pics : vegetable garden {1}



i am not a huge fan of vegetables. as a kid, i did the sit at the table until you finish your peas thing. i should still be sitting there. i like corn, carrots, zucchini, creamed spinach, maybe some snap peas or roasted vegetables with lots of garlic & olive oil. i am a fan of photographing them, though. these pics were taken this weekend at the new york botanical garden's edible garden. i should have another photo of lidia bastianich's cooking demonstration, but i had some technical difficulties. my mom adored her. she makes good vegetables.

these photos aren't just vegetables, but they are colorful. next post will be mostly green. enjoy your week!

xo, cindy








love : nyc



hook & ladder company 115, engine company 258 : long island city

i love nyc so much it makes me cry sometimes. i'm really fortunate to call it my home. scott is lucky because he was born here. i felt bad that i didn't have anything special to share today. then, i saw this photo and remembered i did. of course, we live just down the street from a fire house and hear the trucks all the time. scott had two uncles who were firemen. so, thank you to new york's bravest, finest and everyone who takes the risk of paying the ultimate price by being first to rush into a disaster. thank you for taking care of us. we recognize the sacrifices you & your families make to keep our city safe and hope you will be, too.

xo, cindy

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 : 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

fun : enjoy your weekend ...



it's been crazy at work this week as we've been collaborating with a wonderful new photographer, david bechtel, on a very tight deadline - ugh! i'm tuckered out, but will be on the lookout for these cool oreo straws and taking a trip with charlie to the central park zoo. he wants to go. enjoy your weekend, everyone!

xo, cindy

ps i should do some dusting this weekend. do you see it on the tray? i would rather not as it seems to reappear almost immediately.

craft : butterfly garlands



congratulations to Joyce who is the winner of our giveaway! thank you all for sharing your summer/winter highlights with us. it was interesting to read how just about all of you enjoyed spending time with your families and we're no different. we also learned about some nice trips people took, too. good to know since we're such terrible trip planners.



after watching the summertime swing video from coldplay i mentioned last week, i made these garlands. i just couldn't take it anymore! they're always featuring butterflies and release paper butterfly confetti during their concerts, which must be so cool!



except for the butterfly craft punch i picked up at michael's with a coupon, i figured i could make my own butterflies using things i already owned. i used vintage wallpaper, scrapbook paper, brown paper bags and doilies for petticoats (inner wings). then, i strung some together using waxed or baker's twine and glue. i'm not quite done with them and sure there will be a few extras for a future giveaway. thanks again for visiting and spending some of your time with us, everyone!

note : after some searching, i found the waxed twine at the caning shop.

xo, cindy

ps you can download a free live album from coldplay on their site. it's really good. i would like to hear more songs like no.7. i write about them, a lot. they should send me some butterflies ;)!