window shopping in NYC

 I promise this is my last NY post for a while, but it is one of the best places to window shop in the whole world...would you agree?

Links of London

1 and 3 -  a b c  carpet & home, 2.  Mulberry,  4.  Anthropologie

 I'm happy just walking the streets in New York...there's no city where I feel more at home.

Central Park in November

Last Saturday was the perfect day to be in New York's Central Park.  The winds were calm, the temperature was in the 50s and the park was filled with people enjoying the day.  What I love about New York is that anything can happen and once in a while you can see something that will warm your heart.

This is sweet...a small child enjoying music and onlookers enjoying both.

As we walked past the fountain we noticed the man taking photos so we of course did the courteous thing and started to walk around him...then my daughter noticed what we were witnessing.  A marriage proposal-- right there in the middle of the courtyard by the Bethesda Fountain.  Friends were holding signs that read..."will you marry me?" and he was even on bent knee with a box holding a ring.  So sweet.  We could not believe our timing.  You don't get to see something like this everyday.

casual dining room + thanksgiving table inspiration

Casual Thanksgiving...

Our house is very casual and that includes the dining room.  I think it's more the mood created by candlelight, music and the meal itself that lends to a little bit of formality.

The painting is from Barclay Butera in Newport Beach, but I cannot stop thinking about this painting I saw on Etsy.  I think it would be perfect on the white brick and for this time of year.  It's called Whisper. 

My husband made our dining room table when we were first married.  We've used it in every apartment or house we've ever lived.  A few years later my sister and I found the chairs at Pottery Barn for $30 each...I keep thinking we'll replace them, surprisingly they are very comfortable.

Looking into the kitchen from the dining room.  Originally the opening was only as wide as a normal door.  We opened it up, added an arch and brick.  It makes the kitchen appear much larger, but the actual footprint stayed the same.

We will be away for Thanksgiving this year, but when we return on Saturday we'll pretend it's Thanksgiving all over again.  I was inspired by the photo below taken at the Union Square Greenmarket last Saturday.  It was not practical to bring these little bundles back so I went with a similar feel, but used things out of my own yard.  The color palette I was going for was gray, silver, white, natural and a little bit of denim.

My inspiration...natural from the wheat and grasses, the gray on the ground, blue (notice the person standing wearing blue jeans in the top right).

                                                                          Participating in:
                                                             Rooms by Rooms - Dining Rooms
                                                                    Tablescape Thursday
                                                                   Made By You Monday

autumn in new york

One of my favorite things to do in the fall in New York is to stroll through Union Square Greenmarket.  The colors, textures, smells of the season are all around you.  We shared a pint of the freshest and sweetest apple cider I've ever tasted. 

                           The market was filled with ideas to set a beautiful table for the holiday. 

I loved all the colors of the season, but this is what I was most drawn to...bundles of wheat, grasses...all different textures.  I even loved how they looked wrapped in brown paper against the gray honeycomb pattern on the ground.  Maybe next year bundles of these down the middle of a long table with a natural linen gray cloth and simple hurricanes with ivory candles?  How will you be setting your Thanksgiving table?

 

Going here . . .

be back Monday . . .

Bite size

The New York Times had a tiny cupcake on the front page of Dining today from Baked by Melissa.  The last few times we were in NY we managed to stop by quite a few times.  They have 5 locations conveniently sprinkled around the city and just seem to appear right when you need a little treat.  They are hard to resist.  Everything is turning up in bite size from popsicles to cannoli's. 

This inspired me to make a few mini treats. . . everything in size tiny is just so much cuter.

The New York Times, Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Ina's chicken pot pie + Juliska

We were looking for a recipe for chicken pot pie when we concluded that you just can't improve on Ina Garten's recipe.

With the exception of frozen peas and pearl onions, it's all fresh ingredients.  We even used home made chicken stock.  We don't always have the time for this, but since it was the weekend...

Once the chopping is done, it comes together pretty quickly....but then it needs to bake for an hour!

 The recipe says to divide the filling equally among four bowls.  I used large Juliska ramekins and it made nine individual servings.  The bowls hold about 11 ounces to the top.  This still seemed like a generous size serving.  Also, to cut down on the calories a bit I cut a pattern for the pastry to fit just inside the ramekin as opposed to cutting it larger and fold over the bowl as the recipe calls for.  I purchased these bowls at the Juliska flagship Store in Stamford, CT.   This beautiful store is very close to the Stamford train station and they have an adorable cafe.  It's worth the trip from NYC.  It's about 45 minutes on Metro North from Grand Central Terminal.  There was an excellent feature in Matchbook Magazine.

When I was cleaning up the dishes I noticed how beautiful the light was coming into the kitchen.  I love cooking in the afternoon.

Macy*s said it well...

The words in the middle of the page that are too small to read say this:

                           Today, in your own way, remember and reflect.  September, 11, 2001.

              The American flag that you see is on the opposite side.   It is an ad for Duane Reade.

9/11 * remember * reflect

Like everyone in America I remember exactly what I was doing on the day of 9/11 ten years ago.  I had just sent my first grader off to school on the bus that picked her up at the end of our driveway in New Canaan, Connecticut, a town about 40 miles outside of New York City.  My 2 year old son and I went to meet a friend to go walking.  It was a little before 9 am and as Maureen and I pushed our jogging strollers and talked, a man driving by stopped to ask us if we heard what just happened.  By the time we made it back to the house and turned on the news the second tower had been hit.  It was impossible to reach anyone by phone...you heard a busy signal as soon as you picked up the receiver of your land line.  Trains stopped coming into our town and eventually we went to the Stamford station to wait for my husband.  I was lucky...I knew my husband was in his midtown office and was safe, but many people were not so lucky.  As we waited standing on the platform, we watched as people poured out of trains.  No one made eye contact, two young men were covered in ash and my first grader had no idea what to make of this....did any of us?  In the days and weeks that followed the attacks it was amazing to see everyone coming together. ...as neighbors, New Yorkers, as people who cared about America.  Everyone displayed an American flag and not just like the 4th of July.  People displayed huge flags on the side of their homes, roof tops, the side of barns...they were everywhere.  Businesses all over NYC and the tri-state area displayed the I heart NY poster designed by Milton Glaser, only he modified it and put a smudge on the heart where the towers once stood and added the words "more than ever." It was in New York Newspapers for weeks and shops and restaurants put the full page sign in their windows. 

We will start our day by attending mass and then spend the day together as a family as we watch the specials on television.

I found this book at a thrift store in Laguna Beach on Thursday.  How could I pass it up?  Both my my kids read it the day I brought it home.  My nephew Ryan took this photo of Engine Co 5 in NYC during his first year at Fordham.  He will be at Ground Zero on 9/11.

We took this photo a year after 9/11.  Empty chairs lined up in Bryant Park facing Ground Zero to represent the lives lost.

New York City Fire Museum one year after the 9/11 attacks.  Madeline, Patrick and our friend Chase were able to meet one of the rescue dogs and his owner.