a surprise visit

i was in the midst of updating photos on the computer and getting ready to do some italian homework when marisa called to say she was in town. she and tsering were here for a dental appointment and apartment decluttering. she also had a bag of apples for us from her tree! of course i invited her over for tea, and then (of course) we had to go out for a walk as it was such a nice day.

i'll post more tomorrow, as it's late right now and i still need to get my duolingo exercises in.

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we walked to the muji clothing store on 19th street as she wanted to check on a few items of clothing for herself and deychen. i ended up picking out a few things for christmas for some of my folks (can't say who). afterwards, we walked around the block so i could show her the levain bakery and then we walked back to sixth avenue and the container store which is now combined with bed, bath and beyond (which i'm happy about as the super large b, b and b store across the street had closed). marisa bought two containers to hold the clutter she is attempting to declutter.

we walked through the west elm store which i always like to do as it goes between 18th and 17th street (a lot of people probably do this, especially in the winter). we ended up admiring all the furniture and taking pictures of ourselves sitting in my favorite chairs and couch.

a nice salesperson (shawana) mentioned that we should check out the two discount rooms in the store. i was glad she showed them to us as i never knew they were there, and several items were decently priced. she also mentioned that there's an outlet store in brooklyn by industry city. i used to always find well priced gift items at the pottery barn outlet store which used to be on 10th avenue near 23rd street in the late 80's, so i look forward to visiting elm's outlet store one day. (my sister still has a set of mugs from there that i gave her for christmas one year.)

we walked home together and i left her at her apartment building and then called kendall to find out where i should meet she and janine for her birthday celebration . . 

. . it ended up being the commerce inn. 

fancy cafe visit

 

i've been wanting to show janet cafe lysée on 21st street; so today we walked over and had coffee and matcha and shared two pastries . . 

my "signature" lysée latte (made with their toasted brown rice milk) and their classic pastry: korean toasted brown rice mousse with pecans, hazelnuts and caramel. 

on the bottom right is their matcha white chocolate chip cookie with strawberry jam, and on the top left is their summer "floating island" - matcha espresso with yuzu sorbet. the cafe is the creation of chef eunji lee who combines korean ingredients with a french touch. she explains her inspiration on the cafe's website which you can read here.

we walked home through washington square . . when we first left the cafe, the breeze out on the street felt so cool that i waved my arms in the air and exclaimed that i had goose bumps. a person in new york city can go through three months of summer and never feel cold - not once! there have been times in the past when i have packed to visit my sister or for a trip upstate or to the berkshires in massachusetts that i did not even consider bringing a sweat shirt or sweater or a long sleeved shirt only to face a cool day or cold night and have to borrow something or actually buy something. so now i know fall is definitely on the way because i was actually cold for a moment when leaving the cafe. of course we warmed up quickly after turning left onto broadway and walking in the sunshine.

i also stopped at the union square green market and found prune plums! they were quite expensive . . but i bought two pounds worth and hope to make a delicious plum cake.

sunday morning poem and sunday stroll

august 16

i sing of you, migrating heron.

i sing of your whiteness and your sauntering gait in fallow land.

and i sing of you, resident hoopoe.

i sing of your little crown as you gather seeds from a plowed field.

this is how i am, my song is confused,

it plants one foot in fallow land

and another in plowed fields.

sometimes i recite the resident's prayer,

other times the prayer of the traveler.

by zakaria mohammed (1951-2023) 

translated from the arabic by lena khalaf tuffaha

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our first watermelon this summer and, thankfully, it was perfect. it was ten dollars, which is why it was the first and possibly the only one. it was also heavy to carry home. when the girls were little i remember buying a watermelon in florida for two dollars.

sunday breakfast. i had read today's poem last sunday, so this sunday we read several greek poems about cicadas. maybe i'll post them for next sunday. i heard our first summer cicada at the beginning of august and last night i heard a cricket. i find the sound of crickets chirping so soothing. we don't get many in our courtyard.

walking with greg along twelfth street (he's talking to korrina on his phone with an update on grandma who hasn't been feeling well).

we walked over to pet co at union square for cat food. he hadn't yet seen their new flagship store that opened on park avenue. he was duly impressed and we had fun peeking at the schnauzer being groomed, the german shepherd being washed in a big sink, the customers buying special wet dog food from the refrigerated fresh food section, the pet owners bringing their dogs and cats to the veterinary area and the adorable cats waiting for adoption in their glass enclosures. upstairs we saw the birds and reptiles and also picked out the canned cat food we wanted (tiki and tastefuls).

and then we walked four blocks to lyseé (a korean french bakery) so i could get their signature latte and a cookie.

we sat and read by madison park.

the inner part was a banana puree. i still like their buckwheat tahini cookie the best.

sixth avenue street fair . . 

bananagrams after dinner . . 

part of tonight's dinner discussion centered on how detrimental humanity is for earth and the downfall began with civilization, no . . they both sided with the downfall beginning with agriculture.

actually, that was at breakfast.

walking home from the dentist

i had a dental appointment today (check up and cleaning) and passed this beautiful building on my way home . . and while admiring it, i realized it currently has an exhibition of photographs by photographer vivian maier that i've been wanting to see. janet went a few weeks ago . . i'll have to return another day.

i also "discovered" a new matcha bar called "cha cha matcha." 

i intended to get a strawberry matcha, but it only came iced . . and i was actually a little chilly (there was a cool breeze this morning and the sun was hiding behind clouds).

this is a mocha with whipped cream . . 

i also ran into crate and barrel . . it hadn't closed completely, but only moved location. it's now right across from fish's eddy on broadway.

and one of our favorite pizza places closed . . 

marisa used to know the very elderly man who lived in this very nice brownstone. he died a few years ago (104, i believe) and it's now being renovated for a new family. i peeked through when walking by and  thought the ground floor looked very nice with its large window overlooking the yard and all it's black wrought iron window frames and fencing.

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someone is having a fun summer so far!

saturday neighborhood walk

greg and i were walking east on 17th street when we ran into the start of the dance parade at sixth avenue.

everyone was having a grand time . . 

we had to walk up to 18th street to cross the avenue . . 

some of the costumes were incredibly elaborate.

we stopped at lysee cafe on 21st street (marisa and i had stopped by a few weeks ago, but they were closed).

greg hesitated walking in at first . . it seemed a little too fancy!

perhaps it was . . 

such amazing cakes!

i was stopping by for the buckwheat cookie . . and i was not disappointed.

we continued on our way to the whole foods at 29th street and madison avenue . . and ran into another parade!

this was the 40th turkish american festival parade.

so many food tables! unfortunately, we had already eaten enchiladas at rosa mexicana so we didn't stop. but it was an exciting walk with very intense dancing and very loud music . . (and we made it to whole foods where i was looking for some vitamins that my local health food store didn't have, and which whole foods didn't have either. i think they have been discontinued).