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 | enjoy the weekend

main beach, east hampton

hello, hello! this photo was included in the america theme over on the pioneer woman site this week and i couldn't be happier. wow, i wish i was at the beach, now. we have a three-day weekend coming up and our plans are sketchy at best. they'll probably involve some family time, a movie (toy story 3 or the twilight saga : eclipse, although i swore we wouldn't see that one, but it received great reviews), a public garden, a nap or two, a little shopping and this bracelet from pascale and her daughter looks terrific. ok, that's enough, it's only three days ;)!

enjoy your weekend and happy fourth of july to those who celebrate!

xo, cindy

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!

fun : cabin fever

album: sweet heart rodeo from dawn landes
she's a girl from kentucky who now lives in brooklyn

it's been snowing for two days and i haven't gone out. i'm getting a little bit stir crazy and hope we can go to the new york botanical garden on sunday to see the orchid show and the garden in the SNOW, or a movie. we still haven't seen avatar and i think we must be the last two. but first, scott has to get home tonight safe and sound. as always, thank you for visiting us and your sweet comments. hope you have a lovely weekend!

xo, cindy

ps i spent a lot of time photographing the above layout - one pencil, two pencils, pointing up, pointing down. oy! the wonderful letterpress card and pencils are from suann's shop, simplesong.

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!

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!

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 : it's in the cards

scott's family loves to play crazy eights. mine goes along to be polite and because we have no other suggestions for fun ;). often, charlie wins with a lot of bravado. the object of the game is to get rid of all your cards. when someone plays a two the next player is supposed to pick up two cards, unless they have a two. well, charlie started it and it ended with him. he had to pick up 8 cards! it was historic and i have the photo to prove it. he won anyway. so close. thankfully, scott won a hand. he loves to win, too. hope you had a good weekend!

xo, cindy

ps last week, charlie also received a very sweet card from an equally sweet girl. thank you, j!

nyc : central park zoo

so, we went to the central park zoo with charlie. he was born in nyc, but never visited the zoo. i had a different plan for this post based on how new yorkers are notorious for giving the wrong directions. i was going to ask the animals where we could find the snow leopards and they would tell us the wrong way. you can see in the photos that it's kind of like they're speaking to us and we end up back with the polar bear.

but, tomorrow is september 11th and it didn't seem appropriate. instead, i'll dedicate this post to all that is good and the fact that new york city is still here & thriving. we've never visited ground zero and won't until there's something to see other than a hole in the ground. i kind of think donald trump was right when he said we should rebuild the world trade center as it was, but more structurally sound and with an extra floor on each building. it's been eight years and we're missing the ! at the tip of manhattan. it's time to rebuild already, but regardless, we'll never forget the beautiful souls that were lost that awful day.

xo, cindy


a lovely view from the zoo.


the most entertaining polar bear you could ever see.


the birds in the rain forest were the best part. so beautiful. we love the mohawk-style feathers on this one.


the red pandas were beautiful and playful.


when we first walked into the penguin exhibit i was taken a back because these guys were just posing. i thought we might be looking at some taxidermy, but then they started swimming around.


there's a children's zoo, too. looks like cinderella was there as someone left her pretty pink sandals behind.


sweet.


by this point we were moving like a couple of turtles.


shy and sweaty snake.


big bird.


these were the coolest monkeys.


hey, pretty bird? your blue feathers are incredible, but please don't poop on me like the bird yesterday in city island. gross!


he was the king of the zoo!


the snow leopards were in hiding that day, but the polar bear, birds, monkeys and other animals were great. we should do a better job of caring for our planet so zoos aren't the only places wild animals can survive.

fun : giveaway!

i hope you all had a nice weekend! since i've been so fortunate recently in the giveaway arena, it's time to give a little something back to our very dear readers. so, leave a comment telling us a highlight of your summer or winter depending where you live before september 2nd for a chance to win this back-2-school inspired giveaway -

1. heather smith jones jotter - i have two.
   
2. muji 5-color ballpoint pen with mechanical pencil.
3. shanna murray & pistachio press limited edition letterpress card.
4. a very special surprise or two made by yours truly. think a butterfly garland.
   
5. all wrapped in a wonderful sewn mailer from pickalapoopa.

we'll announce the lucky recipient on september 2nd. good luck!

xo, cindy

ps in the meantime, here's a new band that everyone can enjoy, now - the drums. based out of brooklyn, their retro-surf inspired sound will certainly extend the last days of summer, especially since their new ep is called summertime. love the song let's go surfing. enjoy!

fun : catch a wave in town

main beach, east hampton

hope you caught a wave or two of sorts this weekend! this lucky lifeguard did and has a little fan, already. after creating our expanding nyc guide we used it and went to soho with no camera! there was lunch for scott at dean & deluca, a hot fudge sundae for lunch me from van leeuwen, visits to some lovely shops - purl (gift certificate!) and makie (wonderful handmade clothes), and sitting in the park next to a tiny pool for kids on thompson street. we also saw (500) days of summer and loved it. the song sweet disposition from the temper trap on the soundtrack is great. how was your weekend? hope it was sweet.

xo, cindy

nyc : from c to shining c*

we just got back from the beach and are in a frenzy to put away our stuff as quickly as possible and then go out for lunch - the nerve! we have a bunch of pics and were very lucky with the weather as it's been pretty stormy in nyc. we're already missing the pool and may just put on some coppertone and fill up the tub to pretend we're still there. no complaints though, especially in light of the heatwave out west. portland 100+ - whoa!

cindy* is going to be visiting nyc soon and i thought it would be a great opportunity to post some of our favorite spots. most are local, but there do seem to be a number from japan. we're not big on expensive restaurants and prefer small cafes, which are highlighted in teal. we'll keep this list updated and probably add some photos in the future. so, get your walking shoes on, some $$$ and let's go. we've arranged them by neighborhood.

xo, cindy

ps if you have any other special spots in nyc, let me know and i'll add them to the list if they're places we like to visit or would like to!
_________________________________________________

QUASI-UPTOWN
bloomingdale's - super-department store & forty carrots restaurant. delish & healthy!
59th street & lexington avenue

museum of modern art - the new building is as great as the art.
53rd street & 6th avenue

magnolia's bakery - one red velvet cupcake, please. ok, two.
50th street & sixth avenue

anthropologie - this is the best one with two floors and art installation pieces!
50th @ rockefeller center
_________________________________________________

MIDTOWN
times square - visit at night for fantastic photos.
42nd street & 7th avenue

grand central terminal - great building and food court.
42nd street & park avenue

ny public library, main branch, rose reading room is incredible & free.
42nd street & fifth avenue

bryant park
42nd street & 6th avenue. outdoor movies on the lawn in the summer on monday's @ 5 pm.

kinokuniya - japanese store with wonderful craft books, paper goods and anime.
41st street & sixth avenue

international center for photography
42nd street & 6th avenue

muji - japanese department store features clean lines and neutrals.
40th street & eighth avenue

b& j fabrics - really organized & helpful.
525 7th avenue (in the 30s)

tinsel trading - trims & notions, incredible store for crafters. must visit!
37th street & 5th avenue
_________________________________________________

MEATPACKING DISTRICT
lots of high-end stores in this neighborhood, but must our visits are -

high line park
gansevoort street, in the meatpacking district, to west 20th street, in chelsea, between 1oth & 11th avenues.

chelsea market - redefines the term 'food court'.
15th street & 9th avenue

billy's bakery via chockpocky - she loves the banana cream pie.
21st street & ninth avenue
_________________________________________________

SOHO
so many shops, but we love

dean & deluca via jamie - gourmet food shop, including doughnut plant via chockpocky.
prince street & broadway

uniqlo - colorful japanese clothing store has great prices.
prince street & broadway

vespa via jamie - famous scooters.
13 crosby street

kate's paperie - stationery & paper crafts.
72 spring street (between crosby & lafayette streets)

paul smith via jamie - very cool english designer.
greene street & w. houston

van leeuwen ice cream truck - delicious organic ice cream. favorite flavor = all.
greene & prince streets.

makie - incredible handmade clothes, love everything made with liberty of london fabric, especially for little girls.
109 thompson & prince streets

snack - cozy cafe serving delicious greek food.
105 thompson & prince streets

purl - legendary knitting & sewing shop - paradise!
459 broome street @ greene

once upon a tart - for a quick bite to eat.
sullivan street & prince (next to purl knitting)

local - also good for a quick bite.
sullivan street & prince (across the street from purl patchwork)

thompson & sullivan streets have really nice independent boutiques. from there you can walk to greenwich village or the west village.
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READER SUGGESTIONS

UNION SQUARE
thé adoré via chockpocky - 'charming rustic 2nd floor dining room for a light lunch (tea + sandwiches, soups, pastries)'.
17 E. 13th, just off Fifth, just below Union Square

GREENWICH VILLAGE
greenwich letterpress via chockpocky - lovely stationery store.
christopher street & seventh avenue
sweetiepie restaurant via dallas shaw - sweet restaurant & dessert bar.
10th street & greenwich avenue

EAST VILLAGE
momofuku milk bar via chockpocky - 'delicious corn cookies + decadent cakes & inventful soft serve flavors'.
13th street & second avenue
_________________________________________________

OUTER-BOROUGHS
long island city - queens
easy to get to from grand central - one stop on 7 train.
gorgeous views of mid-town from a really nice park - this is the attraction, but there are a few very nice shops and several restaurants - our favorite is cafe henri right by the subway.

new york botanical garden - bronx
get there using metro north from grand central.

williamsburg - brooklyn
very cool shops and restaurants.

fun : happiness is ...

spring + early summer at k's house

home
my brother's pretty house in new jersey shows that the state is more than kooky housewives, gangsters and toxic waste. it's a nice place to live and visit on holiday weekends ;). his lovely wildflower garden is so photogenic.

art
richard avedon at the icp with a husband who doesn't mind looking at fashion photos. hey, they are pretty girls after all. he liked sunny harnett and i liked suzy parker. we both liked anything that was shot outside the studio, preferably between 1947-1957. so glamorous.

movies
we're late to the party on twilight, but were ambivalent expecting teenagers hooking up and lots of vampire blood. wrong! it is a wonderful movie with excellent messages (restraint, loyalty, love) for teens and the rest of us. scott keeps talking about it. the soundtrack seems really good, too. love the song full moon by the black ghosts.

tunes
iron & wine is a new band to us from a new friend. thank you!

pics
two rolls of film from the new york botanical garden edible garden are at the drugstore. oh, the anticipation. hope they come out ok. the first roll i had developed was blank - eek!

hope you had a nice weekend! xo, cindy