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!