Snowflakes

I love cutting up paper. This years attempts .... I think I need to get better at taking the photos. Will work on that.

Baking = Happiness (For Me!)

One of my most favorite things to do happens to be cooking, any kind really, so I take advantage of every possible opportunity to prepare food. When I heard about the upcoming Luau (was on Saturday*), I begged Jenn to let me help. Since she knows I love to bake, she let me make the cakes. Friday evening was maybe one of the most relaxing evenings I've ever had and so much fun!!! I just hung out in my kitchen and made cakes all night. (It would have been a perfect night if I hadn't had to do my laundry on the side.) I made Pineapple Upside Down Cake and Pina Colada Cake, and based on the amount consumed, I believe they both turned out well.

Before After

The finished product

I love baking!!!

*Note: the Luau was fantastic, many thanks to everyone!

Two Broadway Musicals, Fabric & Fishes

Its been a while since I've been to a Broadway show but thanks to Lyndee and Heidi, I managed to fit two in this weekend!

Friday evening Lyndee and I saw A Tale of Two Cities which recently opened on Broadway - - - it was absolutely incredible, I'm thinking my favorite Broadway show. If you get the chance, go see it because it was amazing!Then Saturday, I joined Heidi and Kendall and we say Legally Blonde which was very entertaining. Afterwards we went to Junior's for appetizers and cheesecake.
Saturday was definitely one of those "I'm in love with New York!" days. They don't come around all that often so you must take full advantage when they do :)

The weather was perfect and so after brunch at The Nook, I took a solitary walk down 7th Avenue and stumbled across the Fashion District! I've been here quite a few times but I don't come nearly often enough! I think it wins as one of my favorite places in NYC. I spent a few hours browsing through little shops and found a few fun things. It totally made me miss my sewing machine! However not having my sewing machine didn't stop me from purchasing some fabric to make pillow covers for our couch - - - which ended up being another activity for my Saturday! And now that I have truly hand-stitched a pillow cover (the first project I have ever totally completed by hand) I feel I can truly appreciate our fore bearers who for centuries made every bit of clothing using hand-stitching methods.

Sunday was also a lovin' New York kind of day. I love taking walks on Sunday afternoons, and yesterday Lyndee, Heidi, Kendall, Thomas and I walked over to the pond (that's what Heidi calls it and I don't know if it has a real name) and watched the fish. I was mezmorized by the distortion of the reflected building and clouds and the ghostly appearance of the fish. Here's a few photos.

Of course there were other actives to keep me very busy, but who has time to catalog them all? It was a lovely weekend!

Making Bagels

Thought I would try a new recipe, so Saturday evening I made my own style of NYC bagels. It was a fun process! I love cooking!

Start by making the dough and then let it raise for 60 minutes. Shape the bagels (maybe I felt like being semi-creative) . . . . . . Let the shaped dough sit for 20 minutes and then drop individually into a pot of boiling water for 1.5 minutes per side. Remove . . .
. . . and immediately place on a cookie sheet, greased and dusted with cornmeal. Bake @ 450 for 15 minutes . . .
. . . and deliciousness results!
The bagels worked great for Sunday's dinner.
I will definitely add this recipe to my book!

Walked Home

Yesterday after work, I decided to finally do something I have considered doing since moving out here . . . I walked home from my office. And loved it! I Y walking.

The entire walk (including all pauses for traffic or points of interest) took just under 1.5 hours. According to Google Map Pedometer, the total distance covered was approximately 4.5 miles. So I averaged about 3 miles per hour. I get accused of walking too quickly all the time, but it turns out that the average speed for adults is 3 miles per hour - - - so maybe I'm not the one who needs to change my pace :)

Growing Tomatoes

I Y gardening. I miss my garden, but can't bring myself to grow a plant in a pot after enjoying a 2+ acre plot in front of the house at home. So I continue to miss it for the second spring. Maybe next year I will fold.

Recently, I was reading and came across the following tips for growing tomatoes (hence the sudden sadness at not having a garden to grow):
*Plant in an area that gets at least 6 hours of light each day.
* Give seedlings plenty of room to grow.
* By placing black or red plastic over the area you plan to plant in, the soil will warm and will mean earlier tomatoes.
* Bury tomato plants until there are just a few top leaves showing.
* When plants reach three inches, remove leaves on the bottom one inch of the stem; this decreases risk of fungus.
* Water regularly. Once fruit develops, withhold water a little to get the plant to concentrate its flavorful sugars.

I need a garden plot again.
PS - this is a picture of Denise, holding tomatoes and standing in the last garden I grew.

Special Joy

I can't articulate how blessed I feel to have been given the opportunity to help present awards at the Brooklyn Special Olympics on Saturday. It was incredible to be surrounded by people who are not caught up in the things of the world and to simply enjoy their spirits. It was an amazing experience and I'm glad that Ash and Libby invited me to join them.

Lining up for the first race . . . I believe there were over 70 races scheduled for the day. My friends and I were asked to help by presenting the medals to the participants. The spirit of competition was fierce but all were overjoyed to receive a medal documenting their success. It was a humbling experience to witness their happiness. I hesitate to share many photos as I do not wish to invade anyone's privacy, but it was such an amazing experience that I had to share one photo.

At the end of each race, the participants were asked to be seated while waiting for all the teams to gather and the results of the race to be provided by the officials. After completing his race a young man was very sad because he was asked to wait for everyone else and he did not understand why he wasn't immediately given his medal. Another member of his team (who had earned a medal for participating in an earlier race) was sitting beside him, and upon witnessing his teammates abject disappointment, removed the medal from around his own neck and placed it over his friends head. When the caretaker tried to intervene, the giver simply told her his teammate needed it.

Thanks to Libby for researching the event and inviting us to join her.

And Ash for getting us there!
It was an extraordinary day for me.

Green-Wood Cemetery

I was invited to join some friends on an excursion to visit Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. I know it is a bit crazy but I love walking through cemeteries (during daylight hours) and reading headstones. So I gladly accepted and enjoyed a lovely afternoon wandering through approximately 600,000 graves. My favorite part is that you can simply wander and wonder about people's lives . . .

When we arrived at the entrance, Collin shared with us that a colony of monk parakeets who got loose at JFK while being transported from South America (during the 1960's) have made their home in the tallest spire. I thought for certain he must be teasing me, but sure enough, we were able to see the nest and many green birds! The landscape of the cemetery is beautiful, rolling hills dotted with tombstones and trees.
We were very near the site of the Battle of Long Island, fought during the Revolutionary War (visiting this site was the reason for the excursion I believe). Lovely view across the meadow.
Nature won.
I'm not so certain the guys were all that excited about posing for a photo, but after feeding them lots of brownies and cake, I think they may have felt obligated. I know how to get people to do what I want :)
Collin, Ryan, Jared, Brigham, Gabe

This was my favorite headstone. It looked like an unrolled scroll and there were no names or dates that I could discover.
I was surprised to see a CAUTION sign in the cemetery. At least they wouldn't have to move you far if you ignored the sign.
One of my more favorite path markers . . . I think it reminded me of home.
I kept getting distracted reading headstones . . . but they would slow down when they realized I was missing.
I Y cemeteries in the springtime!

Artistic Endeavor

Every once in a while, I have a desire to be creative...I find myself wandering around the house trying to think of something artistic to do. I have always loved working with scissors and paper so Kimberly and I decided to make snowflakes yesterday...lots of snowflakes! Mel convinced us to hang our creations on the wall - worked perfect with the blue.
Did I mention how much I love cutting up paper? But I am having trouble determining which snowflake I like best. These are the ones winning at the moment.



It was fun!