Last weekend Adam, Theo and I went upstate to a little town called Lake Katrine – about twenty minutes outside of Woodstock, NY.  Our generous friends treated us as a ‘thank you’ to Adam for officiating their wedding ceremony (side note… Adam’s a totally awesome wedding officiant – FYI.)  Anyway, after a hellish traffic-laden trip out of the city (what else is new… grrrr), we finally arrived at this adorable, quirky little house across the street from a farm.  The back deck looked out onto the Esopus Creek.  The foliage had just started to turn so there were yellows and greens and hints of red and orange starting to emerge.  Ahhhhh fall… how you make me smile.  I was eager to get into the fall spirit with Theo.  It’s my favorite season after all.

I had been with Theo in Fort Greene Park the week before and he totally flipped out (in a good way) over a dog that came over to say hi to us.  He was reaching for the dog and petting him and loving every minute of their little visit together.  I decided that perhaps he is an animal lover and thought a Saturday out in the country was a perfect day to introduce him to his first live farm animals!   I used Yelp to look up “petting zoo” near our current location and it brought me to the Catskills Animal Sanctuary, which was only two miles away, had loads of excellent reviews and sounded just right.  So after his nap… off we went.

Of course, as you know, Adam and I love our cameras so we documented much of our weekend including this little trip to the farm. Adam put together this precious video of our trip – here’s a little taste of Theo and our weekend in the country.  PS… it pays to be married to a filmmaker.

Did you watch?  Are you crying a little?  I can’t help myself.  That man knows how to get the tears flowing over here (though if you know me at all… you know that’s not too difficult!)

And here are some photos I took from the weekend…

I’m still having fun learning the cool stuff my new Sony RX100 can do – so here’s a sample of some of the settings I have been playing around with:

Manual Setting:

Toy Setting:

Illustration Setting:

Tilt-Shift Setting:

Watercolor Setting:

Cool right?  Which one’s your favorite?  I think I like Toy & Watercolor best.

Here are some shots from the nearby area and around the house:

Country Road, Take Me Home…

View of the House From Laying in the Grass

Jug on the Stoop in Fall

Carriage Ride – in Red

For those afraid of bugs (myself being one of you) – avert your eyes… I just thought this was a crazy image so I decided to include it.  This moth was on the window at night and Adam shined a flashlight on it for me for dramatic effect.  Scary right?  It’s like an alien.

And here are some photos from the farm:

Here’s Looking at You Rooster

Sheep Posing

Geese: The Lineup

And of course… Theo:

Mommy & Theo

Daddy & Theo (Doesn’t this one just melt your heart?)

Theo’s Centerfold 

A s you can see, we enjoyed our time out in the country – as always.  On the way home we decided to take a slight detour to check out a Hudson River town we’ve heard we might like.  It’s a little town called Nyack, NY.  When we arrived, it seemed we had stumbled upon their annual street fair!  We checked out Yelp for a tasty restaurant recommendation, parked the car and hit the fair to get a taste of the town.  There were tons of vendors lining two main streets (Main Street and West Broadway).  There were lots of cute shops – gourmet food shops, book stores, gift shops and clothing stores.  I saw a yoga studio, lots of restaurants… diners, Mediterranean, Chinese, Thai, Indian, Mexican, Irish Pubs – a good variety – enough to satisfy my foodie needs I believe.  And of course we were checking out the people and the overall vibe… and it was a GOOD vibe!  We decided to lunch at a restaurant called Strawberry Place, which appeared to be a well-loved local brunch and lunch spot.  The mood was great!  It was bustling and casual and cozy and the service was so friendly.  We instantly felt at home and could picture ourselves becoming regulars.

After eating we drove around a bit and fell even more in love with Nyack!  It is right on the Hudson River, which adds a little romance (don’t you think?).  Here is the description on their site, which I think explains the feel quite perfectly:

Steeped in history, infused with culture and smitten with small town charm there is no place quite like the village of Nyack. Just ask the people who live here or our friends who love to visit.

Nestled on the west shore of the Hudson River, just 25 miles north of New York City, our colorful town is chock full of unique art and antique shops, delicious restaurants and historical landmarks just waiting to be discovered.

So yeah… it was good.  I kind of got a little emotional even.  I could see us there, I could picture it.  It was the first place outside of NYC where I could realistically see us fitting right in and establishing our new life as a little family.  It seems to have the perfect balance of small town charm, sophisticated shops and restaurants, nature and proximity to the city.  It seems just right.  And I have to say, I feel a little relieved.  I now feel confident that I can leave the city (soon even) and not feel isolated and still have a life rich with variety and culture, but with the slower pace and the nature we crave.

So now we’re officially on a Nyack kick.  We’re going to do more research and I’ll keep you posted.  The question now – is will we be ready to check out and get out of the city as early as July when our lease is up??  I’d say the next few months will tell.  Stay tuned.  🙂