and a birthday gift . .

morgana has been calling and wondering when i would receive this gift from her and chanda . . well, chanda finally gave it to me last night (she had been visiting her friend's country cottage on a lake) and i've been enjoying drinking my daily dose of water out of my new cat glass. the glass on the left is a lovely pitcher with a design by todd oldham who took the illustrations of charley harper and put them on glassware. they've very pretty and i've always admired them every time i visit the store. thank you, morgana! (the cat glass matches the tea towel korrina gave me several years ago for christmas).

bon voyage party

we met clyde at amorino's on university place as a good-bye party before we head out on saturday for our big cross country trip.

it feels like such a huge undertaking, and our return feels so far away.

at silvie's lake house

 my friend katie sent me some pics of the teens together at her lake front home.

birthday

 i spent the morning and afternoon with korrina. she had dropped her phone and i suggested getting it fixed at the samsung store.

 unfortunately, unbeknownst to us, it was a refurbished phone and they wouldn't touch it. (she had received it from my provider's insurance company to replace a broken phone in march.) we spent a good hour in the starbucks on greenwich avenue speaking to credo mobile and trying to get them to replace it. since they wouldn't, she decided to change plans and is now with verizon on brian's dad's plan, but with a separate account for herself which she can sign into and pay on her own.

 afterwards, she treated me to birthday hors d'oeuvres at doma. it was a beautiful day and it felt so peaceful sitting outside their restaurant with a perfect breeze. we had a pretzel and weisswurst and pickles with a pale ale. doma has delicious german sausage. it was really the nicest time.

 i wasn't all that hungry in the evening when greg was ready for dinner, but he wanted to go out so i obliged and picked frankie's on hudson street. i made him wait an hour and sit outside with me (there was a waiting list for the outdoor tables, so we moved the car while waiting).

even though i wasn't that hungry i managed to eat a huge piece of eggplant parmagiana. frankie's has such good food that it tasted just like something my aunt mary or my mom would make.

 we had the most beautiful view of the moon over the white horse tavern.

dinner with kendall

 my friend kendall took me out to dinner tonight.

we had the most delicious food at blenheim on west 12th street. we've eaten here before and enjoyed it, but tonight was nicer as it wasn't as busy and so it was less noisy. we had oyster chasers (which ended up being very good), chicken with okra, duck with cherries and soft shell crab with edamame, lima beans and strawberries. the latter was incredibly different and delicious.

flowers and errands

 yesterday while running errands, chanda and i passed the garden at la guardia and bleecker street. the tiger lily day lilies are in bloom, meaning my birthday is here (tomorrow).

 my mom had these planted all around the house when i was growing up. i loved watching them bloom every summer.

there was also a beautiful sunflower . .

morgana met our good friend aliza and her mom in paris for tea. everyone is heading there this summer! it's the place to be!

on their way back to paris . .

morgana and victoria backed up their beach clothes, photography props and cameras, and headed home to paris.

nana, a new tent and finally . . veniero's!

 we took a trip to connecticut purposefully to see my mom. it served, also, as a time to set up the new tent and make sure everything was good with it.

 i'm really pleased with the tent. it went up easiy and has big windows and a door that is easy to zip open and closed. it's a little taller than i wanted, but that was a trade off for the windows (and the price). smaller tents with bigger windows (more dome like) were more than i wanted to spend. this tent was rated excellent for price, comfort and durability. it also packs up small and light. it's so different from the heavy canvas tents of my childhood (which i do love . . that canvas aroma!).

 of course toby inspected it . . 

 she seemed to give it her seal of approval, but deemed it beneath her cat status to actually stay inside.

 summer daisies in my sister's garden . .

and astilby . .

my mom had fallen on friday, but, thankfully, we averted a trip to the emergency room and the hospital. she was fine when we visited her today, albeit a little more confused than the last time we saw her, but that seems to be the path these days. we had a nice time together and ate lunch at whole foods. she had her favorite: roast beef on a buttered roll with a little salt and pepper.

the store was out of the haagen dazs chocolate dixie cups she likes, so she tried the new mochi ice cream which chanda loves (they're her favorite from a childhood spent in a local japanese restaurant - where they were offered as a special after dinner dessert on the house), but nana didn't care for them as much.

 we knew it wouldn't be easy getting home as the gay pride parade occurred today. however, greg had seen signs on our street that it would reopen at 6 pm.

 well, this was not the case. we were so close, yet so far. it was impossible to even get into our neighborhood. all streets were closed, even though this had not been posted on the city government's website (only the parade route streets were posted as closed).

we decided to go directly to the east village where we had plans to meet our friend clyde at veniero's.

after a few go rounds, a spot opened up in front of the restaurant and we were able to keep an eye on the car while having dessert (thankfully!!!).

two pignoli cookies and a rainbow cookie . . and decaf coffee . .

 a huge tart! they have so many different kinds and this was not what she meant to have, but settled for it anyway . . this was more of a cake.

 clyde with his beloved annual veniero's dessert choices: iced mocha with gelato and giant sized ricotta cheesecake (greg had my favorite: new york cheesecake).

 summer is here!

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(we didn't make it home until very late. the traffic was horrendous and we had to beg our way past a police barrier . . thankfully, a man with two little children pulled up behind us and added to our pleas and the officer guarding the street finally let us both through).

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pics from morgana . .

 nighttime pics of nice?

 and an early morning pic of the matisse chapel in vence . .

morning tea, a birthday gift, clyde, & saint-paul-de-vence

my morning "pre-breakfast:" a gluten free brownie and belloq tea (l'etoile de l'inde) . .

yesterday, chanda and i worked on our travel plans before she hurried off to a duncan class downtown, and then her ballet/forsythe workshop. korrina joined me in the afternoon for a knitting date before she went to her friend's birthday party. she had a beautiful gift and card for me in celebration of my birthday: two exquisite linen dishcloths handsewn by a woman from yemen and sold through a collaboration with M spring studio. i think she found them at the seventh heaven street fair in park slope. they're really lovely and the green looks pretty in the kitchen.

our good friend clyde is back in town, and he helped me map out our travel plans while greg troubleshooted a network emergency and chanda danced at her workshop. we'll be passing by his hometown on our way to san francisco, which is a little sad because all of us have always wanted to have a california visit together, but we'll see him again in august in nyc before he goes back. i guess we'll have to do another cali trip sometime when he's there . .

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 greetings from morgana in saint-paul-de-vence at james baldwin's home! she had a fun and sunny day excursion with victoria . . 

looking north . . 

and northeast . . 

taking pictures at james baldwin's home . .

heading down into the town . .

an afternoon snack . .

wildflowers . . 

with the town behind her . . 

saint-paul-de-vence . . 

dinner back in nice.