Enjoyed end of 2014

There were visits with family and friends I do not see very often. Antics of the children that still make me smile. Delicious baked beans and a real homemade Southern banana pudding. Some of the best grits ever eaten. Lasagna without meat but with tender thin slices of eggplant. And one of the best parts? I actually lost two pounds during all of that!!

I learned some information about cameras that may help me in my quest to improve my skills. And there was one particular fantastic conversation involving education, perceptions, news media, legal terms, libertarianism, economics, criminology, and etc. Seven of us coming from different directions and not one harsh word uttered. That conversation was an educational joy for me. The things I learned – as much as I love to talk, I really like the listening, too. As one professor from grad school reminded me once, it is when I listen that I learn.

And there was just some plain fun!

There was the process of coming up with ideas for gifts. My workspace, which includes a cup of delicious homemade vegan vegetable soup on the windowsill.

So many pretty baubles! What to use next . . .

These two items were for members of my family. Right now I am working on bracelets for those who want to add a little something extra to their outfit without dangling bracelets that can get in the way. Both of these are easy to put on when there is no one to assist, and they fit close to the wrist.

And while I work, there should always be supervision peering at me from behind

On my way back to Annapolis, I stopped in Richmond to visit a dear childhood friend, and we walked around Carytown and enjoyed a delicious vegan Indian meal and delightful conversation. Susan is a very accomplished counselor with her own practice, and I loved the time we spent together. She also drove me to 43rd Street Gallery”, owned by Robin Cage, a very talented artist and also from my hometown area. I bought a few pieces of her pottery, and when I returned home I made cauliflower soup and enjoyed it from one of her beautiful cups. [OMGosh! Please excuse the background of this first picture]

A new day and year

2015, What will it bring for each of us? What will we make of it? How will we proceed?

I will reflect on the past and hopefully learn from mistakes made. One thing I want to learn is how to work my dang camera! I do not know how to focus nor adjust for lighting. I will learn soon. Promise! In the meantime, however, please bear with me. I really want to concentrate on today and what is ahead! But before moving ahead too far, let me share with you a little about the past few weeks.

Christmas celebrations, of course. Delicious food (some not so vegan but never straying from vegetarian!) prepared by family and friends. And yes, I prepared a bit myself! But there was also preparing for the celebrations, so here are a few pictures:

Working on an idea . . . . .

Two bracelets created and given as gifts. I like these tiny adornments that can be worn alone, with a watch, or layered with other bracelets

And this particular gift is a little dressier than the others, but sometimes to brighten a day, dressy can be just plain fun!

Crocheting wire is a new love of mine right now (an remember, focus of the camera will be a new love soon!)

Now let me show you a few things about my tiny little tree that I like. Music. What is life without music?!?

And the top of the tree is usually reserved for Angels and stars, so I added several stars 🙂

And well, you know me and Starbucks! I now most often go to the Harbour Center Starbucks, and even though this pic is not the clearest (you should see all the ones I deleted!!), it gives a true sense of the peace and quiet there. Serenity except for the usual shenanigans of the baristas behind the counter – which I always enjoy 🙂 Just to the right of the Starbucks logo is a lovely fireplace. And what you cannot see are several folks in front of the fireplace, sitting in comfy chairs, starting their busy day with fascinating and rather intellectual conversations. I’m really liking this place . . . .

A weekend at home

Wonderful day at home! Started a little later than usual, meaning the kitty and I stayed in bed longer. He purred, I snoozed.

Read a bit. Wrote a bit. Made vegan gluten-free creamy broccoli soup, learned (first time ever!) how to make a crochet slip stitch (Thank you Youtube!), and worked toward completing a few pieces of jewelry. Here are a few pictures so I can remember this day!

First, There was soup: I placed veggie broth, onion, celery, zucchini, one large yellow Yukon potato, and toasted garlic in the pot,

Just fresh ingredients today. After cooking for about 20 minutes, I add broccoli – doesn’t take long for the florets to cook

Now ready to scoop into the blender where I add salt, black pepper, hot red pepper, a little turbinado sugar, and Earth Balance “butter”

After blending, return mixture to the pot where I add more broccoli and will cook just about another 5 minutes. This last broccoli should be simply warmed through.

Awww ….. melt a small dab of Earth Balance in the center. Perfect!

Practicing the slip stitch for use in the future, so I’m still just looping and pulling my Kansas State University purple yarn. Over and over and over …..

Two bracelets that can each be worn alone or together as a pair. Those are simply stop beads at the end to keep it together until I add the clasps.

And that is it for today!

A few vegan meals

First, I’ve had many delicious vegan meals these past six months, but haven’t taken many pictures. These first two pics were taken in Philadelphia, when I treated myself in between meetings and discussion groups at the American Library Association’s MidWinter meeting in January. The first picture is taken in a small Indian Restaurant offering a scrumptious buffet.

This second photo shows my delicious warm hoagie with roasted squash, eggplant, greens, onions, and etc. Topped with crispy fried onions and a balsamic glaze. And yep! Tater tots. Now who doesn’t love a freshly fried tater tot?? I was really dragging this day and carried it back to the apartment a bunch of us were sharing and sat there all by myself. It was quiet and the meal fantastic!

Of course, there were also some tasty meals at home, too. One morning there was Engine 2 cereal topped with my own slices of banana, freshly toasted almonds, raisins, and topped with almond milk. Lots of protein to start my day

Then here is one of my staples – one of my favorite comfort foods. Creamed potatoes (veggie broth, almond milk, with just a little Earth Balance Buttery Spread). Topped with lightly sautéed vegetables of choice – this time zucchini, onion, mushrooms, and green peas.

And one of my new favorites – selection of veggies sautéed in a little olive or veggie oil, salt, pepper, and lots of garlic! I also add a little Earth Balance for a touch of butter flavor. This time there are carrots, green pepper, onion, and fresh from the garden zucchini and yellow squash.

Just trying to stay healthy and tastily well fed!

Last day for this trip

Oh my. Last day in New York City for this trip. Well, no need to pout, because I need to get back to my job. And I need that job or my trips to NYC would be done with! Kaputt. Finito. And I’m fortunate to work a wonderful job upon my return.

Made my morning run down to another Starbucks on 8th Ave. OK OK – I did not run, but I did walk with great purpose 🙂

Drank my coffee sitting on the bed, read morning news and got together some walking directions via the Internet. Packed my backpack and took it to the hotel lobby so they could keep it for me until my train leaves this evening. And off I go for another grand day in this even grander city!

I strolled a bit and ended up at Rockefeller Center. By golly I’m even giving more directions to other visitors by this time! Anyway, here is a photo I took of the folks getting the dining area ready for the day.

Back in 1980, my father and I took a train trip up here for a few days. I was taking a long-distance interior design course and was allowed several free in-person lectures at the NY School of Interior Design. So I attended three that trip. We were both working in our family retail furniture store, so we spent most of our time in design studios (not all were freely available to us since we were not actual “official” designers, but we were able to grab a few) and major stores with large furniture and design departments. And bakeries. Yes, we enjoyed the many bakeries. Anyway, we treated ourselves to one really nice dinner, and here at Rockefeller Center we sat. It was early fall and the weather was perfect. Smiling as I remember just one of the many wonderful adventures we shared while my daddy walked on this earth.

So as I leave Rockefeller Center, I pass the International Building at 25 W 50th St. Isn’t the stone art work (picture below) at this entrance absolutely gorgeous?? Egyptian designs standing out among all the other architecture.

If you want to read more about it, read here

I next walk up to Bergdorf Goodman with a visit to the men’s and the women’s stores. Somehow, with all my visits here, I never before noticed the Art Deco Design on the men’s building. Oh my gosh it is beautiful!

In Bergdorf’s I spend most of my time on the floors with top designer wear, couture, and shoes. I enjoyed watching two young women each trying to decide on which pair of Christian Louboutins to purchase while I stand there browsing and softly practicing the correct way to pronounce Christian Louboutin. Seriously, though, sometimes I end up in situations talking with people who love fashion and color and design as much as I do, and I really do want to be able to use the correct pronunciations. Maybe that is the educator in me? Or the nerd part?

I ended up staying in the women’s store almost two hours, so I didn’t get to the men’s store this time 😦

Walked downtown and stopped in several jewelry supply stores and bought a few wonderful items. One particular purple agate will be beautiful with some black and lavender glass beads I also purchased, and I will practice my wire wrapping on this piece.

I also bought some ribbon at M&J Trimming. At Bergdorf Goodman I saw a lovely little Oscar De La Renta bolo jacket with colorful fabric woven through the black fabric at the end of the short sleeves. I won’t be able to duplicate it, but this ribbon added to a small J.C. Penny bolo jacket I bought a few years ago will certainly mimic the “look” a bit. And I was able to choose the exact rust color I wanted.

Then there was a visit to Mood Fabrics, where I bought a piece of soft brownish/rusty colored fabric. At one time that color was often called “tobacco”. But at Bergdorf’s I flipped over a two-piece outfit, in this tobacco color, designed by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen for their clothing line The Row. No way could I duplicate their gorgeous fabric at this time. I’m still such a novice with my sewing skills I would not risk messing up on anything but the less expensive fabrics.

But I found the color, so sometime I will find a pattern. Again, for the “look”. The Row focuses a lot on a Bohemian style, and I’m drawn to that, even though it doesn’t make up as much of my wardrobe as it once did.

Over to Chelsea now for a late lunch. Delicious simple nachos with less than half the normal cheese. Pico and jalopeños. Came with sour cream, but I moved it off my plate and did not eat any of that.

Headed over to the Chelsea Market for a quick walk-through and a bakery purchase to enjoy on the train. Subway up to my hotel to grab my backpack and back on the subway to Penn Station. About a 20 minute wait to board the train, then home back to my kitty!

Sunday Kimba and I did the same thing – only he rested on the balcony and I enjoyed the sofa. Resting up for my world to return to its more normal state and my daily routine to appear!

Brooklyn Bridge walk to DUMBO

Continuing from my last post . . . On my walk further downtown I stopped for slice of veggie pizza (but ate less than half due to all the cheese), package of peanuts, and a bottle of water. Continued my walk around ONE PP (can you tell I’ve been watching too much Blue Bloods??) to the Brooklyn Bridge and started my walk across. Not sure why it was such a big deal to walk across that bridge – it’s not really that long – just a little over one mile from where I got on to where I got off. But for quite some time I’ve wanted to walk across that bridge to DUMBO, examine the old empty tobacco warehouse currently under renovation on Water St, and visit Jane’s Carousel.

So off I go!

Nice view of One World Trade Center and Frank Ghery’s NEW YORK.

This building just looks different from the others and stands out to me.

Next trip I want to get up close and personal with that little zigzaggy building!


Manhattan Bridge next door 🙂

What’s with the locks? An interesting interruption on the walk – any other purpose? Or just randomness of strangers and friends?



Looking behind me now.

My first good view of the Carousel

Just starting to rain a little after leaving the bridge, but not too much. And there is my warehouse!

The Tobacco Warehouse is being renovated to house the St. Ann’s Warehouse theater group. Sorta sad, but I get it. I’m just glad I got to see it and take my own personal photos before the process had gone any further (there was a break in the tarp over a window opening and my camera fit perfectly!).

Then there is Jane’s Carousel, own by Jane and David Walentas. The wooden horses were originally installed in 1922 in a theme park in Youngstown Ohio. The Walentas purchased the horses in the 1980s, and then Jane and others hand-painted each of them for over a period of about 20 years. The French architect, Jean Nouvel, designed the acrylic enclosure. I first read about this venture a few years ago in a 2011 NY Times article, which you can read here. Both of these structures in the Brooklyn Bridge Park, as well as the bridge itself, made for a very worthwhile walk.



By now it feels a long time since the short lunch break, so I stopped in at One Girl Cookies. I only wanted two tiny cookies, but darn! The smallest serving consisted of four cookies. Oh well – I’m not one to cause trouble!



Short walk to the subway, which took me just a few blocks from the hotel.


A short walk to my hotel, shower, another salad sitting in the bed, and fast asleep while it was still light outside! But before that, what is a trip to New York City without listening to the Naked Cowboy in Time Square. Right? 🙂

Second day – what to do

Day two began with a trip to the corner of W Broadway & Broome St for a delicious breakfast at The Cupping Room Cafe. My best bud Larry introduced me to this wonderful restaurant in the fall of 2012, and I remember being very pleased. Second trip? Very pleased again.

The host sat me at a small table in the back next to a window that was underground. Sorta. Still trying to figure it out! But there were some old large tools sharing the space with a tiny tree. I was delightfully confused!

Then there was my vegan-fail breakfast 😦 . No meat, but scrambled eggs and a cappuccino. It was just so scrumptious, and well, I totally enjoyed it.

I was running ahead of my schedule, which was to make it to the Tenement Museum by 11am for the Shop Tour at 11:15. So since the restaurant was not crowded at this time of day on a Friday morning, I sat for awhile, slowly enjoying the cappuccino while again reading my book on crafting jewelry.

Up and walking the streets of SoHo, finally turning my direction toward the Tenement Museum and passed the New Museum at 235 Bowery. Looking up I thought, “What the heck??” I’ll definitely need to check out this museum on a future trip.

On to the Tenement Museum! The Shop Tour was magnificent, and the docent was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. One of the best ways to learn history! I will surely be back for another walking tour on another trip. I love learning about (and experiencing a bit) how people lived in earlier times.

From there I walked down to lower Manhattan, passing this condo building simply called BLUE. As much as I like contemporary architecture, not sure this is one of my favorites. But it sure got my attention!

Stay tuned for more ……

Day continues with more designs

Subway ride was quick and efficient as expected. Only once I got back to the sidewalk, walking through Central Park to get to 5th Ave ended up being quite a journey! Even with maps I got so turned around that there is no doubt I added an additional mile (at least – no exaggeration here) to my trip. It was a beautiful day to be wandering, but I wanted at least an hour-and-a-half for the Charles James exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum. However, I took some photos on my unexpected extra mile through the park

This fellow was reading, but stopped for a moment. Looked very pensive, wandering in thought….

I made it out in plenty of time, and oh my goodness! That Charles James exhibit was amazing! The way he engineered an elegant dress from various fabrics sewed into one garment was truly amazing.

Gave me a totally new appreciation for skills and talent of my mother, who was quite the master designer and seamstress herself. Though she used her talents pretty much just for the two of us. Once for one of my high school Christmas dances, she sewed deep green velvet and white satin together, then sewed the dress so that the two colors came together in a swirl across the front and back. Until viewing James’ creations, I never thought about all it took to create such a dress. And like so many gifts from our parents, I never appreciated it quite like I do now that she is gone.

Because now it was 5:30pm, and I was pooped, I took the subway downtown to visit a jewelry supplier I had seen online to purchase the wire for jewelry I mentioned in my last post.

But as soon as I got off the subway I saw this gorgeous GE red brick building with the most fascinating art deco elements! Where had this building been all my life? (OK, that’s silly. Right in this same place I am sure 🙂 ). I took a couple of pictures

After returning home I discovered this website. I will definitely be back there one day for a closer look

As I got closer to 46th St, I snapped this picture of the Chrysler building. The camera was able to pick up more than I could actually see myself, because the fog was so heavy that the view stopped way below the spire. Rather eerie and fascinating from my place on the ground.

On to the jewelry supplier where I bought not only the metal wire I needed but also several yards of various colors of velvet cord. I wanted so much more! But no impulse purchases. Made a mental note about corals in another store, then continued on to the hotel.

It was still early for New Yorkers, but I was exhausted. Mentally pumped up, but physically not wanting to move. I purchased a salad from the hotel’s main floor restaurant, took it to my room, showered, then sat in the bed and ate my supper before falling asleep. A fantastic day!

Next there was Morningside

Continuing on in the afternoon, I walked up Columbus Ave for a bit and then walked Broadway. This territory was new to me, because with my only previous walk up to Columbia University I took the subway.

Finally made it to Broadway and W 120th St to Joe Coffee to meet with the head of the Journalism Library. I met Starr through the Government Documents Library Round Table (GODORT) within the American Library Association (ALA) several years ago. I read once that Starr used Twitter to work with journalism students when they are out and about in the city “doing their thing” on any given day. Now, as an information specialist myself :-), how could I not be intrigued!

I always view NYC as a crazy busy city, but since today was grad day at Columbia – whoa! But I found Joe Coffee and ordered a decaf to drink while sharing a table with a few proud parents. While others chatted, I looked through a recently purchased jewelry book about the “how-tos” of wire work, something I hope to try soon.

Soon Starr found me and we talked a bit about our work and how our duties are similar and how they differ. Then we strolled through the building before arriving at the Journalism Library. Small but obviously very efficient! The Journalism Library utilizes off-site storage for much of it’s print. And it is surely easier to tweet using online info! Libraries continue to offer amazingly unique services and resources. Yay us!

Walked through Morningside Park to find the perfect subway station. I did not realize how beautiful Monrningside would be, and who knew Manhattan had so many hills?!

Just a few more blocks to Frederick Douglass Blvd and off again on the subway!

Strawberry Fields

Recently took another trip to NYC with an extra day included because my hubby gave me $$ as a Christmas gift with strict instructions to use only for a trip to New York! Thank you, Sug. You know exactly my favorite gateway to the world!

First there was a stop behind 50 million folks at the Starbucks on W 35th St and 8th Ave. As usual, the baristas had their routine going and moved us along as well as any sheep dog could have done. In and out to work our day.

Walked a few blocks further to drop off my backpack at my hotel for the next two nights, then continued my walk to Central Park where the overcast skies made the flowers appear even more colorful.

Quote from Theodore Roethke

Then on to Strawberry Fields, a lovely stroll in memory of John Lennon. It was a beautiful day with many shades of green. Enjoyed several Beatles songs played by young musicians on acoustical guitars. The city streets encourage me to walk quickly (and I thrive on that!), but here I am encouraged to just enjoy. And I did.

I ended my sweet walk with a sudden more tragic memory of Lennon’s death. A picture of the gate at the Dakota where Lennon stood with his wife in 1980, and then was murdered.

After a short pause in Lennon’s memory, I turned on my heels to continue the joy of this city.

Next it would be the New York Historical Society to see the Bill Cunningham Facades Exhibit. Oh it was grand and worth every penny! The commentary about his life and that of Editta Sherman was the best! Cunningham is a young-at-heart man somewhere in his 80s, still riding his bike through the streets of NYC and other parts of the world taking pictures of our streets’ fashions. Here is a link to a trailer for the documentary film made a few years ago about Bill Cunningham.

Ms. Sherman died in December, 2013 at the age of 101, and NPR produced a short piece a few days later about Editta Sherman.

As I made my way to my lunch destination, Gazala’s, I passed several unique architectural examples. Here are two pictures I took of the building housing the restaurant at the corner of W 78th St. and Columbus.

Anyway, I ate some of the best vegan Middle Eastern food ever! The crunchy falafel balls were the best! I ordered the falafel platter. I’ve never been a fan of taboule (just a personal food quirk), but I did taste it and found it fresh and full of flavor, but two bites were all I wanted. However, the hummus, tahini (just tahini and lemon, no yogurt), rice, pickled cabbage and corn, and the falafel balls were absolutely scrumptious!

Followed by a quick ladies room break, I had to take pictures of the art on the wall of the bathroom. True, it would have been a better picture without the roll of toilet paper, but I didn’t notice it while holding the camera. I’m also not very savvy with photography software, and cropping would have removed some of the tiles, so I left it. Still fascinating!

Then walked further on up to the streets with three digits. More to come!