Birthday

So , Mr. has the double whammy of a birthday and anniversary in the same week. However, first anniversary is paper and he was a little freaked out about those rules. So this is what greeted me on my birthday.We didn't have dinner reservations till 9:30 and I had to wait all day.Worth the wait. A new classmate is turning 22 tomorrow and I guess it is better to be a decade older if you are getting Tiffany.

Bye bye summer

For the last weekend of summer, we went to the beach. In NY it is hard to find a beach that allows dogs. So we went to Jersey. The northern-most part of the Jersey Shore is Sandy Hook. It has an Atlantic side and bayside- dogs are only allowed on the bayside. Sandy Hook also has some similarities to Governor's Island. At the very tip the there is a lighthouse and military outposts. The Coast Guard still uses it- but it has a similar ghost town feel to it. Empty buildings, morter batteries and a line of matching officers houses.

We had fun swimming with Sparks. But, he gets sooo excited and so restless, it isn't very relaxing.

School started yesterday and it was very exciting- all the classes I think will be challenging and interesting. It is strange to be in school again and I actually feel really out of it. My classmates seem to come from all over, some are musicians and some are young and have come straight from undergrad. The classes are very discussion based and it forces people to rather social. There is already a bit of reading and I still have two more classes today to start. I am not sure if I will have any time to blog or any time to do fun things to blog about. So I am off to read my assignments....

Market bags

Okay, I guess I am obsessed with bags...I have never been obsessed before. I usually function like this- get a bag (or a pair of jeans, or shoes, etc) I like and use it until it just falls apart. I have literally had to throw sneakers into a dumpster to tear myself away from the ragged things. So I have one purse and suddenly about 7 shopping bags! T. has sewn me half and I have knitted the other half. I have also made a number of them for friends and family. It is a very easy pattern- but I love to do it. In a small way, I feel like I really am spreading my personal battle against plastic bags, plus they are pretty.

T. sewed these veggie bags for me and I LOVE them!! They are for items that need their own bag, like beans and peaches. The work wonderfully and people think they are so cute- which they are.
This bag is for my mom.
I know you have been wondering why there haven't been more pics of Sparks lately. So here you are. He has no good reason for his absence- no big project he is working on...By the way, this isn't our couch. Ours is being repaired and this is the loaner they sent us. I feel like we may never see our little beige couch again. In revenge- we are allowing Sparks to sit on the mismatched thing and get his hairs all over it.

Booties

This is the Bootie of the Week gift for a friend of mine who is preggers with her first baby.

Governor's Island

Governor's Island is a small island off the tip of lower Manhattan. Beginning in the 18th century, while the British were in charge, the island has served a military purpose. It has a fort and "castle"- which was primarily used as a prison. It also has many houses for officers and large buildings that resemble dormitories. The Coast Guard returned the island to the city of NY in 1996. It is open to the public for 3 months in the summer. At this point, the development proposals look stalled and the island is rather ghostly. The ferry takes about 5 minutes and you are free to walk and bike about half the island. There are spectacular views of Brooklyn, Brooklyn Bridge, Downtown, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. But, the most interesting thing to me was the feeling that over and over time stopped. The castle looked medieval sitting right next to deserted 1960's concrete dorms. The fort is like walking into a Civil war museum and there are rows of Victorian houses for the officers. We just walked around and peeked into windows, to see empty rooms and debris. It felt like the set of a movie, in a small town that had all the residents sucked out of for some mysterious reason.


One of the amusing things were the Civil War reenactors. Here they are shooting their guns in front of the fort, with Manhattan in the background.
Through a window at the prison.
The library, through another window.

Food

Here is another fantastic greenmarket recipe: Peach Salsa. A couple of peaches, a couple of heirloom tomatoes, red onions, half a jalapeno, cilantro, salt and pepper. Chop it all up good and eat with chips!


Another summer challenge has been to try to shop at the greenmarket as much as possible. We have read the book "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollen and took quite a bit of it to heart. Just the idea that the food I eat was harvested in another country and then shipped thousands of miles seems so crazy. Not to mention if it was processed. The other thing we found particularly disturbing is industrialized meat- the sheer number of animals, the way they live and die, the chemicals that they use to keep them "healthy"...so we have been getting meat from the farmers market too. Besides if, in my heart of hearts, I want to support the small/family farms then buying directly from them is the easiest way.

Actually all this commentary obscures the fact that I love the farmers market, everything is beautiful and fresh! I bought a silly amount of blueberries, but I stuck them in the freezer and Sparks and I eat them like M&Ms. Then the other night I got the wild hair that I would mash them up with my hand blender, add a dash of agave and some milk- and I had quick gelato!
I have been trying the same thing with other fruit- peaches, cantaloupe? Not as good as the blueberries- besides that blueberries are really, really good for you.
Since the season has progressed and one can get so much variety at the market- I can make dinner that is 75%-99% market food. All the fruit and veggies, a lot of meat, and dairy. I make this extra effort because I think on some level it makes a tiny difference in our environment. But, really it makes a huge difference in me. It re-enforces what I find personally important. I don't mind going to the market to feel one step closer to the food I eat or spending a half hour with the animal (Sparks) I love most. And most of all I really enjoy cooking dinner from scratch nightly for the man I love.

Coney Island

My goal for the summer was to make sure that I did some NY things- go to museums, ballgames, and concerts. This Sunday we went to a Brooklyn Cyclones game in Coney Island. I am not a big baseball fan, but I have to admit I love hot dogs, nachos, pretzels, and super melty icecream with sprinkles. I also happen to love Coney Island. I think it has this insane slightly run down beauty. I hear that, as all things in NY are going, that they are going to be tearing it down and putting up condos! I think it is totally ridiculous. This is the parachute drop that was built for the 1939 World's Fair.

The Brooklyn Cyclones is a minor league team that feeds into the NY Mets.
But we didn't really watch the game- we were gossiping with our friends and eating and drinking....
Maybe I was distracted from the game, because I really wanted to walk on the boardwalk and take photos of Astroland, which is closing after this year. This is the WonderWheel and it is sooo fun. The cars on the outer edge are stationary, but the inner ones are on kidney shaped rails. As you come to about 10 o'clock or 2 o'clock the car slides forward and you get the gut wrenching sensation that you are sailing off the contraption onto the beach.
This is another truly terrifying experience. I think that it trumps other rollercoasters, because it is really a little rickety. You can fly way out of your seat and hear the wood beams creaking as you go by.
After reading a little about the proposed Coney Island development, it is a little unclear what they are going to do. Some people have purchased it for a lot of money and are planning resorts, condos, keeping the rides, etc... but who knows? It seems like quintessential NYC there and it is too bad that people are obsessed with the maximum financial gain. I guess that is technically a quintessential NY trait, but I feel like we would be experiencing an echo of what Coney Island is...was. Oh well, "Bump your Ass Off!" while you can!