My husband’s side of the family came to see us

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support

   
”

  

            

Our wonderful cousins came here to help out and I actually found everything that I had pictured about our get together is true. I am so lucky to have married into his family   After was all was said and done,we had food, we had laughs  and we had excellent moments of long jags of family oriented memories, the wonderful experiences makes family bonds even stronger.

Why is writing becoming so hard,?

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postaday2016, writing

   
 
I am trying to keep up my pace of writing, and I am being really kind to myself when I call it a writing pace, LOL. I am not giving up, just forgive me if at some points you read pure gibberish because I sleep talk, sleep walk and now sleep write. There aren’t enough days in the week or hours in the day to make sure I don’t publish something ridiculous or awful.
I am just so tired, tired, tired, all I want to do is sleep, perhaps eat and then write, all in that order.

Murry Hill area of New York

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New York, pictures, postaday2015

   
   
Murry Hill speaks Art Deco to me, this building up above with its spartan, elegant, strong stamped design caught my eye for the first time. I have walked past it hundreds of times, right now it has the Wells Fargo logo on the front doors, but I’m sure its orginal proprietors were more intriguing than a crooked bank. I can’t believe that I have walked right past it and never noticed its unique signature. How blind can I be, or was I walking with my head down, legs racing trying to get from point A to point B without noticing everything else that was right up above me? The building, called the Mobil building, was built in 1955, thank goodness for Google, originally it was intended to be brick but afterwards it was decided to be clad in aluminum until it was announced to be stainless steel, however it was designed, I’m glad that picked stainless steel, it is far more striking than any other material.

I was in that neighborhood visiting my dentist whose practice is on 30 East 40th Street right between Park Avenue and Madison, I called my mother afterwards to make dinner plans, pizza at Vesso’s on Lexington and 31st Street, right in the heart of Murry Hill. It’s a great neighborhood, my mother knew it well, her first office position was on Madison Avenue and 33rd Street, not too far from Lexington Ave.

The  glass building is right at Park Avenue and 40th Street, I love reflections, especially when it’s made up of buildings reflecting those around them, it provides so much depth and richness to a picture. This one is one of my favorites, I like both the simplicity and the complexity of the picture, I love snapping my camera, it makes for some pretty amazing shots. 

 

My first hollyhock bloom ever

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gardens, hollyhock, postaday2015, yellow

   
   
When we got home today, I did the same thing I always do, walk my gardens to see if anything new blossomed or grew taller or wider. I was a little surprised, happily I have to add, that the hollyhock I bought, for the first time ever, to replace the azaleas that I had replanted elsewhere, was in bloom. Its blossom is so very pretty, so delicate and graceful and I adore the color!

   
    
 
My garden is almost a study in yellow right now, very different shades of yellow and I love how the yellows make the purples and lavender pop. I tried to get a close up of the  white butterfly feeding off my lavender, that’s why I took two shots, Butterflies, bees and humming birds; I can never get enough of them. 

3 countries I’d like to visit and why

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December 2010, first post, postaday2011, postaday2012, writing

I am re-posting my very first post, December 31st 2010, on WordPress because this is the second anniversary of my blog and I thought that you would be interested to see how I started my blog. It was through the use of the Daily Prompt which inspired my answer; answering a simple question is a great way to get the writing flowing.

I had stumbled onto WordPress by sheer accident. I was reading something on the internet and I clicked on a link which got me to Black Water Dog’s blog and that got me to another blog written by Kolembo who is a brilliant poet and I said to myself “why not do this for myself?” So that is how I got here.

I know the 3 countries I’d like to visit and why, I just can’t give either of the 3 any priority due to the fact these would be imagined experiences based on photos, articles and preconceived notions.
The first country that comes to mind is Thailand. What first drew me to Thailand as a destination is the cuisine. When I was 13, My parent’s friend Elizabeth introduced us to the Thai restaurant called Jaiya located at 81st Street and Broadway in Elmhurst, Queens, New York. Elizabeth commandeered the menus and ordered for the table. I remember having beef satay with a peanut sauce that was unlike any experience that I had encountered with plain old peanut butter. The slight spicy bite blended perfectly with the sweet caramelized beef on those small skewers. I also had the crispy spring rolls that were so much more delicate than any egg roll that I had ever had before. The follow up was, if you can believe it, even better. To this day, I have yet to ever eat a crab preparation as delectable as Jaiya’s crab with special sauce. The crab is the east coast blue crab, broken into pieces and stewed in this sauce that I cannot dissect not explain how all the ingredients combine to make a sauce that makes you forget where you are, who you are with, all that you can focus on is sucking the crab, sucking your fingers, dipping the crab continuously into the sauce to suck some more. When you have finally exhausted the crab source, you finish the rest of the sauce with your rice. This introduction into the complexity and refinement of Thai cuisine piqued my curiosity into the country itself. Cuisine such as this must come from a wonderful land. I do know that Thailand is divided in terms of climate by north and south. The north is more temperate and mountainous whereas the south is dominated by the jungle. This diversity in climate is also reflected in differences in cuisine, the south being spicier than the north. Now I am not 100% sure if I am correct on the geography which is an excellent reason why I have Thailand on my list.
Portugal is another destination I would love to explore. The first thought that comes to mind is Porto, the beautiful city in Portugal which is home to this magnificent fortified wine that in France, we simply adore as an aperitif and conversely the English enjoy it as a dessert wine. I actually have to confess that this is principal the reason for my infatuation with Portugal. I do want to say that the exquisite dish called paella comes to my mind when I think of Portugal, but I am not sure if I’m getting the culinary origin of paella mixed up between Portugal or Spain. But, honestly, does it really matter? All that counts is that I would very much like to spend a good amount of time visiting Portugal thoroughly.

Lastly, Turkey is my final destination. It is also part of a huge regret in my past travels. My sister and I were back packing through Europe. We were in Rome with a trio of lovely Australian girls who introduced us to the nicest 3 Canadian guys, who were on their way to Corfu, Greece. After we parted ways with the girls, my sister and I met up the boys in Corfu. The group of us got along so well and we had a fantastic time. Upon leaving Corfu, the boys invited us to accompany them to Istanbul, Turkey. Part of me really wanted to go but my sister really, really wanted to get back home to France, which we ended up doing. I don’t regret doing what my sister wanted at the time but now I do regret that opportunity. I have read so much about Turkey; the architecture, the collective history of East and West, the religious sites, and of course the cuisine.

I enjoyed writing this, I gradually realized that the only thing that mattered was why I wanted to visit. That “epiphany” was a big deal for me since I tend to get hamstrung by my desire to please people. I hope that whoever reads this piece enjoys it.

Psychology and advice on T.V watch at your own peril.

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Dr.Phil, Entertainment Tonight, Paula Dean, postaday2012

I was sitting on the couch minding my own business, snapping two lbs of string beans to be cooked and sautéed with garlic once I was done, watching my mindless Entertainment Tonight show to see what the beautiful people are up to these days. Instead of concentrating on red carpets and parties, they are focused on Paula Dean being filmed eating a cheeseburger and french fries. This rates as ground breaking news and for those of you who don’t know who Paula Dean is; she is the doyenne of buttery, sugary and highly caloric laden foods, since after it was discovered that she had been diagnosed a diabetic three years ago, she never changed her way of cooking or told her audience that she was a diabetic. Some would argue that she became a diabetic as a result of her diet and that perhaps as a popular food show host she has a small responsibility to her audience in sharing that her way of cooking and eating could have contributed to her diabetes. The point is that I am watching Entertainment Tonight while snapping my green beans, I am not in the mind-set for pop psychology and the philosophical arguments about how responsible a host is to their audience. Which brings me to the next segment, Dr.Phil and his 79 lb anorexic patient who at twenty years old is starving herself by eating 500 calories of solid food and supplementing her diet with beer that she purges afterwards. This story doesn’t belong on t.v, either on the Entertainment Tonight show or the Dr. Phil show. I am going to get up on my soapbox but as a recovering anorexic, this poor girl needs serious treatment with a professional specialized in eating disorders. I know that Dr. Phil does send his guests to other treatment centers but I came away from watching the 2 minutes of the poor girl as exploitative which is why I never watch Dr. Phil. I was watching Entertainment Tonight, I wasn’t watching Dr.Phil and it annoyed me that an eating disorder which is such a serious disease was being touted by Dr. Phil as entertainment. When you are in the throes of anorexia you are so enslaved by the disease that you cannot deal with life, anorexia is your life and your identity. This poor young girl didn’t need to be paraded out on t.v land, though her methods of maintaining her weight are unorthodox, drinking beer and smoking marijuana and then purging. I think that is what made me angry, it seemed that she only made it onto t.v because it would make good t.v, Anorexic Girl Starves Herself But Still Drinks a Six Pack and Smokes Weed; look at her! Film at eleven.

What can’t you do?

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postaday2011

There are boatloads of things that I can’t do and I’m okay with that because it keeps me challenged. I am not musically inclined, I definitely need help with decorating during holiday season or anytime for that matter. I am not very good at decorating myself either, I prefer being comfortable over being sparkly. I love cooking and baking and the flavors are always good or sometimes they turn out great, the presentation always lacks the appropriate amount of skill. I am working on trying to make my culinary creations prettier. I am not creative in terms of writing poetry or doing arts and crafts. There are so many gifted handy people and I admire their skill and talent, I try not to be jealous and remind myself that I have my own little talents, they might not be as obvious but they are still there and they are mine.

How do you define your identity?

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culture, identity, postaday2011

I identify very closely with my culture as a French person. I know that I was born in this country and I am an American but I also feel French. I feel very comfortable speaking French, almost as comfortable as when I speak English. I am very close with my relatives over in France, my sister and I have been very fortunate in that our parents felt it to be very important to ship us off to France to stay with our grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins. My mother was especially relieved because she knew that we would be cared for, fed and would really get to know the family, and so my sister and I experienced daily life in France for at least two months at a time during our childhood. Those memories are a part of my identity, the love of cooking, the love of farmer’s markets and the sensory experience and its importance in life.

I could go on about my love affair with France and bore you, the smell in the air of lavender and rosemary in Provence . The sun beating down on the limestone hilltops, the sparse vegetation looking out over the beautiful Mediterranean Sea. I could go on about the Atlantic Ocean as well, the powerful force of the waves crashing on the sand, the presence of clean hot sand everywhere framed by large stretches of aromatic pine trees. You can smell the sun’s heat emanating from the sand, the pine aroma mingling with the salty sea water from the Atlantic Ocean, that scent should be captured and bottled, the fragrance would make billions in sales all throughout the world.

I just read that Mitt Romney was going to compare President Obama to Queen Marie Antoinette in terms of how out of touch the President is with the American people. I don’t identify with Marie Antoinette when I think of France, I rather identify with the pastry shop owners, the market vendors, the gardeners and I identify with the workers who revolt and stand up for their fair share, not violently, but by taking a stand as we have seen with the occupy Wall Street movement. That to me is part of being French, when we are not being treated fairly then we stand up and make it known.

What was the farthest that you have walked?

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bridges, miles, postaday2011, walking

I have always loved walking. Growing up in Astoria, Queens, just outside of Manhattan, made walking a way of life. My best friend and I would run rampant all over Astoria after school. Walking 10 to 15 blocks was a common occurrence after school, going from one friends house to another and then taking a detour to Astoria Park on our way home.

When I got older I started to view walking as an important part of exercise, I went out of my way to use my two feet instead of the subway or a taxi. During my nineteenth year, I went on a diet because during my freshman year of college at S.U.N.Y at Albany I had gained at least ten pounds, so not only was I miserable being away from home my freshman year of college but I felt fat as well. I planned to remedy both problems, I applied to N.Y.U for my sophomore year and luckily I had done very well at S.U.N.Y and I was accepted. I was so happy to be back home. That was one problem taken care of, now it was time to lose those extra pounds.

I went about losing weight the old-fashioned way through calorie restriction and exercise. I became an avid reader of Shape magazine and started to figure out various strategies to maximize my weight loss. I adopted the no fat weight loss regime and high cardio exercise on a daily basis. I was biking around Astoria early in the morning using my sister’s ten speed for 50 minutes at full speed every other day. I figured out that alternating different exercises would keep me from boredom so I began walking farther and farther. My strategy was working, the pounds were being lost at a steady rate. I gradually got to walking from my house on 27th Street and Ditmars Blvd all the way to the Queens borough Bridge, over the bridge and all the way down to Soho, way down in the village and then I would turn around and walk back home. I saved this walkathon for the weekend and it would take me about 4 hours. During the week what I did was get off the subway at 59th Street and 3rd Avenue and walk down 3rd avenue to N.Y.U at Washington Square Park. I was also taking advantage of the stairs at school and my job at Conran’s-Habitat, on my feet all day long walking up and down the stairs selling furniture after school and hauling merchandise up the stairs.

There are so many other instances of me walking crazy long distances, all in the interest of burning off calories and keeping my weight down. This gung-ho attitude towards walking is a by-product of my eating disorder, of which I am in recovery, and I am doing pretty well with managing my eating and how I feel about it. Whatever my struggles with my eating disorder, I have never regretted my love of walking, it is the best form of exercise aside from swimming that I can think of, you are outside in the “fresh” air, seeing whatever might be out there to be seen and getting your blood pumping, it is all good stuff.

Post Christmas emotions

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postaday2011

Twas Christmas night and all the gifts have been opened, the family dinner has been cooked, eaten and digested by now, the traveling back home from my mother’s house has been made in the overload haze of holiday cheer. As I unwind from the holiday onslaught, that had started after Halloween, it becomes, as it does every year, depressing that all that build up and anticipation for one day is over, and that one day has come and in a few short hours, will be gone.

Ever since I was a little girl, believing in Santa Claus or not, I grew sad on Christmas night because I realized that the next day was only another countdown to next year’s Christmas. 364 days seemed like an awfully long time to wait once again for Christmas. Having become an adult, I feel pretty much the same, realizing with the same despair that all that preparation is only going to come round again in less than 364 days, much less.

The overkill of the marketing, merchandising and materialism of Christmas becomes onerous. The true spirit of Christmas does negate most of those less than positive feelings, and I will try to keep the true spirit of Christmas alive and well in my heart and not get so depressed this year after the holidays. I think that perhaps if Christmas wasn’t so close to the end of the old year, maybe I wouldn’t be so melancholy. The thought of a new year, which essentially means another year added to my collection of years, makes me a little sad. I get attached to the age I am for the short year that lets me be that age, I don’t particularly enjoy giving up that year, I got good at being that age, why ruin a good thing?