I feel like I have been doing a lot of travelling over the past six weeks or so--not that I'm complaining--and today I'm heading off to Manhattan. I haven't been since last September, over nine months ago, and I'm very excited to be going again for a whole week. We'll be staying in the NoLIta/Lower East Side area and the weather is looking good: hot and sunny all week, with Wednesday and Thursday potentially reaching 35 degrees. Scorchio indeed. I'm using the same suitcase as for my Istanbul trip, my carry-on-size purple spotted Kipling case, which I will check in, but I'm taking a bigger bag, namely Mitzy, as my carry-on. These are the clothes I'm bringing:


Top left: two cardigans (royal blue from Mango, heather grey from J. Crew); black blazer (Zara); two scarves (pink jersey from French Connection, royal blue from Galeries Lafayette); three pairs of shoes (black ballet flats from Banana Republic, nude ballet flats from Minelli, tan leather flip flops from Steve Madden). Top right: four dresses (orange floral and coral lace from Tesco, grey jersey from J. Crew, black jersey from TopShop). Bottom left: four tops (purple vest from Uniqlo, pink cami from J. Crew, bright pink top from Anthro, teal top from Anthro); gym kit (top and skort from Lululemon, sports bra from Nike, Asics trainers from Sweaty Betty, bikini from H&M). Bottom right: two skirts (polka dots from H&M, royal blue from TopShop); shorts from Miss Selfridge. My undies are already packed.

There are enough outfit combinations for my trip in there; I will probably also buy some new clothes while I am out there, as I am wont to do. I packed a bikini because our hotel has a rooftop terrace, which I'm really looking forward to using, especially if it is going to be so scorching.


My toiletries and make-up are pretty much the same as for my Turkey trip, although I've got some new sun cream and travel shampoo and conditioner. For jewellery, I'm taking three necklaces (purple and gold pendant and gold star from Market NYC, turquoise from a street vendor in SoHo), two pairs of earrings (my Kate Spade signature spade studs and a pair of turquoise drops from Aspire), a new pink and gold ring from Portobello Road, and all of my recent bracelet haul. I keep my jewellery and assorted bits and bobs in the turquoise Tumi travel wristlet, which has lots of pockets and compartments.


Again, the 'miscellaneous' section of my suitcase is similar to that of my Istanbul packing list, so I didn't bother including my sunglasses, wallet, iPhone and so on. I have my tech kit (iPad, chargers, converter, SD card iPad converter and a new GorillaPod), a sleep mask, my small pink Longchamp tote, my purple Longchamp purse for my US currency and cards, reading matter (book for the plane--and several more on my iPad--and my New York Moleskine city guide and a few other quirky guide maps), a small pink water bottle and a brolly--just in case.

Other than my brief visit to Bristol in March, I haven't managed to fit in much travelling so far this year and it's definitely time for another adventure. And today, I'm heading off to Istanbul, so I can experience two continents in one day, Turkish delight and, of course, the joys of agglutinative languages. I had planned to put together a proper what's-in-my-suitcase post but by the time I escaped from work, it was starting to get dark and I needed to eat dinner. Also, some of the clothes I'm taking needed a wash and aren't yet ready for packing. Instead, I've taken a few photos of some of the things I'm taking for a five-day trip to Turkey, starting with make-up and toiletries:

Last June, while in New York, I saw a movie being filmed on Fifth Avenue. After hanging around for a few minutes across the road, I heard it was a Matt Damon film so I decided to wait at least until I saw him. Poor timing of buses and other traffic meant that I couldn't even see where in the shot he was supposed to be at first but then I got him. I took a few photos and then crossed over the block to go on my way and ended up walking walking behind Mr Damon himself (accidentally) who asked if I wanted to take a photo with him before his agent confiscated him (but not before I snapped another photo). The first thing I did, of course, was find some wifi and load up IMDb to find out what the film was. Reshoots for The Adjustment Bureau, said the crowd-sourced wisdom of IMDb; I'd never heard of it but it did explain why Damon and all the extras were wearing big winter coats when it was a hot June day.

[Some spoilers may follow below Matt Damon.]

MATT DAMON!

Nine months later and The Adjustment Bureau made it to the cinema. I had to go to to see it because I'd seen the filming but actually, I quite liked it in its silly way, although how John Slattery coped with so much action after four years of Mad Men is a mystery even greater than The Chairman in this film (also, is John Slattery really only 48?).

Based on a short story by Philip K. Dick, The Adjustment Bureau is about a young, charismatic politician (Damon) and the powers that be that are willing to keep him there. Damon plays David Norris who is running for senator but a series of last-minute, foolish lapses of judgement on his part mean he is not expecting to win. In fact, he is in the men's bathroom rehearsing his "gracious loser" speech when Elise (Emily Blunt), a beautiful ballet dancer,  pops out of one of the stalls (as one does) and there is chemistry, there are fireworks, there's a kiss... In any case, Elise "inspires" David to go and be honest to his audience; to tell them the truth about the campaign (no, he didn't pick his own tie; yes, it did $70,000 or something ridiculous for someone to pick the optimal shoes) and as such, the crowd loves him even more. Perhaps the next senatorial race will be his. And then who knows what heights he might like to climb next!

The trouble is that he and Elise aren't "meant to be." And I don't mean "not meant to be" in girl-speak. In this film, there are people out there in the world making sure the rest of us stick to our prescribed plans. And don't go getting all "creative" and "free will" on them or they might have to lobotomise you. Of course, this makes me wonder whether the bureau were also responsible for the type of mischief in Sliding Doors; I'd like to think they have better taste. The bureau are on your side -- if you're someone who might turn out to be as important as David Norris, that is, and the bureau seem to take pride in getting to oversee special people. It comes with the territory of wearing a hat and being able to go through special doors. Oh, and having this device that looks quite a lot like a real-time-updating Moleskine that allows them to track the progress of their subjects and to see any potentially impending disasters that might need some adjusting. This gadget may be it is just a Moleskine iPad case with an iPad inside; the scene I saw being filmed was being shot outside an AT&T shop so the product placement would work.

Dick probably wrote this story while high (well, odds are...) and I'm not sure it translates perfectly well to "serious but thought-provoking action-sci-fi thriller" but funnily enough, it seemed to work. There really was good chemistry between Damon and Blunt and I was hoping for them to be end up together, against all odds and against all silliness. To be fair, apart from a surprisingly brief moments, you can almost forget this film has a sci fi component altogether and just pretend Damon's character is caught up in some non-sci fi conspiracy that has to do with a completely random reason that he isn't meant to be with Elise. Thanks to a crap series of releases, I haven't been to the cinema for several weeks so I hope my judgement hasn't been clouded, but I did rather like The Adjustment Bureau.

Thomas "American Beauty" Newman's managed to be haunting and uneasy throughout while coming across as beautiful rather than annoying. There was great filming across Manhattan too, and into Dumbo, in Brooklyn, from the Waldorf to the subway system, into MoMA several times and what looked a lot like the Top of the Rock. The scene I saw being filmed took roughly 15 seconds and involved Damon's character scouring Fifth Avenue looking for his lost lady love. Coincidentally, a lot of other scenes are shot near Madison Square Park, which is where I was staying on that particular NYC trip. Damon's character appears to live near there; actually, based on a regularly used establishing-shot bridge connecting the 24th and 25th Street buildings together, I think his character may even have lived on the same block as my hotel.

Coincidence? Well, either that or the Adjustment Bureau wanted me to stay there and see the filming so that I would want to see the film of my own "free will." Obviously, because they would have their own reasons for me to find out about how they operate...

From my radar this week:

1. Pretending I'm in New York. Although living in London (rather than the sticks) can usually ward off my New York cravings for quite some time, once I start getting close to six months since my last visit (as I am now), I start getting antsy, especially given that my parents are going in a few weeks. I want to wander through the West Village and run in Central Park. I also want to shop. Luckily, of the three American shops in which I spend most money, two of them (Banana Republic and Anthropologie) have Regent Street branches, both of which are staffed partly by Yanks. This means I can amble up Regent Street on a Saturday afternoon and I could almost be in NYC. The prices of the clothes are, of course, way higher than in New York but today I discovered the sale room at Anthropologie where I picked up a gorgeous, colourful top on sale for £9.95, reduced from £60. Both the sales assistant and the woman behind me in the queue commented on what a great bargain it was.

2. Random London eateries. If I can't be discovering fun new places in the Big Apple, random restaus in London almost make up for it. Yesterday, there was Paolina's a cheap and low-key Thai restaurant near King's Cross, with very tasty food, friendly staff and a ski chalet-like decor. The other night, it was the Posh Banger Boys in Borough Market, which is basically a guy with a barbecue in an unheated, candle-lit garage, decorated with sparse furniture that looks like it's just been salvaged from a skip. The burgers were very tasty, though, and I speak from experience. Mori, meanwhile, is a smart new Asian takeaway on Marylebone High Street with a range of reasonably priced sushi, salads and other Asian goodies. I haven't eaten there yet but next time I need a quick bite to eat in the quartier, I will probably check it out.

3. The Blind Side. I went to see this film, like many people, to see whether Sandy B really deserved that Oscar. Also, I had a voucher for a free Cineworld ticket for which I only paid £1 so I decided to use it on a film I might not otherwise have seen. Two things surprised me: 1) there were far more men than women in the audience and 2) I liked it, despite the fact it was corny as hell. And yes, Sandra Bullock was very good, although I still think Carey Mulligan should have won. The premise is like The OC meets Friday Night Lights. Rich, seemingly perfect, BMW-driving family come across underprivileged boy from bad neighbourhood, take him in and under their watch, he flourishes (in The OC, Ryan is from Chino, is white and goes on to be a great architect, as opposed to Michael, in The Blind Side, who is black and very good at football, but otherwise, the concept is very similar). The family even has a slightly geeky, sarcastic sun who tries to help Michael out--a son who, despite being about ten years younger than The OC's Seth Cohen in the movie, reminds me a lot of him. Of course, The Blind Side is not borrowing from The OC as it is based on the true story of NFL football player Michael Oher. I genuinely enjoyed the film, anyway, although I wasn't expecting to.

4. RunKeeper. I really like my Nike +iPod sensor. It tracks the speed, distance and pace of my runs and syncs automatically with the Nike+ website, allowing me to track my training over time. Unfortunately, I've been having problems getting accurate recordings almost as long as I've had the sensor. Most of the time, it works fine but sometimes, if I pause the app while I stretch or try to change the music, it gives up and only records the time of the rest of the run and not the speed or distance. Also, the Nike system requires that I bring the sensor with me and as I regularly use two pairs of trainers, this is a hassle. Enter RunKeeper. This is an iPhone app that performs a similar function to Nike+ but using the GPS on the iPhone; this means it also automatically maps my routes on Google Maps and sends the information to the RunKeeper site without me even having to hook up my iPhone with a computer. I'm not sure which of the two is more accurate (RK's distances and paces are worse than the Nike+ ones I'm used to) but RK could potentially be a good back up and/or alternative to Nike+ -- and it's free!

5. Walking home from work. Yesterday was the first time I've walked home from my new office. It's less than 2.5 miles but a combination of really bad weather and the sun setting too early has meant walking wasn't a very appealing prospect until yesterday. It only took me 35 minutes and I was home while it was (just about) still light. Walking is also much less stressful than getting the Tube or waiting too long for buses. In the mornings, I usually get a bus to work but when you factor in the walking to and from the bus stops, waiting for a bus to arrive and getting stuck in traffic, I usually get into work 20-40 minutes later so perhaps I will walk in more often. On those days when it's not raining or snowing, I'm not running late and I'm not wearing high heels, anyway. The route isn't the most pleasant in London (unless you are a fan of the Euston Road) but at Great Portland Street, I cut up into Regent's Park and walk the rest of the way buffered from most of the traffic and enjoying the spring flowers).