When I first heard Christine talk about Mark, she used the words "soulmate". She talked of a man who wrote poetry, left quotes about the universe and astronomy on her work desk, and with wh...
Maybe one day youll be here too. Well load up a car or a campervan with big, old quilts, sunscreen, cameras and film. The chilly bin will be packed full of home brew, strawberries, cherries, and ice ...
The place where you live is empty. Youre alone. You just loaded the dishwasher and its humming in the living room downstairs. The windows in your room are wide open and in the distance, a car alarm s...
Theres something cold about the internet. Peering into a light source, tapping into keys, half your attention on the tv or a text message or something out the window. In the lead up to Christmas, Ive...
The bag below comes from a thrift shop in Vienna. I dragged my friend round various metro stations and through broad, sleepy, leafy avenues on a brilliantly sunny day. Not knowing what to expect of V...
We had such a big earthquake in Wellington yesterday. Living here, you get used to the ground shuddering underneath your feet but yesterday, it wasnt so much a shudder but a huge jolt. It sounded lik...
This is what I want for Christmas. I want blushing peonies streaked with red and pink, sponge cake with cream and strawberries and chocolate buttercream icing, lots of sun and laughter and ridiculous...
My days and nights have been filled with flowers, Eiffel-tower shaped pasta, soap that looks like slices of cake, bagels and blueberries and nights at the ballet. The coming of summer always feels li...
Frank Sinatras in my head. And I dont know why. Lets fly, lets fly away. Maybe its because the days are so much longer now. If you can use some exotic booze... And in the mornings theres strips of li...
Im having trouble thinking about what to say to you. I asked someone what I should say and the suggestion was Why dont you write about how this cherry blossom path is hidden away so well that when yo...
Since the last time we talked, Ive started taking French classes, bought a cotton sundress with a narrow red belt, started a collection of odd shaped jars for spring flowers, and squeaked with deligh...
I think about the person who owned this book, years- maybe decades, before it came to me. She dreamt of Edwardian cotton dresses with lace trims and grosgrain ribbons in her hair. Maybe she would h...
I read somewhere once that being an adult was all about dirt. It meant plunging your hands into a variety of disgusting holes, drains, pipes, and crevices to fish out fetid, horrible, drippy things. ...
It took Dan a year and a half to ask Jenna out after they first kissed on New Years Eve. Earlier this year during a romantic weekend away, Dan proposed and Jenna said yes. Theyre both kids from the c...
Im thinking of a life without things; or at the very least, without clutter. Oliver Burkeman, a columnist from The Guardian, recently wrote about getting rid of memory boxes, and how the time and tho...
Theres something heavy sitting at the bottom of my stomach. It aches and aches and aches. It feels like a cavern which only wants more and more and more. Whether its the newest pair of shoes or the s...
I watched Lars von Triers Melancholia in an overheated movie theatre with my jacket wrapped around my knees. Id gobbled up my fig and honey ice cream fifteen minutes before the movie even started and...
Truth? What we have in common is the past, not the present or the future. Weve built a fort made up of giggles, slippery sleeping bags, and loud music blaring from my stereo. While it is not modern o...
July smelt strong coffee, rising damp and cold rain hitting newly laid tarmac. He tasted crunchy frost on heavy wool coats, the air of relief when people plunged into warm rooms, and discontent; yes,...
Im in awe of a lot of you. When publishers wont publish your books, you make your own publishing company. When quarter life crisis sets in, you give up profitable but predictable jobs to enrol in Eng...
This is for you. You dont need your friends, your boy, your husband, your kids, or your mum and dad. Heres the equation. Money for a plane ticket to the places of your choice + Free time + You = the ...
I took a bus along the Romantic Road to see two fairytale castles; one, built as a mini-tribute to Versailles, the other a medieval-styled behemoth which inspired the Disney logo. The sad thing is, t...
This may be maudlin but for me, Salzburg was a place full of memories struggling not to be forgotten. They crowd around its streets and bridges begging on corners with their hats out, busking in squa...
In Budapest, you will get to the synagogue five minutes past closing time and the guard with the gun will tell you, in no uncertain words, you are not allowed. At the Gellert baths, to have the privi...
10.30 am on a Monday, I wondered why people werent working. The entire town seemed to be lounging on the sidewalks along the Llubljanic river drinking cappuccinos and petting their dogs. In Llubljan...
We were leaving Zagreb on a train to Llubljana, Slovenia. Our taxi driver was unimpressed. For him, Bled was just a "muddy lake" compared to the Adriatic. "If it were me," he cont...
Ive seen a few places. But none like this. Split is like the most beautiful, captivating, inspiring woman you know. She is stunning; so stunning that she is like cool, dappled shade on a scorching ho...
The Old Town of Dubrovnik is a supermodel. It looks good at every angle. The trees are practically tipping over theyre so fat with oranges and furry quince. Sometimes when the light is right, the str...
I squeezed myself onto a bench in Old Town Square next to an old guy from New York who had Buddy Holly glasses and was puffing away on a big fat cigar. We watched a tourist stop in front of us with a...
Vienna is one of the easiest, most relaxed places Ive ever travelled. Its springtime and theres a lot of tourists rushing around (including me!); yet it inexplicably retains the feel of an overly lar...
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