morning bike ride

this photo hunt of sorts is especially for my mother.

leaving the apartment at around 9:45am, i set out for Madison Square Park in Mid-Town Manhattan, in the FlatIron District. meeting a friend there, to eat at the Shake Shack [amazing burgers and shakes].

rode my european bicycle from Queens to Manhattan, taking the Queensborough Bridge [59th Street Bridge]. a view from the middle of the bridge. some construction is being done, hence the need for wrapping. i like to pretend it's Christo, or some other artist making a statement.

getting into Manhattan, i rode down Lexington Ave. to get to 25th street. these brave soldiers, having lost the use of their legs in one war or another, were out on their arm-driven bicycles. it makes me happy that they can still experience the amazing power of the wind on their faces from riding a bicycle.

arriving at the park a bit early, i noticed this building on 25th street. lucky guy, gets to look at the park all day.

at the park, i locked up my Puch and felt myself being drawn to the fountain in the center. this park is very small, but attracts a number of people for a number of reasons. it's quaint dog park, where dogs of all sizes can run loose and play, the interesting metal sculptures of trees and rocks [sorry no photo], and of course, the Shake Shack. yum.

the railing surrounding the fountain. the photo at the top shows baskets of flowers on all sides of the fountain.

this has been a very pleasant second summer in the city. so far. perfect weather today. no humidity, sun shining, nice cool breeze.

miles ridden: 10

burgers eaten: 1

alcohol units: 0 [so far]

lyla grace

my family you will always be.
and i will love you forever.

as i love your mother forever.



i love you michelle and tim.
my heart is with you.

sampaguita part II

after the first show back in March, we continued work with Sampaguita.
the goals were to show in a theater near Broadway, with a real set, as a real play, not a workshop [as the first play had been].
i took this project on not really knowing the time i would be putting into it.
but it turned out being a great experience, and i treasure my time spent with the everyone involved.

the 45th Street Theater is the venue.
seriously blocks away from Broadway, right down the street from the theater showing 'Curtains', this was an ideal location for Sampaguita Part II.
you can see the poster, which was designed by a colleague of the director's. phenomenal design. the color scheme of the set was very much based on this.

now you must understand that the set had 2 phases. the beginning of the play, act 1.

with the storyline, we enter into an apartment of a man recently widowed. this is the living room area of a loft apartment in SoHo, in the lower part of Manahattan. on the left you can see part of the kitchen/dining area. behind these areas are three fabric walls, creating a doorway into the bathroom/bedroom areas, which are not meant to be seen by the audience.

the dining/kitchen area.

fabric walls. to the left the bathroom, to the right the bedroom. this also created a changing area/backstage for the actors.

as the play moves on, the apartment gets cleaner and cleaner, as we transition from past to present to past again. the main plot line shows two time periods, moving from a present to a past memory. this was depicted using different lighting. it was quite fascinating to watch.

act two set, with lighting set to flashbacks.

--

thus ends one of the busiest weeks i've had since i graduated from college. i don't know if i'll pick up another set design project in the near future. it was very stressful, but to see the end result is so satisfying. a feeling that nothing but a finished project that i'm proud of can bring.

we all wanna be somebody

memorial day weekend. how glorious to have an excuse to run around like a crazy person for 3 days.

Saturday: Coney Island with friends visiting from Michigan.

oh i use any excuse to go to this lovely beach/carnival/hot dog stand/freak show.
i certainly loved going on the day the beach opened. luckily it wasn't too overly-crowded.
walked on the flaming hot sand.
bare feet in the freezing ice water [where people and naked babies were actually swimming!]
nathan's coney dogs with onions and mustard and chili cheese fries.

ice cream, teeshirts and best of all.
riding the cyclone!

i think is in fact one of the nation's oldest rollercoasters. built in 1927. quite amazing that it's still running and quite one of the most fun rides i've ever been on. and i've been to Cedar Point too many times.

while waiting in line. i had one seat all to myself and was sliding around. it definitely added to my excitement.
D and i on the boardwalk. you can see the parachute landmark in the background. it is beautifully lit at night. too bad i missed that. we were both afraid of the sun that day. so glad when i meet someone else who covers up as much as i do. it was so hot and a scorching 90 degrees that day. yikes. can you see the smog?

and that was my coney island adventure. don't worry. i'll be back soon sweet dirty coney island. i love you in all your glory and grime.

tees in Etsy!

with a flat tire on my bicycle and a hectic week,
i decided to stay in tonight
and make a tee to sell on Etsy.

this is the second of its kind.
the first was made for my good friend L for her birthday
[still waiting for a photo to show]

the design is very similar.

side view.
blossom petals appliqued on the front and back, with vintage buttons details.

i found a button that matches the aqua pin striped fabric perfectly.
so i sewed it into the top left shoulder of the tee. (see item on Etsy)
balances it well.

button details. fluorescent colors are so in right now.

this is the first of many tees i hope to sell. check it out!

--

my Harry Potter obsession has returned.

wine country

my good friend N is visiting from Idaho this week
so a big group of us went out to Long Island to visit wine country
we ended up at a winery out in the middle of sod farms, about a mile from the Long Island Sound.

2 cars
each packed with 5 people
my car also included a dog. Bean.

Bean inspects the unsuspecting gargoyle guarding the cow barn.

the first photo is a barn on the winery property.
i was throwing a frisbee around with a few of my friends, with cows mooing in the background.
i think i accidentally set off the security alarm in the barn as i wanted to visit with the cows.
it was a bit strange sitting on picnic tables in the middle of a large farm, drinking wine, in the middle of the afternoon.

Martha Clara. one of the only wineries we could find with complimentary wine-tasting.
we ended up buying a couple bottles anyway.

i love this group of people. i rarley spend any time with them, something i'm hoping to change.

--

today. taking my bicycle down to Prospect Park. may end up joining the same group of people for a BBQ in the park.
must take advantage of this beautiful weather.
[[no worries Rauf. i always bring water and my helmet. ]]

riding in new york

i love to ride my bicycle.
i have been loving it even more lately, as my boyfriend is nuts about his bicycle. it's quite contagious actually.

his bicycle. there is pink on it.

this month is Bike Month in NYC.
so there is something to do every night of the week, including a bicycle fixing workshop for women. i will be taking advantage of this. put on by Recycle-a-Bicycle, i get to fix someone else's future bicycle, and take the knowledge home to my own.

--

heading out to Long Island now.
more photos later.

buttons in Etsy

a lake in the middle of Central Park from my excursion last weekend.

New York was beautiful today. i couldn't stay inside for long. i took Puch out for a ride and ended up on Roosevelt Island, an island in the middle of the East River. there's a river walk that goes completely around the island, with views of Queens and Manhattan. directly underneath the Queensborough Bridge. so close i could see the rust on the steel beams of the bridge.

i was aching to get outside so badly that i forgot my camera.

i am ready to graduate to the next bicycle. i'm sorry to say it, but Puch is a bit too heavy and difficult to ride for me now, for the kind of riding i want to do. we're all in agreement then? good. maybe i can trade it for something a bit lighter. i wonder if the boys in Brooklyn would have something.

--

new earrings in Etsy!

all of a sudden i wanted to make jewelry.
a gal on Etsy had a little contest in her shoppe, and i won the cutest magnet!

tinaseamonster.etsy.com

it says, 'sometimes i worry about zombies'

so as a token of my gratitude, i sent her a pair of puzzle piece earrings. i only hope her ears are pierced.

i was inspired.
on the floor in my newly rearranged bedroom. i haven't wanted to leave it all evening. all nice and clean. the lady i'm subletting for is in town tomorrow, staying at our apartment. so i wanted my room [aka her room] to look nice.

a corner of my room, with my new chrome Target shelves. a gift from my gentleman friend. it was his suggestion to put my enormous yarn collection in my suitcase, which you can see to the right. genius.


tomorrow: rain. lots of rain.

daffodils and forsythia

i spent this holiday Sunday in Central Park.
this was part experiment, part exercise, part urge to be among nature.

despite the bitter almost freezing cold, the flowers marking the beginning of spring still manage to show their faces.

2.5 hours of walking later, here i am trying to keep warm in my apartment, wishing the weather was a bit more forgiving so i could still be out there reading my newly borrowed book.

forsythia for my parents. it's their 29th wedding anniversary today. how i'm so happy you two found each other.

lamp post

this photo was taken a few weeks ago, when the weather was beautiful and it really felt like spring was here.

this weather i wish for with all my heart.
blue skies.
warm sunshine.
birds singing.

i was walking around Forest Hills, a neighborhood in my burough of Queens. at the end of R line, which i take to work everyday [towards Manhattan of course]. it has quite the strip of shopping. a range of stores, from Barnes and Noble Booksellers, to Banana Republic, to Diesel, to the smaller boutiques selling one-of-a-kind items.

also a stop on the LIRR [Long Island Rail Road]. the Tudor-style architecture drew me in. these photos were all taken within steps of the train station. you will notice the lamp posts, the beautiful brick and terra cotta rooftops.

this clocktower is under some renovation. apparently. i like to think it was some sort of art statement, wrapping it in this mesh fabric.

walking under the bridge where the train passes over. you can tell it had been cold. the icicles were all melting.

i leave you with this cobble stone street.