New York* - purchasing

Whenever I mention shopping in New York the Boy rolls his eyes and gives me that look. That look that says we can't afford the trip, never mind any shopping. And I give him that look that says phooey.

Having said that I don't really like spending money. I do however like looking at pretty things in pretty places. I like browsing and lingering and touching and dreaming then putting back and feeling relieved that there are still some pennies in my piggy bank and that guilt, anxiety and poverty (the natural consequences of buying things) remain neatly folded in my purse, tucked away with all of those shiny plastic cards.

What are your favourite shops in New York? Your favourite places to browse and touch and wander and dream.

. images of various New York boutiques via Wunderbloc



* I know I said it would be a week. I was wrong. New York fortnight? month? whatever, continues and will do so for as long as I have questions that you wonderful lovelies keep answering. I will be posting some other bits and bobs among my travel dreams this week too though.

New York - baked goods

We all know I'm only in it for the baked goods.
Tell me where to get the baked goods.
I need the baked goods.
Baked Goods.
Yum.

* bread, buns, cake, donut, muffin, bagel, baklava, pastry, cheesecake, cupcake. I don't care. I want them all. I NEED them all.


. vesuvio bakery, bt tomefran

New York - dinner

cheap, fun, easy, relaxed, delicious.

OR

decadent, once-in-a-trip-to-New-York-put-on-your-glad-rags, delicious.

OR

something in between, delicious.



. padron pizza by Brian W Ferry

New York - luncheon

So breakfast was lovely, eggs perfectly poached and served with the freshest toasted sourdough and freshly roasted black coffee.

And then you shopped, or galleried or maybe you took some photographs of people and streets and all the life of the city, either way it was a perfect New York morning.

Now you're hungry. It's lunch time. You need to rest after the morning and refuel for the afternoon ahead. Where do you go? What do you eat?


. Corner Cafe (in the West Village) by the Cheshire Smile.

New York - breakfast

When the boy and I stayed in New York four years ago we stayed at the YMCA (hello cheapesrt accommodation in town). The best bit about this was the breakfast voucher (closely followed by the communal showers).

Every day we went to a diner on the corner, clutching our laminated vouchers entitling us to truly obscene quantities of French toast or pancakes (American, not European. It has recently come to my attention that when I say 'pancakes' Americans think of those firm foam pads that are essentially a sponge for maple syrup whereas Europeans know that I'm talking about crepes; wafer thin, perfectly mottled, rollable pancakes topped with fresh lemon juice and crunchy sugar. But I digress...)

This was great for the first three days while we revelled in whole jugs of syrup and endless coffee refills but on the fourth day I felt bloated at the mere sight of that breakfast voucher and turned to the boy who was also clutching kind of desperately at his stomach and asked him if we could just go somewhere and find some fruit.

So. Breakfast. American with white flour, sugar and fried goods or European with yoghurt, fruit, croissants, butter, jam and easy on the syrup. Porridge with cinnamon and raisins, toast with marmalade and tea. Eggs poached, fried, boiled. With toast soldiers or with a side of brioche.

Where in the city of New York can I find a perfect breakfast? Anywhere, any style, any price. I love me some breakfast.


*eggs. by The Cheshire Smile.

New York - details

I realise I skipped a few of the more elementary details about our trip. So here we go:


when: mid April

how long: 28 days

where: New York City baby. Specifics as yet unknown

why: work. The most wonderful wedding of the most fabulous woman to the most lovely of men.

New York - where?

Decision one. Where do we stay?

We're planning on renting an apartment. We just don't know where. Our requirements are as follows:

• fairly quiet (so those three hundred empty apartments for rent above Times Square are out for starters)

• somewhere were real people live (see above)

• with real food shops (again with the not having millions of money we can't afford to eat out for every meal and anyway, we like cooking)

• and nice cafes. Ones with baked goods.
  

• That is generally just quite nice to walk around. We like just wandering and it would be nice to just wander straight from our house. (aka, somewhere pretty)
  

• close to a subway station, for ease of just wondering in other places

What have I missed? What would you require? Where would you suggest we stay? There seems to be a general divide between the young, hip, cheap and slightly ugly neighbourhoods and the prettier, middle aged, trendy and more expensive locales.

For your amusement I offer you the exchange below, between me (P) and friends A and B via twitter and email (I paraphrase here and there) ....


P: Where should we stay in NY? What's Greenpoint like? We've found a cute little appartment there.

A: Fuck Greenpoint. It's full of hipsters and kind of ugly. B will probably suggest you stay there though. Park Slope is much nicer.

B: Fuck Park Slope, it's full of STROLLERS. How middle aged are you? Ignore A. Srsly. And hipster = cheaper

P: My head hurts.



. April, by Jen Bandini of Escape to New York

New York New York

If you've been reading p&p for a while you will know that in April Boy and I are off to New York for a month. If you've been reading for even longer you will know just how bloody excited this makes me. And if you know me just a little bit you will know that I'm freaking the hell out at the thought of planning such a huge and thrilling adventure.

So I need your help blog babies, internet chickens, lovely friends.

This week will be New York week here*. I will be asking you questions, lots of questions. Looking for your tips and your advice and your help with planning what will hopefully be a wonderful month. A month of pretending that we live in the best city in the world, a month of living and eating and photographing and adventures big and small.


* I've tried writing to a theme for a week before. I suck at it. I have no self discipline and as soon as I tell myself I'm going to do something the desire to do something entirely different overwhelms me. So apologies if I wander off course a little.


. u.s.a by Brian W Ferry, one of my favourite photographers

Phew.

Well that sucked.

A lesson for you my blog babies, if you have your own domain MAKE SURE YOU RENEW IT IN TIME. Also, make sure that emails regarding said domain are sent to an address that you actually use, so that you know when the damn thing is about to expire.

Anyway, I'm back. Peonies and Polaroid DOT COM.

Now I need a drink. Would it be wrong to have a wee tequila with my porridge?

A whoopsie

due to my flakiness and google's assholeness you might have noticed that my blog is gone and in its place is some smug bitch with a backpack and links to a whole lot of florists. I'm assured that this isn't permanent and in the meantime Peonies and Polaroids is back at www.peoniesandpolaroids.blogspot.com and a New York week will be going ahead as planned tomorrow (look at me, all keeping calm and carrying on. Now I'm off tp bang my head against the wall before collapsing in a heap to sob into my pillow and plot the death of backpack girl. Because that's what an evening spent wrangling with google will do to you)

And the winner is.....

number 98

aka emily b

as picked by random.org

Yay for Emily!

Thank you for all of your comments, I can't believe so many of you entered! And thank you to you lovely soles who didn't enter but just skipped straight to etsy and gave me your money, I love you muchly. As of today there are only two blossom sets left so if you have your eye on one of them you had better skedaddle. I will be getting more made but what with the ordering of more boxes and prints and the giant nap I'm planning on taking over the weekend it might take a while. So...

Roll up, roll up and get 'em while they're hot!

Next week is hopefully going to be New York week on P&P. I need your help American chicens, New York chickens and New York loving chickens. Help with planning and dreaming and searching and finding. It depends how long that nap is though.

. letters and numbers by dailypoetics. I searched for a 98, there isn't one.

Stuck

from: Boy
to : Girl
subject: stuck

Ever feel stuck* pixie ?

xx



He knows me so well. He also calls me pixie, which if you didn't know, you do now.

* it's a video, it makes noise. Be warned.

. photo courtesy of sodahead.com via writelikecrazy

Small spaces

These pictures, along with this article, made vivid by memories of this holiday, combined with 1000 square feet of cold, rubble-strewn rooms have me longing for the smallest and cosiest of spaces to live in. Spaces where each object and each belonging is chosen with care for space is the commodity you have the least of. Spaces where relationships are closer, clutter is less and decisions are fewer.



* image of Elodie's apartment, by Elodie and via decor8

miniatures and giveaways

Boxed sets of miniature prints are for sale here.
(finally)

You all are too sweet with your kind words about these little boxes, I loves you. As a thank you (and kind of as an apology for being a shitty blogger recently and hardly ever returning your comments which I love and which make my day, every day) I would like to offer one of these sets to one of you readers.

Just leave a comment below, maybe tell me which of the five sets is your favourite and someone will be picked at random on Friday.

projects in miniature

Dearest ones, thank you so very much for your comments on my projects and dreams post, I can't tell you how hugely overwhelmed I was by your wisdom and your sense of humour. (If you didn't read the comments {why don't you read the comments? The comments are the best bit} please go and read them right now. Especially if you're battling with your own projects and dreams)


You kill me. Even more than weddings with ostriches.

I'm planning on sharing some of those projects and dreams with you, big projects, big dreams. But it turns out that it's kind of hard to write about that stuff (who knew?) so it might take me a little while. In the meantime here is a little project I've been working on. Well I say little, but it's been a while coming together. Let's call it relatively little, like relative to trying to rebuild a house or start a business.

These five different sets of mini prints will be on sale here from next week and here (holyshitmypicturesareinaREALshop!) from whenever they arrive in Los Alamos. There will be a pink one and a green one and a sea one and a sepia one and my very very favourite Coney Island one.

Four prints, wrapped in glassine bags, nestled in boxes made from recycled card, curled up with silk ribbon and provided with four tiny clothes pegs for doing this with (but prettier, what with the lack of bulldog clips and the prints that match).

Come back next week for a wee giveaway of one of these sets and just maybe, some dreams and projects shared.


I never say this but have a lovely weekend my chickens.

X.

With this wedding she is killing me...

Of course we knew it would be gorgeous, but this gorgeous? Celia is surely trying to kill us dead with beauty and love and ostriches and stuff.

* Photos of Celia and Jo's wedding by Cathryn Farnsworth and via East Side Bride

.

Lest we forget.




* Poppy and bud by Esoule

Projects and Dreams

Most of my life just now seems to be projects and dreams. Projects presentsand dreams of projects future. But that's what being 24 is all about right? Projects and dreaming. Making things happen and dreaming of the things that you hope will happen. But sometimes you just want the things to be happened, the dreams to not be dreams any more and to be done with all that waiting and planning and wondering which of your 102 disparate dreams of the future is the right dream. But that's not how it works when you're 24 and you have 102 dreams and you are trying to make things happen and amongst it all you're not really sure what you want to happen. And so you muddle on. And you thank whomever it is you thank when you're thankful that you have someone beside you to hold your dreams in their hands, to keep the others safe while you play with each one in turn, rolling it over and looking at it from this way and that and wondering if just maybe it's the right one.

Similar but different

I love The Guardian:

"Pygmy hedgehogs were last year's must-have pet. They are similar to a hamster in that they are nocturnal, enjoy exercise wheels and live for three to five years. They are different because they are carnivorous - and prickly"

Prickly? Who knew?

* The Guardian's Top Ten Miniature Pets. I'll take a pig, a goat, a mule, in fact I'll have one of each. You can keep the seahorse though. Eugh.


* Booful pygmy hog by Scott's View of the World



(Did you know that baby hedgehogs are called piglets? Thanks Countryfile.)

meanwhile elsewhere

a small collection of things from the internet that I wanted to blog about but didn't...

• I still want a dog. This photo by Wendy Bevan makes me a little desperate

• This one doesn't help either
  

• Darling Amanda visited me, it was lovely*

• what I am dreaming our home will look like one day. Or should that be 'our house'?

• A small trip round Europe that will make your heart melt

• A reminder

• My Mum offered me her wedding dress when we got married, I think she was joking. Jamie Lea wore her Mum's wedding dress though and I just love the picture of the two of them side by side.
  

*I was a little nervous and talked too much, knocked things over in shops and fell off a pavement. She was kind enough not to mention any of that.


. image by Wendy Bevan

Something kind of fantastic

'We're different, we all are. Him especially. But there's something kind of fantastic about that, isn't there?' *

When I found myself sitting on The Boy, sobbing into his neck because we didn't have the right flour to make pastry and thus life was just impossible, it was pretty clear that I needed to get out. It was also clear, judging from the level of the screaming hab jab that was going on, that it would take something really really good to make this horrible situation better.

'How about we go out for dinner? Mono should be quiet on a Monday, we can sit in a booth and eat veggie burgers.'

'no' I muttered, shaking my head which was still hiding in his jumper

'Cake. We could go for cake'

I didn't even bother saying no this time, just shook my head again and sniffed loudly.

'Um...' he said, starting to sound a little desperate. 'What about Fantastic Mr Fox'

My ears pricked.

I am in big love with Fantastic Mr Fox. This film is the love child of Ocean's Eleven and Wallace and Gromit adopted and raised by The Royal Tenenbaums. Fantastic, in other words. We went to see it on Monday when I was in the midst of the aforementioned rather major meltdown and I'm quite certain that there is nothing else in this world that could have calmed and cured me like those weird little animated mammals.



Sorry I've been gone. I'm struggling with, um, sanity issues. Which strangely my puter seems to exasperate something rotten. So I've been hiding from it. Avoidance (and animation) is the best medicine.


*words of the truly fantastic Mrs Fox.

Perpetuality

My first thought when I came across these pictures was what kind of crazyassed genius is this? My second thought, once I'd figured out just what I was looking at, was fuck yeah! I want one!

This perennial calendar from Little Brown Pen is too clever for words. It overwhelms me with cleverness. And beauty and talent and and and wow. I mean, it last forever. How often do you find a calendar that last forever? Almost never is how. It is made up of lots of little photos of Paris and you can buy your little piece of clever here. Or here.

Oh, and um, no. There won't be Peonies and Polaroids calendars this year. I thought about it, I even decided that it might be quite a good idea and then I tried to do it and well, I cried and I stamped my feet and I snapped at my husband and it was horrible. Maybe next year. This year there will however be Peonies and Polaroids gift set type things, which I'm very excited about. Peonies and Polaroids Gift Set Type Things only provoked lip chewing and hang wringing and a few what-am-I-doing-no-one-is-going-to-buy-these's which is a lot better than the aforementioned calendar situation.

If you're going to buy a sheep...

"If you're going to buy a sheep buy a good sheep"




These words strike me as Very Important to Remember.

words: farmer Adam Hanson on last night's Countryfile, which we have taken to watching with our dinner of a Sunday evening.

picture: a Very Good Sheep at this year's Royal Highland Show. An award winning sheep no less.