Read more here, and here. They’re easy to visit: From Park Slope/areas near Atlantic, hop on the B63 bus and take it to its end at the Brooklyn Bridge Piers. If you walk north along the piers you’ll pass the watertower in not too much time (look back toward the highway). The stained glass house is up by the Jane Carousel, on the northern side of the park between the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge.
I have only a short mental list of cities in the US that I’ve never been to but want to visit, and Seattle is one of them. (I think the lone other is Austin, Texas.) I’ve been to Portland several times and like it there, but Seattle was yet to be explored. The weather decided to show me a good time on the one day I had for sightseeing, giving me some blue skies and puffy clouds! I did all the typical stuff, with my friend Jeff as my guide while his wife, Holly was at work (we met up with her in the afternoon).
I was wholly satisfied with just a photo of the outside of the first Starbucks (coffee is coffee), but I’ll admit I was bummed that the fish throwers didn’t budge when we lingered at first and launched one when we were on our way back, too far for a good picture! Still, I got to see all the sights and eat some really delicious food. Dinners at Staple and Fancy (the tasting menu) and Kickin’ Boot, and a lunch with a view at Sky City Restaurant, the rotating restaurant at the top of the Needle! (Pricey, but a reservation gets you automatic access to the top of the Needle instead of waiting in line.)
I’m on the West Coast for our industry trade show and managed to schedule my flight from NYC exactly at sunset. Note to self: All future travel to coincide with sunrise or sunset, preferably on days where those events will be colorful.
A long weekend away with my knitting besties? Just what the doctor ordered. We made our way to a cabin in West Virginia for three days of 80s movies (on VHS no less), bacon, birthdays, knitting, cross stitch, and nature.
I didn’t knit a single stitch, giving my thumb a nice long rest; instead I cross-stitched and embroidered. At night I slept in the top bunk over Caro and listened to the rain fall on the roof in a darkness that I cannot find here in Brooklyn without an eye mask. Mornings, I made lemon-ricotta pancakes. One day we went blackberry picking, which JulieFrick later made into a cobbler. Pam devoted 11 avocados to her amazing guacamole. Nova finished a shawl, while Specs finished a legwarmer and a cross stitch project (that’s for me!). Heather spoke to us in French and kept us stocked with wine. We celebrated Christy and Julie’s birthdays (and Diana and Ashley’s, in absentia). Caro made us her famous Mephistopheritas (Margaritas with habanero-infused tequila). We went out at midnight in the 50-degree night and craned our necks to watch the Perseid meteor shower. We laughed until it hurt.
All in all, an excellent crafty weekend away.
I was completely out of the loop on Photoville—I must not follow the right photography sorts of people on Twitter—so I didn’t know what it was or that it was happening until I saw the photos of a few friends and contacts who went while I was away on a business trip. But their photos didn’t really tell me anything, either, just that one was checking it out, and that another had a photo up. Whatever it was, I wanted to see it. Tania and I went on its last day.
Turns out, it was a pop-up museum of photography, set up in old shipping containers scattered around an empty lot by Pier 3 (currently unfinished!) of Brooklyn Bridge Park. (This, apparently, is the new thing—repurpose an old shipping container into something else? See the DeKalb Market.) But I’m down with that, although they are stiflingly hot when they don’t open on both sides and the mercury has exceeded 90°F. No matter, there was a misting tent (ahhhhh) and a “hydration station” (a girl with a cooler of water bottles for sale) and the atmosphere, while being baked in the oppressive heat of the day, was genial.
Everyone had a camera slung over his or her shoulder. Were we checking out the make and model of our fellow photographers? I’m sure we were.
The work shown was quite varied, and all interesting. Some of the containers were outfitted further, to set the scene. All of them were food for thought. If I hadn’t been so hot, I probably would have read more of the descriptions. As it was, I just soaked it in. I loved that it was free and available to anyone—and I hope it comes back!
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