L E O N I E . W I S E

dear friends,

so many stories to tell about new jersey… we had an amazing long weekend, staying with kiki and her family in maplewood, new jersey and travelling by train into new york city each day. i am so pleased too that bella’s schedule meant she could come hang out with us for the day on sunday and that we also got to lunch with the lovelies elizabeth and  christine. good times!

marc digs us out from underneath all the snow

there was a LOT of snow in the city

we mostly stayed away from the big attractions. we’d been up the empire state building last time we were in new york and didn’t want to queue for an hour to go up there again. we’d also already seen the statue of liberty, ridden the subway here, there & everywhere and been to times square, so we avoided those too, choosing instead to explore the meatpacking district and greenwich & east villages. here’s [some of] what we found….

what looks to be a banksy rat is blown up by this finely dressed geezer

street art in the meatpacking district

cupcakes from magnolia bakery on bleeker street, greenwich village

pizza in a cone. quite good actually

stumptown in the ace hotel. great coffee, but poorly laid out premises. we’ll forgive them as the ace hotel has an awesome photobooth. i think i have a new addiction – photobooth shots to come in a separate entry

central station

pershing square. i love the colours and lights on this place!

otto’s shrunken head tiki bar & lounge. east village bar with attitude and a rockin’ photobooth

more photos of our trip can be found here on flickr

new york map mural on w 10th st (cnr 7th ave). polaroid spectra

we are back from new york and i’ve got a backpack full of photos and stories to share with you though it’s going to take a few days to get around to sorting all the pictures i took!

me & kristen. my socks (2 from a set of 3) found at little miss matched. not just for kids!

in the meantime, here’s something i’d always wanted to try just once – bench monday… i always love kristen’s ones, so it was really fun to do this with her yesterday.

we tromped through the snow getting cold wet feet to take this photo. and i love it.

more photos and stories to come…

this photo of me, captured at squam by the delightful darlene, is warming my heart today as it snows outside.

{ for darlene’s december views }

mend

nic waits patiently…

for me to hem his new jeans…

done!

then, we head out to see friends for pre-christmas drinks…

all photos canon 400d, 50mm f/1.8 II

{ for darlene’s december views }

we’ve just had the best long weekend in copenhagen

city of bicycles

this is a place i fall completely in love with whenever we visit

hanging out with friends,

finding the most interesting places

away from the main streets

elegance

and love are everywhere

there’s amazing coffee

some great places to eat

and the weather was perfect for being outside

love,
-leonie

dear friends,

the weather here has been beautiful recently and we thought we’d make the most of it on sunday with a day trip out of london…

we caught the train to brighton, picked up a streetcar, then collected our friend debz.

nic has been wanting to see the long man of wilmington for years, ever since seeing arthur c. clarke’s mysterious world. it’s only about 30 minutes by car from brighton so we headed there first…

long man of wilmington, polaroid sun 600 & expired film

before hopping back in the car & driving to the lovely camber sands beach. we had a picnic, then went for a walk along the beach. the water was surprisingly warm, so debz went for a swim while i lamented leaving my bathers in the car – i ended up soaked anyway, despite not technically going for a swim!

camber sands beach, polaroid sun 600 & expired film

nic was fascinated by all the kite surfers, out taking advantage of the 25-30 knot winds…

kite surfers, camber sands beach. polaroid sun 600 & expired film

we even had time on the way back to brighton to stop at birling gap for a quick pint and a glorious view of the seven sisters.

seven sisters, white chalk cliffs as seen from birling gap. polaroid sun 600 & expired film

being near the sea is a way for me to re-charge my batteries. simply digging my toes in the sand, or standing letting the waves wash around me makes me feel grounded, calm, happy.

my american sentence to describe the day
salty legs, damp clothes, sandy hair, twelve polaroids – smile wide as the sun.

with love,
leonie

jo, emma, me, meg, pen. photo by susannah

i still remember how it was when we first arrived in london… i felt overwhelmed, terribly alone and like i knew nothing about the world or where my place was in it.

back then, the likelihood of finding any really amazing people in such a populated land as the uk seemed impossible.

it was through this blog that i’ve formed some amazing friendships with people i’d probably never have met had i not ever turned up here.

today, i got to again hang out with five amazing women i have met through being online. they are all gorgeous and, though this was only the second time we’ve actually hung out together, for me it was like being amongst friends i’d known forever. i wish i had the words to explain to you all what their friendship means to me.

every single one of them is a treasure. a gift. a rare and precious jewel.

meg, penny, jo, susannah, emma – you all make my life a better & brighter place, simply by being in it.

i am a white cloud, hanging on the line
summer breeze brushing
eyelids, fingertips… a
wellspring of laughter
escaping through ruby lips;
playful adventures
with friends of mine,
today i am a white cloud
hanging on the line.

dear friends,

we’ve been tripping around quite a bit recently – the new spring weather has us creeping out from beneath warm feather duvets, flinging open doors & windows and venturing to new places.

last weekend, it was an overnight visit to prague. we travelled with friends (also originally from new zealand), to support our friend running her first marathon in prague.

prague is beautiful, virtually untouched by world war two. the locals are friendly, the beer cheap (and delicious)…

the weather was gorgeous and the main city areas are easy to travel on foot.

nic and i walked up to the palace through the gardens from the streets below

the city lay out below us, a beautiful bohemian city covering both sides of the river

sunday, we cheered our friend on as she ran… the layout of the marathon meant we could walk to different parts of the course to see something new and offer some more enthusiastic encouragement.

the trip was far too short and we’d love to go back. with so many other places still to visit over this side of the world we’ll definitely have to plan for it – perhaps a visit in winter to go snowboarding!

with love and my thoughts of you…
x

the future belongs to those who dare

susannah holds a freshly developed polaroid…
featuring: jo, emma, penny, me & meg

dear friends,

i write to you about a recent trip home to new zealand (my homeland).

we flew back from london, for one very precious week with friends

we awoke each morning in the beauty of this place

swimming in the ocean each morning before breakfast

here, to celebrate the power of three…

the combined powers of three entities, upon such combination not only increase their power by three, but much greater

everyone was wearing their party frocks

we caught up with some old friends

and made some new ones

we indulged more than was decent

and had ridiculous amounts of fun doing it

i washed my taonga (treasures) in the waters of my homeland and slept with the doors and windows flung open to hear the sea

[more photos up on flickr]