Laundry in the Basement

After breakfast H went to school and I walked in the park. We met Bill for lunch at Burger Joint in Le Parker Meridien Hotel. Then Bill headed to catch his plane to fly to DC and H and I walked around a bit. H wanted to look in Tiffany's which we did, but we didn't come out with a blue box.

We came back to the apartment. For being in such an exciting city, there are still the quotidian chores like laundry. Our laundry is in the basement of the building so it's pretty convenient. We were tired from the weekend so it was a good day to work on laundry.

This is one of the latest paintings. It's done in a black, white and gray palette. The model is frequently late, even as much as 45 minutes. I think it's irritating to all of them.

Times Square

Times Square. There really is nothing like it. H and her friend ran into this character last weekend. So far we have not spotted the naked cowboy. Thank Goodness!

I remember an old David Letterman joke from years ago. He said if you get bored in New York, just rent a hotel room in Times Square, take out the Gideon Bible and turn to the 10 commandments, look out your window, and check off the commandments as you see them being broken. =)

Sunday afternoon we all three went to the TKTS booth in Times Square and bought half price tickets. Bill went to see Promises, Promises and H and I went to see Billy Elliot.

Billy Elliot? A big thumbs down! Neither H nor I liked it. It was long and very slow moving and for a show about dancing, there wasn't enough of it.

In Times Square there is a camera that takes a real-time video of the front of the Marriot Marquis Hotel and Theater. The video is displayed on a giant screen across the street. This screen is truly gigantic. We found ourselves in the video (above) and took a picture. I enlarged the area where we were standing and it's below. You can see H with her arms up. I'm taking the picture. You can see the flash from the camera. (We both have umbrellas.)

After the play we had dinner with Bill at Gotham Bar and Grill. H keeps wanting to see a celebrity. We haven't seen anyone...but naked cowgirls.

It Takes a Village...Greenwich Village

My brother-in-law Bill is in town until Monday. He knows the best places to eat. Thursday night we went to Rosa Mexicana. H said she had been craving Mexican. She eats it almost every day in Waco, but up here she hasn't had any.

Friday we walked over to Kitchen Arts and Letters. Bill had never been there and he's a big cook/entertainer. He loved it. We took the train down to the Village and had lunch at The Little Owl (above). It's a tiny place serving really great food. The exterior was used as the coffee shop in the show Friends so I took a picture of the facade. We stopped by Milk and Cookies, which is in the neighborhood. We saw a movie in the afternoon and then headed back to the apartment.

Friday night we had dinner at I Sodi, and Saturday morning the three of us went to 'Ino for brunch. We then walked around the Village a little.

This is Grove Street. It is so pretty. As we walked by this particular apartment, a little girl came out on the steps and was playing with a water balloon. She asked H, "Do you want to squirt it?" Bill and I were busy looking inside the brownstone as we walked by. It was incredible, as you would assume.

T's brother Barry was great friends with John Bartlett, a designer who has a shop on 7th and Charles. Bill is a good friend now so we went by his shop to see if he might be there. We got to visit with him and H got to meet him for the first time.

Then we checked out the new elevated park along the Hudson River, the High Line, which has been open for about a year. It's built on an old rail line. It was very cool and a clever use of the space. All of these pictures were taken on the High Line.

H passed this guy with a KKG shirt on. She stopped him and said she was a Kappa. He said, But not from the Women's College of Sydney! I guess the shirt was his wife's or a friend's.

H was being silly coming down the stairs of the High Line.

Saturday night we had dinner at Babbo, Mario Batali's restaurant. I feel too full even to write about this.

Green Acres

I walked in the park today and took a few pictures. The development of Central Park was a stroke of brilliance back in the mid 1800's.

Belvedere Castle

I did something I've always wanted to do. I ran around the reservoir. It was fun! I stopped a few times and took some pictures. Above is looking west.

This shot is looking south toward midtown.

6th Avenue

This is the cutest little shop called Tender Buttons on 61st and Lex. It is a tiny shop full of buttons. If you need a button, here's your source. Some buttons are cheap and some are over $100.

This is Woolworks, a needlepoint shop on Lex and 81st. The owner and her partner paint all the canvases.

H is trying to do a painting every day or two. This is one she finished at the first of the week. She will have this model and this pose for another week (I think). On Friday the model was 45 minutes late so this Monday there could be a new one!

No Soup for You!

This morning I went to do a few errands and I headed out first to 55th and 8th Avenue to check out the Soup Nazi's restaurant. The Soup Nazi, a character on Seinfeld, was based on a real person who closed his restaurant several years ago but just yesterday reopened it. It was reported on the Today show that he didn't show up for the reopening. "No soup for you!"

H and I had lunch and then headed downtown to SoHo. We walked along Broadway and then finally made our way to Little Italy.

Ferrara's was a lot like Rocco's in SoHo. It looked wonderful.

Gelato flavors

Here we are at Angelo's on Mulberry Street.

This was H's idea!! Ice cream from Mr. Softee. H got the ice cream man to take our picture.

H brought home a couple of smaller canvases today, but the photographs didn't turn out well. I will take pictures of them again tomorrow in natural light.

It's a Walk in the Park

It's still hot up here but I think it should cool off this evening. Here are a few pictures from my walk in the park yesterday.

Belvedere Castle

You may have heard about the red-tailed hawks nesting above the window of a 5th Avenue co-op building. The smaller, center building has the nest. Below is a closer picture. You can actually see the nest. At one time, the nest was removed but the hawks are back now.

Everybody drank lots of water yesterday!