New Ottoman

If you've been to my house, you know about the box. Is good box. Is from Fort Worth (aka 2009). At one time box held nine 32oz. containers of Mango Margarita. Is sturdy box. Was ottoman/end table for last year. Now we finally have a real ottoman.

Here is Bailey fearlessly bridging the gap. We thought about slowly pushing the ottoman away from the couch to see what she would do, but then we decided to be nice and let her sleep.

A close-up of the cow hide. I really like it. I've always wanted a piece of cow-hide furniture. The one downside is that it kind of smells funny--even after a dowsing with Febreeze.

The sides are distressed leather. It doesn't look like it in the photo, but I think it goes pretty well with the couch.

So we haven't gotten rid of good box. Now good box holds laptop. Is such good box.

One Lucky Lady

I am so lucky. I have gotten to do so much in my life. I may feel a little crappy about not having a job, but looking back I've done some pretty cool things over the years. Here are three cool things I've done:

1. Fed a baby tiger.
2. Caught (delivered) a baby.
3. Flown in the belly of a cargo plane (in a seat, not in a box.)

Maybe I'll post some more cool things later.

Times Square

Times Square is insane. At 11p shops are still open and it is swarming with people. Also, with all the lights it is bright outside. It's just odd.

Magnets

I bought few magnets in NYC. Only two of them are really souvenir magnets. I bought the Coca-Cola one because I have a small Coca-Cola collection--and the one about not doing anything with my life...well, that's just how I feel.

Flashback Friday: Pretending I'm A Model

I remember pretending I was a model doing a photoshoot when this picture was taken. We were near Cloudcroft, and the water was freezing (there is a measly waterfall going on there, but you can't really see it). I think I was maybe 6 when this photo was taken. I think my Aunt was the driving force--encouraging me to get up there for the pictures. The original photo has rounded corners. Man, I had long legs!

Morphine

On my last visit to the library I picked up an adult-level book to read. I was attracted to the cover, sprinkled with hexes, the title, Morphine, and the size of the book--small. The publisher calls this 55 page book a pearl, but I think of it rather as a nugget. Mikhail Bulgakov, briefly a morphine addict himself, reveals via a diary, the downward spiral of a doctor who becomes addicted to morphine.

It isn't a new story, or particularly revealing, but Russian literature is so distinct in its style that I found it quite engaging. I have a hold on Buglakov's book The Master and Margarita. This little nugget of Morphine led me to a full-fledged novel.

The publisher has a whole series of pearl nuggets. I might just have to check out a couple more.

Wind Map

My dad recently sent me a link to an animated wind map. It is amazing, mesmerizing, and informative. Whether you're totally into the weather like I am, or just love staring at lava lamps you'll love it.

Shoe Shopping in NYC: I Love Miz Mooz

Shoe shopping is a must for me when I visit New York City. I love Miz Mooz shoes and shop for them at Infinity Shoes. They have several locations, but the one on Broadway between 3d and 4th is the best. Abbi and his guys are always helpful and patient. I was really sad when I tried on 4 or 5 pairs of shoes and left with nothing. They just didn't have the shoes I liked best in my size.

I dragged Kitson from store to store looking at shoes. The guys on Broadway between Walker and White were not nice or particularly helpful. On a whim we went into DSW. The ONE pair of shoes I picked up happened to be Miz Mooz. Kitson spotted a couple more pair (looking for that distinctive orange box) and I found my new shoes!

I walked the soles off of my tall Miz Mooz boots on this visit to NYC. I took them in yesterday to be resoled. I just love those boots and it is worth the money to have them resoled.

Eddie Izzard: Force Majeure

When I checked out the goings-on for our trip to New York City I discovered that Eddie Izzard was going to be performing at the Beacon Theatre. I bought tickets to the show before I bought plane tickets or booked a hotel. We were a bit worn out from our day, but we enjoyed the show. I particularly liked the running bit about Marc Antony as a chicken. Izzard also talked about how he has been doing shows in foreign languages, completely--except for one word--Fuck. He talked about how he adds it in--I think my favorite was ausge-fucking-zeichnet.

So here is Eddie, playing God, or Darth Vader, not sure which. You can see his lovely red nails. The ring finger on his right hand had the union jack. His left ring finger was blue with a crescent on it-as far as I could tell.

He looked so dapper.

I almost bought merch. Everything said Cake or Death on it. I wanted a baseball cap, but I didn't like that it had a cupcake on it instead of a real cake. I ended up getting a NYC cap in a discount shop.

Eddie is still touring and I just realized he is actually coming to Texas.

Wooden Escalator at Macy's

We went into Macy's--just so that Kitson could see how big it was, and so that we could use the restroom. This old wooden escalator was really cool. I liked the sounds it made.

Lemon Doberge Cake

The only reason I manged to take a photo of the magnificence that is Lemon Doberge Cake before I started devouring it is that Kitson was there to remind me to take the photo.

One of these days I WILL write an ode to this cake. After splitting a salad, heavenly mashed sweet potatoes and a bone-in fillet, Kitson and I split this slice of cake. We were stuffed.

Oh, glorious lemon Doberge, how I love thee.

Central Park

Central Park was my favorite part of the trip. We spent almost 4 hours wandering around.

Kitson made a gigantic bubble.

A photo together near the Mall and Literary Walk.

Kitson took this great photo with reflected buildings.

The Delacorte Clock. On our way back downtown we got to see the animals go around.

Ellis Island

This was my first trip to Ellis Island. After we ate some lunch--that we bought from a deli near Battery Park, we wandered around on the small island 

I got lucky and found Anna Greif, my great grandmother on the wall with the names of immigrants engraved on it.

This is the inside of the registry room. I love the herringbone pattern of bricks on the ceiling.

Kitson with the financial district in the background. The tallest building is Freedom Tower, also known as One World Trade Center. It is the tallest building in the western hemisphere.

Statue of Liberty

This was my third trip to see the Statue of Liberty. I'm not sure any visit will top my last one. This time I didn't buy tickets early enough to go up to the crown, but we did get to go inside the pedestal.

 Selfie on Liberty Island.

Kitson on a reproduction of the Statue of Liberty's foot. Looking at her from afar, you really think she'd be bigger. I would have thought that 3 people could sit on her big toe, but no, it's a perfect seat for one.

Cronut: The Jaw-dropping Breakfast

We bought cronuts from Crumbs bakery, so they were called Crumbnuts. It was tasty, but I had to stretch my jaw open so far to take a bite that it kind of hurt!

NYC Murals

I saw three murals in New York City that I hadn't seen before.

We saw this one from the High Line.

This is in Little Italy--fairly recent, it wasn't there on my last visit.

This one on Houston Street just cracked us up. It continued on to the right, but I couldn't get a photo of the whole thing.

Sewing: 1930s Dress

My latest sewing project was a 1930s dress.  I wanted to have a dress to wear to Evelyn's 1930s birthday party. I bought the pattern on eBay. It had never been used. I didn't have to cut it out (yeah!), but the pieces had no writing on them. All the usual markings were indicated with holes in the tissue paper. The pattern came with directions, and they were fairly easy to follow.

I started with the bodice. It wasn't easy to get on and off when I was done...then I realized I was supposed to leave one side open to make it easier to get on and off. The pattern directions said to insert snaps to close the opening, but I debated putting in a zipper. Turns out that a zipper was never really seen on a 1930s dress. The zipper was a sign of an easy woman! She had that zipper there to get her clothes off quickly and easily! Ha! I can't imagine ripping snaps open taking any longer.....in the end I went ahead and hand sewed in snaps.

I ironed so much for this project! I ironed the pattern pieces--then enlarged them. I ironed at every step of the way, then at the end I washed it all and ironed it all again. Whew! This garment was constructed with a LOT of topstitching. I sewed most of it on my old 1920s Singer sewing machine. In the end I used my new Singer for the blind hem stitch and I did serge some of the seams.

Here we are in our 1930s dresses. Valerie's is actually a vintage dress. It was so awesome! In the end I used a wide ribbon as a belt. I bought some Vince Camuto T-strap oxfords to go with the dress. They were a little small. I am happy with how the dress came out, I'm just not sure when I'll wear it again.

NYC with Kitson: The High Line

Kitson and I went to New York City last Tuesday. We rode the Skytrain and Subway from JFK and then walked to our hotel. The first place we hit after dumping off our luggage was the High Line. It wasn't as crowded as I've seen it before. The weather was nice (if a bit windy), and we saw lots of blooming flowers. I can't get over how cool the High Line is.

Cupdate

Remember my new cup? Well, here is an updated picture of what it looks like now. At first only the sides were staining, and only the small ginkgo was visible. Now both of them are visible.  I think I might hit up a couple of Goodwills, see if I can find a couple more cups, etch them, then attempt to sell them on etsy.

I Dig Candlepin Bowling

I like bowling, but it is really difficult for me because in order to find a ball that my enormous hand fits in, I usually have to get a 13+ pound ball. I end up lobbing the ball down toward the pins, missing them, and hurting myself in the process.

While visiting Valerie and Family this past week we went candlepin bowling. The ball is small like the balls in duckpin bowling.

Look I can palm the ball. No worries about finding a ball. Especially with my really long nails.

Two other cool things about candlepin bowling: you get three tries to knock down all the pins, and they don't clear the pins between tries, so you can hit a downed pin and it can spin around and knock down an upright pin. As you can see in the photos the pins are tall and narrow, with no sexy curves.

We bowled with the rails up, so I did pretty well. And just in case you are wondering, you CAN bowl with the rails up and still miss all the pins.