monday in new york

yesterday.
i had an amazing day in new york.
i mean, it's been one adventure after another since i moved here, but yesterday was very memorable.

it started with this.

i run up stairs and down stairs at the subway station nearest my apartment. these are the stairs leading down to the Manhattan/Brooklyn bound trains. i stopped in my tracks when i saw this mess. my first thought. who would do this?? my next thought. what are these papers?? i soon found out. at least the answer to the second question. Chase Bank deposit slips. this photo reminds me a bit of Amelie, how almost every frame was tinted green, especially in the metro subway stations. this is a bit more yellow. it's my own yellow.

the train came shortly after i took this photo, and took me into Manhattan for my last day with the Residential Designer i've been working with since November. 4 hours of work later, i was heading cross-town to meet a friend, and we walked all around Manhattan, from Midtown to the Lower East Side to Washington Square Park. this loverly tower also stopped me dead in my tracks, found in a local community garden in the L.E.S.

i saw the arch in Washington Square Park [think When Harry Met Sally] from a distance, and practically ran there! my first time there. i felt like such a tourist. what made it even worse, i was taking a photo of the arch, and a girl was walking by and asked if she could take a photo of the two of us [my friend and me]. we wanted to make a joke and tell her we were actually New Yorkers, but pretended to be tourists anyway.

i thought you would like this especially [mom], as it is pretty much an exact replica of L'Arc de Triomphe. which i will hopefully see in person someday. i imagine it pales in comparison. but maybe a close second?

we must have walked 3 miles that night. ate some wonderful vegetarian food at Kate's Joint, the cutest little hole-in-the-wall. i ate a glorious veggie burger on a bed of brown rice with veggies and tahini while listening to The White Album.

my legs weren't even that sore this morning.

embellishments and earrings

as we speak, i am putting this hat for sale at my online store. as i put the finishing touches on it, i realized that i really didn't want to add the ear flaps. even tho it's very 'flapper' style.

another cabled hat. the yarn i dyed with koolaid. it turned out to be the exact color i wanted. of course i dyed some samples first, but i am so happy with the outcome. the floral embroidery is also koolaid-dyed yarn. and the vintage buttons i bought a long time ago at the most amazing antique store in northern Michigan, near my family's cottage. unfortunately, The Potato Been is no longer open, but i have hundreds of these amazing buttons to remind me of it.

i knit this with double pointed needles, meaning there is no seam.

so please visit my shoppe! and tell all your friends. i will be adding much more, including yarn, more hats, jewelry and small gift items.

i also dyed some more yarn today, which i will be putting up for sale later. joy!
my fingers are red and taste like sweet sugar.





if you could have a cabled koolaid dyed hat, what color would it be? what kind of embroidery would you love to have on the side? do you like the buttons?

please visit: pink.graffiti

off off broadway

one of the [many] joys of living in this city is that there is something to do around every corner every single minute of every day.

i traveled down to the west village tonight for dinner and a play with a friend [also know as director of Sampaguita] to support another friend Marisa [also known as writer/producer/actor of Sampaguita] who is acting in a play.

Land O'Fire.

i love these off broadway plays.
simple set.
silly costumes made of cardboard.
puppets.
very very good humor.
and Marisa was phenomenal.

what a beautiful, memorable, simple set. there were 7 actors, and part of the dynamic was to move the chairs about to be used as dining chairs, coach seats, pews.....

"Based on the story of two voyages of the HMS Beagle to Tierra del Fuego in the 1830's, Land O'Fire is the story of South American Fuegian Indians plucked from their home and transported to England to be christianized. Told from the point of view of the Indians, Land O'Fire is a timely work, hilarious yet always insightful in its examination of life interfered with and forever damaged by association with a 'superior' culture."



what happened to this warm weather i was wishing for? the wind is almost unbearable here. i'm so happy to be in my pjs almost in my bed.

bryant park

i got my wish.
new york is amazingly warm today. almost 50 and it felt so good to wander around the city slowly rather than in an insane hurry to get to anyplace warm.
i even wore my lovely blue autumn long coat. it's always a special day when i get to wear that.

i started experimenting with a bag i designed.
i wanted something on the larger side, like a tote, that i could carry books, knitting, documents, with ease, but over my body like a messenger bag.
the design needs a bit of work, but i'm happy with the bag i finished today. it's definitely usable for me.
and i used my favorite fabric. my parents brought it back for my birthday the first year they went to Paris together [for their 25th anniversary]. found at a flea market [that i hope to visit myself one day].

i've been so reluctant to use it. i cherish it. it is precious. but now i can carry it with me wherever i go.

..

the play goes on. a production meeting tonight brought me to Manhattan. to Bryant Park. one of the small beauties. right behind the Public Library [think Ghostbusters], filled with gorgeous Sycamore trees [think Paris]. the best part: they flood it every winter for ice skating. a friend of mine works right across the street [where the meeting was tonight], and he skates there every day. what a dream. here is the back of the library, framed by the Sycamores.

this is the same park where i saw "M.A.S.H." this past summer, during the HBO outdoor film festival of sorts. a giant screen was set up at the front of the park, and hundreds of New Yorkers flocked to the park, lining the sides until the lawn opened, to run and retrieve the best spot with their blankets. this was quite a sight to be seen.

flooded park. with city backdrop. the red restaurant behind the library.

my favorite part of this park are the chess tables placed around the perimeter. New York has a lot of chess players. apparently.

a brief insight

oh mystic rose! she tagged me and now i must do the list. here i go!

TEN FAVORITES:

Colors: pink, mustard yellow, any shade of green
Food: middle eastern
Month: september
Songs: Fidelity-Regina Spektor, Fernando-ABBA, The Very Thought of You-Billie Holiday, Who Is It?-Bjork
Movie: Amelie, The Science of Sleep
Sport: kayaking, rock climbing
Season: autumn
Day Of the week: sunday
Ice Cream Flavor: mint chocolate chip
Time of Day: nighttime after sun-down [me too!!], when there's no excuse to go outside and i can sit and knit in front of a great movie


EIGHT CURRENTS

Mood: waking up
Taste: black tea
getup: my favorite 'just woke up' look
music: ABBA
book: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, The Summer Queen-Joan D. Vinge, Island-Aldous Huxley
pic on desktop: ice covered tree
longing for: warmer weather
weather: absolutely freezing


SIX FIRSTS

memory: Grand Ledge ice skating
fav food: cheerios
Pet: Misti, the gray kitten
drink: a taste of my parents' wine at dinner
Cigarette: eighth grade!
Movie: i have such a distinct memory of my father taking my brother and me to see 'The Black Cauldron' in the theater. what an unbelievable scary children's cartoon! i mostly just remember the back of the movie theater. i think we left early.

SIX LASTS

Cigarette: last september, i think.
Drink: last weekend
Car ride: Thursday. my 3 hour cab ride!
Movie Seen: Arsenic and Old Lace with Cary Grant. he's so young in that film! reminded me of my cousins Todd and Lisle, and they were in that play so many years ago. [pre Audrey and Asher]
Phone Call: my best girl
Last Book Read: Something Wicked This Way Comes-Ray Bradbury


HAVE YOU EVER

Broken the Law: i have to say hmmmmm.....too
Been Arrested: um. no
Been on TV: on the news in college for my tap dancing class! i had bright pink hair.
Lied: sure.
Kissed Someone You Didn't Know: well, i've kissed someone i didn't know well....

THE FIVE THINGS YOU

You're Wearing: bedtime pajamas, my favorite batman tshirt
You've Done Today: you're lookin at it
You Can Hear Right Now: my noisy neighbors and i think my roommate is awake
You Can't Live Without: the essentials, yes. my family, my friends, my yarn.
You Do When You're Bored: read blogs!


FOUR PLACES YOU'VE BEEN TODAY

bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living room


TWO CHOICES

to be me
work for myself

ONE THING YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE

Antarctica

this is my favorite townhouse in the city. it was for sale a few weeks ago, but some lucky person or family will move into this lovely yellow New Orleans style beauty.

i enjoy spending time going inside myself. our world is always in such a hurry, and it's so easy to feel this pressure.

i have another day off. no agenda yet. maybe after my tea.

dinner party

since i've had a bit more free time, i've been experimenting in the kitchen....with food!
how fascinating.
i've been trying to really save money, so i invited a good friend over for dinner.
woke up this morning and the first thought in my head.

baked ziti.

i've been wanting to make this recently, so i thought tonight would be the perfect opportunity. i've become a real naturalist since i moved to nyc. i blame my friends. so of course i grated all the cheese myself. well. i did actually get tomato paste. i wasn't about to make my own tomato paste. that's a bit extreme. for me.

i ventured to get the ingredients to Bravo International Supermarket, a mere 5.5 blocks from my apartment.
this is a fairly new supermarket, and i just fell in love. it's a bit pricey [nothing like meijer], but it has great produce and a nice selection of organic and international foods.

on the menu.

appetizers
green pears and apples
cheeses, including gouda, fontina, parmesan
crackers

dinner
fresh romaine greens w/ dried cranberries, bleu cheese and a honey mustard vinaigrette [which i made!!!!]
baked ziti

dessert
brownies w/ vanilla ice cream [these i did not make from scratch...some naturalist!]

now you must know this is quite a feat for me. [she says in her owl pajamas]
i made my dreams a reality. and in this case, it was baked ziti.

pink grapefruit

my mother is one of my true inspirations.

i was most inspired by a poem she wrote recently entitled "Pink Grapefruit".
i know this may sound strange, but i love the way i see myself through my mother's eyes. and words. not that she portrays me as a different person, or that what she sees is not true. it must be seeing myself from the outside in, rather than the inside out.

i've been experimenting, dying natural merino wool with Kool-Aid. this powdered drink produces the most radiant, color-fast hues. my most recent experiment produced this color.

pink grapefruit.

this hat is the result of my friday night. [and a few previous nights this week] i used a few different flavors for the body of the hat, all mixed together, which came from one skein of yarn. the birdies embroidered into the side of the hat were samples i dyed, to simply see the color the yarn would be. it may be difficult to see in the photo, but the two birdies on the left are a tan orange, while the darker birdie is a deep brick maroon.

[detail of embroidery and veriegating nature of hand-dyed yarn]

this is a hat i am going to start selling multiples of at my online store, which you can find a link to, called Pink Graffiti: embellishments and earrings. i do have a few items for sale [earrings], but i will be adding more items very soon. [i know i know, shameless self-promotion]

currently working on: felted stuffed animals [also from Kool-Aid dyed yarn, some of which was done by some of my small cousins]

sampaguita

i am currently working part-time [very part-time] but luckily able to pay my bills and still have a little 'night on the town' every once in awhile.

[did i mention i'm looking for a new job?]

so i'm filling the rest of my time by volunteering, knitting, designing [and constructing] anything i possibly can, dying yarn with kool-aid, and now taking photographs of my life.

"Sampaguita". a play i am designing the set for.
a small play, written by a Filipino woman/actor/producer. it will be put on at the Filipino Embassy in Midtown Manhattan.





the room is absolutely beautiful, with wood paneling on every wall. this is the stage [the room was being used as a pseudo-gallery for a furniture exhibition]. my creative freedom is endless. the budget on the other hand......is not.

any plans for April?

premiere (in french)

there must be some sort of documentation of my time in this big beautiful enlarged engulfing city.

so i decided to start fresh.
[she picks at her nails....hoping]

going into my eighth month in new york city [my metrocards say seven on the wall; my modern chickenscratches]
i'm learning, i'm seeing, i'm walking, i'm bounding over slushmounds pushed to the side of the street after the sudden first snow storm this winter.
everyone was buzzing about it.
and everyone reacted like anyone would really.

panic and horrible driving.

as you can see the snow is hardly....panic.able.

i spent at least three hours in a taxi cab today. [not this taxi cab] manhattan is not that big.