Is It Just Me?

Or has there been a whiff of Spring in the air this week? I thought I would add just a splash of pink to this space today, for the promise of flowers to come...

Back to Blogging

This may not come as a surprise, but I have been getting some grief about my lack of blog posts lately. The other day someone was telling me that the construction of certain gargantuan seagoing freight ships takes about six months. My brother turned to me and said, "Hey Elizabeth, that's about how long it takes you to write a blog post."

Point taken.

And there is plenty to share, so I have no excuse. There are photos being processed and posts in the works, and you will be seeing more of me here very soon. Truly. Cross my heart.

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.

Flower Power

Some weeks ago I went a little photo-overboard at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The flowers were lovely and plentiful, and there were so many crazy varieties I'd never seen before.

I have been wanting to share some of the results on the blog for a while, but couldn't think what to say about the photos.

Sometimes I forget that I don't actually need to say anything at all. Photos can speak for themselves, right?

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.

Seattle Part 2: Farm Fresh

What with all the recent activity, I haven't followed through on my intent to post more pictures from my recent trip to Seattle. No I haven't forgotten. After all, there can't be a Seattle Part 1 without, at the very least, a Part 2.


Yes, I'm back to the farmers' market photography at Pike Place market--where else could one find such beautifully arranged and photogenic produce?


All the vegetables were so colorful, it almost didn't seem normal. Can you believe the brightness of these chili peppers? They were strung up in long rows out on the street, giving everything a very festive air. (What one would do with such massive amounts of fresh chili peppers, however, I cannot imagine.)


In addition to the produce there was an abundance of fresh flowers to be found, and I was appalled to discover that a beautiful bouquet, the likes of which would run about $40 in New York, could be had for a mere $6.50. No kidding. I do believe I could see myself living in Seattle surrounded by flowers and chili peppers.

Purple Puffball

After a little online research using search terms like "purple puffball" I discovered that this lovely flower I noticed on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade is actually called a gladiator allium and is a member of the onion family!

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?

Ingredients for a Wonderful Wedding

Great weather. (check)
A beautiful setting. (check - see above)
Friendly and fascinating people. (check, check, and double check)
A happy couple. (Check with a capital "C")

An Evening Walk

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

Dandelion

Sounds like a word for a lion who is looking particularly smart, but apparently the name comes from Old French for "lion's tooth." This one was just barely hanging onto its wispy seeds on a breezy day in the Bronx.

Afternoon Nap

I caught a tulip resting against a tree on the corner of Clinton and Remsen Streets this afternoon.

Spring: Blink and You'll Miss It

When spring finally arrived in Brooklyn Heights it moved pretty quickly. The magnolia tree in front of St. Ann's church on Montague St. went through this turnaround in less than three weeks.

On April 11th:


On April 20th:


On April 30th:

Morning in the High Atlas Mountains

I've missed posting my daily photo for the past week, but I'm about to make up for lost time! For the next few days I'll be sharing my favorite shots from my recent travels.


I'm told this scene of apple blossoms on a foggy morning looks like something from Massachusetts, not Morocco, but I took this picture while shivering in the shadow of Jbel Toubkal, the tallest mountain in North Africa.

April Flowers

Signs of spring: forsythia on Montague Street.

Farmers' Marketing

The colors and flavors of the Union Square green market this morning. I took home some of those Purple Peruvian Potatoes for dinner tonight.

Brunch and Flowers

Calla lilies, irises, and bright orange asiatic lilies. They arrived with some friends for brunch on Sunday.