it's still friday

philly! it's been such a tiring day. we were on the road by 6:30, which was good as we beat all rush hour traffic and arrived in time to see her friend's classic ballet piece (she did a contemporary last night). we had lunch, took a nap, and got ready for c's contemporary at 6 pm. it went really well and she's so happy to have it over with. tomorrow is the classical ballet category for her age group.

we didn't eat until 1 pm and by then we were starving. we found the tiniest cafe across the street from the hotel and they had the most delicious food. i had cream of tomato soup with basil and croutons and shredded cheese, and a sandwich which i shared with chanda (roast turkey with pickles, lettuce and tomatoes). the chef was extremely solicitous and wanted to make sure we liked everything and that it was served properly (his helper had first neglected to put on my croutons and cheese). details like the lemon rinds and the olives served with the sandwich made it extra special. i've been reading blood, bones and butter by gabrielle hamilton (she has a restaurant called prune in the east village), and this kind of attention in a cafe is what being a chef is really all about for her.

warming up for her contempoary piece with her fellow classmate from home.

i have a movie of the warm up, but i haven't figured out yet how to upload from the new computer.

finally figured out how to put this movie up.

we were starving again by the end of the contemporary run competition . . and it took us awhile to decide where to go . . (our lunchtime cafe had closed) . . 

but we found a place recommended by a local employee in the hotel: marathon grill on market street . . and the food was just delicious.

salmon with a mustard sauce . . the waitress thought i was a bit nutty because i ordered an extra vegetable . . broccoli . . 

getting ready

 we've been getting ready to leave for the competition in the morning. 

 i really don't have recent pictures. i just thought i'd put these up for the spirit of the occasion (i miss the christmas tree!).

the costumes have been steamed in the bathroom (my friend's steamer didn't work so we hung them by a hot shower), the laundry is all up from the laundry room, the bags are packed, books packed . . i just don't have a knitting project packed yet.

more european geography work.

greg and chanda spent hours this evening on trying to get a back up of her ballet music, which the organization has asked her to have (she sent it in via mp3 in an email, but they've requested her to have a hard copy). for some reason it wasn't downloading from the file they found, and then korrina came home and mentioned just dragging the file into itunes, and, voila! it worked! now everyone is sleeping and i need to get my knitting project together and get some rest too. 

ice skating on a wednesday morning

it was 18 degrees this morning, but chanda and i managed to get up and head out to the ice rink.

going with friends definitely helped.

 my fingers and toes got so numb skating around . . chanda's also. she warmed up and read her cricket magazine . . i managed to skate another half hour i think, after they cleaned the ice, and then we left for the library.

 we hadn't been to the main branch in awhile, and it was nice picking out books about italy, austria and germany.

 clifford, the big red dog . . 

 after the library we walked to onstage dance for chanda to get a new pair of flat slippers.

 unfortunately, they didn't have her size so a pair has been ordered and she'll have to stitch up her old pair for the competition.

it was cold walking home through madison square park . . the new sculptures went well with the crisp and icy air.

tuesday morning

 i had a movie to go with today's pic of chanda penciling in the danube river (i never realized how long it was before . . ) but with the new computer i'm not sure how to export a video. some sleuthing needs to happen.

hermione took over jack's chair today . . 

monday evening

 waldorf homeschool coop had it's second lesson today. last week they laid a background for their map of europe. today they discussed the different countries and the european union.

and this evening chanda worked on putting in the mountains, seas and rivers.

sunday dinner

 we were all home tonight for dinner (except for miss muffet in the alps) and had leftover lasagna and sparkling cider.

and played a new game received on three kings day.

mulching the christmas tree

 we took the tree to be mulched today. unfortunately, the truck wasn't there to mulch it . . as it has been every year so far . . is this a reflection on our new mayor?

 good-bye tree . . i think i would keep it up longer if i knew that it could be mulched at a later date . . 

it's very grey out today and the apartment feels bare and empty . . 

packing up the christmas ornaments

 my favorite christmas treats: back chocolates and a clementine.

 chanda and i went crosstown today for a dance rehearsal at mary anthony's.

 ellen was there and chanda ran her modern piece and part of the ballet piece (a brave thing to do with ellen since ellen is not a huge ballet fan and sarcastic comments about ballet roll trippingly from her tongue).

 dinner tonight was leftovers from korrina's school cooking: falafel balls, tahini sauce, wheatberry salad and a salsa.

 after dinner we realized we had better take the ornaments off the tree since tomorrow is mulching day.

 this was not an easy accomplishment for us as we've grown accustomed these past few years of having morgana take charge of sorting the ornaments.

 chanda didn't want the ornaments to come off at all.


looks like a holly hobbie type of ornament from the '70's.

 we tried to make it a fun night with hot chocolate and biscotti . . chanda is holding my little piggy ornament.

 somehow the three of us managed to sort and straighten and organize the pieces into the bins.