Tuesday, July 29, 2008

being creative

This weekend I headed up a 3 person crew to make the boutonieres and corsages for my friend Amy's wedding. I also created the bridesmaids' bouquets. I have to say, I'm very proud of the end result.
Congratulations to Amy & Brett on their marriage!

Friday, July 18, 2008

Lessons learned

Things I’ve learned gardening:
1- I shouldn’t wear the world’s best Australian sheep skin slippers when I water the plants.*
2- Watering the plants increases the chances of rain the next day
3- It’s a never ending battle against sticks & branches falling from my trees.
4- It will always take longer than expected to tend the garden.
5- Forget cilantro, but the other herbs grow well.
6- The backyard lawn may be 2/3 weeds, but it looks decent when it’s mowed.
7- Though I don’t have a clue what I’m doing, I kind of enjoy it.

* Most members of my family will highly recommend the Clobber Leather slippers. I am particularly fond of my Canberra Ladies Scuffs. Fabulous!
http://www.clobberleather.com.au

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

NYC in summer

It’s been a few weeks since I posted. It’s taken a bit to get caught up. But I have meant to post some pictures about the NYC trip. I flew from Toulouse to NYC for a planned weekend with my sister Hannah and two of her friends. This was different from my last two NYC trips which were tourist attraction focused. This time it was all about shopping. I got in a few hours after they did so after dropping everything off at the hotel, I met up with them in SoHo. We did a little shopping. It was a lot of fun and we especially enjoyed a great little boutique called Olive Bette’s. After dinner at Rosa Mexicano, we had ice cream at Serendipity. Yum! Saturday Hannah & I took a walk along 5th Avenue and into Central Park. I took her to my favorite spot in Central Park – the Bethesda Fountain.
Susan & Jenny joined us outside of Carnegie Hall in order to catch a double decker bus tour. That was an experience as our first bus ran a red light in Times Square and the driver got ticketed. Our guide had to beg the driver to stop and let us off. Then 2nd bus had a great guide on it but we got off at Macy’s for lunch & some shopping. I love H&M! Our 3rd tour guide was an inane babbler. She told depressing stories and babbled non-stop even in the areas she told us she wasn’t supposed to be talking. It was neat to see parts of the city I would never go on my own. That night we went for dinner and then to see Mary Poppins at the New Amsterdam Theatre. Jet lag was setting in hard for me, I could hardly stay awake, and Hannah didn’t feel good – so the two of us left at intermission. Sunday Hannah and I went to the Cates for breakfast. Cory & Kari Jo are friends from Youth For Christ in high school. It was wonderful to hang out with them and their 4 kids for a few hours and catch up.
Then a little fabric shopping near Times Square and it was off to the airport. Storms caused a ton of delays and I was lucky to get out and make it home only an hour later than scheduled. Hannah & her friends’ flight was cancelled and they finally got home Monday afternoon.

The below picture was the whole reason for the trip to NYC. I have been in spring, fall & winter. I have a picture of this bridge in Central Park in each season and needed one in summer to complete the collection.