Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Je voudrais Ladurée

It has been a busy week once again here in the city, but still I made time for a bit of fun. This past Friday I got to attend and photograph the open water swim around the Statue of Liberty. Next year I will be swimming this race for sure! It looked like so much fun. On Saturday Rich's sister, Stephanie, came to visit and we hit up some of our New York favorites including the famous maison de macarons, Ladurée. Although we paid a steep price for these Parisian delicacies, I think they were well worth it!

Swimmers readying at the dock before jumping into
brisk 72-degree waters. 

Swimming past the New York skyline! If you look
closely the swimmers are the little white dots in 
the water.


We were treated to a spectacular return on the
ferry right as the sun was setting. 

For display only: A tower of multi-
colored macarons at the famous 
Ladurée bakery. 

These scrumptious confections are made by sandwiching
a ganache, cream, or buttermilk filling between two
delicate meringue cookies.  The word is these 
French treats are shipped daily from Paris to 
the New York location on the Upper East Side.
Stephanie and Rich both loved the macarons, 
especially the salted caramel flavor.  I made a similarly happy 
face when sampling the lemon and rose flavors.

Summer is drawing to an end and as much as I hate to say it, I'm actually looking forward to it. Fall will bring a less demanding work (lifeguarding) schedule for me, which means more time for work (dissertation). Plus, this will be the first year ever that I'm not going "back" to school! I'll be staying here in New York for the majority of the fall season! 

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

A visit from mom, dad, and Robert!

Mom, dad, and Robert were here over the weekend and while it was a very short, whirl-wind visit, it was a lot of fun.

We had enormous sandwiches at the famous Katz's
deli. There must have been about a pound of 
meat on each sandwich! 

We explored a quirky community 
garden on the Lower East Side. 

We visited the new WTC to 
check up on its progress. 

We visited the museum of Natural History and 
saw lots of dinosaur fossils. 

Mom and Robert had a philosophical conversation
about wooly mammoths and the way they drank water.






We also went to our favorite restaurant, Kitchenette, saw Jersey Boys on Broadway, went to The Russian Tea Room for appetizers, ate bagels (and pizza!), had brunch in Greenwich Village, visited the hotel I work at, and went shopping at my favorite tea shop, David's Tea (whew!). It seems we hit most of the important things, especially the culinary stops. I'm so glad we were able to spend some time together in the city!


Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Random New York

I am taking a photography class this summer and before I went to class last week I realized there were quite a few pictures left on my memory card that I never uploaded to my computer. So this week's post is a conglomeration of  some of those pictures and pictures from around town the past few days.

It is really exciting to see the 
new world trade center go
up downtown. I get a view of 
it when I walk out of work in
the afternoons and evenings!
The local fire stations here in
the city are often old historic
buildings. I always find them 
to be a slightly quaint detail in 
a typically modern city. 

A free lending library on the street
in Greenwich Village. Most of the
titles were somewhat undesirable.

My friend Chris is visiting from Toronto. She 
likes cheese. 

A collection of fans in China Town.
The Dominique Ansel Bakery, home of the
(in)famous cronut. (No, I have not waited in line
at 6am for the chance to buy such a pastry...yet.)
The view when emerging from the 59th street 
subway station at Columbus Circle. 

This weekend my mom, dad, and Robert are all coming to visit. I plan on taking many photos while they are here. Look for them next week!