Tag Archives: New York

Our New Pad

2 Jun

So we are BEYOND psyched!  We signed the lease last night and it’s officially official.  We are moving to Brooklyn in mid-July.  The neighborhood is Fort Greene - it’s a neighborhood I don’t know very well, but Adam is more familiar with it and it seems like a wonderful place to live.  It has beautiful tree-lined streets, a gorgeous park with tennis courts and playgrounds and running trails (right across from our apartment), a growing foodie scene and according the articles I’ve read… very nice, down-to-earth, artsy people…  my favorite kind. :)  The location is also really convenient as it’s nearby tons of different train lines.

The apartment is a WOW!  The building is an old firehouse that is now separated into three apartments.   It is a little more than we wanted to spend (typical) – but nothing too crazy.  And it’s so worth it!  It’s a totally unique space with such personality and possibility!  It has high ceilings, big windows and TONS of light (perfect for photography)!  It has a KILLER kitchen and … are you sitting down for this…. a washer and dryer!!!  OMG – I can die now.  I only have a couple pictures right now – but this will give you a taste.  I’ll post more once we’re in and it’s decorated with our stuff!

This is the view of the lower bedroom area from the lofted bedroom.  The door with the cool glass (behind the easel)  is the bathroom.  There is a large tree outside those windows – that makes me happy.  There is a ton of warm and beautiful wood – and that makes me happy as well.  I love wood.

And this beautiful space right here is our new dream kitchen!

I am seriously so psyched about this kitchen!  It’s got room for me to cook!  And room for a big dining table – it was love at first sight.  I totally have to up my chef game now and host some killer dinner parties.  I could hardly sleep the other night because I was so excited thinking of all the beautiful gifts we got for our wedding – dishes, silverware, platters, pots & pans, serving pieces, cutting boards, appliances, etc.  Most of these wondrous gifts have been waiting for us at my parents house because our tiny little apartment can’t fit anything!  Well now we’ll be able to fit it all!  It’s going to be like playing house – organizing everything all pretty in the glass cabinets.  I’ll just have to learn to be really neat as everything’s sort of on display – but that’ll be good for me.

So there you have it.  I couldn’t be happier.  It is a very warm, happy, light, airy, inspiring space – we both feel we are going to do great things in this apartment!  Our creative juices are already flowing!

Thanks to our parents who were in town visiting and served as our good luck charms!  Also to Luther – our super awesome broker who showed us the space.  It feels like it was made just for us.  Isn’t it sweet when a plan comes together?!

Brooklyn here we come!

~xo

 

 

Woodstock On My Mind

8 Mar

Hello faithful readers!  I know I’ve been MIA for a few days but before I get into that, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you all for reading my dishes and specifically to thank you for commenting – especially on my last post.  I’m obviously someone who thinks deeply about things and I’m constantly pondering my life, the decisions I’ve made, those I have yet to make and everything in between.  Sometimes I feel like sharing and writing about what’s on my mind and sometimes I don’t.  But when I do decide to share and I get comments from you, with your stories, your support and your words of encouragement, it truly means so much to me.  It makes me feel like all this is for a reason… and maybe I’m too close to it all now to see what that reason is, but it gives me such a lift and makes me want to keep going and sharing.  So thank you… really.

Anyway, I left on Friday afternoon for a weekend away in Woodstock with some friends.  It all started back during the Woodstock Film Festival.  I had some trouble with the house we rented, and the house manager was kind enough to offer us another weekend away at a gorgeous luxury property to make it up to us.  We decided to take advantage of it this weekend.  So at around three o’clock, we piled into our friends’ old beat-up Honda Civic, “Goldie Honda” is her name, and we hit the road with puppy Lola (apparently a car puker) along for the ride.

We made it all the way to Woodstock with no doggy accidents and were eagerly anticipating our first view of the house when we took the final turn and joy… our super steep private mountain road was covered with a sheet of ice about three inches thick.  Goldie Honda wasn’t exactly feeling that.  Gunning the engine and putting the car into low gear did nothing.  So we attempted a three-point turn… again… a challenge when you’re on a steep hill covered in solid ice.  The car did some sideways sliding down the hill (I’ve seriously never seen anything like it) – but we were finally able to turn around and get back down to some flat ground, where we could build up some momentum again.  We made one more failed attempt at the hill, then retreated, defeated and hungry.   We had chains in the trunk, but none of us knew how to put them on and it was getting really dark, so we decided to go into town, get some groceries and a flashlight, figure out how to put the chains on in the grocery store parking lot and then we’d go back and tackle the hill once again.

Unfortunately, that idea didn’t go so smoothly either.  As we drove into town, the car started acting up and was no longer switching gears.  We literally coasted into a grocery store parking lot in neutral.  Now Goldie Honda seemed to be dead.  We had all our luggage with us, we were hungry, we had little Lola puppy with us so we couldn’t eat dinner in a restaurant and we hadn’t even seen our beautiful house yet!!  Thus, plan B was put into effect.  I called Woodstock Taxi service and spoke to a guy on the phone who made everything seem ok.  I told him what happened and asked him if he had four-wheel drive.  He said he knew about cars and claimed he wasn’t worried – he’d made it up every mountain road in town before.  He was confident he’d get us up that hill.

He arrived twenty minutes later in a piece of crap old mini van with over three hundred thousand miles on it.  It was making whining noises.  We were not confident.  We drove back up that windy mountain road and when we got to the steep part, he gunned that mini van engine and up, up, up we went until… nope.  He couldn’t make it either.  Now he’s cursing and we’re out of luck.  It became clear that no car was getting up that hill so we did what we had to do.  We unloaded the van – through the front – so as not to be smooshed by the van sliding backwards down the hill, and we hoofed our luggage up until we arrived at driveway number ninety.  Sheesh.

Considering all the drama, we were all in fairly good spirits, so we cooked up our frozen burgers (eh) and immediately switched into party mode – wine, Scotch and rummy 500.  Way to make lemonade right?

The next day we found out that Goldie Honda was indeed dead so we made the arrangements to donate her and we took a taxi to Kingston to rent an SUV with four-wheel drive!  The rest of the weekend went much more smoothly – lots of rummy 500, some cheese fondue (Comte, Gruyere and a local Colby) and some nice Woodstock chill time.  Unfortunately, by the time we actually got to slow down and relax it was pretty much time to turn around and head back.  But hey… it was an adventure!

Here are my long overdue photos from the last five days:

Photo 328 out of 365 – “The Birds”

"The Birds" - Settings: ISO 400, f/11, 1/320 sec, 50mm lens

On 7th street in the East Village, there is a big family of birds that hang out on the roof of one of the buildings and every few minutes, they all take off and fly around in unison a few times and then land again.  It’s crazy.  I’ve actually taken a bunch of photos of them in action and I plan to do a series of three images – maybe with some funky sky colors in the background?  Anyway, someone told me that the birds are sort of cared for by this man who has lived in the neighborhood for years and years and he is the one who trained them to fly around like that.  I don’t know if it’s true… but it seems just crazy enough to be true in this neighborhood.

Photo 329 out of 365 – “Oh No Lola”

"Oh No Lola" - Settings: ISO 6400, f/2.5, 1/30 sec, 85mm lens

I took this the night of all our car drama.  This is little Lola – you’ve seen her in previous posts.  Now Lola would never do anything wrong… she’s a little angel pup.  But in this photo doesn’t it look like she’s done something bad and she’s about to get scolded?

Photo 330 out of 365 – “Retro Basement”

"Retro Basement" - Settings: ISO 1600, f/4.5, 1/80 sec, 50mm lens

This is a sweet basement that belongs to a work colleague of Adam’s.  We went to visit his place in Woodstock and his basement is pimped out straight from the seventies!  Gotta love disco balls.  Sexy.

Photo 331 out of 365 – “Intimidating Adam”

"Intimidating Adam" - Settings: ISO 640, f/2, 1/400 sec, 50mm lens

I took this picture of Adam as my first homework assignment for my portraiture class.  I had to take two portraits of the same person.  One was supposed to make the subject appear powerful, strong and aggressive.  The other, was supposed to make the subject appear docile and vulnerable.  Adam was my model.  Here’s the vulnerable one:

"Vulnerable Adam" - Settings: ISO 640, f/2, 1/400 sec, 50mm lens

And finally…

Photo 332 out of 365 – “Fur and Fleece”

"Fur and Fleece" - Settings: ISO 200, f/3.5, 1/60 sec, 50mm lens

Yesterday I was standing behind this woman, waiting to cross the street at Astor Place.  I pretty much always want to take pictures of old people.  There’s something about them that inspires me.  And this woman was no different.  She looked so proud and capable – walking by herself in her fur coat and this bright-colored fleece scarf around her head.  I’m glad I caught her – even if just from the side/back.

So that’s all for tonight folks!  Private Parts is on and I’m going to go flop on the couch.  Hope everyone had a good weekend!

PS… what do you think of the new design?  I thought it was time to spice things up a bit!  I’d love to hear your feedback!

It’s All About The Light

25 Jan

I’m always in love with the warm afternoon light that falls over the city at certain hours of the day.  Over the summer – that light was around more like 7:30 in the evening – but now, in the middle of the winter, it’s really more like three to four o’clock.   Yesterday, I was gazing out my window at 3:44pm and admiring the smoke stacks spewing out steam.  The steam was so white and cloud-like against the blue sky, and the afternoon light was perfect, making everything in the foreground so vivid.

Photo 290 out of 365 – “Smoke Stacks”

"Smoke Stacks" - Settings: ISO 100, f/13, 1/160 sec, 50mm lens

Then, a little over an hour later, at 4:57pm, I noticed that the scene had totally changed.  Instead of the steam being white, it now had a purply hue.  Instead of the smoke stacks and other buildings being bathed with light, they looked more like silhouettes against the lit sky behind them.  I tried to take the exact same photo as earlier as a study on how light changes a photograph dramatically.  Here is the second one:

"Smoke Stacks II" - Settings: ISO 200, f/9, 1/200 sec, 50mm lens

I enjoy the first one much more!  What do you think?

Happy Snowy Friday

21 Jan

I had a really crappy night’s sleep last night and with the snow outside this morning and a package delivery from UPS on it’s way, it was the perfect day to STAY IN.  So I cleaned… like a mad woman.  Not really scrubbing (still have to do that) – but going through long-ignored piles of random papers, magazines, film festival stuff, tax stuff, receipts … you name it.  It felt good.  There’s still a little pile in the corner of our bedroom, but I’m saving that one for Adam. :)

When we move into a new apartment, I feel like I need an organization consultant.  Anyone really good at organizing?  I step into The Container Store and I don’t even know where to begin!  I want everything to have a place, but I’m not very good figuring that stuff out… nor is my husband.  We’re both sort of pile people.  Oye.

Anyway, here is my photo from yesterday.  My friend Tanya was cooking me dinner on the Upper East Side, so I stopped in this cute wine shop – Serendipity – to pick something up.   After I bought a bottle, the guys in store were kind enough to let me kill a few minutes inside (I was early for dinner and it was cold).  They had this cool display in the center of the store – so I played around a bit and snapped some shots.

Photo 286 out of 365 – “Girl in a Wine Shop”

"Girl in a Wine Shop" - Settings: ISO 800, f/3.5, 1/60 sec, 50mm lens

Now I love Beets.

10 Jan

We had the pleasure of having Adam’s niece Michele in town for a visit this weekend.  She is on holiday break from her freshman year of college in California.  While Michele was here, Adam and I were constantly trying to get her to expand her horizons… from tasting new foods, to trying out a new haircut, to trying on new styles of clothes, etc.  At times she seemed frustrated by the pressure we were putting on her, but by the end of the weekend, she seemed like a new woman… more confident, more open-minded and more happy with herself.  (Am I right Michele?  I know you’re reading this).

This experience made me think of how much I’ve grown as a person since I was Michele’s age.  When I was in college I…

  • hated tons of different foods that I love now (sushi, beets, ginger, cilantro, salmon, spinach, blue cheese, olives, sausage, white wine, pork)
  • hardly ever cooked – mostly because I was intimidated
  • smoked cigarettes
  • had a mini identity crisis because I got rejected from my top choice sorority (I really wanted to be one of the “cool” girls and believed that was my way in)…. in retrospect, it was the wrong place for me anyway.
  • never had a boyfriend – most likely because I was constantly attracted to the wrong guys
  • was lazy and complacent in regards to finding and exploring my passions

Now – after ten years in NYC, I am living a much richer and more fulfilling life than I ever did in my college years and before.  The biggest part of that, has been keeping an open mind and trying new things all the time, paying close attention to what makes me happy and what doesn’t (that also includes relationships), changing things when they’re not making me happy (even if its REALLY hard to do so), and no longer trying to be ‘cool’ – instead – just really trying to be me.

It felt good telling Michele that so far… the older I get, the happier I get.  It makes me excited for what lies ahead.

Anyway – let’s catch up with the photo project!  Here are my photos from the weekend:

Photo 273 out of 365 – “Statue in Tompkins Square Park in Winter”

"Statue in Tompkins Square Park in Winter" - Settings: ISO 100, f/3.2, 1/400 sec, 50mm lens

 

Photo 274 out of 365 – “Congee Village”

"Congee Village" - Settings: ISO 100, f/1.2, 1/250 sec, , 50mm lens

 

Photo 275 out of 365 – “Glass Bottles on the Barber Shop Windowsill”

"Glass Bottles on the Barber Shop Windowsill" - Settings: ISO 200, f/5, 1/2000 sec, 50mm lens

 

Cleansing…

4 Jan

Photo 269 out of 365 – “Liquid”

"Liquid" - Settings: ISO 400, f/4, 1/125 sec, 100mm macro lens

This photo is appropriate for today because today, my diet is consisting of only liquid.  Just for today.  I actually got my butt up this morning for an 8:30 am Pilates class in MIDTOWN!  Yes – that’s a big feat for me.   The class was great and it felt awesome to use those muscles again that have been laying dormant for the past year.  Yes abdominals… I’ve come back for you!  I haven’t forgotten you completely!  It’s been a while.

Meanwhile, I was feeling all good and wanted to grab a healthy breakfast before heading over to the nursing home for art class and I passed this juice place right in my neighborhood that I’ve never noticed.  Apparently, it’s been there for seven months… I don’t know how I haven’t seen it, but that happens in New York.

The place is called The Juice Press and they sell juices made from organic raw fruits, vegetables and spices.  They also offer a cleanse system, which on a whim, I decided to try today.  The deal is, you drink eight juices in a designated order and that’s it – no food – all day!  Also – lots of water and you can have decaf tea I guess.  So, I’m currently on my fifth juice of the day and MAN… this one is tough. Here are the ingredients:

  • ripe tomato
  • carrot
  • celery
  • beet
  • parsley
  • kale
  • spinach
  • lemon
  • pinch of cayenne
  • pinch of onion
  • pinch of garlic
  • pinch of sea salt

It’s called “drink your salad” – cute.  But I think it’s really pretty gag-worthy.  The next one’s just coconut water – and I’m quite looking forward to it after this garlic explosion in my mouth.  EW.

Anyway, I’ll let you know how I feel tomorrow!

Reporting From Hibernation

30 Dec

Yup… definitely feeling the winter now. We’re all messed up with sleep over here since coming back from California. We’ve been wide awake until the wee hours of the morning and we’ve been sleeping way too late. Though I guess it’s good to get that all out of our systems in these few days before the new year begins. Sleeping late in the winter is sort of dangerous though – because all of a sudden, you have only five or six hours of daylight and then the dark sets right back in again. The days are going by much too fast and becoming one big blur!

Tomorrow we’re heading out to Redding, CT for a cozy New Year’s Eve fondue extravaganza. I’m in charge of the cheese fondue (of course) – so I went out today to get all the fixins. The recipe I’m using calls for one pound of Gruyere and one half pound of Emmental – both Swiss mountain-style cheeses. I decided to mix it up a bit and bought Comte instead of Gruyere (a French mountain cheese – very similar in style – though much cheaper at the shop I was in).   I also bought Challerhocker (pronounced “holler hocker”) – another mountain-style cow’s milk cheese from Switzerland – and one I had never tried before!   I preferred it to the Emmental (it’s totally delish) so I decided to go for it.  I bought a crusty French baguette for dipping, but also decided to get some other goodies – mini potatoes and mushrooms (for roasting), some ham and salami (I’m such a good Jew) and a red pepper, which I figured I’ll serve raw for a bite of something crisp and refreshing – and also for some color.  Yum – melted cheese for dinner.  I’m happy.

Anyway, here are my snowy themed photos from the last three days. Yesterday I got my hands on a 10-22mm super wide-angle lens. I took photo #264 with that one. Again – a whole new world once you pop a new lens on the camera. Fun stuff.

Photo 262 out of 365 – “Ice Moon”

"Ice Moon" - Settings: ISO 400, f/11, 1/125 sec, 100mm macro lens

Photo 253 out of 365 – “Where’s My Bike?”

"Where's My Bike?" - Settings: ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/100 sec, 24-70mm lens (30mm)

Photo 264 out of 365 – “Tompkins Square Park at Dusk”

"Tompkins Square Park at Dusk" - Settings: ISO 800, f/6.3, 1/100 sec, 10-22mm lens (11mm)

Like This!

Photo 248 out of 365 – “Ornament”

14 Dec

"Ornament" - Settings: ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/50 sec, 100mm macro lens

I seem to be in the holiday spirit with my photos lately.  There are just so many shiny pretty things around I can’t help myself!  I actually took this photo yesterday at the Hilton on East 42nd Street.  My girl Faye was in town, staying at the Hilton for work and we got to spend a little time together.  We ate lunch at Calico Jacks – a sort of crappy midtown Mexican place, as it was right across the street from her hotel.  It was quite a trip down memory lane.

When I first moved to the city back in August of 2001, I worked at Calico Jacks as a waitress for about a year.  Every Saturday morning I would wake up and stumble over the three blocks from my apartment in the New York Towers building on 39th street and set up the restaurant for lunch.  The smell of cleaning solution mixed with Friday night’s alcohol and cigarette smoke was not exactly pleasant and would usually make me gag a little.  I’d work from eleven in the morning until around eleven at night, at which point my friends would come meet me and I’d be able to hook them up with free drinks.  It was actually quite fun – even though it was pretty much a big frat party and I was working between two and three jobs at the time.  I always liked being around food and I was stimulated by the hustle and bustle that goes along with working in a restaurant.  In fact, I still think I enjoyed waitressing more than advertising sales.

Anyway, stepping foot in that restaurant yesterday brought me right back… as if I entered a time warp.  Awww… little twenty-two year-old Nell.  I was so excited to be in New York City – wide-eyed and ready for adventure!  It’s amazing that it was almost a decade ago!  Sheesh!  What were you doing ten years ago??

Another Brooklyn Boys Holiday…

13 Dec

Hi all!

It’s been a busy few days.   Adam has been sick with an awful cold so I had to leave him at home on Saturday to recuperate, while my parents and I went to Holmdel, NJ for our Brooklyn Boys annual holiday party!  It’s always a blast hanging out with the Brooklyn boys and their families.  For those of you who don’t know – the Brooklyn Boys are my dad’s buddies from growing up in Sheepshead Bay.  He’s been friends with most of them since elementary school and now we’re all sort of an extended family spanning four generations.  It’s really quite rare and special.  The patriarch of the Brooklyn Boys is Irving.  We celebrated his 95th birthday this weekend and he’s still just as mischievous and fun-loving as ever.  At our breakfast on Sunday, he was showing all the kids how to catapult creamers into the air with spoons.  And that’s pretty much typical Irving behavior.  I believe it’s what keeps him so young.

Meanwhile, Adam and I (and a team of about twenty) are working on a two-day shoot for Bodega all day tomorrow and Wednesday and then we’re off on a plane again on Thursday for California!  Sheesh – this traveling is getting a little nuts!  I’m just trying to keep myself from getting sick, so I’ve been chugging those Emergen-C packets every chance I get.  Can you OD on vitamin C?

Anyway, here are my photos from the last three days:

 

Photo 245 out of 365 – “Miniature New York”

"Miniature New York" - Settings: ISO 400, f/14, 1/100 sec, 24-70mm lens (32mm)

I took this photo from the roof of The Ansonia building on 73rd and Broadway.  I thought it was a really interesting view of the city below through these circular cut-outs in the roof wall.  Doesn’t the city sort of look like a miniature set?

Here are a couple other photos I love from Friday…

"Tunnel Walk" - Settings: ISO 1600, f/14, 1/100 sec, 24-70mm lens (52mm)

"The Ansonia" - Settings: ISO 400, f/14, 1/100 sec, 24-70mm lens (24mm)

 

Photo 246 out of 365 – “Igor”

"Igor" - Settings: ISO 6400, f/2.8, 1/30 sec, 24-70mm lens (38mm)

I took this picture Saturday night at the holiday party.  This is Igor.  He is an artist from Russia and a friend of Bobby’s – the host of the Brooklyn Boys party.  Bobby saw Igor passed out with the stuffed animals and told me to run upstairs and snap his picture! Quite amusing.  I love this one.

 

Photo 247 out of 365 – “Creamer Attack”

"Creamer Attack" - Settings: ISO 6400, f/4, 1/100 sec, 24-70mm lens (30mm)

As I said, Irving (the 95 year-old) taught the boys how to launch little creamers with their spoons at breakfast.  Irving’s grandson, Dany took it to the next level by collecting every free spoon on the table and launching eleven creamers simultaneously.  Scary.

Ok – I’m off to bed now!  Big day tomorrow!

A Lazy Saturday Afternoon…

20 Nov

So I’m sitting her at 3:37pm, still in my PJs… gotta love that.  Adam cooked a delicious breakfast scramble with the Ascutney Mountain cheese I bought earlier in the week at Saxelby and we had a wonderful cup of coffee sweetened with a tiny bit of the vanilla macadamia nut sugar we bought on our honeymoon in Hawaii last year.  Mmmmmmmmm.  I’m quite fond of lazy Saturdays.  Aren’t you?

Anyway, I’m excited about a few cheese-related things.  First, I got a couple comments on my blog this week from the people over at Cabot!  Because I linked to their site every time I raved about the Cabot Clothbound Cheddar (swoon), they found my blog and thanked me for the kind words.  I thought that was really cool.

Second, I am helping a friend of mine plan an all-American cheese plate for Thanksgiving, and I am planning the same for my Thanksgiving celebration as well.  Cabot Clothbound Cheddar is definitely going to be there – 100%.  I’m working out the other selections this weekend.  On the list of potentials right now are:

God – this list makes me DROOL!  America has really got it going on with the cheese these days!!  These cheeses are all fantastic!  So my goal in putting together a cheese plate (all from America) is to include cheeses made from a variety of milks – cow, goat & sheep – AND to include a variety of cheese styles – hard, soft, washed-rind, bloomy-rind, mountain-style, crumbly, creamy, etc.  This will make the cheese plate super interesting and enlightening for the guests!  I’ll let you know what my final choices are after I do a little tasting and comparing!

Meanwhile, still loving the new lens!  Here are my photos from the last 2 days:

Photo 223 out of 365 – “Man Looking Out a Cafe window”

"Man Looking Out a Cafe Window" - Settings: ISO 3200, f/3.2, 1/15 sec, 100mm macro lens

I took this on Clinton Street while walking to my yoga class on Thursday.  The close 2nd runner up is this one, which I took a few minutes earlier on the opposite side of the street:

"Window Shopping" - Settings: ISO 3200, f/3.2, 1/125 sec, 100mm macro lens

 

Photo 224 out of 365 – “Mascara”

"Mascara" - Settings: ISO 800, f/5, 1/25 sec, 100mm macro lens

This one I took of my friend Wendy while she was looking in the bathroom mirror putting on her makeup.

And these are a few more from the past couple days that I really love:

 

So that’s all for this lazy Saturday.  Hope everyone’s having a wonderful weekend!

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