art | flaming cactus

my intention each weekend is to go around town and take some photos of the holiday decorations to share, but then i get distracted. isn't this flaming cactus installation cool? created by the animus arts collective in cooper square it was made by fastening 32,000 fluorescent-colored cable ties to 14 lampposts to show that anyone can make wonderful art using simple, everyday items.

it is so interesting to see & touch, and if you try real hard, the cacti kind of resemble {very thin} christmas trees, especially if you live in the desert. read more about the project here.

xo, cindy

ps claudia's idea for beautifying her ugly christmas tree stand is very clever.

town | last days of fall

dear fall:

how about you stick around just a little bit longer? whaddya say?

xo, cindy

ps love this new song by surfer blood. seems like summertime in their world all of the time.

town | weekend beauty

the weather was beautiful this weekend & we've been lucky to have a true fall season this year.

there were romantics leaving lovely messages on construction sites.

cool ironwork outside a tattoo parlor in brooklyn.

a color coordinated shrine.

a very inventive bench in long island city.

and a shadow poser with a lot of patience - over to the right, raise your arm up, higher, no lower :).

thanks for the well wishes everyone! i fell off the face of the earth for a bit, but thanks to some tlc and scott airing me out like a hot house plant over the weekend (vitamin d from the sun), i'm just about all better. last week i also finished my accounting class (a+), ordered a 2012 calendar from pinhole press and our 2010 blurb book, so things are getting back on track and i hope to do the same on this old blog by creating a schedule of sorts for the rest of the year.

hope your holiday activities are going well. we've got our cards & the stamps!

xo, cindy

ps have you seen the summary of the most powerful photos of 2011? so good!

life | family treasures

over the thanksgiving holiday, my brother gave me a small photo album that gives me just what i need to prove (to scott) that i was a domestic diva and quite stylish as a kid. he was also quite stylish with his pinky ring and our mom in her confirmation dress - beautiful.

i genuinely loved that pretend vacuum cleaner, which made the hum sound, and also enjoyed wearing pretty dresses with hats and gloves. nowadays, i'll pass on the vacuuming, but a pretty dress every now and then might be nice.

xo, cindy

ps today i have such a bad cold and really miss my mom's tlc. things i didn't care for at all as a kid like soft-boiled eggs with toast and vicks vapor rub would be so welcome right about now.

life | giving thanks

we'll be celebrating thanksgiving here in the us tomorrow and the holiday makes us think about what's good in our lives. even though there's a tendency to harp on the bad stuff, in many ways it's the small gestures of kindness that make it all worth it.

take my email inbox for instance. i have a folder containing all of the blog comments we've received over the years and as of today it has over 8,900 emails. wow, that's a lot of nice notes of encouragement about us, charlie, someplace we went, or whatever was up that day. it's pretty awesome, so thank you for being awesome and making us feel that way, too.

have a lovely holiday if you celebrate and a good weekend!

xo, cindy

ps isn't that birdhouse the coolest? it's about 20' high in gramercy park, which is a private park except for those of us looking over the fence and the birds.

town | art out & about

one of the greatest things about living in this town is finding a vast variety of art, including work like this mural in williamsburg, brooklyn. it's definitely kind of scary, but interesting just the same.

i never realized this love sculpture by robert indiana was located just a few steps away from the hotel where scott & i had our wedding reception. maybe that's the reason why we've lasted so long as a couple :)?

i learned about the paintings by mark nilsson from jen who had one created of herself on her last trip to nyc. she posed for him just outside the museum of modern art for an hour and i give her all the credit in the world for doing so because it is hectic.

the last photo was taken by ms. artsyville herself and features me (on the left) and aimee (on the right) who recently moved from kansas to new jersey. this sunday, aimee spent her sunday morning with me at the museum of modern art (see her wonderful photos here) and meeting someone in person you've come to know online is such a special treat.

one of the highlights of blogging by far is getting to know smart, creative folks from around the world who enrich our lives in so many ways. and, it's funny, when you actually meet you seem to know so much about each other, but not quite all the details and nuances.

xo, cindy