park : let's play!

video : fun boat behind from kings of convenience

the new union square playground is really cool. if you speak into the orange funnel the person across the playground can hear you from the other end. so old-fashioned! the disk above wobbles around if you lie on it, which i didn't do.



pretty nice view from underneath the slide i'd say.



you can spin and bounce and spiral until you're dizzy. i love the patchwork rubber ground covering, which is soooo cushiony. man, where was that when i was a kid? my poor gravel-embedded knees want to know. enjoy your weekend!

xo, cindy

ps happy birthday to michelle. hope it's great!

project : this & that

video : innocent by stereophonics. hubba hubba, kelly jones.

jamie of small expectations has started a new project called 'this + this = that'. each week she will post two inspirational images and the task, should you choose to accept it, is to come up with your own photo, sketch, poem, whatever.

the first week's inspiration was an alpine sledder + a jeongyun chandelier. it sounded pretty hard to me, but i thought about it, and had a couple of images i've never used before. the lena corwin chandelier photo was taken at brooklyn flea a few months ago and the hilly-bench in long island city when we had the snow storm.

although i can get totally distracted by projects created by other people, i find them to be really good creative exercises. think about doing it, too. you can read more details here.

xo, cindy

ps that bench also reminds me of humps and it's wednesday. happy hump day!

life : early love

song : halo by beyonce from hope for haiti now
for dear joyce - kelly, we can see your halo.

i know it's early, but i'm looking forward to valentine's day this year. it's the love part. enjoy your week. hope it's lovely.

xo, cindy

ps we made pot roast this weekend with homemade croutons & noodles using this real simple recipe. we added some carrots and couldn't wait to take a picture of it. maybe the leftovers?

pps the darling clementine mouse is from soto softies and the love note twig by stephanie congdon barnes. the mouse will be back.

home : nice gestures

song : heaven right here by jeb loy nichols

thank you for your sweet comments on our last post. they were special because at the end of the day i think i'm just a regular girl and anyone could do what i do. so, reading your nice words means a lot to me.

transitioning between posts can be tricky. it's strange to me when a blogger writes about a stressful experience. then, everyone pours their hearts out with sympathy or advice in the comments and the blogger never references it again. or, they're suddenly over it and write about the next new fantastic event. this week has been strange. haiti, a cured husband, new babies, and a friend's loss. where do i go from here? mmm ... let's go home.

scott realizes that I don't always eat breakfast, especially on my days off. so, sometimes, he tries to give me a jump start by putting out bread + butter for toast before he leaves for work. he also makes the coffee. last week, i thought i could do a little bit more.

thomas' toasting bread with butter & vermont maple sugar, delicious liberte mediterranee yogurt and honest juice one day. a heart shaped egg the next. well, sort of, the egg was supposed to show a heart design in the center, but i had too much egg. that's fine, waste not want not. i saw the idea in instyle magazine of all places. here's how to make it -

- cut a shape in the center of your bread. a heart is nice, but scott likes a car.
- melt 1 tbsp of butter in a non-stick skillet. i butter the bread so it browns evenly.
- cook both pieces about 3 minutes over a medium-low heat or until golden.
- with a spatula, flip each piece over. break the egg in the center of the cut out. season with salt & pepper. cover and cook for 2-3 minutes or until the egg is set.
- they say serve with love, which sounds like the best part and reminds me of the movie women on top with penelope cruz. scott loooves her.

making that little heart toast reminded me of the homemade croutons my mom would serve with her pot roast & noodles. i really want to make pot roast, but her recipe is packed away someplace in my brother's attic - my fault. if you have any recipes, i'd love to know about them. enjoy your weekend!

xo, cindy

life & loss

i knew grace was about to give birth to her son any day. on monday morning, i checked my reader and saw she had a post about her first contractions starting. i also knew deb's father, nate, was ill. i saw she had a post and went there next. sadly, her dad passed away late last week. i'm sure it's a coincidence, but strange how these things happen. it's not the first time.

as you know, music is really important to me. i really look for the meaning in lyrics. when my mom passed away a few years ago, the company i worked for closed a couple of months later. it was hard. i discovered keane's under the iron sea, which is a beautiful album although a bit dark. my insomnia was raging at the time and i would listen to it at all hours - 2 pm to 2 am. there are still songs on that album that can make me cry as they feel so personal.

i wanted to find something special for deb and have two songs. the first, one tree hill by u2, which was written about the death of someone close to the band. it's a heavy song. the other one is blue sky by kaisercartel and much gentler. i made the heart this morning. i'm not sure, but i believe trees and stones are significant to deb's traditions. i hope so.

xo, cindy

life : pretty baby

song : baby mine by alison krauss.

i've been getting back to photo-styling recently. i really enjoy it (challenging) and it takes practice to get things just so. we've been collecting for years, so finally many of our tchotchkes are being put to good use and dusted off. this set is all about baby things and dedicated to grace who is about to deliver her baby any minute now & julia who has a few more months to go.



the corgi car is from scott's childhood collection and definitely for grace as she is going to have a boy. julia remains to be seen. the lamb is from stephanie congdon barnes, print by jessica gonacha swift, flower from tinsel trading, trees made by me and wallpaper from craft vintage dry goods.



these vintage baby accessories include the humpty dumpty mug i used as a kid. the collage i made includes paper quilling of a mama duck and her ducklings. i loved doing this series and wish grace & julia all the best in the next chapter of their lives. they're going to be great moms! hope you all had a nice weekend. thank you for the sweet comments on our last post :).

xo, cindy

ps the pop-up card says -

to you and the new baby
heard the line's busy at your house -
heard you don't mind one bit,
'cause you're so in love
with the darlin'
who's responsible for it!

life : you're fired!

the song is scott's choice : how sweet it is by james taylor

he: "CINDY!!!"
she: (oh man, he's using my name instead of sunshine, cutie.) "yes?"
he: "i just came from dr. b's office." (today.)
she: (uh, yeah, i know, i've been waiting for you.) "and?"
he: "thanks to you taking such good care of my left foot and being the supreme bandage wrapper of all time i'm going to have to let you go." (i was a great patient, too, but get ready.)
she: (did he just fire me? can i collect unemployment?) "ok?"
he: "i'm good as new and you can stop treating me like an invalid."
she: "that's great! i'm so happy!"
he: "i'm not done."
she: (he's got brain damage. i wrapped those bandages too tightly.)
he: "please don't hover around the bathroom door anymore. i only slipped in the shower once, ok twice, but that was because i used that NEW cvs enriched daily lotion and it was really slippery." (that was CRAZY! thank god she put those non-slip strips in the tub after wards.)
she: (yeah, gave me a freaking heart attack and i was SLEEPING like a baby, which rarely happens! don't use that lotion on your tootsies, people!). "o-k."
he: "what do you have to say?"
she: (be good, you make these kind of speeches at least once a month, keep your eye on the prize). "thank you for the pink roses."
he: "really? that's it?"
she: "no."
he: (here it comes. the neighbors!)
she: "here's that telephone number you asked for." (ha, he's freaking out waiting for me to lower the boom on him for firing me. he can't fire me because I QUIT, yesterday. i just didn't say anything about it.)
he: "ok, thanks."
she: (i think i deserve a one time upgrade from my hope in a jar to crème de la mer for all the cotton-pickin' worrying i've been doing, but i'll be patient, for now.) "anything else?"
he: "you're going to post this on our blog aren't you?"
she: "yes indeedy!"
he: "please thank everyone for their good wishes. they helped a lot."
she: "sure. anyone else?"
he : (i'll pretend i'm thinking ;).) "why you of course, cutie."
she : "oy, just put on these socks instead of the boring white ones you've been wearing. i have an idea!"
he : "it's good to be back! i can't wait to wear my new sneakers."

ps this one's for julie as her dad has been sick. she always liked these silly posts. i'm not sure i format them correctly, the stuff in the parenthesis represents our thoughts.

pps my song is i gotta feeling by the black eyed peas.

two views : calling you

song : lucky by jason mraz | colbie caillat {english}
and jason | ximena suerte {spanish}

i bought the wonderful calling cards from rifle paper co. for christmas and was worried i put the jinx on our marriage by saying 'happily married'. it still remains to be seen as we've both been a bit cranky, lately. i've grown tired of being 'nurse' to scott's left foot and he's grown tired of needing a 'nurse' for his left foot. but, after seeing the devastation & desperation in haiti this week, we feel ridiculous. i'm sure you know all about it, but making a donation to the american red cross for haiti couldn't be easier. it's the best text message we've ever sent. have a good weekend, everyone. count your blessings.

xo, cindy

ps une fleur por toi posted this week about the wonderful video haiti from arcade fire, which features the people of haiti before the earthquake. although it seems impossible, let's hope for better days for them very soon.

park : madison & kendrick

video : empire state of mind by jay-z | alicia keys.
cool beat and fantastic nyc images.

while aimlessly wandering the streets of new york recently, i stumbled up mel kendrick's markers on display in madison square park.



it has been written that the five large sculptures were formed by layering black and white concrete to create a fossil-like surface texture with additional inspiration coming from the marble found in gothic italian cathedrals and the simplest methods of marking: placing one object on top of another.



the installation is fun for kids as they can climb on the markers and play hide & seek. it kind of reminds me of stone henge in prison stripes and offers the most wonderful see-thru views, which is great for the rest of us.

xo, cindy

pics : pink pretties

band : language of flowers

it all started with essie sugar daddy nail polish. then i saw suann's lovely stationery in the palest pink. a few hours later i pulled together pink q-tips and vintage vanity objects in pretty shades of pink or with pink roses, of course. the reflection was a happy accident. i really struggled with these and didn't think i had anything at all, but sometimes if you don't give up (stubborn) all is not lost.

happy monday. hope you had a great weekend! it was cold here.

xo, cindy

favorites : tea{cup}

baby, it's cold outside and nothing warms the cockles of my heart more than tea in a wonderful cup. i recently purchased this blue one from asya and it is inscribed in a beautiful script font with a list of colors found in an old ledger book.

she also included the pink bowl with my order and it could not be more perfect. i first saw gleena ceramics in 2008 at divine studio and loved the pink bowl she made, but had already blown my budget. i thought of the bowl every time i saw her work, so when she included one with the no. 10 etched on it, i couldn't have been happier. thank you, asya. enjoy your weekend, everyone. have a cuppa tea!

xo, cindy

ps the singer/songwriter today is chelsea latimer from the super-smart blog chelsea talks smack. she has the prettiest voice and the discussions on her blog with her boyfriend are so funny.

pics : snow in queens

song : what a wonderful world by louis armstrong who lived in queens.

i loved reading about the things you'd like to do in the new year and so glad meg will be participating in the 365 day project, too! thank you for sharing them with me and i might take on a few myself. while i was working on the pencil photos i didn't realize there was a flash snowstorm raging outside on new year's eve - slight exaggeration as the snow had just about disappeared by the next day. once scott told me, i headed outside to run and jump and play in the snow. ok, ok - walk and slip and slide.



first i checked out our neighborhood - sunnyside gardens (above). it was designed by british architect lewis mumford in the 1920s using english garden community principles and looked so pretty in the freshly fallen snow.



then, i hopped on the subway to head over to long island city.



traditionally a commercial district, it has become residential over recent years with high rises and a park on the east river that just keeps getting bigger and better.



i was determined to get a photo of the snow actually falling and tried it on the sport setting for a fast shutter speed. it's strange how the photos in sunnyside are warm while those in long island city cool since i didn't do anything special to the camera settings.



there weren't many people around, but i found some cute friends who asked me to take photo of them with their snowman. i loved doing it and made a heart in the snow for you. happy wednesday!

xo, cindy

ps a new spring emailer layout for a client project was little bit too vintage for them, but using an old post card and scalloped borders for frames for myself, perfect. so quaint ;).

two views : create

band : smooth & sweet kings of convenience

i started the shutter sisters 365 day project on december 24th, so when i finish it will be like a present for myself. i'm really excited about it! the objective is to take at least one photo a day for a year and you can start anytime. you don't have to post each one (thank goodness), but the practice and discipline from a project like this should improve my skills.

i hope i can do things a little bit more quickly and this will tie into the two views diptychs i've been working on (previously known as dawn & dusk, which was too restrictive). i'm also hoping to capture evening lighting better. people are always saying 'use only natural light in your photography,' but that's not always available and my life doesn't end at sunset.

what about you this year? any creative projects or goals for 2010?

xo, cindy

pics : foggy snow

it snowed yesterday and i hurried to go out and get some photos before it turned to rain. out of about 200 pics these might be my favorites because the lens was wet and softened everything. maybe i should carry a spray bottle with me from now on ;)? hope you had a great new year!

xo, cindy