to be a member of the Royal Family, and is forced to take on one of the most public roles of all - the King of England - against one of the most turbulent political times of recent history. The country is on the brink of war, his brother has abdicated, and the world needs to see England has a strong confident ruler.

Firth brings out the frustration, the fear and the tragedy of this poor man and his situation. But also demonstrates the inner strength in the character. It is a heartbreakingly real performance and had me laughing and crying, sometimes at the same time. Helena Bonham-Carter is, as always, fantastic as his loyal and forthright wife, our dear old Queen Mum, and Geoffery Rush is also excellent as the antipodean voice coach who, after initially getting off on the wrong foot, went on to become Bertie's lifelong friend and confidante.

I really hope The King's Speech does well this awards season and flies the flag for Brit cinema this year. Roll on the Oscars on Feb 27.

Work In Progress

Give Me Work To Last Me All Of My Life

Today I thought I'd share my current project that I'm working on. Mostly on Sunday afternoons in front of movies I've seen a thousand times before (today's offerings: Muriel's Wedding and, er, The Wedding Singer. Wow, if we could just ignore the subtext there. I'm sure it means nothing)

This is a cross-stitch tapestry, a set that I got for Christmas from my super housemate and even more amazing friend, Holly.

Hanging by a thread

The set comes with everything you need to get started: pattern, backing fabric, tapestry thread and needle - which meant that I picked it up a couple of days after Christmas and could just get cracking.

It's also huge. You can't really tell from these pictures but this is shaping up to be a substantial piece of work. I have no idea where I'm going to put it, but I know it's going to look beautiful. I've always loved cross-stitch since I was little. There's something about the rhythmic back and forth motions, and the neatness of the tiny little crosses all lined up in a row that appeals to me. I haven't done any for ages as it kinda got superceded by knitting in my craft repertoire but I'm really glad that I have this mammoth project to get me back into it for a little bit.

Rob Ryan and Emily Peacock. Match made in craft heaven. 

As you can see, it's a set that's a collaboration between Rob Ryan and Emily Peacock. Which made it the perfect gift for me. I've been aware of Rob Ryan's work for a long time now. He usually works with paper, and has the most intracate, delicate, touching of designs. If you ever get the opportunity, please check out some of his work. Or better yet, buy it.

Needle your way out of this one

Emily Peacock, I hadn't heard of until just before Christmas when some of her tapestry cushion designs were featured on Kirstie's Homemade Home. Or it might have been Kirstie's Homemade Christmas. Or Relocation Relocation. Who knows, but Kirstie Allsopp was definitely involved. Holly and I both were watching that programme and commented on how we loved the cushions featured. Apparently, she originally tried to get the kit to make those cushions but they had all sold out, so picked up this one instead. I'm actually happy about that because that means that a) I get to make my very own Rob Ryan and b) I actually prefer this design.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I must get back to it. This tapestry won't work itself you know. I hope to show you the finished article soon.

Plus also, Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore are totally about to get. it. on. Woop woop!

War and Peace

NNNEEEEAAAAOOWWW. That's a plane noise. 

I last went to the Imperial War Museum when I was 14 on a school trip and it's always been on my list of places to return to since. I was really taken with the exhibits on display back then, particularly the Blitz and Trench "experiences" - for a kid with an extremely vivid imagination it was a fantastic way of bringing the dusty history books from school to life.

So this weekend I finally went back. I remember the atrium with the wartime planes hanging from the rafters being impressive back then, and that certainly hasn't changed. But the main thing I really wanted to see on this visit was the Holocaust Exhibition.

It was certainly not easy viewing, and I have no pictures of that exhibit as it just didn't feel appropriate, its such an emotive and horrific subject, but I would very definitely recommend it. One of the most horrific things for me is how the Nazi beliefs became so widespread and more and more extreme in such a relatively short amount of time, to be able to get that many people think and believe or at the very least accept that this was the right thing to do sends shivers down my spine.

So, on a lighter note (if there is such a thing in war), I found the rest of museum really really super geek-fest interesting. From the mock-up of a war time house to the sweets and toys on display from that era - I don't know what it is about that period (30s/40s) but I can't get enough of it at the moment! The politics, the fashion, and what it was like to live during that time. It's still within living memory but seems so alien to my generation as we haven't had to cope with anything remotely like that.

The perseverance of the human spirit through the most awful atrocities of war was the biggest theme I saw running through the tales that the artefacts had to tell. And that is what makes me smile. That and this poster:

Roger that