A Revial Weekend

This past weekend was one of our best yet. We didn't really have much planned - that we remembered - and ended up enjoying every minute of it.

Friday we were at my studio late while I worked on touching up the edges of some paintings. After work Theo picked up pizza and drinks on his way over and we had a relaxing time chatting and working/reading. Then visited a friend in the building for a bit before we came home and went to bed.

Saturday we woke up early (for us). It must have been the sun calling us. We first thought we would make a hearty breakfast of Golden Rod (an egg dish that my family uses to celebrate Easter, I am sure it will come up at Easter and I will do a whole post on it so don't worry you will find out later what that is). As I got started Theo had a wonderful epiphany to go to Dia: Beacon for the day. Dia: Beacon is a contemporary art museum through the Dia Foundation and located in Beacon, NY. We have wanted to go since moving to New York almost four years ago now. Theo hopped on line and checked how to get there and hours of operation. Turns out we needed to take the Metro-North from Grand Central over an hour north past the Catskills to get to Beacon then it was an easy walk from the train depot. He also found out that if we got our act together in the next half hour we could catch the 9:50am train. We quickly ate some cereal, threw together a lunch and dashed to the subway to get us to the station. We were perfectly on time for the train no thanks to the maintenance on the subways holding us up.
We had a lovely ride up the Hudson River and arrived at Beacon in what felt like 70 degree weather. Enjoyed the short walk over a hill and arrived at Dia. It was massive and kind of ugly on the outside but big, beautiful and light-filled on the inside. Here's Theo as we approached. The river was off to the right and all of the buildings you see behind him is Dia. Unfortunately there are no pictures allowed inside so I can't show you what we saw. But we both agreed that we loved the Robert Smithson (known best for his piece Spiral Jetty) works the best. I also enjoyed the Fred Sandback works. After over three hours we decided it was time to go home.

For the trip back I bought a sugar and cinnamon doughnut. Here's Theo eating his half.He was kind enough to save some for me though as you can see it was lip-liking good. I have had a slight doughnut craving recently but I am doing my best to fight it since I don't really want to look like a doughnut. And my mom always says, "You are what you eat." I still want to eat more donuts though, especially a raspberry jelly filled doughnut. But the best doughnut right now would be from my hometown of Richland at the Spudnut Shop where they make incredible doughnuts with potato flour. So delicious they put all other doughnuts to shame! Maybe my parents will see this post and ship me one - hint hint. Here is a picture of me trying to show off the beginnings of my belly.Yeah, there is still not much to see there. But if you look closely at the picture you can see that I have on my first pair of maternity jeans. They have built in elastic on the sides and should expand with my belly over the second half of this ordeal.

Once we arrived home Theo had to watch the Huskies game (does everyone know that they are in the play offs?) so we rushed home to turn it on, but picked up important things like beer first. Our friends Ellie and Paul came over to watch too and we made a delicious fresh pasta, fresh mozzarella, fresh tomato, home-grown basil dinner. After we gorged ourselves on the delicious pasta and the game was finished we headed out to a show. That's right - the day was not done! We went further into Brooklyn to a bar called Sycamore on Cortelyou Rd. for live music. Namely The David Wax Museum who was playing that night. Check out their site to hear some of the music. It's fun, upbeat and they have A LOT of energy in concert. Definitely worth a night out if they ever come near you.

Sunday we rode our bikes to church and went out to brunch with Laura and Ben which was great fun. They are pregnant as well and due one week after us. It was fun getting to know them better and I think this is the beginning of long friendship. The men are already planning a bike race. We went to Apertivo in Park Slope (on the corner of 5th Ave and 1st St.) as part of Dine In Brooklyn and it was good but not the best brunch we have had. I think my favorite brunch place in Moutarde just a bit north up the street. They have amazing banana pancakes and many other delicious things but they are also closed for renovation right now. I'm a little sad about that.

Then a little grocery shopping and home. We baked lasagna and apple pie. Both delicious of course. The pie is already half gone, the lasagna will probably feed us all week though. It is huge! I had no idea how big it would turn out. We also did some cleaning and Theo took apart our vacuum so he can get a new belt for it. It may not seem special to you but having a working vacuum will be great again.

In summary of the weekend I think you will agree that it was full and fun time. In retrospect I think it was really productive too for how full of fun it was. Amazingly reviving from a long work week. I guess you can say we have decided to take the next couple months by the horns and make the most of them before I get huge and uncomfortable. And of course the lovely spring weather helps a lot! Hope you are enjoying the new spring.

Art Opening and Family Time

This past week we have been having some really nasty weather in NY. It made me think of Seattle a little but with more intensity and fiercer winds. It must have rained and blowed for four or five days straight with a rain fall of over 4 " (Theo will have to verify the correct statistics for you later). The beautiful park next to us, Prospect Park, lost about 50 large trees many of which were over 100 years old and is starting a clean-up and replant project. If you want to help the park by donation or see the damage click here. There were many other sad things that were a result of our Nor'easter.
On Saturday I braved the storm and joined our friend Shannon for a prenatal yoga class. On the way I picked up a Hyacinth for Theo. The fragrance they give off is one of his favorite smells.Maybe it was this small gift but after he had successfully avoided going out in the storm all day he agreed to accompany me to DUMBO for a friend's art opening that night. About 2 minutes after we left the house he commented, "How did you talk me into this?!" His pants were already soaked from the slanting rain. We took a cross town bus and walked another mile to get to the gallery. On the way we ran into my friend Marietta who's show it is.
As you can see my coat is drenched but we are still in good spirits! Her work is very delicate and intricate - excellent in person - playing off the light. She uses invisible/clear tape in a grid to create a pattern on paper. Here's Theo in front of one of her pieces. After we had seen what we could see we started making our way back home. We were so tired of the weather by that point that we hailed a cab which we almost never do. It was good to be home and while Theo watched the Huskies trounce Cal I make Mushroom Risotto from the Joy of Cooking. We hear that leisure time like this will evaporate once the baby joins us this summer so until then we will be living it up.

Skipping ahead in the week - over daylight savings (wouldn't it be nice to really skip it?) - we had dinner with Theo's Aunt Julie and Uncle Jim as well as his cousin Liesl, Todd and Tsia at Katz's Deli. We have been there a few times so we were ready for the may-hem but if you have never been just brace yourself to be a bit overwhelmed before you walk in the door. We shared a corned beef sandwich in honor of St. Patty's today and had a great time eating thick sliced french fries and kosher pickles and pickled tomatoes. Here's Todd eating his pastrami sandwich. Can you see how much meat they pack on that thing? It's about 3" of fresh sliced meat on rye bread with a light smearing of mustard. All their sandwiches are like that - that's why Theo and I shared. It's a very busy and well known place. You may know it from such films as When Harry Met Sally, the deli scene when she fakes the orgasm, yes that was filmed here. They even have a sign above the table where it was filmed. We were sitting in the back section which is less inhabited. Sorry we didn't get a picture of the huge deli counter or the bustling people, maybe next time. Afterward we walked through the east village grabbing a soft-serve ice cream by Thompkins Square Park and then back to their apartment. It was a lovely evening and we had a great time reconnecting with Theo's extended family.

$1 Pizza - You Can't Beat It!

(click the title for the "In Expensive NY, Pizza for $1" article from the Times this week)

As these pizza places are just around the corner from my art studio I have found occasion to visit them both. My vote is for the 2 Brother's Pizza because it's on my block and I don't have to worry about trying to cross the street. Though if I feel like I need to stretch my legs I may walk the extra two blocks and cross the street to visit the Fresh 99.

I do think that if you eat this slice before it gets cold it's a pretty good slice. Though at Fresh 99 I and my friends have realized you need to wait a little bit to eat their slice as it is usually so fresh that it will take the flesh off the roof of your mouth - ouch! To avoid this problem I advise picking up your slice and walking to my studio for a quick visit. It will be fun.

Ah, life in New York can't be beat.

Three Months and a Bit

Absence makes the heart grow fonder I hope. Here we are at last after three months of absence. I attribute the delay in posting to my lack of energy over the last three months. I blame this all on Baby Prince. Yes, that's right. I'm pregnant - we are going to parents this August!



I'm only showing a very little bit so there is no need to include a pic of my belly so here's one of us from this past weekend. We are very excited and looking forward to meeting this little one.