life | i'd rather be doing

we stayed in a hotel each night during the reno and it was nice.
love decorating with color from martha.

hello, hello! do you remember me? i took an unexpected blogging break last week because i underestimated the total mayhem involved in demolishing a bathroom in a 800 square foot apartment. our bedrooms were locked up tight with our computer inside and there was so much dust and mess i thought it best to leave them alone.

well, within five days we went from demo to pretty bathroom, but the picture is not complete because we still don't have a sink. i'll show you what we did next week, but for now, our bathroom reminds me of a big sugar cube as it's all white and lacking our special touches. last week, i really missed you guys and was often thinking of places i'd rather be. spending time with any of these ladies would have been divine.

in alphabetical order -
i must admit i'm finding it hard to get back to blogging. it kind of feels like jumping in on a double dutch. have a great week all - it's hot as blazes here!

xo, cindy

ps if you visit us, but don't comment, let me know and i'll add you to the list.
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    life | camping out nyc



    hello, hello! a quick post about the father's day camp out they had last night in the park where we have our garden. can you imagine doing it nyc? it's a combination of cool and scary at the same time. growing up, we camped out in the back yard in the suburbs and didn't make it past midnight because it rained! happy father's day!

    xo, cindy

    ps we're just about all packed up for our bathroom renovation. there are neighbors to consider when you live in an apartment, so i'm pretty nervous about all the noise and banging. i'm sure i'll be popping tums like m&ms, tomorrow ;)! and, have you seen the new pretzel m&ms? yum!
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    fun | beautiful award


    hello, hello! jamie of the wonderful blog lyrical journey, recently awarded me with the beautiful blogger award and i'm thrilled to receive it from such a beautiful person. i'm supposed to list ten things you don't know about me, so here goes -
    1. i have my mother's hands. 
    2. i nervously went to my first blogging event the other night, blog out loud, and it was great. so nice to meet some blogging friends in person, especially erin who got us started on this adventure.
    3. hydrangeas are my current favorite flower.
    4. i love chocolate necco wafers.
    5. scott calls be gilligan because i love these very worn out khaki pants, which are a tad short and shredded along the edges. they're comfy!
    6. i have terrible vision.
    7. i love to watch people make things and learn about the process - craft, cooking, design, almost anything. my mom was the same way and would have loved the new cooking tv channel, which is airing early episodes of julia child and the galloping gourmet. love david rocco in beautiful italy, too!
    8. i always wear flat shoes in case i have to run. weird!
    9. i wish i could be a professional surfer or at least have the lifestyle of one.
    10. after many years of yearning, next week we are having our tiny, ugly bathroom renovated. it will still be tiny, but maybe not so ugly. more to come after demolition. 
    ok, enough about me. i'm now passing the beautiful blogger award onto the last five commentors on our blog as of now - megan w, candi, michelle, krissy and jen. enjoy your weekend and father's day!

    xo, cindy
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    tv | housewives of new jersey

    housewives of flushing at the queens botanical garden

    hello, hello! did anyone see the 'real' housewives of new jersey last night? it was the craziest thing i've ever seen on tv. ever. Ever. EVER! there were confrontations, menacing poker games, a daughter getting thrown out of the house, and a stripper pole that had me laughing out loud and cringing at the same time. and kim g with her bentley and chauffeur hanging with danielle, oy! oh my gawd new jersey, what has happened to you ;)?

    xo, cindy

    ps some new tunes from the stylish-girl band from california called the like.
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    fun | pretty things

    Bicycle
    Fruits & Vegetables
    hello, hello! we arrived at charlie's house a bit earlier than expected to celebrate his birthday. we walked in and it was quiet. went to his bedroom where we found him lying on the bed with his sneakers on. arms folded across his chest and his mouth wide open. i never thought i would say this, but thank god he was SNORING! phew!

    isn't the eyelet bicycle basket liner pretty? and the fruits and vegetables? both were found in williamsburg, brooklyn, yesterday. there was a lot of excitement around town this weekend for the world cup and we have so many different nationalities rooting for teams in our neighborhood. the enthusiasm is contagious!

    hope you had a nice weekend. we visited a new (to us) public garden and took lots of photos, of course. happy monday!

    xo, cindy
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    work | personal vision

    Institute of You
    hello, hello! as previously mentioned, i've enrolled in a program from the institute of you to help identify my best opportunity for work-life fulfillment - happiness. i've finished the initial phase and it has already done a lot to open my eyes. the first step is to enter into a contract with yourself to basically dream big and it has come in handy as some of my hopes are big ones and might seem unattainable. when i feel that way, i pull out the contract to remind myself to keep looking up and moving forward.

    then, you go through five phases that include different exercises and i love how the program is graphically-oriented and most of the work is completed offline. the first phase is called aims and each exercise is contained within a sealed envelope, which is great because i can get hung up on a concept and the curiosity to open that next envelope keeps me moving forward. there were four assignments in this phase:
    1. external insights - involves circulating a short survey to people who know you for their thoughts - the best part!
    2. past expectations - how the expectations of others and you played out - hmmm.
    3. skills - activities you did as a child & skills you'd like to use now - very powerful.
    4. personal vision - pulls it all together into your own personal vision statement - terrific.
    a text message question every day or so also keeps you thinking about things like 'what gets you up in the morning?' you do have to be self-disciplined and confident in your answers to do this program as you will only get out of it what you put in. but, i've worked in management consulting and have endured many programs, and so far, this one is the most enjoyable and productive.

    i feel like i'm moving forward in completely new directions and considering things i would never have previously dreamed of. i also must say that i can't emphasize the importance of our blog enough in all of this process and getting to know all of you. so, one phase down, four to go.

    xo, cindy

    ps any type of personal development is tiring, so the crazy game show wipe out is perfect for some mindless dribble and a good laugh.
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    blog | learn & share

    place : brooklyn botanic garden | lilac, maple, evergreen bonsai

    hello, hello! in my last full post, i mentioned that the borders i add to our photos in photoshop can be time-consuming, but i really like them and so do you guys. i have templates, but each one has to be created as a separate jpeg resulting in two image files per photo.

    so, dave gave me a source explaining how to add borders to photos automatically in the blogger template, or within each post. i like the borders, but wanted to give a sense of shadow to match my other photos and found this source listing the different styles - i'm using outset.

    now, i don't want to apply borders to the entire blog because it would look like there were doubles and my most special images will still get photoshop borders, so i'll do it within each post per image. pretty much, i cut and paste html code into the image source like this -

    style="border:1px outset #e6e6e6; padding:7px;"

    it's a little bit tricky and i have to use the new blogger editor, but i've been able to do it in the last few posts. the border looks a bit different from my other photos (maybe better?), but it takes less time and i have fewer computer files.

    i hope that makes some sense and email me if you have any questions about posting within a blog post in blogger, only. i want to thank dave and all the other people who take the time to teach the rest of us what they know online - it is awesome. see you thursday with more learn & share! i think that will be the theme this week ;)!

    xo, cindy

    ps how about some new blues/rock/funk music from grace potter & the nocturnals?
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    blog | one more test

    high line park : richard galpin’s viewing station
     
    one more test! people on the internet are fantastic with sharing information! i hope to do it after all this fiddling around, too!

    xo, cindy
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    blog | new tricks



    high line park : photo taken of the above by looking through a small box

    hello, hello! i'm just testing this photoshop-free frame format.

    xo, cindy
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    blog | fiddling around

    Rose Trellis
    place : brooklyn botanic garden

    hello, hello! well, i've been fiddling around with how to display my photos a lot this week. i like the way a frame finishes a photo, but it's time-consuming. i don't know about all the different layouts, either. i'm kind of feeling like our blog doesn't have a consistent look.

    as a kid, i would not only color within the lines, i would outline them in black! i guess i like things to be just so, but it's restrictive and no fun. so, thank you very much for your nice comments no matter what i do. they always make me feel like a million bucks. enjoy your weekend! go make a mess. i will ;)!

    xo, cindy

    ps we all have a right to live our dreams, but please don't let me take it as far as the countess, oh yeah. money can't buy you class, but it can buy you a record producer and great make-up artist - she looks really good, but it's a singing competition - oops, wrong show - ha ha ;)!

    Ferns & Anemones
    japanese garden & anemones.

    Rose Trellis
    rose trellis times two.

    Children's Garden
    the children's garden is so cool. love the fence and the giant bug.
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    art | hand-painted murals





    hello, hello! it's hard to find hand-painted advertising murals these days. vinyl has just about taken over as it's so quick and inexpensive to install. but, there are still some gems out there. this artist from colassal media was in williamsburg, brooklyn this weekend and appeared in the wonderful documentary about mural artists, up there.

    the moma mural was recently replaced by the one for bushmills and were both created by colassal media. i must like murals because here's another one of theirs i saw a while back. i can't imagine working so large and there's something about the impermanence of the work that gets me.

    xo, cindy

    video source : rifle paper co.
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    fun | people who need people

    Artists
    saw the painter at the high line during my meet-up with
    sweet jen and her friends. i've seen him before.
    the little photographer was at rockefeller center.

    hello, hello! well, we never made it to coney island, but we did see the henri cartier-bresson exhibit at moma for a second time and it was really something. he was a master at catching candid & interesting shots from everyday life and his photos made me smile and cry at the same time. i'd love to capture people in my photos more often, but it's not so easy if they don't co-operate ;). hope you had a great weekend!

    xo, cindy

    ps i'm going back to simpler days around here with no more frames or fancy layouts - i think. maybe not!


    some people hide behind props, including my own family - look at charlie hiding from the 'sun' in long island city. a bicycle can work, too.


    while others put it all out there in the brooklyn botanic garden, or playing ping pong at bryant park.

    me too in new betz white kicks. sweeeet!
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