spring scenes in the city

I'm a country girl of sorts. But I find beauty in cities. There's something about a metropolitan skyline, juxtaposed with earthly elements, that just heightens your awareness of the natural beauty around us. A pink sunset reflecting off a glass building. An apple blossom canopy over a dingy old fire hydrant. Yes, there is beauty in these things.

Here are some images that I took recently (on my phone no less), one in Burlington, a couple in New York. Perhaps it's the dirty, man-made city stuff framing Mother Nature in such an unexpected way that makes her look even more charming and awe-inspiring.

kachumber cooler

Hey y'all. My, my. Well, well, is it the weekend again already? So, I was in New York City on Wednesday for work and before we flew back, my colleagues and I grabbed dinner at Tabla, an Indian restaurant on Madison Avenue. The food was pretty good, but what I haven't been able to stop thinking about is the cocktail I had that was out of this world: cucumbers, green chili peppers and gin. Are you kidding me?! I decided to try to find a similar recipe online and I actually found the recipe from Tabla on thekitchn.com. Yay! Friday night delight.

Kachumber Cooler

makes one cocktail

2 half-inch slices of cucumber

8 leaves fresh cilantro

2 quarter-inch slices of fresh green finger chili (any medium-mild chili, such as jalapeno or Anaheim can be substituted)

1 3/4 ounce gin (Tabla uses Plymouth, I will use Hendrick's)

1/2 ounce fresh lime juice

1/2 ounce simple syrup

Muddle cucumber, cilantro, and chili in a cocktail shaker or mixing glass until well broken and slightly mashed. Add gin, lime, and simple syrup and shake vigorously. Strain into a double rocks glass, half filled with ice. Garnish with a slice of cucumber.

hamptons, friend time and some magic party fun

I realize that if I'm not careful this is going to become the blog of Penelope posting her pictures from different beach locations. So be it. It's summer, we're not taking a real vacation since we had the honeymoon and so to the beach on the weekends we go!

Our latest weekend trip was more than just your typical car-ride to visit friends. For one, we went a little further to East Hampton to visit my friend Brooskie and her husband Chris. For two, we didn't drive. We flew to New York and then took the train out to the Hamptons! How very grown up of us.

We brought the sun gods with us. And spent hours upons lovely hours lounging at the beach, dipping in the ocean, people watching. There was a lot to see, that's for sure. And on Friday, after a day soaking up sun and salt water, we were just craving some fresh seafood.

So we went to a local chowder house, ordered tons of yummy takeout and brought it to the beach where we built a fire, ate our dinner and sipped on champagne all under a beautiful moon with the waves crashing nearby. Yes, very magical! Afterwards we made s'mores.

Saturday: more beach, more swimming. Later, Chris busted out his Shelby Mustang and took us for a ride. Holy Cow! We rode that baby to their friends' house. The friends with a ton of kayaks. They took us out on the bay where we watched fireworks.

Could this weekend get any more magical? Why, yes it could!

Turned out that our friends Becca and Henry were out in East Hampton the same weekend. Becca was there for work doing some PR for Paul Rudd and his new movie Dinner for Schmucks. She put us on the guest list for the premiere afterparty, so after kayaking, we tailed it back to East Hampton in the Shelby, threw on our party outfits and showed up at an oceanside mansion UNfashionably late since the party was almost wrapping up, but we got a good hour in catching up with our friends, drinking free drinks and spotting celebrities (none of whom I knew or recognized, except for Paul Rudd who was sporting a gnarly beard).

The next day, Col and Chris woke up early, since there were finally waves and got a good morning in surfing. Meanwhile, Brooksie and I drove to Amagansett to the Hampton Chutney Co. and got breakfast dosas (an Indian crepe-like wrap with egg and cheese and lots of goodies plus chutney inside). For a drink, I got an iced cardamom coffee, which was pretty much one of the most amazing coffees I've ever had.

On the way back, Brooksie pointed Kelly "NYC Housewife" Bensimon's house (we saw her in person downtown just a few minutes later). Did a teeny weeny bit of shopping. Then went to Georgica beach to get a few more sun-hours before hopping back on the train to go home. Col and Chris surfed some more. I tried to read, but really all I wanted to do was lay there and soak it all in—how lucky we are to have such great friends, to be in such a beautiful place, to have the means and the time for little weekend get-aways like this. Amazing.

Here are a bunch of pics that Brooksie & Chris took. We were took busy doing nothing to take any of our own:

nyc yippeee

The last time I was in New York was over a year ago to celebrate Mark and Kathleen's engagement. Over a year! They're married now. Now we're married too. We went back down to New York last weekend for another engagement party—this time for Spencer and Courtney.

I love going down to New York to see Courtney & Spence. They always show us a good time and bring us to some tasty restaurants.

On Friday night, we got in to the city and went for a late dinner at The Redhead. It's this tiny little gastropub in the East Village specializing in southern comfort food. We got snacks at the bar while we waited for a table: bacon peanut brittle (yes, believe it!), house-made potato chips and french onion dip. For dinner, I got a green goddess salad with fresh spring asparagus and peas. Then the most amazing shrimp and grits I've ever had, albeit a tad salty (Oh well, a little swell in the feet won't hurt, I reckon.) Colin got fried chicken and cornbread. Spence and Court got burgers.

And we all shared a taste of the buffalo-style sweetbreads. Tasted just like chicken! Mmm. I actually liked it.

Saturday morning for brunch, we went to The Breslin at the Ace Hotel. Another gastropub kind of meal, but with more of a Brit style. It was super excellent. Get this: segmented grapefruit with ginger sugar and mint. Grilled 3-cheese sandwich with ham and toad-in-the-whole egg. (That's what Spencer & Colin got. Insane.) I got yummy poached egg atop curried lentils. Can't remember what Court got.

We shopped around for a bit to walk off brunch. Walked through a farmer's market. Courtney left us to get ready for the party. It was hot and sunny—even in mid-March. I had to strip down to a tank top.

Lots of walking. Visited the Burton store in SoHo so Col could flex his muscles. Grabbed some Cuban coffee on the way home—iced cafe con leche. Papa would've loved it.

Then it was time to get ready!

We dolled ourselves up and headed to Gemma at the Bowery Hotel for the engagement party dinner. The others were there when we arrived. Everybody looked so pretty and dapper and ready for a good time. Couples were seated opposite each other. Very proper. We decided to get tons of little plates and pass them around. Perhaps I was distracted by the company and conversation, but I can't really remember much of what I ate. The one thing I do remember was the chicken pate, which was very good. And the atmosphere was lovely.

After dinner, we went to the Bowery Electric for the party. When we arrived, there were buckets with champagne all set out in a private room. There were cute little napkins printed with Spencer and Courtney's names. There were other guests too. We danced and danced and danced. Spencer's sister earned the official title of Breeze, rightfully so. I couldn't live up to that performance. Everything else went off pretty much without a hitch with some excitement mixed in: the prom queen bachelorette entourage crashing our party, a late-night excursion up to the rooftop, some karate kicks, a few cuts and scratches, and a purse full of hot sauce:


(I can't believe that's the only photo that came out from the entire weekend.)

Woke up the next morning. Grabbed some bagels, some hot coffee. And it was time to go. Already. Boo! We'll have to go back again real soon. Love you guys.

nyc, home

Just got home from a weekend in New York. We went down for a send-off for Mark & Kathleen—a sort of bon voyage to new adventures in England and congrats on the engagement all wrapped up in one fun weekend blitz. Highlights: another fabulous Moroccan brunch with Courtney at cafe Mogador; NY Firefighters save the day (and the apartment next door); a lovely bottle of white wine from the little shop around the corner; an out-of-this world Italian dinner at Aurora in SoHo; late-night dancing at Lit (that place never lets us down); and of course a 3 a.m. slice of the best white pizza ever. I want to tell you all about it and post pictures, but I'm just so tired right now. Gotta go to bed. Loveyoubye

sunday styles

Can I just tell you how much I love the voice of Bill Cunningham? He's the gentleman who narrates and photographs the "On the Street" audio slide shows for the New York Times. His voice is the essence of old New York glamour and he has such a joie de vivre. It's hard not to smile when, in a recent show, he talks about how much money the French spend on baby fashion. And I was delighted to hear/see that sapphire blue and fuchsia (or any bright color), with an accent of black, is the freshest look for fall. We all need a little break from real news, right? Why not check out some street fashion today? (Make sure your volume is turned up!)

Watch it now: On the Street | Joie de Vivre

Here's today's slide show with pictures of fall fashion in New York City: On the Street | Windward

i heart halloumi

I always dread the drive down to NYC. Mostly because I know we'll be spending just about as much time in the car as we do on the actual streets of the city. But you know what? In the end, it's always SO worth it. We drove down to stay with our friends Courtney and Spencer last Friday night and got in around 12:30. I went straight to bed and didn't wake up till after 10 the next morning. The boys had already gone surfing and were on their way back to the city by time we gals got out of bed.

Courtney and I decided that their absence was a perfect excuse to hit up Cafe Mogador next door for a Moroccan brunch. I ordered my favorite dish: poached eggs with tomatoes and halloumi cheese. Mmm, it's so good! You just can't get that kind of meal in Burlington, Vermont.

After brunch, Courtney and I decided to go get our nails done. For $10, I just couldn't refuse. And I was so inspired by my nail color, I bought a skirt to match it from American American and wore it that very night. Here's me, waiting outside Lil Frankies for dinner in my new purple skirt and my new purple nails:

Dinner was so yummy. I had handmade beet and ricotta ravioli and a delicious Italian white wine (I don't remember the name; it was in Italian). After dinner, it was time to celebrate Courtney and Colin's birthdays. We went to a karaoke place in Little Korea. It was... a little sketchy.


The walls were covered in silver mirrors and there were white fake flowers hanging from the ceiling:

And the song list was mostly in Korean...


Still, we had a blast with tambourines and all. We finished the night on all cylinders with a late-night dance party in the basement of Lit:


Next morning, Col and I stopped in for another Middle Eastern breakfast at Cafe Orlin, before heading out of town. Short trip, but so good. Thanks Court & Spence! Hope we see you soon (and that it's for a house-warming party). xoxo

what other presents?

By the way, I'm still doing the present a day thing for Col's birthday. Tuesday, I gave him a subscription to Dwell magazine. Yesterday, some DVDs. Today, I did him a favor. Not quite sure what's in store for tomorrow. We're driving down to New York after work. Maybe I'll give him this: a good attitude for the entire 6 hours in the car :-)

today is thursday

I'm really bummed about it, but my camera died almost as soon as we got down to NYC and I realized that I didn't bring my charger. I did manage to take a couple pictures at the Gershwin. That was on Saturday afternoon. The Gershwin is right around the corner from the Flatiron building. We checked in and then headed down to SoHo to get in some last minute shopping. That was fun. I got a new vest at H&M (the only thing I allowed myself to buy for me--it was only $15). But other than that, I just had fun walking around and checking out all of the crazy people.

Later in the day, we met up with Chip and Susan, and then Spencer (Courtney had already left town for Christmas). We went back to Spence's on St. Mark's Place and had dinner nearby at 3 of Cups. By the time dinner was over, it was already time to go out, so we first stopped by the Library (Spence and Colin's favorite old haunt that has stacks of books you can take out on loan--like a library). There's also a pretty rad jukebox. Colin kept calling it a dive bar. But looking around at the clean bar and the tame croud, I thought to myself, "Geez, I guess he's never been to Jasper's Tavern before." (That's in the Kingdom.) To its credit as a dive, there was one loo there that didn't lock. But I kept falling asleep. So we decided to move on.Next stop was Lit. At first glance, it just looks like a regular place, but downstairs in the basement, they play nothing but old style 50s and 60s rock and roll. There was some boogie woogie, rockabilly and some "do the twist." So we rocked and danced and twisted and turned all night long!

Then we got pizza and I was so hungry from dancing so much that I ate some of Colin's bacon and sausage slice. It makes me oozy now just thinking about it.

finally, shhh

You've probably been wondering where I' ve been. Not far, really. Just not here.

The last two weeks at EatingWell have been frantic prepping and delivering content to partners new and old before the year closes. Not to mention gearing up for a bonus 10 days off. That's right, 10 days. From now till the 1st, our offices are closed. So I'll have lots of time to catch up on blogging, scrabulous, and other fine distractions.

But I'm not quite there yet. First things first: wrap presents, do laundry, pack. Then we're off to NYC in the morning. That's where we'll relax: for a night at the Gershwin Hotel (can't wait to go back!). Then a night in Katonah. Then up to Newport for Christmas in the Kingdom.

My mother is roasting a goose. She's already made the figgy pudding. And our long lost sista is making her way back to the East Coast just in time for a bonfire on New Year's. We'll get some riding in at Jay Peak for sure. We'll get in some fireside lounging too. I'm just so excited for it all, I can't contain myself.

Happy Friday Everyone!!

tons of photos from the weekend

We took lots of photos over the weekend—in Katonah for Thanksgiving and then in New York. Here are some of my faves. If you're feeling ambitious, you can see the full lot here.

visiting spencer & courtney

It's always so much fun visiting our friends Courtney and Spencer in New York. They like to show us a good time. And they like to do the same kinds of things we like to do when we have the day off—like eating yummy meals at nice restaurants, walking around and going into shops, and having dance parties in the living room.

We took the train in yesterday from Katonah, dropped our bags off at their place on St. Mark's Place in the East Village and went to grab lunch at Jane. I got an arugula salad with dried cranberries, roasted pumpkin seeds and blue cheese and a glass of viognier. It was the perfect Saturday afternoon lunch. They have really good french fries at that restaurant—they cook them with rosemary, just like my mom's roasted potatoes.

After lunch we walked around, went into shops, waited in the bathroom line for 25 minutes at Starbucks. Yeah, that's right, 25 minutes. Checked out some more shops and then stopped in for a drink at Lolita—a chill bar with some pretty snazzy light fixtures and a good soundtrack. They were playing Arcade Fire the whole time we were there. We were totally into it.

We came home for a while. Had some drinks. Courtney told us about her new exciting job. Spencer and Colin played music. We danced a little. And then went out. We sort of forgot about dinner. So before bed we got pizza slices at Strombolis. It was the perfect New York night.

This morning Colin and I got up and walked to the Porto Rico coffee shop a couple blocks away. It's very small. Only a couple of people can fit in there at the same time, because the whole back of the shop is taken up by big burlap bags full of coffee beans. The place has got charm. Last time we were there it was pouring buckets and buckets. But today the skies were bright blue and clear, so we sat on the bench outside the shop, drank our coffee, and watched the styley people walk by.

One guy carried a boom box that was blasting rap music. It seemed a little early for that. Col said, "I bet he pressed play right when he woke up." (The guy was totally jamming.) I said, "Maybe he never turned it off from last night."

A gorgeous French couple ducked into the coffee shop. I always get a funny feeling in my tummy when I hear people speak French. The woman had a great outfit on. A guy in rollerblades skidded to a stop right in front of us and dashed in to get a pastry for breakfast. (I'm liking this coffee shop more and more). Rollerblade man dashed out as quickly as he dashed in and almost got hit by a car as he rolled into the street. A woman was buying a bagfull of chocolate-covered espresso beans for her daughter who was going off to school. There were more people, but I'm too tired to write about it.

We got brunch with Spencer and Courtney and then we went into a second-floor toy shop called Toy Tokyo. Colin bought four more metal robots to add to his collection. We'll need another shelf to hold them all now.

We're back at the apartment. Courtney's reading in the bedroom. Colin and Spencer are watching Return of the Jedi. And I'm at my computer. We're eating skittles to take the edge off breakfast. And that's that for now. Maybe I'll just take a little nap...

toast and typing

Today I'm thankful for working from home (once-in-a-while). And toast with butter. I'm just wrapping up loose ends before we take off for the long week-end. Col & I are going to spend a couple days with his family in Katonah, NY. Then off to the city for a night. The kitties will stay home. I'll miss them terribly I think. They know something's up; but they'll be in good hands with our neighbor's son.

I'm now completely outfitted for the snow season. Colin came home from work last night with a sweet pair of boots for me. Supreme Heat. They're totally hot—in more ways than one. And they're gonna look even hotter in my sleek houndstooth bindings. These are all things that I'm grateful for...

TTFN.

Spencer, our friend

Spencer called yesterday. That's our friend from New York. What does he like?

"He likes McDonald's," Colin says.

What else?

"He likes taking pictures of people around the world. He likes music. He likes movies. And he likes laughing. And he loves his girlfriend, Courtney." We love her too.

Why do we love Spencer?

"Because he's nice," I say. "And because he makes me laugh and because he's curious and likes to show us neat things in the city and take us to good restaurants."

"And because he's a true friend," Colin adds. "He cares. He helps me out in need. And can laugh at himself." (Remember, fruit basket weekend).

Here's a poem by Colin for Spencer:

Short, built, and funny
Looking, that is,
Spencer's our friend
Who knows what life is:

Sometimes serious, but mostly
A joke.

Spencer, thanks for keeping us stoked.

a tree grows in Brooklyn

I've always wanted to read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. I've always wanted to read it, because so many friends have recommended it to me. Not because I knew at all what it was about. But you know me and books. I have such a long to-read list, I never end up reading anything at all. Finally, this weekend at the beach, my friend Courtney threw it in my lap. I had no choice but to sit down and start reading. I had no idea what I was in for...

Based on the title alone, I would never have guessed that the book is about an 11 year old girl, Francie, coming of age in the slums of New York. In today's context, the title has a much different meaning than it did a hundred years ago, when Williamsburg represented the rough tenement district of New York. Nowadays, Brooklyn is a great place to live (if you like the city). With that in mind, the image of a tree growing in Brooklyn holds a lot more meaning. It's inherently hopeful, against all odds. Only sixty pages in, I can say that the novel is one of the most significant I've ever read. And I've read a lot. It's full of imagery, history, and personal insight. And to boot, good story-telling too! I love this little girl Francie. She has much to teach me.

I'm also quite surprised I never had to read the book in my American Lit class. The one girl-coming-of-age-in-the-slums-of-New-York novel that I did have to read was Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, a 60-page realist novel by Stephen Crane. Realist maybe, but not real. How could a man in the late 1890s successfully write such a personal and intense story about a little girl and her sexual growth in a way that has any real womanly insight? Needless to say, I felt no connection to it and would have done well to skip it all together and read Tree instead. Maybe you would too.

That said, I still have to finish the book and might feel completely different by the end. But I'm willing to bed that the ending is not so dire, morbid, and utterly useless as the Crane version. Let's hope so.

day with the dinos

In New York. Col and I went to the Museum of Natural History yesterday. It was so cool. I think my favorite skeleton was the giant armadillo--the sign called it a "tank on feet." Too bad we didn't get a picture. But here's the dino that greets you when you walk in. I guess I never really believed dinosaurs existed. I'm not sure I do even now. Are those bones really real?

Col really liked the astronaut ice cream. We tried the neopolitan flavor. It's dehydrated and kind of sticks to your teeth.

We saw a giant blue whale hanging from the ceiling and an artist's rendition of a giant squid attacking a sperm whale. Holy cow. I say "artist's rendition" because here's one thing I learned: no one has ever seen a giant squid alive in its natural habitat--only washed ashore or in a net. The only evidence that this underwater battle occurs is from circular scars on the whale's skin from the squid's tentacles. Cool.

The planetarium (or planeH-arium, as Col likes to say) put on a space show called cosmic collisions. I got car sick from all of the spinning stars, but Robert Redford's voice-over soothed things back into place.

to reflect

Sometimes it's so easy to get caught up in the moment, to feel so full of life and friends and feeling. And then you wonder: how can you possibly put this all into words? So that you can forever instill the moment in your memory and so that others can also enjoy your experience through the story you tell.

William Wordsworth described this feeling so well when he wrote his poem, "I wandered lonely as a cloud." He came upon a gorgeous field of yellow daffodils. It was a very striking moment in his life, but it wasn't until he came home and spent some time reflecting on his couch that he was able to fully understand its significance:

I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

We're back in New York again. We went back to Lil Frankies. We drank wine and ate our fabulous meal. Now I'm back on Spencer & Courtney's couch reflecting on the night, and I just have to thank Wordsworth (what a fitting name) for putting into words just how I'm feeling right now. And for giving me the a-okay for not having the words to describe it. For letting me know that it's okay to be laconic sometimes. The importance is in taking the time to reflect. And right now, I'm just really reflecting.

new york, new york (L.A. no)

At the end of March, Col and I took a trip to New York City. Actually, the purpose of the trip was two-fold: to visit our friends and to attend a baby shower in Connecticut. The girlfriends went together (the boys stayed in the city, watched ninja movies, and ate Burger King). We three--Courtney, Kathleen, and I--took the train to Norwalk. It was just like that episode from Sex and the City, with the single ladies from New York dressed in black next to the mommies in pastels talking about their diaper genies. We felt a little out of place despite the excitement of seeing our friend with a very large round belly.

Later that night, back in the city and back with the boys, we met up with Courtney's friend Fran at Little Frankies. The restaurant was closed, but we stayed there at the bar drinking wine and scotch and listening to this crazy English guy (who's in love with Fran) play us songs off his playlist until 5 in the morning. The best one--and the one that's still in my head--was Major Tom by Peter Schilling...

4...3...2...1...
Earth below us...

Courtney and Fran were off their stools and dancing at that point. Colin, Spencer, and I had started our own little conversation about Col's job: he had just found out the day before that Burton was going to move his entire department out to L.A. He had to decide if he would go out there. If he didn't, he'd be out of a job.

Drifting falling
Floating weightless
Calling calling home...

Sitting there at Little Frankies I just couldn't imagine leaving the East Coast. Neither could Col. But good jobs in Burlington are scarce.

Fran said, "Why don't you just move to New York?"

"I'd move to New York," I said, quietly acknowledging the surge of unease resurface in my belly. "I'd much rather move to New York than L.A. If I had to choose."

When I think about what inspires me, one thing that comes to mind is place. Or places. That's why one of the reasons I've been in such a funk over the idea of L.A. In my gut, I'm just not drawn to that particular place. Not like I'm drawn to Provence or Vermont or New York. Still I could imagine myself living on the beach somewhere in Orange County, writing my book, hanging with Poopy, never missing a blog posting...but then there's the freeway and how would I ever get from here to there on foot?

Sunday morning and time to go home. I always leave New York feeling nostalgic. It's a sad kind of nostalgia. I'm reluctant to leave, yes, but I think the sad nostalgia is also due to an emptiness that falls in place after living and breathing concrete soul for two days. It's not a fantastic feeling, but there's a residual guilty pleasure tacked in there too.

Because the fact is, I love New York. I love watching the streets and storefronts whiz by as we make our way back to the good old Green Mountain State. Back to work. Back to kitty. Back to daily life. But what if this New York were my daily life? The sidewalks and Cafe Mogador. Spencer and Courtney living next door... I just don't know yet. Col's still in limbo with his job and I'm feeling an uneasy excitement at what's in store.

For now though, I'm just fine and dandy in Vermont.

big heavy sky

Sometimes the sky can feel so big.

Not so much when it's completely empty, clear and blue, as you would think. More so when it's peppered with small floating objects--stars, clouds, seagulls--in point of reference to its massive size.

When the sky feels so big, other objects on land seem disproportionate. Large billboards so up close dwarf the industrial rooftops below--so close together--industrial buildings piled so close together like metal cars on a train, toppled together.

They must breathe

in unison--in an out--in unison so as not to burst at the architectural core.

The buildings breathe in the hot heat of night. Breathe in the Harlem shadows, shifting in silhouette as we whiz by.

The night sky is big tonight, small electric pink clouds hang so high above. The sky is big, but is not airy and offers no escape. The heavy night suffocates the breath. We race to squeeze through the drowsy buildings before they collapse in on us. Envelope us in the night. And my eyelids are heavy. So heavy.