camera envy May 3, 2009

i was just visiting kari jo, meghan, and
brianne’s blogs.

their pictures made me long and yearn
for a new camera.

each of them has a super-nice camera with
lenses and caps and flashes and doodads.

it’s not all hype.
go check it out for yourself.
(see links above)
(wait until brianne is back from
her trip to europe before you look
at her blog.  it’s gonna have some
stellar pics on there, i’m positive.)

this is a quote from an email i just
sent to kari jo:

“something ignites in my heart when i see a
clear crisp photo.  the moment is captured
more fully and the life in it pours forth with
much more power when it’s clear…when
the right object/person is in focus when the
background is blurred correctly, when the
shadow falls on just the right place on the
face, when you catch the twinkle in the eye,
the tilt of the head….”

isn’t that so true?!
when you see a good photo you are
transported into the picture, you
experience the moment, and the
photographer becomes brilliant in your
eyes.

maybe it’s my poor photography skills…
or maybe it’s my camera.

i don’t know, but i want to find out.

 

 

…the silence is me calculating in my
brain if this purchanse is a wise move
for me or not…

we shall see
we shall see

macy’s spring flower show May 1, 2009

(this was one of the window displays)

every year at this time macy’s
takes a million-bajillion flowers
and turns them into beautiful works
of art on the first floor of the store.

it’s a magical place to be.

so i went.

i took denise…
did i tell you about denise’s trip??!!
woe! i didn’t, did i?
i’ll save it for later.  it was a whirlwind of
a trip.  in and out and lots of sights in
just three days.

i was a bit dazed myself at the end.
it was fun and terrific and full of
meaningful conversation.

like i previously mentioned, one
mandatory stop was at macy’s.

this year’s theme was the pink
flamingo. ..
not the living kind that reside in
florida but the plastic tacky kind
that reside in suburban front yards
dressed in sunglasses and aloha shirts.
(i’m not kidding about this, i read it
on a sign)

so there we are in awe, nearly silenced,
looking up at the pink rear end of a huge
flowered flamingo.

how do they do it?!!!

they never fail to totally transform the
mac counter, coach shelves,
and fossil cases into a lush botanical
bursting with blooming, fresh, unique,
dazzling flowers and plants. 

i’m stunned every single time. 
this is maybe one of my favorite things
about new york in the spring.

    
do you see the purses hiding in there?                            it’s like shopping in a wonderful fairy land!

a beautiful beginning May 1, 2009

two weekends ago we a peek into the
near future…SPRING.  it’s not quite
sprung here yet.  i’m pretty sure i wore
my winter coast on monday and wanted
to wear it again the next day, but refused.

the weather last saturday and sunday
afternoon was absolutely beautiful.
i was as happy as a lark!

our plan for the beautiful day really
only needed one thing to make me
ever so happy….

FRISBEE

and that it did!

10 of us got together to play some
ultimate.  julie would have wept
at the beauty of it all.  we foolishly
went to the park for a place…ha!
when i say park i mean Central Park.

1/2 of manhattan was also there.
we found a dirt/woodchip lined
area with some pesky trees.  but
we weren’t going to do any better
than this without relocating to another
park.  so we made it work…
and work it did.

no injuries
no one cried (except the other team in their hearts
when my team schooled them…twice!!)
everyone was hydrated
barefoot crazy man collin didn’t step on
any dirty needles
my new frisbee performed well
i may have gotten a couple new people addicted
to the game (my secret plan)

it was so so so fun!!!

then we strolled over to the great lawn,
took off our shoes, and lazily watched
an old man team play softball.  it was
quite entertaining.

    
conrad, whitney, me, and meghan                                    frisbee friends enjoying the sun and grass and park.

    
faith and jules watching the game                                   lisa and whitney pretty in pink.
do you see all the lounging and lazing going on here?

seriously, the catcher had to be al least 70
years old and another man who had a
designated runner once he got on base
had to be pushing 80.  the other team had
committed to sweat pants for this game.
everyone can appreciate that, right?!

 next we split a grocery list up and went
out to get all the needed materials for a
bbq in our back yard. 
it was magnificent!!

steak
chicken
asparagus
potatoes
mixed veggies
vitamix 5000 strawberry sorbet
with shortbread for dessert

delicious!!!

we hung out in the back yard talking by
candlelight for a long while after the sun
went down.

i convinced a few friends who hung in
’till the end (whitney, conrad, meghan,
and chris) to stay for a rousing game
of wizard. i did not come in last (meg)
but i didn’t win either (whitney).

so that was saturday…pretty fantastic,
right?  right!  the weekend is not over though.

sunday:

i met two new friends, trenton and
paige hudson (two amazing people from
oklahoma…go figure…amazing…oklahoma
…it’s bound to happen) we became friends
instantly. it was like magic. we first met a
few months ago in the redeemer cookie
room after the 5pm service.  angie
introduced us.

angie

anyway, they usually go to new song, a
sweet little church in harlem.  so i met
them there at 11am and joined their
community for a morning.

 after church i met  a few folks in the park
for a picnic lunch of cheese and crackers,
strawberries, grapes, and potato flatbread.
we lounged on blankets, soaked up the
sun and played a little catch.

whitney and conrad threw around the
football with this big big guy who
played for Ohio state (?) or was is
michigan? or was it texas?  i can’t
remember, but he was big and could
throw the football really far.  his wife
and kids were adorable!

then off the the 5pm at redeemer.
it was wonderful as usual.

the weather was beginning to transform
back into early spring weather (i.e. cold
and gray) but we persevered in the cates’
backyard over some delicious dessert
made by emily.  it is so easy to sit at the
cates’ house and talk and tell stories for
hours on end.  it’s one of my favorite things
to do.

but we had to leave early to make it to
dinner at trent and paige’s place in
battery park city. (that’s all the way down
at the end of the island by the ferry to
the statue of liberty)

when i got there i got right to work on
fresh guacamole.  julie would have been
exceedingly proud.  a large bowl of it was
gobbled up in 30 minutes flat!!  it had a
perfect balance of:
avocado
garlic
lime juice
tomato
onion
salt
and this fresh light salsa i picked up
at fairway (so i didn’t have to buy
the cilantro separately…it worked well)

trent and paige made this pork shoulder
they learned to make at a latin cooking
class they went to for paige’s birthday.

the food was amazing!

the company:
a couple from new song
-he’s in med school and she is in public health, and
both are from ghana africa
ternt’s co-worker and his beautiful wife
-from mexico
rickey, his sis susanna, and a friend from florida
chris
- chris was born in south africa and lived
there until he was in grade school then moved
to edmond oklahoma!  his girlfriend, i think,
was from oklahoma too.
whiteny, conrad, meghan, and me.

after dinner we talked about our favorite
new york moments.  remind me to tell you
trent’s.  it’s crazy!!

trent and paige know how to throw a dinner
party!!  i love going to their apt and
connecting with this sweet couple and
lovely friends they surround themselves
with.

it was a F A N T A S T I C  weekend and
i was sad to see it fade into monday.

note: this past weekend was almost as
wonderful.  it included MORE playing of
the frisbee, sun, church, and eating out
of doors. 

get ready to see this pattern quite often
as the spring and summer months go by.