an early cold spell

it's freezing this morning and none of our trees or plants were ready for it. the sidewalks are covered with green leaves, and the flowers in abingdon park are encased in ice.

happy halloween . . a halloween morning

i love my city and all the lovingly crazy people in it. i think i especially love this song and video because it captures the essence of what nyc was like when i first began living here in 1987. the city has changed a lot since then . . but people still flock here to sing and dance and to be free and i guess that's a very 60's thing to say. peace, love and rock n' roll . . those are the roots of this city . . along with greed and corruption, but we won't go there in this moment because it's a happy let's celebrate nyc moment!

back in the big apple! peace and love!

. . . . . jiggity jig

home again . .  

a busy and rainy monday

 chanda began a ballet dance intensive this morning. we were out of the house at 7:45 am . . in the pouring rain! it was not a morning to be out and about after a crazy busy weekend. i would have been very happy to have stayed home working on a main lesson, or knitting and listening to a book on tape . .

 after her dance intensive we angled crosstown through irving place to her violin lesson. irving place extends from 14th street, north to gramercy park. it was named after washington irving who had supposedly lived at 122 east 17th street for awhile. many of the buildings are incredibly beautiful and we liked the gargoyles on the one above.

 washington irving high school . . 

 korrina's friend james attended this high school, and korrina took her SAT here. 

here chanda is at third street where she practiced before having her lesson.

this is a pic of korrina and ellen's assistant krista. korrina and i helped ellen move her props and costumes out of the theatre and into mini-storage this morning. krista had everything impeccably organized, and i think ellen would be lost without her.

midtown nfl shenanigans

when chanda, gael and i were walking to the train to go home today, we passed a huge slide on broadway promoting super bowl sunday. 

you just never know what you're going to find around the next corner . . 

a walk through soho

i've been enjoying the walk home after dropping chanda off at her ballet class on broadway between franklin and leonard streets. the buildings seem relatively unchanged from the 1800's when soho was growing from farmland into a theatre and shopping district. as the city moved uptown it became known for it's small factories and was considered for awhile as an industrial wasteland (and earned the nickname "hell's hundred acres" for the many fires that occurred).

i liked seeing this mom off on a morning stroll with her two daughters.

in the early morning before 9 am the streets are very quiet.

above is grand street. in the evening it'll be packed with cars on their way to the holland tunnel; commuters hurrying home to new jersey.

zito and sons was actually my favorite place to buy italian bread. but vesuvio bakery's green facade is infamous and can be found on many nyc postcards.

the brick ovens are still intact in the basement, as i think they still are at zito's on bleecker street (though a new business in the space now, it's still a cafe that serves italian food).

and finally home to the west village. all the way on the left you can see the sign for west 11th street cafe.