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.