breakfast for lounging

Pancake pillows! Love.

tomato jam

Made some tomato jam...came out sweeter than I expected, but it was still pretty good with toast and eggs. I'm going to try it again with a little less sugar next time.
Image from here.

love you forever

Love you forever at the Dumbo Arts Festival (shot by me).

red hook

Rode my bike to Red Hook and ate a lobster roll, Maine style.

All photos by me.

morgan library

Originally I had planned to go to the Morgan Library to see this exhibit. After wandering around the rest of the exhibitions, I was set to leave when I saw a small sign leading to the original library and figured I might as well get my $15 worth and see everything. Man - what an incredible space! Complete with coffered ceilings, secret staircases and a Gutenberg Bible, Pierpont Morgan's monument to his rare book collection is a space worth visiting.

now i'm annoying even myself

I'm still on the hunt for new bedding which came to a head this last weekend when a sweet friend was visiting and commented "oh, you still have that bedding" in a nice way, of course, but c'mon, this is getting ridiculous. I was all set to get this or this, but for reasons unknown to me, my husband vetoed both. ANYWAY, some new contenders, above and below.

Above and below.

Above and below.

Anything? I'm leaning toward a grey/yellow/cream palate so I don't have to buy new sheets.

at the ballet

Sometimes it can be overwhelming with all there is to do and see in New York, but the fact that you can hop on a subway and see a world famous ballet performance is pretty special in my book.
Image from here.

staten island ferry

Took a sunset cruise on the Staten Island Ferry to get some killer Italian food.

All photos by me.

greenwood

Greenwood Cemetery was founded in 1838 and was a huge tourist attraction in the 1860's (this was before the creation of public parks, so it was one of the few landscaped green spaces New Yorkers could visit. Apparently, there were carriage rides and other attractions). Today, you can visit the rolling hills and get a free glimpse at some pretty amazing architectural monuments. Some may find it creepy, but I thought it was fascinating.

All photos by me.

interweb randomness

A curtain made from pasta! So clever.

Caramel crumble apple pie - I have no words.

A beautifully illustrated book about farms - love it!

union church

We stopped by Union Church on our way to Stone Barns. Unfortunately, we got there about ten minutes before they closed, but their volunteer gave us such an incredible tour that it seemed well worth the brief visit. I wasn't allowed to take photos inside, but the church hosts some breathtaking stained glass windows from Chagall and Matisse.

Photos by me.

blue hill at stone barns

If you read this blog regularly (hi mom) you know that I love to eat, so Jeff and I were beyond excited to visit Blue Hill at Stone Barns, a culinary mecca about 45 minutes north of the city. We showed up early to explore the grounds, which were so so lovely. I don't have any pictures of the meal (it was pretty dark in the dining room - there is a nice flickr set here if you are curious), but I can assure you that it was one of the best I've ever had; everything was truly exceptional - from the food to the presentation to the wine to the service. I took a ton of pictures of the property - so there is a bit of a photo overload here. Enjoy!

All photos by me.

cheese club: a visit to astoria

Cheese club took a field trip to the Greek-centric neighborhood of Astoria in Queens. We started with grilled cheese sandwiches and a cheese plate from the Queens Kickshaw (below).

We visited a couple Greek and European markets, including Mediterranean Foods...

...and finished our day with a cheese plate and mushroom panini from Il Bambino.

All photos by me.