This weekend was exhausting, but amazing! To start off, work was pretty much the same as always except for the scrumptious bagel on Thursday and the Wii tourney on Friday in which I made it to the semi-finals!
yum for cinnamon raisin and fresh strawberry cream cheese <3
Friday night I met up with Justin and Andrew (come from Baltimore and Boston) at 8th avenue and we wandered all the way down to 2nd avenue taking in the sights and pondering where to eat. Once we headed west into Greenwich village there were tons of choices and we ended up at a diner called Moonstruck. I had some good old chicken tenders and by that time we were all ready to go home and crash.
Saturday started off with me sending my Valentine's Day creation (I will post this later this week) to my mom and boyfriend. I wanted to send them gigantic cupcakes, but alas, I think they may have been squished and destroyed on their way to Cincinnati. Instead I made them something crazy! After I did this, Andrew, Justin and I headed to Williamsburg in Brooklyn to eat brunch. Nearly every other storefront houses a cafe and it was impossible not to find breakfast food on those quaint little streets. Since Egg had crowds waiting outside, we ended up at a small Polish restaurant where I ordered some apple cinnamon pancakes. They had a bitter granny apple twist to their warm fluffiness. This drenched in syrup and accompanied with hot chocolate was oh so satisfying...mmm.
After breakfast it was time to see some sights. Herald Square was up next where I checked out the Fossil store (oh my lovely Fossil) and Macy’s so that the boys could ride the wooden escalators. Macy’s was a zoo, and we were quick to leave the giant department and walk to Grand Central Station (a beautiful piece of architecture) where we met Andrew’s friend Mike.
On the left is the Chrysler building and part of Grand Central.
The Metropolitan was big, huge, gigantic, humongous, gargantuan…I must go back. We were dragging and our eyes were swimming with visions of oil paintings and city etchings and nude statues by the time we came out of that place. I absolutely loved it. LOVE! The first section we went through that really had me in awe was the armory. All the detail in that metal and weaponry was incredible, not to mention they had some horse statues prancing through the room in their grand silver.
My favorite part was early 18th and 19th century paintings. Oh good lord was I in heaven. I want to go there for a day and study the colors, the layering of paint and the strokes. I want to break out my acrylics or figure out how to paint better in photoshop. I want to create art like I used too, free with puddles of color sliding and blending into one another. Somehow I need to figure out how to do this in photoshop because real painting isn’t nearly as convenient. Sigh. I will figure this out and hopefully create some pieces for my portfolio before the end of March.
Anyway. One of my favorites by Van Gogh, a painting of a field and cypress trees was there and there was The Horse Fair by Rosa Bonheur which was so huge it took up the entire wall of the gallery and there was Klimt, and Degas and ballet statues and best of all and least expected, there was Mucha. OH MY LOVE!!! It was his poster for Joan of Arc (very coincidental that my Confirmation saint keeps appearing to me in these different ways…the library in Boston and now in a real life Mucha painting). I was dumbfounded. I stared at the line work, the beautiful palette and soft color application and the wonderful body contours and curving Nouveau lines that I so love to emulate. I couldn’t pull myself away until I realized I was holding everyone up and my legs were about to fold beneath me from walking all day.
Starting at the top is a siren statue that I thought looked very much like the Starbucks logo. Second in line is Van Gogh and then beneath that is Rosa Bonheur and on the bottom left is my hero Mucha and on the right is Klimt. They are Gods to me.
Somehow we managed to zip through the Italian Renaissance art and then, despite our leg pains, we went to Times Square to see the lights and eat some Mexican food. The food was pretty good and the service was wretched as it is everywhere in New York, but at least the place was decorated nicely.
After we left, and since it was Valentine’s Day and I didn’t have my Chris with me, I filled the void by taking the boys to Crumbs and getting myself a cookie dough cupcake. We then proceeded to walk from 4th all the way home, buying some liquor and orange juice on the way. It was quite the ending to our tiring day of nearly constant walking. I did not feel bad eating half that cupcake, not at all.
After falling into a near coma on my air mattress (new sleeping arrangement, but now I have a desk for all that art I want to crank out), Sunday morning came in a flash and Patrick, Melissa’s boyfriend, made us some fantabulous wheat pancakes and sausage. It was super nice and especially so since that meant buying one less meal. A great start to our day as we headed to the bottom of Manhattan.
From Battery Park we viewed the Statue of Liberty (first time for me) and then walked up to the ruins of the World Trade Center. Sure, it was a sobering site as was the St. Paul’s Chapel (where George Washington used to go to church) which housed a lot of significant artifacts and information from 9-11, but despite the tragedy, I think it was great to see the evidence of our country uniting in a time of need. All of the stuff on display in the Chapel was proof of America’s strong spirit and support system. I can’t wait to go back someday and see the new Freedom tower and the memorial fountains that are now under construction.
It was weird to go from that atmosphere into the streets of shopping. We walked through SoHo and then near to my work where we ate at Parigot, a French place that had a yummy Croque Monsieur (ham and cheese on bread soaked and toasted in egg).
That’s mine and Justin’s crayon artwork on the table there, I think you can tell who’s is who.
We did a quick walk around the Main New York Public Library and then Justin (the wonderful and passionate architect student) wanted to see the Guggenheim so we took a look at the building in the Upper East Side, walked inside to watch a weird art demonstration and listen to ice melting, then crossed the street to Central Park. We rambled down past the lake and through the wooded paths for a long time. It was pleasant outside, not too cold, and so we made it all the way to the bottom of the park. We spotted a couple statues on the way, saw a huge collection of American Elms which are apparently becoming extinct, and made sure to find Balto. Balto!!! Oh one of my favorite childhood movies and I always wondered if the statue was real. It is, and I was next to it, and I felt like a happy child seeing her hero come to life. Gotta love sled dogs.
At top is the huge library and then there’s Andrew with Hans Christian Anderson and a duck and me, with Balto!!!
Our day was coming to an end and so we stopped at the grocery on the way home to pick up breakfast ingredients and then went back to my apartment. I tried ordering pizza from a new place, but the guy spoke too fast and kept saying pesto until I got frustrated and told him to talk slower and then I still couldn’t understand him and he hung up on me. This is why we ordered from Pete’s-a-Place. A simple large pepperoni that melted in my mouth and was heaven as we watched the Balto (yes a cartoon which we were inspired to put in by that lovely statue in Central Park.)
The next morning we imitated a sandwich we saw on the brunch menu at that Polish restaurant by toasting cheese onto English muffins, topping that with scrambled eggs and two slices of kielbasa. I’m seriously going to have to make this more often because it was the most delicious breakfast sandwich I have ever had.
After eating and watching the first hour of the Steven King movie It, we walked a mile to the Tenement Museum in Lower East Side. We took a tour of a tenement on Orchard street built in 1863. I wish I had the memory and energy to tell you more of the history, but let’s just say it was neat to look back on a time when 14 people lived in 2 tiny rooms and worked a sweatshop out of their home. There was a know-it-all kid in the group who was annoying, but overall, being in such a historical and culturally important building was worth the money.
We picked up lunch at a place in Nolita called Nolita House. As always, crappy service, but this time very good food. I got turkey chili and I think I may go back sometime to try their mac and cheese.
At the top is a picture of a neat bench outside the museum (you weren’t allowed to take pictures inside) and below is my turkey chili.
We ended our day early so that Justin and Andrew wouldn’t get stuck in traffic on their way back to their respective cities. I had a ton of fun with them though and now I have four days to rest up before another weekend of New York exploring with my Mom and Mrs. Baumer!!
Now I think I will go make some of the many left overs I have from this weekend….mm mmm
-
maria
