Tag Archives: new york city

A little creative inspiration for the holiday weekend…

24 Dec

Carousel at Bryant Park

Happy holidays everyone!  It has been a lovely start to the day over here.  Reading in bed until ten-thirty (currently reading On Writing by Stephen King), a delightful egg and cheese sandwich on a toasted Bays Multigrain English Muffin, made with love by my breakfast chef supreme husband.  In a couple hours we are heading out to go see The Artist at BAM (down the street) and that is pretty much the main event on this quiet and sleepy Saturday.  Tomorrow we’ll probably catch another movie and a Chinese dinner (Jewish Christmas).  My kind of weekend for sure.  I hope you are all traveling safe and that you enjoy your weekend filled with family, food, friends, presents and all things merry.

I’ll leave you with a fun, creative, foodie-inspired stop motion short by an artist named Pes that Adam turned me onto this week. Enjoy!

Oh – and here’s a little stop motion holiday gem – created by Adam and the talented team at Bodega:

Happy holidays to all of you and warmest wishes for a wonderful weekend!

xoxo

Hello Lovely Weather

3 Jun

Flowers on a Windowsill

So now I just want to freeze time.  It is so amazingly beautiful out today.  It’s that lovely mid-seventies springtime weather that is my absolute favorite and unfortunately, typically lasts for just a few weeks before the hot, sweaty, smelly summer rolls in to NYC.  Adam is out of town on a shoot this weekend, so I’m enjoying a girly weekend with my dear friend Faye – a friend since childhood.  Faye is a little over five months pregnant, which is a total trip for me!  She’s got her cute bulgy belly and everything.  I keep freaking out every time I look at her (in a good way)!

I’m enjoying feeding her while she’s here.  I think my future kitchen-to-be is inspiring me to get my cook on!  Last night I made turkey burgers, roasted asparagus and a salad.  This morning I made egg sandwiches and I just made her one of my new favorite snacks that I make for myself all the time for lunch.  I had it in a restaurant and decided it was easy enough to re-create at home.

Avocado Toast:

1/4 ripe avocado (easily spreadable)

Good olive oil

Sea Salt & Pepper

Parmigiano Reggiano (shaved thin)

Lemon

Piece of healthy bread (I’m using whole wheat)

Toast the piece of bread in the toaster.  While it’s toasting, cut the lemon in half, shave some thin slices of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and slice the avocado open.  When the bread is toasted, put it on a plate, drizzle it with a little bit of olive oil and sprinkle with a little sea salt.  Then scoop out 1/4 of the avocado and spread it on the bread.  Squeeze fresh lemon juice on top of the avocado and then add the shaved Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.  Sprinkle a tad more olive oil on top and add one or two twists of the pepper mill!  Voila!  A super easy, tasty, snack that is nice and filling.  It also has fiber (bread & avocado), protein (cheese) and good fats (avocado and the olive oil).

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

PS – I took the above photo walking around in the west village.  It totally feels European to me – the faded green watering can, the bright flowers, the open window with no screen.  Charming isn’t it?

The Window Outside My Window

31 May

The Window Outside My Window

This was a photo I took a while back and always kind of liked.  It is the view outside my living room window – but zoomed in.  I liked how the curtain was blowing in the breeze.

Anyway – apartment stuff should be settled tomorrow so I’ll fill you all in when the papers are signed!  Brief post today – we are in dire need of serious couch floppage right about now.

Til tomorrow!

Odd Taxi Adventures

10 Feb

I took today’s photo from the backseat of a taxi last night on my way home from an excellent photography lecture at ICP (more on that another time).  And, on the topic of taxis, I thought I’d share a funny incident that happened to Adam and me on Sunday night.  First, the photo:

Photo 306 out of 365 – “Grand Central Terminal”

"Grand Central Terminal" - Settings: ISO 1600, f/4.5, 1/30 sec, 50mm lens

So, Adam and I were not exactly invested in the Super Bowl this year, however, we went to watch it with our friends on the Upper West Side.  By the end of the third quarter, the game had become pretty exciting, but it was around nine o’clock on a school night and we were craving our couch.  So, we figured we’d scoot on out of there, grab a cab and head home to catch the second half of the fourth quarter.  Now, we’re riding in the back seat and the taxi driver is driving nicely, nothing out of the ordinary.  We cross town and start heading downtown on 2nd Avenue when all of a sudden, police lights behind us…  we are being pulled over.

We looked at each other… weird.  We weren’t speeding, no reckless lane changes… nothing of the sort.  Maybe our taxi driver is wanted for something?  Scary.  So we’re sitting there all curious as two cops (one on each side) approach our doors, with flashlights stuck in our faces… all intimidating.  It feels to us like they’re checking US out, looking all around the back seat and shining their lights on us.  Then they ask the driver to step out of the car.  Bizarre!  We have no clue what’s happening.

Finally, one of the cops kindly explains to us that the cab driver has his “distress light” on.  The distress light is a small yellow light on the front and the back of taxicabs that a driver can switch on to alert cops he is being robbed by his passenger!  News to me!  Apparently, this driver’s light was broken – and though he saw the light was on at the start of his shift, he didn’t know what it was for and figured it was nothing important.

After the cops lectured the driver about how he had to get to a garage immediately to get his light fixed, they asked us for our IDs, which they still insisted on running through the system.  Just in case we were criminals I suppose.  When they came back to the car with our IDs the cop insisted we get out of the car and grab another taxi.  He said if we had happened to be in a rougher neighborhood or if the cops had been newer, younger or jumpier, they easily could have just yanked us out of the car at gunpoint, assuming the driver was being robbed.  Then the cop assertively waved over another taxi for us – (the taxi driver reluctantly pulled over, probably thinking he was in trouble) and sent us on our way – indeed, to catch the last two minutes of the game.

Definitely an odd NYC first for me.

So – if you ever see a cab with a little circular yellow light on in the front or back – grab a different cab and spare yourself the drama!

And… I’m BACK!

7 Feb

So – it’s been several days since my last post, but I am about 95% healthy again!  Yay!  The chicken soup, neti potting, ten thousand cups of tea and massive amounts of clementines definitely seemed to do the trick.  I love when the body rallies!

Anyway, tonight I had a divine cheese experience at Casellula – a place in hell’s kitchen I’ve been dying to try.  They had quite an extensive cheese menu and I went with a couple cheese-maniac friends of mine – Manuela, my fellow Murray’s cave intern and Andrew, a monger at Murray’s.  We got to sample ten cheeses – each served with a pairing treat of some sort – almost all of the pairings were made in-house.  The cheeses were awesome!  Our tasting tonight blew away the tasting experience Manuela and I had at Artisanal the other week.   I brought home the menu so I can list for you all the cheeses that we tried.  However, I’m going to do that tomorrow because it’s already almost ten and I need some QT with the hubby!

Here are my pictures from the last four days:

Photo 300 out of 365 – “Monger Madness”

"Monger Madness" - Settings: ISO 1600, f/5, 1/60 sec, 85mm lens

Yes… just another day at Murray’s buying cheese.  I was there last Thursday and this monger in the picture here is Michael.  It was his birthday and he was dressed to impress!  There’s always a lively time to be had at Murray’s!

Photo 301 out of 365 – “Bird Watching”

"Bird Watching" - Settings: ISO 100, f/4, 1/250 sec, 85mm lens

I took this photo last Friday.  I was walking by Tompkins Square Park in the East Village and there was a tree just on the inside of this fence with hundreds of these little birds in it.  Every couple minutes, they’d venture out from the tree and would line up on the fence or poke around on the sidewalk – until someone would walk by.  Then they’d spaz out and all fly back to the tree.  I was there taking pictures for a good ten to fifteen minutes before I got this photo I wanted – of the little bird on the fence in sharp focus with the neighborhood behind in blur (shallow depth of field).

Photo 302 out of 365 – “Dave”

"Dave" - Settings: ISO 6400, f/2.5, 1/60 sec, 85mm lens

Here’s our friend Dave again… he is super photogenic – it’s such a blast taking pictures of him!  I’m going to do head shots for him when it warms up a bit outside, which I’m really looking forward to.  Anyway, I’ve decided to spend the next week or so shooting in black and white – just to focus more on light and shadow and form.  I started this on Saturday and I’ve been enjoying the change of pace!  Everything sort of looks more serious in black and white – a little more artful in a way.

Photo 303 out of 365 – “Jake Plays Piano”

"Jake Plays Piano" - Settings: ISO 6400, f/2, 1/100 sec, 85mm lens

This here is little Jake – serenading us during the Superbowl halftime show with a piano recital.  He is gooooood.  I’m talking serious musical gift good… which is really quite inspiring and amazing to see in a five year old child.  It also makes me want to go back to taking piano lessons.  Another thing to add to the list!

Ok – signing off for tonight.  I’ll report more on our delicious cheese selection tomorrow!

Photo 214 out of 365 – “Cat in a Second-Story Window”

10 Nov

"Cat in a Second-Story Window" - Settings: ISO 200, f/18, 1/125 sec, 50mm lens

This is the scene I stumbled upon literally one door down from my apartment building yesterday when I left to go run some errands.  I love it!  The cat is just chilling… watching the passersby, getting some fresh air.  I love his stance… and how he’s looking away from camera.  I have another one where he’s looking right at me, but this one was more powerful.  And that lens flare just makes it for me.  I knew it would be my photo of the day even though it was the first photo I took!  It just has that magic in my opinion.

Meanwhile, I seem to have a bug up my butt for some reason this week… some sort of restlessness.  I think it’s because I finished with the prints for the photography show, which was a big, challenging task – and now I’m done with it and I’m feeling like – “ok… what’s next”… you know?  This photo project and blogging is definitely both stimulating and difficult, though because I do it every day, it is starting to take on a more routine feel vs. a big exciting challenge I have to rise to.

I had the craziest most exhausting dream last night.  I was at my friend Faye’s wedding weekend (which happened already), and I was SUPER late for the brunch because I couldn’t find my hotel room.  I felt really guilty!  And panicky!  I kept running around the halls of the hotel endlessly and couldn’t remember which room I was in.  Then, after the brunch, I was supposed to pack up and catch a bus somewhere, but I kept losing my suitcases.  I gave them to an attendant and then I couldn’t remember who I gave them to – and again, I was running around in circles for what seemed like HOURS – looking for my bags – and all of the hotel employees were rude and completely unhelpful.  I was happy to wake up to the fact that it was just a dream – but it definitely seems related to this little bit of anxiousness I’m feeling this week.  Dreams are so interesting.

I have a few projects I’d like to start working on, which will hopefully ease this feeling, including re-starting a yoga practice (I just bought a beginner’s package and will go to my first class tomorrow).  And today, I’m working on a shoot for Bodega, which should be really cool.  We’re doing time-lapse photography of the Barneys holiday window being put together.  This is my first exposure to time-lapse photography, so I’m excited to learn something new!  Plus – it’s the Barneys holiday window… how fun!  I am working on this today, Friday and next Tuesday – and then Tuesday night is the big unveiling party and I believe I’ll be there shooting party footage as well.  That should be really cool!

Anyway – that’s what’s on my mind this morning.  Oh yeah, and the healthy tuna meal I made last night was NOT very good.  I didn’t like it at all.  It was too salty and needed a sweet taste to balance the salty soy… maybe honey?  The little parchment packets were fun to make though – and they made cleanup quite easy!

Here is the runner up for photo of the day, which was the last picture I took yesterday.  The cat wins… but I like this one quite a bit too.  A totally different vibe.

"Roses" - Settings: ISO 400, f/2.5, 1/100 sec, 50mm lens

 

Photo 117 out of 365 – “Jazz Man Giuseppi”

5 Aug

Settings: ISO 100, f/3.5, 1/100 sec, 50mm lens

Well this is cool.  I took this photo on the way to Trader Joe’s yesterday.  I was walking through Tompkins Square Park and saw this man playing away on his sax.  I was super drawn to him – as I often am to photographing old people.  Just look at him – his face told such a story to me… his eyes, so sad and expressive… the deep wrinkles in his forehead, his knobby fingers, his wooly beard.  I figured he was just your average homeless guy who knows how to play a little sax.  I gave him a dollar in exchange for a couple photos.  When I was done, he wrote down his name for me – Giuseppi Logan – and told me to look him up online.

I just did that and boy… I found quite a story!  Turns out, he was a very talented and important avant-garde jazz musician in the sixties here in New York.  He was trained at the New England Conservatory of Music and he even recorded a few albums.  It seems he was somewhat mentally ill and heavily into drugs and in the seventies, he totally disappeared for decades – everyone thought he was dead.  He was rediscovered again playing around Tompkins Square park in 2008. Here is a youtube video of him playing last year:

Here is another link, which tells more of the sad story.  I’m totally fascinated now.

Photo 115 out of 365 – “Twirling in the Sun”

3 Aug

Settings: ISO 100, f/3.5, 1/125 sec, 50mm lens

This is my adorable niece Monique.  My sister and her family are in town for a visit this week and it is the first time the kids have been to the Big Apple.  Actually – Monique was here as a baby but I don’t think she remembers.  So – we’ve been packing in lots of NYC sites and activities.  In the past two days we’ve gone to the Central Park Zoo, enjoyed a horse & carriage ride through Central Park, done the ferris wheel at Toys R Us in Times Square, gone to the South Street Seaport, took a ride on the Staten Island Ferry to Staten Island and then back again in order to get a good view of the Statue of Liberty, went to the Museum of Natural History and took a tour through the cheese caves of Murray’s.  Whew – my feet hurt and I’m exhausted.   The kids have been great – nothing like a little over-stimulation to make them sleep well in a strange place!

Oh, and I had to include one other photo.  Faye… this one’s for you.  I found us in Barbie form at the Times Square Toys R’Us … don’t we make hot Barbies??

Settings: ISO 6400, f/9.0, 1/40 sec, 50mm lens

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