Snow Day!

I cannot begin to describe how amusing it was to watch this dog experiencing her first snow day. Hazel, welcome to winter.

Mother Nature's Paintbrush

Beauty upon beauty. That was my weekend.

It is difficult to outshine the works of the world's great artists, but my visit to the Museum of Modern Art on Saturday may just have been topped by a trip to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden on Sunday.

Mother Nature has an incredible palette to work with.

Summer's End

Is it just me, or does each summer seem to pass even faster than the summer before? June, July and August just flew by this year. Every year I make grand plans to take advantage of the many exciting activities in New York City during the summer, and every year I barely scratch the surface.

Summer is more or less at an end, and I wish I had made more of it. More long lunches, more time in the park, more sweet corn, more popsicles, and more pesto made from the basil secretly being grown on our fire escape. More of a summer tan might have been nice too.

Fortunately Labor Day Weekend went a long way towards making me feel I enjoyed summer to the fullest.

Saturday was a day outdoors, mostly spent bicycling around Brooklyn. A planned trip to Coney Island with friends for a little sunset photography was aborted when one bike needed emergency repair, so we consoled ourselves instead by going to Di Fara to try out some of the top-rated (and most difficult to get to) pizza in New York City.

What an experience. By all appearances, the pizza place has barely changed in the past 60 years since it's owner, Dom DeMarco, has been making pizzas there. You can see him in the photo below (on the left). Dom makes all the pizzas himself, and has been making them so long he has no qualms about reaching his bare hands into the million degree pizza oven to push around the pans and check the done-ness of the pizzas. One young family member assists Dom in taking orders and bringing out big buckets of fresh mozzarella.

I learned plenty about the history of the place by reading all the articles pasted on the wall, because after all we did have a two hour wait for our pie. I'm not kidding! Granted, Saturday night at 6 p.m. on Labor Day weekend was probably not the best time to go, but once we had invested an hour of waiting time, we were not about to turn back. The swarms of people milling around on the sidewalk and in the tiny waiting area kept telling us, "It's worth it!" The pizza was very, very delicious, but after a two hour wait my tastebuds were somewhat dulled by my ravenous hunger, so I'm not sure I can be objective. (For a far more eloquent review, check out The Amateur Gourmet blogging about his transcendent Di Fara experience.)

Sunday I had the day all to myself and I wandered around Brooklyn with my camera enjoying the sun, snapping pictures, and stopping in a few of my favorite little shops like Fact and Fancy and Blue Ribbon General Store to pick up pretty notecards. I ended the afternoon in Fort Greene Park reading a very satisfying book. Does it get any better?

Monday I spent one of the nicest afternoons possible in Gillian's lovely backyard, enjoying delicious food, excellent conversation, great music, and lots of new friends.

And, because no weekend is complete without a little something constructive, I took a few hours to finish up my Pay it Forward suprises (can't share what they were because not everyone has received them yet!). One got hand-delivered and the others went into the mail. (If you missed getting in on the Pay it Forward fun here, wander on over to Lollychops. She is hosting her own and may just have something left for one lucky commenter!)

And I finally, finally finished the scarf for my husband that I have been working on since March--just in time to welcome him home from a long trip. Only six months in the making--that might actually be a knitting project record for me! For my next craft project (already begun) I'm concentrating on something smaller!

Happy End of Summer everyone, and thank you for all your sweet comments on my last post. Stay tuned for the first post in Project Recipe Book this weekend!

A Sunset Walk

It has been a long time since I took a walk with my camera at sunset. What a simple joy it is to capture just a little of that pink, purple and gold. Well worth the twenty-two (yes, for real) mosquito bites I got on my legs for being out and about at dusk in a dress.

Opera in the Park

On Friday night I left work a little early and rushed across town with my picnic blanket to stake out a spot for what promised to be one of the best concerts of the summer, the Metropolitan Opera's summer concert in Prospect Park. The stars of the evening, Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna, were going to be singing some of opera's famous duets.

As I saved space for friends who would be arriving later, I struck up a conversation with an older gentleman on the next blanket over. To my delight, he was a regular opera-goer and regaled me with behind-the-scenes tales and reviews of recent performances.

Friends finally arrived, laden with all manner of fancy picnic fare, from bread, cheese, and fruit, to salads, pasta and sparkling juice. They were just in time. Crowds continued to pour in, (150,000 were expected) and literally every square inch of the grass on the massive field was taken up by the time the concert began at 8:00.

Gheorghiu and Alagna were fantastic. Not only are the soprano and tenor famous for their performances around the world, they also happen to be married to one another, and they sang together in an effortless and natural way. The concert was a varied program of classics and relatively unknown works: a few duets, a few solos, and a few pieces with the chorus singing as well.

It was after the program ended and the encores began, however, that the fun really started. One standing ovation after another brought the singers back on stage again and again, where they sang some crowd favorites and clearly enjoyed themselves immensely, as did all the rest of us. By the end of the night we were clapping along at the singers' encouragement, and somehow it felt like all 150,000 of us were friends out for a night of music and fun. Definitely one of the best New York moments I've ever experienced.

With no way to record the concert, my only way to share a bit of it with you is through these shaky videos gleaned from Youtube (thanks to user qbertplaya).

Here is Roberto Alagna singing "Nessun Dorma" from Puccini's Turandot:

And this is Angela Gheorghiu singing "Un bel di, vedremo" from Puccini's Madame Butterfly:

I Have to Confess

I have been feeling utterly lethargic lately. I have plenty of blog post plans swirling around in my head, but have been unable to actually sit down at the computer to write anything out. Worse yet, I have barely pulled out my camera for the last two weeks. Considering the incredible sunshine we have had lately, and the trees and flowers blooming all around, (and the fact that just the other day on Shutter Sisters I posted a comment committing myself to taking at least a photo a day) that's practically criminal.



Spring fever? Or perhaps general physical exhaustion from trying to swim many (well, a few) laps at the gym last week? Who knows. In an effort to ease back into things, I took my camera out during lunchtime today and wandered the neighborhood a bit.



Turns out, all of Brooklyn was out and about enjoying the sun.



Fortunately the offerings at the farmers' market never fail to inspire a shot or two...



And by the end of the afternoon I was whipping out my camera to shoot everything in sight. It's funny how you fall out of the groove once in a while. It's nice to be back in it again.

A Perfect Weekend

It is a truth universally acknowledged (or pretty much so) that the best weekends begin with a leisurely cup of coffee while sitting in the sunshine, perhaps with a freshly baked banana-coconut muffin. If you can share those morning moments with an awesome cousin and her husband visiting from Chicago, your weekend is already well on its way to perfect.

Following coffee, the perfect weekend might include a walk through the neighborhood to enjoy some lovely spring weather (on perfect weekends the temperature is 60 degrees at least) and to admire the trees and flowers that suddenly seem to be blooming everywhere.

After that a visit to the neighborhood farmers' market might be in order. And if you enjoy photography, and you happen to have just replaced your polarizing filter recently, that might be just the place to test it out on a crate of apples.

Any truly perfect weekend is not complete without some activity. And if one is not inclined to be particularly active oneself (for example, if you have pretty much avoided the gym since running the marathon last November), being a spectator is a very satisfying alternative.

After a couple of hours sitting under the trees watching the soccer game and the children zooming by on their scooters, you might enjoy some lunch and then head into Manhattan to walk the city streets, see a few sights, and catch up with your out-of-town guests.


Now if you're really going for a 10 out of 10 weekend (and this basically hardly ever happens) you will get to enjoy some of your very favorite foods for dinner, and will top that off with a hot fudge sundae from the Shake Shack for dessert. That would be followed by an enjoyable movie (or episode of BBC's Planet Earth) and yet more excellent conversation.

And that's only Day 1 of the perfect weekend!

Day 2 might be a trip to Brooklyn Flea--especially exciting if it's something you have been anticipating for a while. After browsing the work of local designers and craftsmen and looking for diamonds in the flea market rough (and finding some) , you might enjoy a cappuccino at a local cafe with some friends, both old and new.


Now, people in the know may differ on this point, but I firmly feel no weekend is really perfect without getting at least something constructive accomplished. But if it is a perfect weekend, that constructive thing will not be doing the laundry or vacuuming, because those things are not enjoyable at all. Enjoyable constructive accomplishments suited to a perfect weekend are things like organizing your spice cabinet or, even better, clearing out and reorganizing your closet (perhaps putting the lovely hat boxes you found at Brooklyn Flea to good use by using them to store purses, belts, scarves and the like).

The only imperfect thing is that weekends that perfect come around so rarely. That is why it is important to finish off such a weekend with a blog post to remind yourself to enjoy weekends like those more often.

Kids in my Neighborhood Say the Darndest Things...

Overheard on Montague Street yesterday evening:

Woman: You must be excited that you will get to be part of the wedding celebration!

4 year old boy (who cannot yet say his "R"s): Well, yes and no. I don't mind being the wing bea-woo, but I weally don't want to weah that suit. It is not my style. It's pwetty ugly, weally.

Overheard on Henry Street a while back:

Girl about 4 years old: Look at my new purse.

Boy about 6 years old: Yeah, so?

Girl: It's Prada.

Boy: I don't think that's a Prada purse.

Girl: But....it's pink....

Boy: Yeah, but I don't think that makes it Prada.

Girl (very sadly): Oh....

Above and Beyond

Kimera--it's a store in Brooklyn that has rightfully earned my praise. When I was in there last night, I effusively told the woman behind the counter "This is amazing! I am going to spread the word!" And what better forum than this?

Kimera sells beautiful handcrafted jewelery, clothing, pillowcovers, bags, and other items of artesania, many created by Brooklyn designers or by the store's owner herself. I have gone in a few times to find a gift for a friend, and always come out with just the thing. (I also secretly investigate the ins-and-outs of their pillowcases because I know that, if only I had a sewing machine and knew what to do with it, I could duplicate them.)

A while back I bought a pair of earrings there for a friend's birthday. When she tried on the gift I was so pleased: they looked made for the wearer. Then tragedy struck! (Are you feeling the dramatic tension here?) During the course of the birthday evening, one of the earrings was lost. Knocked out by her scarf? Fallen in the crowded restaurant, or cramped bakery? We'll never know. She'd had them for all of 2 hours! It was so depressing. We pathetically searched around on the street tracing our steps back over 5 blocks or more, to no avail. The restaurant could find no trace of it either.

Our last (and let's face it, slim) hope was that the store would have another pair and would agree to let us have just one. I called Kimera the next day and explained the whole sorry situation to them. They just asked me to call back in a week. When I did call yesterday, the woman on the phone instantly knew me: "Oh yes, the earring. We have one for you!" It was incredible! They had gotten a second pair from the designer and were willing to part with just one of them. When I expressed amazement, the woman just said "Oh, I'll make a necklace out of the other one or something." Talk about going above and beyond in your customer service. The shoe repair place downstairs needs to take a lesson from these ladies. Now you see why I have devoted a post to them--it's well deserved for the efforts they went to on my behalf!

First Snow

Yesterday was the first snow of the year in New York City, and the coldest weekend we've had yet this winter. It was the perfect weekend to stay in, eat warm and hearty foods, knit just a little bit, and watch The Three Tenors on PBS. Still, I couldn't spend the whole weekend on the couch huddled under a blanket next to the electric heater (the heating system in our building hasn't quite worked itself out yet, apparently). I stepped out yesterday morning in my big snowboots to get a few pictures of the blanket of white that covered the neighborhood. There is nothing more peaceful than being one of the first people outside on a snowy morning. There's a stillness and a hush (yes, even in New York) that is absolutely unique. That said, I actually was not one of the first people out--many had already made their footprints in the new snow before I came along.


This weekend was actually momentous for another reason as well. On Saturday I resolved that starting now I am going to use only the manual settings on my camera (switching to programmed auto only if I am truly desperate). Just one weekend, and I'm already feeling a little less intimidated. Maybe I was helped along by the new 50 mm lens I got on Saturday that has introduced me to a heretofore unexplored range of low F-stops (down to 1.8!) These were some of my weekend experiments:

The iron fence in front of St. Ann's Church.


I don't know what this one is, but I've titled it "Cabbage Flower on a Snowy Morning."

Events of a Saturday Morning

I set out on Saturday morning in high spirits with a specific purpose in mind--to have an enjoyable morning of experimenting with my camera, such as I have not had in many weeks. I was hoping to shoot a particular scene in Manhattan, but sadly never made it that far.

As I left the apartment, tripod in hand, camera bag slung over my shoulder, I made a detour to pick up a pair of shoes that were being repaired at the cobbler's downstairs--bad idea. Turns out they *lost* my shoes! Yes! And they did not apologize! On the contrary, they implied that by presenting my ticket at the counter and insisting my shoes were still there, I was illegitimately trying to score ANOTHER pair of repaired shoes (whose, I can't imagine). Truly, I could not make this stuff up. The gentleman rifled through a shoebox full of dog-eared old tickets, found the match to my ticket, and proceeded to state it was proof-positive that the shoes had been picked up. The natural question was: why did I still have the companion ticket in my possession if I had indeed picked up the shoes already? You have to hand those in when you get your shoes, after all. Is it possible there had been a mistake? But of course such logic got no hearing in the ensuing discussion which, suffice it to say, was not pretty.

That pretty much ruined my carpediem mood for the morning, so I ended up leaving my tripod at home, canceling my ambitious plans to shoot in Manhattan, and deciding to take a walk around Brooklyn instead. I began at the farmers' market. Just looking at the pumpkins and smelling the apple tarts lifted my spirits. I didn't forget that I promised to blog some fall photos (pumpkins and such). Here's my first installment!

I passed by the Cadman Plaza field where I took a few shots of my husband and his friends playing soccer, and then I headed towards Boerum Hill, where I knew I would find doorways filled with Halloween decorations which might be fun to photograph. I was not disappointed. I loved the grouchy little pumpkin in the photo below. (In fact, that's just about the look I had on my face when I exited the shoe repair place a few hours before.)

Photogenic stoops were not the only find of the morning. While wandering around I happened across an adorable little place called Blue Ribbon General Store--basically a country general store for modern folks. They had a little bit of everything, and there was not a dull item to be found (even the laundry detergent and doggie biscuits looked like fun to have around the house). I picked up a couple of baby gifts for friends, and I saw many more gifts I would like to buy (just gotta decide who to give them to). I got into a conversation with the owner about our mutual enjoyment of Tintin (yes, they even have Tintin stuff!) and discovered the store only opened two weeks ago. I was so charmed by it all, I feel I have to pass on the word about this happy new addition to the neighborhood.

Sushi Heaven

Last Friday was my husband's birthday, so I chose to surprise him with a dinner out at a restaurant I thought he would appreciate--Blue Ribbon Sushi. Pacific Northwesterners are hard to satisfy when it comes to sushi, but I thought this might do it. What I think I may have done instead is ruined all normal sushi restaurants for myself forever after. It was amazing--from the soup, to the oysters, to the silver cod marinated in white miso, to the sushi and sashimi, to the decadent chocolate dessert. So tasty, in fact, that although I brought my camera in hopes of getting some photos of mountains of raw fish and wasabi, I forgot about it completely until the meal was over and we were drinking our green tea. As a result, the photo above is the only one I have to share.

In other news, I've been tagged. By Amy. And it's an odd one. Who comes up with these things anyway, and why do I go along with them? I have to open the book I'm currently reading (Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali) to page 161, and read the fifth sentence on the page. What I found was:

"The scabies and lice drove us mad too."

Yikes! Not looking forward to getting to that part of the book! I'll have to tag Chelly for this one.

Call it Book-lyn

When someone informed me on Sunday that the Brooklyn Book Festival was right down the street from our house, I raced down to Cadman Plaza to check it out with visions of myself walking away with armfuls of books. Turns out I didn't quite have the right idea--this wasn't a book sale, this was a literary occasion. There were tents set up with authors signing books, publishers giving away literary magazines, signs advertising readings of of newly published work, and masses and masses of people. I had to get a picture of the crowd on the steps of Brooklyn Borough Hall listening to a reading.


While wandering around wishing I had money with me to buy books to be signed by authors whose signatures might someday be worth a lot on Ebay, I discovered I was acquainted with one of the authors giving a reading that afternoon--a Brooklynite and soccer buddy of my husband's whose new novel has been on my wish list for a while. Couldn't miss that!


Ash was kind enough to save me a space in the queue, leaving me free to wander around before the reading taking pictures of all the literati (or so I thought of them).

Sneaking a Peek

A glimpse into the window of a building on Henry Street.

DUMBO

A couple of evenings ago I took a walk down to Dumbo (that's short for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass). My aim was to take a few pictures of the ridiculously creepy merry-go-round in a converted warehouse down by the water (possibly followed by some of the famous hot chocolate from Jacques Torres, coincidentally on the very same block). Sadly the warehouse was shuttered and dark, as was the chocolate shop! So, instead I tried capturing a little of the neighborhood's unique character through some of the other scenes I encountered while wandering Dumbo's cobblestone streets. The merry-go-round will have to wait until next time.

Sunset over Manhattan

This evening while watching the sun set behind the Brooklyn Bridge, I took the opportunity to experiment with some silhouette shots (after being inspired by this blog entry from the Digital Photography School). I definitely need to work on getting the light right, but this was such a pretty scene, I had to post it in spite of its flaws!

Welcome Home

This flowering tree growing down under the Brooklyn Bridge (near Grimaldi's) was a nice welcome back to Brooklyn when I saw it from a cab on my way home from the airport. It was such a pretty sight, I took a walk down to Dumbo later that week to take a couple of photos.

Blue Skies

Does anyone know the Irving Berlin song that goes:

Blue skies, smiling at me,
Nothing but blue skies do I see.
Bluebirds, singing a song,
Nothing but blue skies from now on.

This picture reminds me of those lyrics, but I can't figure out where I have heard the song recently! Film? Commercial? Soundtrack? The ladies who blast the radio next to my office?

An Evening Walk

Even the most crumbling facade becomes charming when brightened up with a pretty window box.