Friday Photo: Thirtieth Edition

Yesterday at 8:52 a.m. Greg messaged me to meet him at the airport with a weekender bag. I took a cab through the grey rain to Terminal 4 and found out I was getting swept away to California for a few days. It felt magical and like a script from a movie. We're staying at this super rad hotel with a private fireplace on the patio. Ooo la la. It's nice to get whisked off your feet {literally} even after almost six years of marriage. Bonus: I get to swing by to see one of my very favorite people in all the world who just moved to the west coast. 

Have a thrilling weekend, my dears.

+ This will make you smile for days.

+ I'm dreaming of shorts already.

+ Buy a pair. Give a pair.

+ A warming face cleanser. Perfect for winter!

+ Pretty.

+ Ashley captured a snowcapped NYC pitch perfectly.

+ Ummm...for the couple who has everything?

+ Super creative sandwiches.

+ A six-layer chocolate & marshmallow cake?!? My head spins!

{Photo credit: unknown}

How To...Be Bill Cunningham For The Day

Approximately 21 days ago I boiled a kettle of steamy tea, ducked under my duvet, popped in a documentary and 84 minutes later my spirit felt changed. I watched Bill Cunningham: New York about the New York Times' style photographer. Have you ever seen it? It's stunning and fills you with enough inspiration you feel as if you could float away. After the film I decided two things. One, I really wanted to bike down West Broadway alongside Mr. Cunningham. And, two, CJ and I desperately needed to ogle over some beautiful photography.

I happened to stumble upon the perfect thing.

Brooklyn photographer Danny Goldfield had an exhibit showing downtown called NYChildren. It showcased pictures of children from all 169 countries who now live in New York City. Perfect. So I grabbed my mini Bill Cunningham and away we went...

 

When we arrived the gallery was still and sterile and silent. I was unsure if CJ would even give the photos a single glance or demand a banana muffin and want to leave.

And then his tiny voice punctured the air in the cavernous room. "Are there any kids on the wall named Jack or Camille?" (His preschool besties.) 

And so we looked.

We found a little girl from Romania splashing in the sprinklers. Just like we do. And a little boy from China riding the subway. Just like we do. CJ stared intently at the pictures, pointing and asking questions. He was candid and real. Just like the photos.

I told him that pictures are supposed to be worth a thousand words and asked him what he thought these pictures were saying. He said they were worth "47 words," and the kids were saying they were "happy." He told me he liked the picture with a girl peeking through a pile of colored balls the best. I told him I liked the one with a little boy riding on his dad's shoulders through the city crowds. He asked if he could take "pit-tures next year." I laughed and said of course. He stood and marveled at all 169 of his new NYC friends that he will never get to meet. I stood and marveled at the one NYC kid that I am luckily enough to have met.

Art gallery chit chat. With my three-year-old.

It was a New York City scene just for me. And my own personal Bill Cunningham, take two.

In 47 absolutely perfect words.

P.S. How To...Sing Auld Lang Syne On A Bridge.

Friday Photo: Twenty Ninth Edition

Surprise, surprise. It's Friday! Greg and I are sneaking out for champagne at one of my favorite French nooks in the West Village. I love the walk home after a few glasses of a good bubbly. The city looks swirly and glowing, like the perfect abstract painting. Have a special weekend, sweet readers!

+ If you could spend a month anywhere, where would it be?

+ Did you participate in National Hat Day?

+ Psst...it's not too late to wear one.

+ This Upper West Side apartment is so ethereal and girly. 

+ A sweet serving tray.

+ And a treat to serve on it.

+ This is spot on, parents.

+ Hungry enough to eat a horse? This is hilarious.

+ Wowza! What an adorable craft project. 

+ Oh the adventures you could journal in here.

+ Good to know.

+ How to throw a pity party.

+ Have you ever received {or, cringe, had to send} some of these?

{Photo credit: unknown}

Subway Strings

Can you guess what this is, readers?

It's the New York City subway system in ribbon! Isn't that so rad? I can spot the C train! It looks so clean and simple {not always so in real life}. I am giving my apartment a little makeover and plan on framing something similar to this and hanging it in my entryway. 

What inspires you when you are decorating?

{Photo credit: Henry Hargreaves}

How To...Sing Auld Lang Syne On A Bridge

I realize we are already 16 days deep into the new year {and probably a few resolutions short}, but I wanted to share a little New York City secret. The best spot to spend New Year's Eve in the city is not Times Square {gasp!}.

Psst...it's the Brooklyn Bridge. Here's how I know...

This past New Year's Eve we had planned to play a few board games, eat a ten-layer lasagna that made our bellies feel round and happy and sip on champagne until the clock struck midnight. While cozied up on our couch we were reminiscing about old memories of the holiday and realized, strangely enough, that we didn't really have any. We've always been turned off by the overpriced drinks, large cover charges, and now with a three-year-old roomie living with us, it's all the more harder and expensive {hello babysitter, cha ching!}.

The night was very much like most nights in our home. Greg gave CJ a bath. And I snuck in a few chapters from one of the most exquisite books, The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion. In an instant, everything will change, it read.

Later we were getting ready to hustle into our pajamas, pour another glass of bubbly and click to some random New Year's Eve special. But our eyelids weren't heavy. We felt different. Fizzy and punchy. 

So we threw on our sparkly party hats and decided to walk the Brooklyn Bridge. To cross our favorite bridge as we crossed into the new year. It felt right.

And it was.

As we strolled across we could see the Empire State Building illuminating red and green. And the new Freedom Tower looked effervescent and twinkly. We passed a group of French girls that were handing out miniature-sized bottles of champagne. A guy on a bike passed out kazoos. An elderly couple with glowing green 2012 necklaces held hands and pointed to the boats passing below, a sea of sparkly dresses in the East River.

The last glimpse of the city circa 2011. I'll forever have it.

And then at midnight, magic. Fireworks popped from midtown Manhattan and from boats in New York Harbor. The crowd cheered, clanked bottles of champagne and a hushed whisper of Auld Lang Syne became a loud chant of singing voices. On the Brooklyn Bridge. At midnight. It was dazzling. 

A wave of 2012 washing over the city from my favorite perch.

In an instant, everything will change.

Bonus: I even got to smooch an extra handsome fellow at midnight.

At 12:16 a.m. we headed back home, knowing we had started out the year on the right foot. Literally. 

And next New Year's Eve? Well, we have a party to go to.

On a bridge.