52 Photos Project

The prompt for Week 36: "your choice"

When you leave it way open like that, Bella, I have
a hard time choosing!  But this shot—our
beautiful Empire State Building all decked out
for Christmas—certainly suits this day.  
There seems to be some controversy lately over
Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays, so
I'll just say that whatever you celebrate around
the end of the year . . . I hope it's lovely!

[To see more of the 52 Photos Project, visit Bella's meme.]

52 Photos Project

The prompt for Week 35: holiday traditions

Here in NYC, the holiday show at Radio City Music Hall 
is a longstanding tradition.  I've actually only seen it once
(compliments of relatives visiting from out of town, 
and that's when I took this shot).  I'm sure I never 
would have gone otherwise—but I really did enjoy it.
And the Rockettes . . . rock!

[To see more of the 52 Photos Project, visit Bella's meme.]

52 Photos Project

The prompt for Week 34: comfort & joy

This is probably supposed to be about the holidays,
but, frankly, the first thing I thought of was chocolate.
I think this applies too—a big, comfy chair 
and a good book to read.  (Even better, this chair 
is at Shakespeare & Co., in Paris, and the books
are there for anyone who wants to curl up 
and read awhile.  Talk about joy!)

[To see more of the 52 Photos Project, visit Bella's meme.]

Weekend Reflections

Don't know if this happens to you when you're
traveling and taking a zillion pictures, but for me
a theme usually emerges—and for last month's
trip to Paris it turned out to be . . . vines!

[For James, it's probably always reflections;
to see more, visit his meme.]

52 Photos Project

The prompt for Week 33: polka-dots

I found these polka-dotted pinwheels at the
Boutique du Palais Royal, a wonderful
Paris toy store where you won't find a single
electronic or battery-operated jouet—only the kind
of colorful toys and beautiful dolls that you'd
want for the children in your life.

[To see more of the 52 Photos Project, visit Bella's meme.]

52 Photos Project

The prompt for Week 32:  dessert

If you stopped by here week before last, you know that I
was in Paris, getting fat on yummy French fare.  Actually, 
this shot was taken on a previous trip.  It's part of a 
fabulous multi-course, once (okay, twice)-in-a lifetime 
meal at a 3-star restaurant, and this was a little "extra
 something" served after the actual dessert.  Those little spots 
of gold on the chocolate tarts?  Yup, real gold leaf. 

My dessert of choice tomorrow?  A humble—and 
just as delicious—pumpkin pie.  What's yours?

[To see more of the 52 Photos Project, visit Bella's meme.]

52 Photos Project

The prompt for Week 30: on my way

Very fitting!  On Friday, I am on my way
to Paris, where I'm joining a couple of fellow
bloggers for a week of fun and photography
—and wine and macarons and partying with some
Parisian pals—in my old stomping grounds.

[To see more of the 52 Photos Project, visit Bella's meme.]

Weekend Reflections

The Ponte Vecchio, seen from the terrace of the
Hotel Lungarno  (where I can't afford to stay but I can
afford to have a drink and enjoy the world-class view).

[To see more Weekend Reflections, visit James's meme.]

52 Photos Project

The prompt for Week 29: round

These days I use my phone as a camera
way more than I use it as a phone.  One reason
is photo apps like this one, called Tiny Planets.
Really—how much fun is this?

[To see more of the 52 Photos Project, visit Bella's meme.]

52 Photos Project

The prompt for Week 28:  Celebration!

Just in time to celebrate Bella's birthday,
I found these balloons set in this tree to help
the guests locate the festivities for
another birthday girl—her name is Bridget
and she was turning (I'm guessing) 4 or 5.
Happy birthday to Bella and Bridget!

[To see more of the 52 Photos Project, go here.]

Weekend Reflections

In the Japanese garden at the Brooklyn Botanic,
the leaves on this weeping tree were only
just staring to turn yellow a couple of weeks ago.
Mostly, though, the whole scene was still green—even the lake.

[To see more Weekend Reflections, visit James's meme.]

52 Photos Project

The prompt for Week 27:  someone you love

The question of a subject for this one was
settled for me easily.  I was spending the
weekend with my mother—and when I opened 
Bella's prompt on Sunday morning, I just 
picked up my camera and said "Smile, please!"
She'll be 94 next March and is still pretty
darn cute, don't you think?

[To see more of the 52 Photos Project, visit Bella's meme.]

Weekend Reflections

There's always some interesting public
art in City Hall Park.  This is "Suncatcher,"
by the French conceptualist Daniel Buren;
it's part of the current exhibit, called
The Lightness of Being—a group show featuring
"playful" works by 11 different artists.

[To see more Weekend Reflections, visit James's meme.]

52 Photos Project

The prompt for Week 26:
The first thing I see in the morning

When my kids and I first moved here, I gave
them the master bedroom to share and took this
much smaller room.   Even though I've now
moved into the master, I still like to sleep in my
old room sometimes—and when I do, this is
what I wake up to.  (At least when I don't have to get
up while it's still dark out, and if the weather cooperates.)

[To see more of the 52 Photos Project, visit Bella's meme.]

Weekend Reflections

These beautiful French copper pots belong to
friends of mine who used to have a place
in Paris—and know how to use them.
I'm no French chef, but I can see bouillabaisse
bubbling in the big one, chocolate melting for a mousse
in the double boiler, and coq au vin in the casserole.

[To see more Weekend Reflections, visit James's meme.]

52 Photos Project

The prompt for Week 25: starts with the letter C

How about a cup of coffee at Chez Prune,
a very cool Paris café on the Canal St. Martin?
Or maybe you'd prefer to sip a glass of Cointreau or
a Coca Cola and munch on a little bowl of cacahuètes.
(I was quite content enjoying a kir as I shot this.)

[To see more of the 52 Photos Project, visit Bella's meme.]

Weekend Reflections

The water lilies may be my very
favorite end-of-season flowers at the
botanic garden.  BTW, the building that's
also reflected here is an apartment complex
they named Ebbetts Field because it was built where
they tore down the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

[To see more Weekend Reflections, go to James's meme.]

52 Photos Project

The prompt for Week 24—color of the season: gold

This ginkgo—the tree "that grows in Brooklyn"—is
in my neighborhood (in Brooklyn, of course).
But I must admit that I took this picture a couple
of years ago.  Right now, the leaves are still mostly green.

[To see more of the 52 Photos Project, visit Bella's meme.]

 

52 Photos Project

The prompt for Week 23: in the circle

I don't get to the Upper West Side every
day, but I don't think I've ever come by
Strawberry Fields in Central Park without
finding that—even now, almost 33 years
later—some of John Lennon's loyal 
fans have embellished the "Imagine"
mosaic there with beautiful fresh flowers.

[To see more of the 52 Photos Project, visit Bella's meme.]

52 Photos Project

The prompt for Week 22: in my hands

I tried other things, but this photo was just too
perfect for the prompt.  So credit goes to my daughter
Lila for this touching portrait of her best friend's
husband, Tobias, and their newborn son, Lukas.

[To see more of the 52 Photos Project, visit Bella's meme.]

Weekend Reflections

Back in July, I showed you the very elegant
entrance lobby of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.  Here's
the back door—not exactly a mud room, is it?

[To see more weekend reflections, visit James's meme.]

52 Photos Project

The prompt for Week 21: bright

My young friends got married at a vineyard on
Labor Day weekend, and the bright sun made a
spectacular backdrop for the ceremony.

[To see more of the 52 Photos Project, visit Bella's meme.]

Weekend Reflections

I don't have a terrific reflection shot this week,
but I wanted to play along and happened to
take this picture at 80th and Amsterdam recently.
Out of curiosity, I checked reviews for this
Italian restaurant on Yelp. With websites like that
around, you'd think everyone would try to do better.

[To see more weekend reflections, visit James's meme.]

52 Photos Project

The prompt for Week 20: at the end of the day

This is my time to chill with a glass of wine and
a good read.  Usually, I read on my Kindle,
but right now I'm enjoying this wonderful book
(subtitle: An inspiring tour of the city's creative heart),
by Janelle McCulloch, who did both text and photos.  I'm
impressed and envious in pretty much equal measure.

[To see more of the 52 Photos Project, visit Bella's meme.]

Weekend Reflections

Happened to pass by the Good Morning America
studio on my way to work the other day. Lots
going on in there—and outside their fishbowl
in the always crazy Times Square area.

[To see more Weekend Reflections, visit James's meme.]

52 Photos Project

The prompt for Week 19: on the line

In this case, the line is a steel cable high up in the 
Andes, and that's my daughter Katie quite literally "on" it. 
 If she looks a tad apprehensive, it's because she's
 about to go ziplining for the very first time.
(I opted to be tethered to this cute guy
as I flew above the treetops.)

Turned out to be tons o' fun, of course!

[To see more of the 52 Photos
Project, visit Bella's meme.]

52 Photos Project

The prompt for Week 18—light and dark

I was having a hard time deciding what to
post this week (too many choices!)—and
then I got stuck at work (yet again) Monday
night, so it was dark by the time I headed home.
And as I walked over the Brooklyn Bridge, there 
was this big ol' moon lighting up the eastern sky.

[To see more of the 52 Photos project, visit Bella's meme.]

Weekend Reflections

I was crossing the Brooklyn Bridge at
just the right time to see the setting sun
glinting off these windows in DUMBO
(Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass).

[To see more weekend reflections, visit James's meme.]

52 Photos Project

The prompt for Week 17—unusual and uncommon:
something you don't see every day

Was walking in my Park Slope, Brooklyn
neighborhood one day and passed this
otherwise-perfectly-normal-looking woman.
Kinda cool, no?  Though I'm not really sure a) why you
would wear a headful of blue plastic "dreads" or
b) where you would find them in the first place.
Any thoughts?

[To see more of the 52 Photos Project, visit Bella's meme.]

52 Photos Project

The prompt for Week 16: childhood games

This game is from my mom's
childhood—and she's 93!  Her set of
jacks was one of the things that just had
to be saved when her house was
done in by Hurricane Sandy last year.

She made the bag herself—about 85 years
ago(!) from a Domino's sack (apparently
their sugar came in a cloth sack back then).

[To see more of the 52 Photos project, visit Bella's meme.]

52 Photos Project

The prompt for Week 15: fresh

I (literally) just got back from a four-day break
with friends and family down in Virginia.
They sent the city girl out to the garden to fill
the blue basket with whatever was ready to pick.
Here's what I came back with—and they were perfect!

[To see more of the 52 Photos Project, visit Bella's meme.]

52 Photos Project

The prompt for Week 14—Down below

This is the intersection of 8th Avenue 
and 56th Street as seen from the 32nd floor 
of the Hearst Bldg.  When I worked here, some
of the staff never came anywhere near our
vertigo-inducing, outward-leaning, floor-to-ceiling
windows—and at least one couldn't get enough of them.

[To see more of the 52 Photos Project, visit Bella's meme.]

Weekend Reflections

I've had some errands to run west of my office
lately, and I've had to be out in the middle
of the day, with the temp hovering
around 100°F (38°C).  I always cut through
the Waldorf Astoria Hotel—it's beautiful and cool.
(This is where the president stays whenever he's
in town, and you can't get anywhere near the place then.)

[To see more Weekend Reflections, visit James's meme.]

52 Photos Project

The prompt for Week 13: layers or stacks

I don't like paper napkins, and always use cloth
ones, even when it's just me eating Lean Cuisine in
front of the tube.  I have to confess, however,
that these were all "borrowed" from one or another
of my fave restaurants in France and Italy.
(American restaurants that use cloth napkins are
usually smart enough to have boring white ones.)
P.S.  I do round up the bill by several euros—or just ask.

[To see more of the 52 Photos Project, visit Bella's meme.] 

Weekend Reflections

Mirrored in this Nolita storefront window is
Old St. Patrick's Cathedral (completed in 1815) .  It was
the original seat of the NYC Catholic archdiocese
before they built St. Patricks's on Fifth Avenue; now it's
a parish that reflects the ethnic makeup of the neighborhood—
Sunday masses are in English, Spanish, and Chinese.

[To see more weekend reflections, visit James's meme.]

52 Photos Project

 The prompt for Week 12: I took a walk and this is what I found

I originally had something else in mind for this, but
last night as I was taking my usual walk home across the
Brooklyn Bridge, I saw up ahead a bride and groom
posing for pics. When I caught up to them,
I asked for a quick shot (with my phone and shooting
into the sun—sorry). That was when I realized they
were in fact a bride and bride! And don't they look happy?

(Their ride was waiting for
 them down under the bridge.)

[To see more of the 52 Photos Project,
visit Bella's meme.]

Weekend Reflections

This early-17th-century nautilus cup is just one
 of too-many-to-count things gifted to the
Metropolitan Museum of Art by J. Pierpont Morgan.
The silver gilt mounts depict Neptune riding a whale,
with Jonah emerging unscathed from its mouth.
(Even the shell alone would be beautiful enough, I think.)

[To see more weekend reflections, visit James's meme.]

52 Photos Project

The prompt for Week 11: red, white, and blue

However you celebrate—beach, barbecue,
fireworks—I hope you have a fun Fourth of July.
Happy 237th birthday to us!

[To see more of the 52 Photos project, visit Bella's meme.]

Weekend Reflections

This is Bar Corvo, a great new(ish)
restaurant in my Brooklyn neighborhood.
They don't take reservations, but we
like to get there early and have our meal
at the kitchen bar so we can watch the
chefs do their delicious thing.

[To see more weekend reflections, visit James's meme.]

52 Photos Project

The prompt for Week 10—neon color

This limo was parked in front of my office—
and no, not waiting for me.  :~}  I'm just gonna
say that whoever got into this ride is
probably not afraid to attract a little attention.
What do you think?

[To see more of the 52 Photos Project, visit Bella's meme.]

Weekend Reflections

It's another gorgeous day here in NYC.
Hope you're enjoying sunny weather
wherever you are too!

[To see more Weekend Reflections, visit James's meme.]

52 Photos Project

The prompt for Week 9: chopped

Went to visit some friends who live in the
country.  They had been very busy—this stack of
wood tucked under the eaves on one side of their
house was about 10 feet high and twice as long!

[To see more of the 52 Photos Project, visit Bella's meme.] 

52 Photos Project

The prompt for Week 8—stripes

I found these in the Andean market town
of Otavalo. I wanted to get some of this colorful
striped fabric but couldn't decide and didn't buy any.
I now know which I want—if I ever get back to Ecuador!

[To see more of the 52 Photos project, visit Bella's meme.]

Weekend Reflections

Interesting advice.

[To see more Weekend reflections, visit James's meme.]

52 Photos Project

The prompt for Week 7—crimson

Not just red—crimson.  The thing that most fits the bill in
my house right now is a potted geranium that I rescued
when we moved to a new office and its former owner was
going to toss it.  The shape of this reminds me of Audrey 2
in Little Shop of Horrors, but in fact it's a tiny little
bud that I shot with my new iPhone macro lens.

[To see more of the 52 Photos Project, visit Bella's meme.]

Weekend Reflections

I spent the afternoon at the Met yesterday,
where I saw lots of beautiful things—
among them this 17th-century Dutch goblet.
Etched on the glass is a copy of a 1555 map that shows
the course of the Rhine River from Mainz to Utrecht.

[To see more Weekend Reflections, visit James's meme.]

52 Photos Project

The prompt for Week 6—uncommon shapes

I struggled with this one, tried various things
and wasn't satisfied with any of them—then finally
 posted this picture, the one that came to mind immediately 
for the prompt.  But I have to give the credit to my
daughter Katie, who shot it in Antarctica this year.

[To see more of the 52 Photos Project, visit Bella's meme.]