Lovely, Lovely

This weekend was lovely, lovely. Although I was very busy with birthday parties for cute kids we managed to get some good stuff in too. My good friend Sarah helped with my party Saturday afternoon down in Battery Park City and then afterward we walked along the river and met up with Brian and Isabella. (Sarah is always so wonderful to talk to and I always want to be a little better when I'm around her.) Then we happened upon a street fair and ran into some of my other favorite people, Angela and James.

On Sunday Brian taught Sunday School and I taught the little Sunbeams while Isabella stayed in nursery without crying. (Yeah! Thanks Beth & Marci!) After church we went to Beth's house for a lovely dinner. We loved hanging out with such awesome people and laughing about silly things (like Arrested Development).

Then last night my iChat "rang" and it was my lovely, adorable niece, Emma. She was "calling" from my mom's laptop in California. Two brothers and their families were playing a Sunday afternoon game at my mom's house. (I miss that tradition terribly. We would all just lounge, laugh and play a game on my mom's living room floor after a lovely Sunday dinner.) Below are some photos of Emma...playing with Photo booth (artsy, don't you think?). I miss my family...

And I can't wait until my mom comes to visit on May 20th for a week and a half (the only time she came to visit was when the baby was born, and I couldn't really show her around then). I'm putting together some of the best of New York stuff to show my mom. So if you have any wonderful suggestions of hidden gems in or near the City please share!

Wandering in the West Village

Brian took last Friday off of work just because it was so beautiful (and he didn't have any meetings!). It was a fantastic day. I love just hanging out with Brian in the city. We wandered a lot, which we love to do. I love the West Village and tend to get off the subway there when I'm in a wandering mood. Even though I've been to the corner of Greenwich Ave and Avenue of the Americas many, many times the Jefferson Market Garden never really caught my eye (and gardens in NYC always catch my eye). Being there on such a gorgeous spring afternoon with all the flowers in bloom how could I miss it. The garden gates were open and we, of course, wandered in.

I hope to have a garden someday and I will grow all sorts of beautiful things in that dream garden. In my dream garden I have a conservatory that looks exactly like the one in the Jefferson Market Garden. I LOVE it!



After our jaunt in the garden I spotted a toy store across the street. I needed to get a gift for my good friend's baby shower so it was great. Kid O was a fantastic, fun store full of wood toys and other colorful, creative items for little ones.


After reading Amanda Soule's book The Creative Family I've decided I want to have better quality toys for my little one to play with. She only plays with plastic. For some reason, it seems healthier and more wholesome to have good, wooden (or any natural fiber) toys to learn with. But instead of buying Isabella good, wholesome toys, I bought my friend some. Maybe next time.

Picnic Ideas

I'm seriously in a mood for a nice picnic with some friends and good food. I'm so in the mood that I actually went searching for some ideas above and beyond the typical ham sandwich and potato salad (so boring!). I came across Domino's ideas and really like some of them. Now figuring out when we can get together with friends...that's the tough part...we are all so busy.

Piermont, NY

View of the Tappan Zee Bridge

After I finished my parties in Brooklyn we had a rental car for the rest of the night and just didn't know what to do with ourselves. We almost went home since we were all feeling so tired, but after missing my exist off of FDR we got a bit lost in the Bronx and then decided to head to the beautiful George Washington Bridge and drive up the Hudson. The sun was setting as we went over the beautiful GW Bridge and the sky was dark once we got out into the more rural areas.

Since Brian was navigating I'm not sure what highway we were on but we decided to take a turn off the highway and landed in a very lovely place called the Village of Piermont. It was so beautiful on a cold spring night that I can't wait to take another trip up there when it warms up and the trees fill in (also to go during the daytime). We drove along the river with views of the Tappan Zee Bridge most of the time. The downtown area was quaint and the houses huge with some of the most fantastic porches I've seen since our trip to Charleston, SC.

The first photo is from the blog La Vie En Rose which also has some other great photos and info on Piermont.

Target Terror!

On Saturday Brian and I went to Target in the Bronx (our closest one on public transportation) and I learned that suburban type shopping establishments clash with urban life. It was an absolutely horrible experience. The Target in the Bronx was just as huge as any other Target I've been to, but this one was completely (emphasis on completely) packed. The store wasn't dirty but the inventory was everywhere except where it belonged. The shelves were empty, the prices didn't match anything.

The only reason we went was because we decided to finally buy a car seat for those infrequent trips with a Zipcar (one was planned on Sunday). The cheap, lightweight car seat I went to that store to buy wasn't in stock on the floor, but in the back stock rooms. It took well over an hour and me talking to 4 different staff members for them to finally get the car seat for me. The experience seems like a dream, and odd, bad dream.

THEN...On Sunday when we did have a car for the whole day (because I was doing a couple of parties in Brooklyn) we went to Costco to return an item that I bought the last time we were there a couple of months ago. Once again it was a crazy, horrible experience. Cars were lined up waiting for a parking spot to open.

I really don't usually mind the masses of people in the city. For some reason the combination of the huge retailers that were filled to capacity with people just didn't jive with me. Besides so many of the shoppers seemed really poor andwhere are they going to put all that crap anyway?!

Messy Kitchen

I should be cleaning the kitchen right now, but no, I'm vegging (and blogging) in front of the computer. Yesterday I thoroughly cleaned the whole house (except Isabella's room) after a long, messy weekend. How does the kitchen get so messy so fast?! When Brian gets home he'll take over the computer and I'll clean the house...that's what usually happens once Isabella is in bed. Ho Hum...

Sring has Sprung!

All the plants have been outlined in the pastels of spring.

Beautiful tulips from Brian

Inside the Conservatory Garden (which is no longer a conservatory, fyi.)

Is this a white heron? It was hanging out in the Harlem Meer.

Isabella and I went out for an early morning walk (well, we were out just before 9am...so that's early, right?) We went all around the northern part of Central Park. It was breezy and a tad chilly, but when the sun came out from behind the dark clouds it was so warm and refreshing!

Edible Googly Eyes

I think these are the coolest, funnest, grossest things ever! Now I just need a special occasion, so I can try it! I don't want to wait for Halloween, or Isabella to be a few years older. The step-by-step directions with lots of photos are on the Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories website.

fun site

I just came across this website American Science & Surplus and it looks way too cool to forget about. I'm posting it here, so I don't loose it later when I want to search again. They have some wild, random stuff there.

Quack-N-Spray

Foolproof Carbide

Vermont Farmhouse

I'm not sure what started it, but since I was a young teenager I've dreamt of living in a Vermont Farmhouse. I use to be fascinated with stories or photos of rural Vermont. There always seemed to be something romantic about it all. A few summers ago Brian and I spent a few days touring Vermont and I do believe it is one of the prettiest places I've been to. It is so very green--in the summer.

I originally saw a reference to this farmhouse on {frolic}. But the farm is Riverside Farm.

The Big 3-0!

Wow! I never thought I would turn 30 years old. That's like, a real adult, or something! I thought by 30 people were suppose to have their lives figured out and know how to be confident. I haven't figured out either of those things. Two of the most wonderful things these 30 years have given me are my wonderful husband and beautiful daughter. What joy and happiness they bring into my life.

Two Lips

I really love it when Brian brings home flowers. Aren't these tulips just lovely?!

Our View

This is the view from our front windows. I really like it. It's not as open as our last place, but at least it isn't only a brick wall (like many Manhattan apartments). There are six large windows (three in the living room and three in our bedroom) that face this view. Since the windowsills are quite deep Isabella and I will sit on them and look for dogs ("oof" as Isabella says), read books or eat snacks. Those are moments I love.

New Party Ideas

teaching about worms

I've been doing these crazy science parties for over a year now and ready to make some changes. Brian's doing an amazing job of helping create a better looking website for Science Explorers. I just need to put some finishing touches and work on the layout a bit (it seems a bit busy to me). With the site change I also raised my prices. I'm a little nervous about that, but I figure I'm still at the very bottom of the price list for b-day party entertainment in Manhattan and I have a lot of great experience now.

I think I'm also ready to create some new party themes (with a science focus still...of course). Two main ideas I'm playing with in my head are: Colors (for the little kids) and Air. When I was teaching I did a class with the 3-4 year olds on colors and it was one of their favorite classes.

Here's a quick brainstorm of activities for each:

COLORS!
--combine primary colors (colored water) into ice cube trays to see how many different colors they can get (using large, plastic test tube and pipettes)
--overlay and glue primary colored tissue paper onto transparencies and hold up to light to see the colors they make
--use washable markers and color coffee filters and let soak in water to run the colors then turn the coffee filter into a butterfly
--take black pens on coffee filters and let the water soak up filter making the black marker bleed and revealing the various colors in the black (you can usually see purple, blue, pink, orange/brown)
--the milk magic experiment. See it on YouTube under Got Milk.

AIR!
A lot of my inspiration for this party came from Steve Spangler's appearance on The Ellen Show. I LOVED the air canons and then he added the smoke and it was absolutely fantastic! So, here are some of ideas for a party:

--float a beach ball on a fan/leaf blower
-use a cordless/electric leaf blower might be best
--have the kids blow out (hard) of a funnel with a ping-pong ball and the ball will stay inside
--make toilet paper fly
--blow up a large bag with one breath of air
--use air canons to knock down targets
--fill air canons with smoke and blow smoke rings
--blow up bubbles with dry ice vapor

I think the tricky part with some of these ideas is figuring out how to make them work with a large group. Or do I limit this particular theme to only 10 kids or so. I think it would need a pretty big space as well--which isn't always possible in Manhattan.

Some other ideas I just remembered that would be more demonstrations are:

plunger stuck to the table
crush soda cans with air pressure (doesn't always work and need a hot plate)
mash marshmallows with air pressure

I might be able to put together a fun party with magnets...I'll have to consider that one as well.

Paper Toys

I found this site and I think it is really great. I'm posting it here so I don't forget about it or loose it when I'm ready to use it.

The Toy Maker