freewheelin'

day 2 of our trip to nyc began with me meeting my friend, and our middle school art teacher, e.m., for coffee and breakfast. we ate and rushed to our first super seminar with featured artist, peter max. i love his work. was not as impressed with his talk but nonetheless, a celebrity in the art world. we wanted to see him. see some of his work here.

after the "super session" we rushed off to a mixed media/collage session. lots of great example work by this art instructor. teachers were crammed in a tiny conference room at the sheraton, listening and frantically passing the examples while snapping photos with our iphones. a humorous site.

after that we perused the a huge ballroom at the hilton seeing various art vendors. all wanted to sell us on the latest and greatest art materials. this was super fun. we were able to experiment with new paints, sharpies, pens, brushes, etc. we could have easily spent the rest of the day there. and lots of free art materials being given away. so much that e.m. had her things fed ex'ed back to rome that afternoon. i crammed mine in my ginormous suitcase. i have been playing with the goodies all week.

later that afternoon we met up with fellow roman and friend c.k. he showed us around the west village, chelsea, and the meatpacking district. we walked on the high line and got to watch the sunset over the hudson. amazing. we visited several galleries in chelsea, featuring up and coming artists, and attended a lichtenstein opening. our friend and guide offered an authentic new york tour of these areas and all the history to boot. a priceless and completely entertaining afternoon and evening.

here are some photos from the best thursday ever.

the west village, greenwhich village and chelsea, as our tour began.

a favorite bob dylan hangout. cafe wha.

wine and beer at white horse tavern. aka as the "high temple of the alcoholic artist".

we tried to recreate a famous photo from a bob dylan album cover. we stood in the exact spot where he stood. pb even happened to have on a camel jacket.

our esteemed tour guide.

washington square.

views from the high line with a real camera.

art we saw: a bird made of nails.

thousands of paintbrushes.

sidebar here: i was convinced after seeing several of these huge sculptures that pb and i need to do a collaborative installation piece...i still am...

the opening.

our gallery hopping was followed by dinner here.

and after dinner...

we said farewell to our friend. i cannot say thank you enough for the time he spent with us that afternoon. we had an amazing time. could not have asked for more.

after the cab ride back to the hotel, pb and i walked to times square and climbed to the top of the steps to drink in this view.

my sister, lizzie, em and i spent several nights in times square in december so it made me a little homesick. it is a great place.

we had dessert at the 53rd street deli before turning in for bed. sprinkle cookies.

feelin' groovy

this time last week we were having dinner here.

i will elaborate on the deliciousness of our entire dining experience in another post.

we returned last sunday afternoon from a 5 day, 4 night trip to nyc. i have been dying to share about everything that we saw, did, learned, heard, ate, and drank, all week! but it has been craziness around here. the weekdays usually are nowadays. i told pb last evening that my friday night kickoff for spring break was going to be here.

and my plans were for him to make guacamole, listen to music, enjoy our home, and start blogging about our trip. he was more than fine with that.

but where to start? we needed to get out of town and away from the normal busyness of everyday life that can consume us if we are not careful. the purpose of this trip was for me to attend the naea national convention and we were so happy that he was able to come along for the ride...and some great photo taking. my mornings were spent learning about new methodology and ideas for the classroom, seeing new products from hundreds of art vendors, listening to famous artists and critics, being around several thousand other educators that do what i do every day, and just getting inspired and rejuvenated. all in the heart of manhattan. i was so moved by the session we had with artist, chuck close, that i couldn't take notes fast enough. and trying to recap all of it later that afternoon was frustratingly lost in translation. i couldn't do justice for all that he said.

so i'll begin with day and night one. we arrived at la guardia around noon on wednesday.

i hadn't been to nyc with pb yet. i cannot express how excited i was to be there with him. i have listened to countless stories of the time he spent living there and have waited for the day that i could go with him...to see new york through his eyes. the past two times i was in nyc, i saw his old apartment building, ate pizza at his favorite pizza place, and rode the subway that he rode so many times. but we had not been together until this trip.

the taxi ride was just as it always is. same smell, same feeling...but this time with pb. the buildings were clouded with a grey fog and light rain as we crossed the 59th street bridge into manhattan. we were geeking out.

we were both snapping photos as fast as we could until we reached the hotel. the wrong hotel. our taxi driver let us out at the old sheraton. but luckily the right one was just across the street. so we pulled our luggage in the rain, up one block and crossed the street to our correct destination. we checked in and headed out for a slice of pizza. starving! after lunch we got on the subway and headed down to chelsea to see chelsea market and some other local shops. it was raining...blowing raining. pb kept apologizing. for what? i was having the time of my life. watching him take me places and seeing how comfortable he was. seeing how much he loves that place was all i needed.

here is chelsea market.

we left there, back into the rain, and saw some of the west village, the coolest record shop on bleeker street, and the tavern bar where pb spent many a weekend.

so at 4:00, i am sitting in the west village having a glass of wine, watching the rain drizzle, people bustle around, and feel like i am in heaven. we left there, hopped back on the subway and went back to the hotel. i went to check in at my conference and pick up all of my loot for the morning sessions.

dinner that night was at pb's favorite new york restaurant. supper. check it out here.

again, the perfect rainy night to be nestled away in a cozy restaurant in nyc. we shared the black kale panzanella that was to die for. pb had the tagliatelle al prosciutto di parma. i had the pappardelle wild mushrooms. yum. so fresh. so different. so not rome, ga.

full and completely happy, we snapped a few more photos and then headed back to the hotel for a good night's sleep. i was so content and so thrilled to be in the city with pb.

will share about day two, tomorrow. tgif and happy spring break!

hand and foot

hoping everyone is having a great february. i'm not sure where it has gone. we had the best weekend doing absolutely nothing. lots of time to realize how quickly things are changing in our lives. wil is driving, em is making statements like "i don't like him anymore. and i'm ok with being single. that's just like being normal to me." seriously???

we enjoyed a few hands of cards with my grandmother, mother, wil, and em on saturday night. it was the first saturday in a long time that no one had any games, parties, etc. such a fun time hanging out with larry, nana, mamie, and the whole family. a night that you realize was worth more than you can express once it is over.

on sunday, we all cleaned the house and then em and i settled in to watch breaking dawn. i made one of these as a treat.

coffee, a splash of amaretto, and some cream that was frothed with this little jewel.

it was a christmas treat from a friend but it can be found here. em loves to froth milk with it for her hot chocolate too. we highly recommend it.

another find from our weekend was this color for spring.

opi's elephantastic pink. we had mani/pedi's on saturday morning and i chose this color. a step out of the box from privacy please or mink muffs.

pb has also been playing around with instagram. these were some of his weekend photos.

and mine.

we have been going back and reading some of our old blog entries...realizing how much wil and em are growing and how fast this year is going by...hence the nostalgic post for tonight. happy monday/mardi gras eve!

roygbiv

here are some bright and happy images from a grey wednesday...

a new favorite candy.

who doesn't love new mr. sketch scented markers?

and art i made from leftover paint and cardboard with my 4th graders yesterday.

this makes me want to get a pedicure and sip a fruity drink.

happy wednesday evening!