we went ice skating this morning. it was cold again, which i like for ice skating! i think it's supposed to snow tonight, which i'm looking forward to.
we picked up groceries from integral yoga on the way home for lunch: plum tomatoes, grape leaves, goat cheese and olives. all that cold air and exercise made us hungry.
after passing by the art exhibit we walked up fifth avenue to 35th street, and then over to madison avenue. on the southwest corner of 35th street and madison avenue we were surprised to see the book party shoes in the window of a building. 
the building turned out to house the offices of oxford university press, and one of their latest re-issues is noel streatfeild's book. 
at onstage dance, chanda found one black cotton leotard that fit well for her ballet class. she still ended up taking the shoulder straps in a little. (she's outgrown five black ballet leotards this winter . . ?) 
since we were so close to scandinavia house, we couldn't resist a trip inside for lunch! they had a special of swedish meatballs with lingonberry sauce and mashed potatoes. we shared a plate. 
supposedly the meat was from a free range ranch, where the cattle were grass fed. i'm always a little skeptical, but i like to think it's true. in the gift shop on the way out, we picked up a jar of lingonberry jam and a package of coffee for greg for his birthday (february 19th). then we were on our way for the last stop of the day: chorus at third street.
i finally finished blocking a scarf for morgana and chanda's friend. it's knitted from rowan's kidsilk haze yarn. it looks light and airy, but is quite warm.
morgana ran off after working on her latin (she listens to linney's lecture and then writes the lesson in her notebook). she has a babysitting job, then a ballet class, and then chorus at third street at 6 pm. i'm just glad i don't have to run around with her anymore. i get tired just thinking of all she's doing.
we finished reading noel streatfeild's party shoes this morning. it's actually a book we found in the library . . very surprising, as it is getting more difficult finding books published prior to 1970/80 these days. many of the older books have gone out of print, and the price value has gone up for the ones still circulating (lucile morrison's the lost queen of egypt now sells for over a hundred dollars). this was reprinted by oxford university press and a librarian somewhere in the vast myriad of nyc library branches decided to purchase it. hooray for us. (we checked out circus shoes from the library about three years ago, but it has now been pulled from circulation. you can only read it in the main library branch. it's nice that one can still go and read it . . but for reading out loud together . . it's just not convenient or as nice . . especially when you're like us and enjoy reading first thing in the morning in bed). this book took place in england during the end of world war ii, and was about a family putting on a pageant on the grounds of an old abbey (a pageant that ends up including everyone in the entire village).
and then they had ballet classes . . morgana uptown and chanda downtown. korrina went to midtown for her class with the mcc youth company in their playwriting lab.
i made another recipe from the giada cookbook today. however, i had trouble locating the pasta orrecchiette (little ears) and marscapone (which i usually get at east village cheese). i ended up going to the italian store at chelsea market (closer than east village cheese) and they had both items . . and coffee for my moka pot. morgana met me there and we also stopped at manhattan fruit exchange for arugula. i was surprised to see that they now accept debit and credit cards, and they had more business than usual. with the high line park above, chelsea market is incredibly busy.
i doubled the recipe this evening as we had a friend over for dinner. our friend has a similar metabolism . . he's always hungry and can eat and eat and eat . . but never gains weight. my sicilian grandmother would have loved cooking for him.
we went with our friends to see the adventures of tintin this morning. morgana, chanda and i had no expectations as we hadn't read any of the tintin comics, or seen any of the cartoon movies. our friends were very familiar with the story lines, and this is one they had once read. they were a little more critical, but we just loved the movie wholeheartedly. it was great fun. and great to see in 3D. we went to an early show (discounted price) and came home for lunch and some work. morgana then went to her ballet class. c practiced her violin, and k was home . . from visiting her friend and is now taking a nap.
i like giada de laurentiis' cookbooks. her ingredients are usually never too many or too obscure. i usually have most of them on hand. tonight i thought i'd make penne with shrimp and herbed cream sauce. i had everything except the shrimp and the basil . .
. . so i asked greg if he wouldn't mind running out to the fish store at chelsea market, and then to manhattan fruit exchange for the basil. he usually doesn't mind. he likes going for a walk in the neighborhood.
