Post Holiday Windows, NYC 2012

We literally had about 36 hours in NYC at Christmas; so our time was very limited. We specifically made the trip to see Bob's mom and our new niece, Grace. We didn't even tell anyone we were going up. Of course, we wanted to see everyone. Just couldn't do it this time.

I accidentally ran into the new space for MacKenzie-Childs on W. 57th while wandering to find my favorite pharmacy. That sounds kinda strange. But you see, this is a old fashioned, European-style pharmacy. They sell all kinds of worldly beauty and fragrance products that are sometimes hard to find in little ol' Nashville. I have to hit it every time I'm in the city. And, of course, I always find some new European beauty product that will take five years off my face. Tehe.

For future reference, Rosa, the pharmacy is at 6th Avenue @58th. Ya see folks, THIS is exactly why I need to continue blogging!!! My memory is about shot; and this damned thing is one of my lifelines! Seriously. And now, with these fancy-schmancy cell phones, I can get the information I need from LAR at any time I'm lost! Which is a lot these days, it seems. 

Oh, and, by the way, aren't the windows fab?

Labels: NYC, Christmas

From NYC, with love

Sharing a rainbow cookie.

Labels: NYC

Every Picture Tells a Story, Don't It

It seems we were just leaving NYC yesterday, yet it's already been over three weeks. It scares me sometimes how fast time flies. Ok, I'm gonna give it a try to catch up here.

We met my SIL, Mary Jane, at Riverside. She had a full two days of complete freedom by herself. Well,  except for Frankie, Dave and Bella. It was just what the doctor had ordered, little did we know. She was completely relaxed by the time we got back. Yay! Of course we had to take the "Riley" to McGuire's Irish Pub in Pensacola. Kooky place, good pub fare.

 We got in some board games while she was here.

And we had my FIRST gator sighting anywhere other than the swamps of Louisiana! Here we are off of Mobile Bay (Mobile to the top-right corner and the USS Alabama on the top left). K, I know. I know they're there, but I have never seen one. Seriously. And you know I'm all paranoid about gators at Riverside now. UGH!

It's enough to make one break out the little umbrellas and mermaids. Am I right? So we did.

When it's this easy, why not. (Except the fact that it's ALL sugar, and I mean ALL. Ew.) First MJ and I found them at the liquor store and then I found them on a jaunt to the Dollar Store (looking for graham crackers, of all things. They had 'em too!) Anyhoo, they're made in New Orleans, so that has to count for something. Yup, picked me up a couple more for the freezer. 

Let's see, I think there was an UNO tournament between MJ and the kid that lasted at least five days. The hub and I even jumped in for a few novice rounds.

 Beautiful hydrangeas filled our table for over a week from the front yard.

 Father's Day at Dean and Darlene's.

And Bella has been as relaxed as I've ever seen her. Well, for the most part, anyway.

Let's hear it for the first few weeks of summer!

Yay.

Labels: Cats, NYC, Darlene, MJ, Riverside, Summer

Happy Father's Day

This is my favorite picture of all of us. We were in New York City for the 1964 World's Fair. 

I was three, Jim was five and Johnny was seven.

Dad was 50.

Labels:  Dad, Brother John, Brother Jim, NYC

FAO "Showtz"

The kid, at LaGuardia, heading home. Yummy gummies.

On the Avenue

 Fifth Avenue. Window Shopping.

Fendi.

 

Louis. (Don't you love the wrinkles??!!)

Bergdorf Goodman's 2011 theme was "Animal Carnivale."

"Artist & Models" window, carved wood.

"Teacher's Pets," all made of paper.

 "Testing the Waters," metallics.

"Breaking the Ice," all of wool.

"The Brass Menagerie" window.

Jewels and bugs.

 The mirrored look.

Judith Leiber jeweled clutches with show mice.

Some pretty fancy needlepoint, if ya ask me! (The needlepoint animals had real feet. Ew)

It's not easy being green AND tall.

Waiting for the curtain to open.

Wait for it, wait for it . . .

 More jewels!

And, last but not least, one of my faves, of course.

Always love NYC this time of year!

City Sidewalks

 Busy sidewalks.

 Dressed in Holiday style. (The Plaza).

 At Trump Tower.

In the air, there's a feeling of Christmas. (On Fifth Avenue)

It's Christmastime in the city.

Family and Fun Up North

It was a beautiful weekend in Jersey City and it was hard to leave everyone. But I had to come back home to my Bella, now didn't I? I found this awning in Hoboken.

This is City Hall. There are so many wonderful buildings in Hoboken. Times sure have changed. When the hub first brought me here in the mid 80s, it wasn't as happy as it is now. Sure wish we still had the condo! Whew!

And what do I do whenever I'm in the NYC area? Go to my favorite bakery, Carlo's. Now you know, all of a sudden, since Cake Boss, the place has become a tourist trap. And so, we had to WAIT IN LINE to get into the shop. Oy! They even have a door man that gives you a number at the door. Well, I suppose that's the smart thing to do.

And since I've been there a million times before, I went right to the cookie counter and grabbed three tins of Italian cookies, some lobster claws (sfogliatella) and, of course, rainbow cookies for the kid.

After drooling over everything, including all the canolis, we were boom, done, outta there!

Afterward, we walked up Washington several blocks to our favorite pizza spot. Now, this is real NY pizza baby. YUM.

And yes, we opened the rainbow cookie box.

After leaving Hoboken and heading to the hub's brother's house, we got stuck in traffic from the Holland Tunnel and then the George Washington Bridge--I'm sure all due to the Time's Square bomb. How thankful we are that it didn't go off and no one was hurt. Oy.

Here's my little nephew Daniel. What a cutie. I fell in love immediately, of course!

More food! The hub's sister had a family gathering at another brother's house celebrating my nephew's second birthday. Big D was born in Korea and we celebrated with Korean food. YUM, again!

This is about the time that I heard that Nashville was flooding. And I mean REALLY flooding. I called home and found out that our house and neighborhood was good, but so many others have not been so lucky. Beth has some photos of the flooding around town. It is so sad.

Sunday was a beautiful day and my nephew was Christened in the church. Look at his little sear sucker suit! Awwwwww. My niece and son are the Godparents. How cool is that?

Here is my son lighting the Baptismal candle. If you click on the photo, you can see the priest glaring at someone. This is about the time, almost finished with the ceremony, when another family enters the church and parades to the front. OMG. Were these people raised on the streets? Do they not have any manners? They had a son who was being baptised at the same time. The priest waited for over 45 minutes for them until finally Bob's sister said Ok, enough! Let's do this thing! Then they barge in like they own the place in the middle of the sacrament? Wow. Doesn't get much better than that!

But a lobster claw makes it all better, guaranteed. We finally finished them last night at home.

We were lucky enough to get out of NY just before storms hit there and the storms here in Nashville had cleared. There was a small delay, but considering there was a bomb scare and weather was wreaking havoc, we did pretty darn well. Dodged another bullet there.

And on Monday? You never would have known there had been any storms here or that downtown Nashville was flooding.

Now, all we have to worry about is the oil gush in the Gulf killing so much wildlife, not to mention hitting our little Riverside. Please keep the Gulf in your thoughts and prayers and let's not let BP off the hook on this one. How horrible.