Back to New York City

After my amazing trip to New York City last fall I never thought I would actually get to go back! Lo, and behold, I did! I didn't have my biscotti job anymore but I did have air miles that have been sitting around for six years and landed me a free ticket. And Michael kindly said he would watch the kids again.

So off I headed for a Mon-Thurs trip to New York. It was delightful! My friend, Christy, and I had so much fun. Here are some of the things we did:

Enjoying lunch at a little Italian restaurant in Christy's neighborhood:

Grilled vegetables with mozzarella:

Used book shopping at the local Goodwill:

A visit to St. John's, which reminded us of Paris:

We took a 3-hour boat ride around Manhattan, including the Statue of Liberty!

A glimpse of the new tower being built near Ground Zero.

The bridges were beautiful:

More views toward Ground Zero:

The building in the center of this picture is where Martha Stewart has a floor for coming up with all the stuff that goes in the magazine.......

Dinner at home one evening: salad with salmon

Breakfast on my own at Le Pain Quotidien:

Greek yogurt with "rawnola":

I loved the inside of the bakery:

And then we went window shopping and popped into this amazing store where I wanted to take everything home:

Anthropologie was a must!

Probably the highlight of my trip was going to Jo Malone. I first heard of this perfume 10 years ago in Scotland and ever since have dreamed about buying some. I am so sensitive to perfumes that I figured Jo Malone may be the only one I could wear since it is very natural.

The sales associate was extremely patient as we each smelt every single scent and then some all over again. Then we had to go away for a tour of St. Patrick's while trying several scents on our skin before we went back to re-smell and actually buy our perfume. 

All the work was worth it!!! I am over the moon with my scent and am rationing it to once or twice a week. I chose French Lime Blossom which smells something like Lily of the Valley and Lilacs mixed together.

Last time I went to NYC we had tea at Alice's Teacup. This time we went back, but to a different location. 

They certainly have yummy food!!!

And a mile-long list of teas to chose from.

My "bread-less" sandwich was so good!!! It was a smoked chicken reuben in which the chicken had been smoked with tea.

Then we were off to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and reminisced about other travels we had been on together, namely Greece and Turkey.

The museum was so enormous we could only see a few things, but they were all lovely!

It was fun to see the "Crossing of the Delaware" in person!

And how about a gold piano for Christy? (She is a pianist by profession)

One of my favorites by Renoir.

Final dinner was had at another Italian restaurant and it was fabulous!!! Just these little "hole in the wall" places seem to turn out amazing food!!!!

Then we had to take a walk to the heather gardens and check out the progress of the heather, which was blooming nicely.

A glimpse of the George Washington Bridge from the heather gardens.

The all-important Jo Malone purchase!!!

Thursday morning we took a walk on the HIghline -- a converted train track which is now a nice strolling park.

We came upon a little playgroup enjoying the green grass in the middle of the city.

And some window boxes spilling their cheer onto the side of the building:

Roses in bloom:

And all the while we were towing my suitcase along with us so I could head directly to the airport after lunch.

A bit out of order, these pictures are. Wednesday night we watched an outdoor performance of some little vignettes in the heather garden. It was interesting, and we almost got into trouble with a skunk!

I used my new phone to take pictures in NYC and it was fun to see the different effects one could get:

The subway is the way to get around in NYC and some days it was quite crowded!!

We stopped in Chelsea Market to get lunch on my last day.

We found amazing gluten free crepes!!! Christy had Brie and apple and I had cured Italian beef with asiago and goat cheese and salad greens. AMAZING! We had to have a banana and nutella crepe for dessert.

Oh yes, here we are on our little jaunt to Versailles via the Metropolitan......

All in all it was amazing to have the chance to go back to New York!!! This time I won't say I'll never go back. :) But now it is back to real life and lots of school!

Mondays are for Grace

"The present is the only time in which any duty may be done or grace received."

-- C. S. Lewis

Words and Wool

Life is very full here with school in session. So far, our first few days have gone well! And now to catch you up on my stitching and reading......

I worked on this Ginger Leaves Shawlette while we were at Church Camp. I was amazed at how fast I got it done, beginning it on the Sunday afternoon and finishing it by Thursday (maybe even Wednesday). I was very glad to have it finished so quickly as I was taking it to NYC as a gift ten days later. 

The yarn used was Madelinetosh and I originally purchased the skein in NYC last year. I made two matching shawlettes out of one skein, one for me and one for a friend. I do think the shawl looks better in person as the yarn is richer and has a pearly glow to it.

I Am Half-Sick of Shadows: A Flavia de Luce Novel by Alan Bradley is the latest in the Flavia de Luce novels. I have loved all the other novels but for some reason found this one hard to get into. I wouldn't have finished it except for the fact that I loved the other books so much. Since these are murder mysteries and the murder didn't happen until somewhere after page 100, perhaps that's why I didn't go for this book as much. Oh well. I'll try the next one when it comes out and if I don't like it, perhaps I will give up on the series.


The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls is the book I read on my trip to NYC last week (more coming on that in another post). Wow. This book tells an amazing story of a very dysfunctional family and how the children grew up and survived and left this lifestyle to make lives of their own. It's almost hard to believe children in America can be this neglected while living at home with two parents. I think the book is a good eye-opener for the kinds of things going on perhaps very close to our own homes. It brought many things to my own mind which I am still pondering. The book is very well written and definitely a page-turner.


The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs by Alexander McCall Smith was a suggestion of my friend in NYC who is a big fan of A. M. Smith. It was easily read in two sittings and provided light-hearted reading with some good laughs about the predicament of a single professor who gets stuck in awkward situations, most notably having to give a lecture on the finer points of sausage dogs.


Peter Duck: A Treasure Hunt in the Caribbees (Godine Storyteller) by Arthur Ransome is the latest in the Swallows and Amazons series that the children and I are enjoying. It was an adventure on the high seas that included pirates and treasure. It brought back fond childhood memories of sailing with my uncle, camping out on an island, and exploring ruins from WWII. If only I could go back and relive that adventure! I'm dreaming of my children having these kinds of experiences. Meanwhile, we are off to begin the next book in the series.....

That is all for now. There is plenty of reading and knitting going on at the moment which I will continue to report on in the following weeks.

You can find more inspiration for reading and knitting over at Ginny's Yarn Along.

Mondays are for Grace

"For grace is given not because we have done good works, 

but in order that we may be able to do them."

--Augustine

Today is our first day of school! We are all excited and I also have a slight bit of trepidation. The year will be very full and it will be an exercise in walking day by day and grace by grace.

Mondays are for Grace

"Grace is but glory begun,

and glory is but grace perfected."

--Jonathan Edwards

Our Week

It's been a busy week around here! We headed up to Chicago on Monday morning to visit with old friends we haven't seen in many, many years. We hung out at a splash park in the afternoon.

 We also spent lots of time talking about flowers since our friend, Rebecca, works at a flower shop. She took me to see the shop and gave me lots of ideas for Emily's wedding.

The next morning we headed downtown to the Lincoln Park Zoo.

It was such a lovely zoo, and free too! All the kids enjoyed each other's company.

The exhibits were well thought out and fun to look at.

Everyone loved getting up close to the polar bear!

A picnic was enjoyed outside the zoo in a beautiful garden.

We managed to get a family picture:

And more pictures of the kids:

Then we headed to the beach which was right there at the edge of the city!

There are few things more relaxing than sitting on the beach.

The kids LOVED it! And it was hard to pull ourselves away when it was time to leave.

Back in Indianapolis we continued our visit with Karen, our friend who is here from Scotland. One evening we went downtown for a little walk.

And we discovered this amazing new candy store on the circle. We'll probably be going back sometime.....

On the way home we were treated to a gorgeous sunset!

Yesterday we went to the IMA Gardens for a picnic.

And then toured Oldfields (the Lily House).

And ended our visit inside the art museum taking in European Art.

And I found a lovely painting of the Scottish Highlands.

School began for our neighbors this week! Can you believe it! We ended the week with a birthday party for several of the children.

Laura quite enjoyed herself. :)

And now for the weekend.......

Words and Wool

Plenty of knitting has been happening around here. Knitting is always a good thing to take on trips and since we've had a trip to Church Camp and a trip to Chicago, there has been ample time for such things.

Rachel knitted this Blue Tit for Grandma for her birthday. I thought she did such a good job! She used this pattern which can be found on Ravelry.

Our friend, Karen, is visiting with us from Airdrie, Scotland! Sometime ago she expressed interest in a mug cozy and her visit was a good time to try one. She claims it keeps her coffee hot for a much longer period than normal! :) It was so easy to make with some of my felted sweaters.

Other gift knitting is happening but can't be revealed at this time. Perhaps next week........

And now for words.......

Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher was finished at Church Camp. Such a lovely book! Pilcher is now one of my favorite authors. I believe she has written somewhere around 20 books so I am looking forward to savoring each and every one in the years ahead. I must not allow myself to read them all at once or the pleasure will be spoilt.


A Summer In Skye by Alexander Smith is a book I've just begun. I have a very old, antique copy which I am reading. One of my goals for the next year is to read books set in, or about, Scotland as much as possible in preparation for our trip there next fall. I'm kind of choosing books on whims as I hear about them or come across them. I've begun A Summer in Skye and from it have ordered several Sir Walter Scott novels as well as a biography of Scott.

The piles are as high as ever by my bed and on my bookshelf. However, this is a great pleasure in life and I am very thankful for it.

You can hop over to Ginny's blog today to read more about books and knitting.