collect | (over)abundance

the cobalt blue glasses were collected by scott's mom, helen. isn't that color just wow? after a lifetime of collecting (there must be over 200 pieces!), we're helping charlie down-size it as things have become a burden for him. all day sunday he told us what we should say when we bring some of these pieces to the consignment shop - tell them someone else just offered you $5 more each or, you need more space in your storage locker or, you'll think about their offer. and, don't look desperate. oh brother. i just said ok to everything - it's easier that way.

i did find the wonderful reamer & pitcher while i was there and he said i could have it. but, i try not to take many things, just a few special pieces as we'd like to down-size a bit, too. collecting is a great past time as you learn about the history of pieces and the time period, but make your choices carefully because it's a lot easier to quickly buy than it is to quickly sell.

xo, cindy

ps thanks to jen for the lovely post today about our shop. it must be good karma because i had two orders this afternoon representing four items!

fun | deal 'em

i'm a winner and have proof!

hello, hello! family gatherings usually involve playing crazy eights at some point. scott's family loves to play cards while mine goes along with it to be polite. well, we start out that way because before you know it our competitive spirits come out and it's us against them (war!). beating charlie is always high on the list (he breaks our chops!) followed by scott (he 'makes' us play!). so, imagine my delight when i won with my brother in second. yes, thanksgiving gave us a lot to be thankful for - simple pleasures, plus some good grub, too ;). hope yours was great and enjoy the weekend!

xo, cindy

ps on tuesday we'll be having a fabulous giveaway just in time for the holidays. i'll not say a w o r d about it yet, but here's a hint!

life | veterans day

hello, hello! spending the day with our favorite veteran who we think is tops. thank you to all veterans near & far, this day is for you!

xo, cindy

ps notice how charlie seems to be protecting his 'package' during his little nap while watching football? he'd be better off protecting the china cabinet cause that's where i snoop around ;).

life : weekend bits

line, fireman, tulips, cake, purl twice

hello! i hope you all had a nice weekend! mine started out on friday when i met line for lunch at the chelsea market and then a walk through high line park. she was visiting nyc with her sweet family and is cute as a button, they all are. although we've never met in person, it felt like we were like old friends. she was only here for a few days, so i really appreciated her spending the afternoon with me. the funny thing is that we didn't really take many photos.

saturday, we took charlie to see my brother and celebrate his birthday. he has the sweetest house and it was a good day out for charlie. it's been a year since helen passed away and he likes my brother who is always up to something new (crazy - new engine for his vintage corvette!), so it was a good distraction.

sunday was rainy and we saw a really good movie from argentina - the secret in their eyes. the plot centers around a retired court employee who decides to write a book about an old rape/murder case, but it's so much more. the romance, comedy, suspense and politics kept us talking about the twists and turns all evening. the main thing that resonated with me is how we can not deny our true passion and that it's never too late to live it if we're not afraid.

we also visited purl's new store and it is fantastic! not only beautiful and spacious, but a fine example of a business success story during a difficult economic climate. i picked up some nani iro oilcloth for our kitchen table as a special treat.

that's all for now. i'll be back tomorrow with some sunshine photos and an award.

xo, cindy

ps after reading this article in new york magazine, i just couldn't resist any longer, so please do follow us on twitter and we'll return the favor!

fun : scott likes it!

songs : jet airliner by steve miller band - awesome!
true by spandau ballet - i love him anyway & at least their british!

hello, hello! i thought it was time to create a post full of things scott likes. now, simon cowell might say this post is 'self-indulgent,' but i certainly hope it won't be 'utterly forgettable.' can you imagine someone saying that to you in front of millions of people? scott was born and raised in new york city, so lets see some things he likes about it here. when i took the photo of his shadow above he was like 'look at me, i'm a giant, take my picture.' i did, but he's 6' tall and a giant to many as it is. enjoy your week. can you believe it's almost easter? happy passover to those who celebrate.

xo, cindy


yums.


picking up sweets for his sweetie, me!


great landmarks ;).


cool cars and his own in the reflection on the right.


flowers in unusual places.


and other interesting things if you notice.


family traditions. scott's family has been working with lore decorators for years through their furniture business and he would go to papaya king (hot dogs) with his grandpa for breakfast. we still go to both places.


free things, especially if they make me super-happy. the windows of kate spade were recently covered in pinwheels. so cool. i saw some little girls with them around and realized the next day you could take one home. i did and it's pink!


indoors at the movies and outdoors in the park, where they also show movies in the summer. i've missed a few things like coffee, coffee, coffee, but there's always another post!

life : happy things

video : someday by rob thomas
for aimee, bella & pj who lost someone dear this week

we visited charlie last weekend and ran into one of his neighbors in the elevator. she told us he really missed helen and was looking forward to our visit. he told her about it three times and we felt so sad. but, once he started to talk about the people who hoard the food and talk too much at the senior center, the tears in our eyes disappeared because he was so funny. he's made a friend there and her name is helen. she's a nun :).



we brought him a nice lunch, his favorite key lime pie and scott helped pull together his tax papers. if you think doing your own taxes is crummy, try to help your elderly parent. while going through his folders he found this post and commented that it was so nice. by the end of the day he seemed 'happy' and sent us on our way - translation, dismissed us.



so, i was happy when asiye tagged me to come up with a list of things that make me happy because life is short and we should appreciate the simple things that make our days nice -

1. flowers, i know it's shocking.
   
2. music, especially new discoveries.
   
3. feeling well-rested, which is rare.
4. the sandwich scott makes me for lunch each day.
   
5. doing something creative, well.
6. a clean apartment, empty laundry hamper and no ironing.
7. italian food.
8. anything that makes me smile like your nice comments and the word darling (pronounced dahling).
   
9. hearing 'cutie, i'm home'.
10. hugs, hugs, hugs!
    

now, i'm supposed to pass this along to ten people and i'm happy to do it, but don't feel obligated y'all: candace, cassie, dawn, erin, joyce, julia, julie, meg, rachel and suzanne.

xo, cindy

ps usa vs. canada for the gold medal in women's hockey thursday night - yikes!

collect : helen gives

helen : modest and reserved, very seldom heard.
not! she was quite the talker and loved to ask questions.

when we were at charlie's this thanksgiving we found helen's high school yearbook. it is so cool and we loved looking through it. there was even her pressed carnation corsage. i wanted to photograph it along with some other special things. now, for the record, scott's parents were married in their 30s and had kids a little bit later than most. in fact, my parents had me when my mom was in her early 40s and my dad in his early 50s!


the french enamel watch was purchased by helen & charlie at brimfield years ago. it was referred to as THE watch and i think it is gorgeous. she didn't have anything else like it, but i collect sterling silver and enamel and really loved this watch. they would literally dangle it in front of me sometimes and it is now one of my most special pieces. i'm grateful to look at it each day.


this was helen's engraved baby bracelet. charlie seemed to be considering selling it because he kind of panicked after she passed away. they have been collectors for many years and he was overwhelmed. but, i insisted i hold on to it for a little while as there are two grand daughters. the ring is garnet, which seems to be the stone of the czech republic and where helen's parents were born.


this is helen's best friend, julie. we adore julie and she lives near us. the two of them would talk on the phone for hours and i think charlie misses hearing that chit chat. although she has had her share of heartache, julie is the sweetest person. the garnet pin is from a trip they took to the 'motherland' (czech republic) when they were in their 70s and so sweet. although they were born and raised in nyc, they were almost mugged during that trip and hid out in a kmart!

when scott's mom passed away one thing his co-workers did was collect money for him. it was a beautiful gesture and we didn't use the money for the funeral, so we are going to donate it in helen's memory to the following charities -

1. juvenle diabetes research foundation
   
2. food bank of new york (deb also has something special)
   
3. kids in need foundation (learned about from yasmine)
   

we think she would have approved and say that's very good.

xo, cindy

ps i wasn't familiar with the band phish until they broke up, but as is customary, they're back together, again. the song joy was playing when i wrote this post. something about it seems fitting.

pics : macy's SURPRISE!

i don't usually go to parades, but my brother loves them. he's been a self-taught photographer for years and is so good about getting in close and having people work it for him, i.e. smile. yesterday, i received a cd with over 200 photos from the macy's thanksgiving day parade and i chose some favorites and paired them up. dude, next time, how about 24? hope you like 'em.

xo, cindy

ps he doesn't obsess with his flickr stream much at all, but his photos are incredible. his favorite time of day is twilight and his photos of the world trade center are very special.











mrs. & mr. claus!

life : one holiday down

the mustaches are fake. the trees in central park are not.

when charlie said he wanted to go out for thanksgiving he meant it. so did scott. we did. i brought these fake mustaches to play with. i'm terrible about taking photos of people, including (especially) my family. this little project made us laugh and they kept the mustaches on until my brother arrived to surprise him. i think charlie should grow one, he looks so cute. scott is a different story. i think i have more hair on my upper lip than he does ;).

i think when you've lost someone dear, it's best to create distractions during the holidays. no looking at an empty seat. go out and have a lovely meal, take a walk, be around other people. that's what helen would have wanted to do.

hope you enjoy your weekend!

xo, cindy

ps i didn't get any good pics of my brother and scott's aunt, but there's always christmas!


why so serious? who's that knocking? better move it.
it might be strange, but when scott came out of the restroom he said i had to check it out with my camera. it was huge. there are studio apartments in this town smaller than this bathroom. nice flowers, too.


traditional thanksgiving lunch was delicious and just enough.


but, the steak looked better and what's not to love about pecan pie.

life : give some thanks

cindy's bro & charlie's sis. aren't they awesome?

life isn't always easy. there are ups and downs. i suppose we wouldn't recognize one without the other? one thing i'm thankful for is having a nice husband who buys me flowers even though i say 'no, thank you.' he couldn't resist the color. so sweet.

and, thanks to all of you for joining us over here on quaint. it means the world to us and we're grateful. pj sent us the nicest award about blog friendship and i'd like to share it with all of you. thank you, pj!

we're getting our small posse together for thanksgiving. i wish more family members would have visited charlie this year. oh well, there's always christmas. hope you all have a wonderful holiday and weekend. see you next week!

xo, cindy

ps we're going to train show at the new york botanical garden this weekend, which is really neat. of course i'll show you photos. try and stop me ;).

fun : yums

tomatoes from the garden are healthy.


pinkberry frozen yogurt with strawberries and granola is pretty healthy.


cool oreo straws and strawberry milk is borderline healthy, but the most
fun of them all!

our weekend got off to a shaky start after scott received a call from charlie saying he was going to admit himself to the hospital! turns out, he's never been to a doctor, and after some encouragement, chose that route. after all, a urinary tract infection probably doesn't warrant a trip to the emergency room. to be 86 and never really been to a doctor. not bad. we did go to the central park zoo with charlie and talked to the animals in search of the snow leopards. details later.

hope you had a nice weekend. we're halfway home to the next one!

xo, cindy

life : why moms matter

Marie made Italian food from scratch : Helen made reservations

Hi Everyone -

A few weeks ago, dear Suzanne of S*HOPtalk asked me to submit an image for the Why Moms Matter project she was collaborating on with momfaves. In celebration of Mother's Day, photographers + me were to capture an image that reflected motherhood. The focus was to be on the simple things Mom's do because those are the experiences that often go unrecognized and yet are so important.

Although it has been difficult recently and I was short on time, I jumped at the opportunity. I wanted to create an image that represented both of our Moms, even though they were very different. My Mom, Marie, was quite the homemaker and a great cook. Scott's Mom, Helen, loved to read and socialize. They both shared a love for Italian food. Marie was Italian and would eat spaghetti for breakfast, while Helen simply loved the flavors. The main difference was in the source of the food. Marie would make it from scratch, while Helen would make reservations. Either way, we love it, too.

Here's the video (Suzanne's lovely image of her beautiful daughter is no. 4 and her post is here).



Thank you so much, Suzanne. I am really honored to be included in such a group of photographers. It means more than ever this year.

xo, Cindy

life : sweet wedding memories

Helen & Charlie : April 26, 1952

Hi Everyone -

I wasn't sure when I would be posting again because I really lost my mojo. My father-in-law, Charlie, must of had a sixth sense and cheered me up in his own way. I just realized that I've known Charlie longer than my own father who passed away when I was fairly young. Needless to say, he's a pretty important person to me.

While Charlie's bride, Helen, is recovering in the hospital he's been looking through all of their papers to keep busy and uncovered some incredible treasures from their wedding day in April 1952. He said I could borrow them to photograph and seemed pretty easy going about it. Until yesterday, when he sent this message to me through Scott, 'Tell Cindy I made a list of everything she took." Took, took - there's no need to use four-letter words! I borrowed them and here's my message to him, 'That's very nice, but can you find the list? And, "One more word and those 'diamonds' are going to the pawn shop and you'll have to explain it to Helen when she gets home." Anyway, here are some special things from their wedding day, while I still have them ;) -



Helen's gorgeous engagement & wedding rings, plus the appraisal. Charlie never wears a wedding ring (wish he would find it) because he owned a furniture store and it was always getting hooked on things. I added a pocket knife because he always carries one, but the top photo doesn't have it. Lilacs are Helen's favorite flower.



I'm partial, but I think they are the cutest couple ever.



He found the receipt from their honeymoon at the Elbow Beach Surf Club in Bermuda. The room rate was $34 a night and it includes a tuxedo rental, plus some laundry. Around their 50th Wedding Anniversary the hotel contacted them and offered the room at the same rate, but they weren't up for the trip. A few other things - Helen & Charlie were set-up by Helen's friend. Her daughter set-up me & Scott. We were married in the same church. Isn't that neat?

Tomorrow is the first session of the photography class I'm taking and I do hope to share some of the things I learn with you and catch up with commenting on your blogs (I have been quietly reading them).

xo, Cindy