Fabulously Wicked! Times Square is the New Central Park!

That old saying is true. You can take a girl out of the city but you cannot take the city out of the girl. While I love my house and home in suburbia -- I love that I live in an area where we have more cows than people, where farming is the predominant industry... I love that my kids can roam around the 'hood safely... I love the country, I really do, but I heart NY!

In the city my heart beats a little faster... In the city I really come alive! Rebecca notsomuch. She's intimidated by the speed, largesse, vastness and the crowds. I hold her hand a little tighter. I like that. She doesn't often hold my hand these days. Perhaps we should venture in to the city more often...

We drove in via the Upper West Side and while I love the youthful and artistic feel that the West Side has to offer, I'm an East Side girl myself... an Uptown Girl!

The weather couldn't have been more splendid yesterday and I could have walked around for hours. But Rebecca wasn't up to it. She wasn't herself. I blamed her recent allergy and asthma flare-up and we slowed our pace down some and headed directly to the theater... stopping along the way to take a few pictures here and there...

I have seen a great many Broadway shows in my day and I have to tell you that Wicked may just top my list! It was creative, imaginative, fun and incredibly funny... It was smart and witty and clever... It was beautiful and breathtaking. And if you have any plans to visit The (Great) Big Apple you should absolutely get tickets to see this Emerald Green Gem!

Mayor Bloomberg recently shut down a four block radius on Broadway. Instead of a steady traffic of cars there was a steady traffic of beach chairs! Has Times Square become the New Central Park? I paused and soaked the hilarity of the scene!

Rebecca and I posed for a picture... I can tell she's not feeling well but am glad that she'll pose with me.

Thought this was cute... my Munchkin on her way to Munchkinland!

Love this!

How did they know my other car was a broom?!?!

Objects in Mirror are Closer than they Appear...

In front of Gallagher's Steak House... a New York Institution... Can you spot me in this photo?!

Random photo of Sanitation Department!

Who knew sanitation was so pretty!

Under the Big GW!

I will never tire of shooting ordinary New York...

It's the ordinariness of the City that makes her so extraordinary!

The theater was freezing and by the end of the performance my poor daughter was burning up with fever... we returned to the car in lieu of lingering in the city. (She even declined an offer to pop in to m&m world!) The City will be here for us forever... she would wait for my little girl to get well.

Five Favorite Things About Summer... I was Tagged by Domestic Diva

My Five Favorite Things about Summer...

1. The Beach: In Maine, In Newport and In Fairfield...

2. BBQs and cocktails with friends...
3. Long and Lazy Days

4. Sundresses and flip flops!

5. Watching my children having hours of endless fun!

I am now tagging:

Semi-Slacker
Pink, Green & Southern
Life in the Carpool Lane
Everyday Matters

Northern Girl with a Southern Soul

Henley on the Horn
Biscuits are Never Boring
Life's About a Dream

A Mom's Life

Martin Manor Happenings!

You're it guys! Now's your time to share with us your five favorite things of summer!

(For those of you looking these blogs are all on my sidebar)

Must have a party!

Because I think these make the cutest little cake/hors d'oeuvre stands! Perfect for a Bridal or Baby Shower! I love them so much I felt the need to share!

oh... these cuties came from Rachel Ray's website!

And... keep your eyes posted for My Big Birthday Giveaway!

Collages for the Senses, A Craft for Children

Alexander loves to glue things. I can cut out shapes -- all sorts of different shapes and he can glue for hours. His first "project" was the abstract piece above. I really like it! Rebecca created an actual scene with various shapes... it conjures up an image that Eric Carle and Henri Matisse might have collaborated on.



I asked Rebecca and Alexander to create a "Fruit Bowl" for me. In Alexander's fruit bowl are: 2 bananas, a grapefruit, a lemon, an apple and a pear.



In Rebecca's Fruit Bowl are: 2 apples, some blueberries, a lime, a lemon, a banana and an orange.

The Fruit Bowls reminded me of

Lois Ehlert's Eating the Alphabet

and so that is what we did... we sampled, bananas, strawberries and apples and lemons. We talked about texture and taste.

You could even bring this a step further by incorporating a little bit of cooking!

Click on the fruit below to get some fun cooking ideas!

Apples
Blueberries

Bananas

Strawberries

I Scream You Scream We all Scream for Sun Chips!!!

Semi-Slacker is giving away Sun Chips so hop on over to her blog and enter her give away! And while you wait run over to the grocery store to get some because their two newest flavors, Garden Salsa and Cracked Peppercorn are TDF!

To learn more about Sun Chips and the company, click here!

My Birthday Wishlist...

(4 days and counting!!!)

I'm not asking for much this year as we are still up to our necks with home renovations, and who am I to even ask for anything after getting my lovely new car. I wasn't going to ask for anything at all but Daddy wants me to make a Wish List... and well, a sucker for clothes, I can never have too many clothes, shoes or bags!



And I do need a new tea kettle. I haven't replaced the old one yet and I have been coveting this one by Le Creuset that I keep seeing over and over again in the Williams-Sonoma catalogue. I'm waiting though because I need to be certain as to how we'll paint the kitchen. I hate not having a tea kettle. If you are not familiar with the story, click here for a good laugh!

I'd love another pair of Tory Burch's Reva flats. I have them in metallic silver and I adore them. I can wear them in the wintertime and in the summertime. I can wear them with skirts, pants and jeans and they always look fabulous. I really like the nautical looking ones and I do need a pair of navy shoes... great with white and denim...


but as I was perusing her sight I saw these to die for sandals! (Sorry I was not able to copy the picture in the full size. But click here if you want to see how yummy they really are.) I love the sandal and can wear them with skirts and white pants, black pants or jeans... but would I be better off with the Reva flat as I would get more year 'round use out of them... Sandals in November in Connecticut is not necessarily a good thing!

I love, love, love the below skirt from JCrew... would look adorable with those sandals! I could dress it up with a crisp white blouse and chunky pearls or go casual with a white T-shirt... White T-shirts, skirts and flip flops/sandals are a staple of my summer wardrobe.

I must own at least 10 white T-shirts and my favorites are from Banana Republic. I wear white T-shirts all the time, alone, under cardigans, and under jackets. I love jackets. JCrew jackets are my favorite. And I so need the following two! If you look really closely the white one has my name written all over it!

I don't need any more jewelry -- earrings, rings, watches... This year I'm keeping it simple. And really more than anything I might like to have some friends over and have a nice BBQ and a few cocktails... a low key, relaxed thing... nothing fancy, nothing fussy and I might make this Champagne Mojito that sounded absolutely to die for... we'll see what Daddy has planned, if anything... or if I need to plan something myself ;)

Good Mom Bad Mom

Rebecca's class headed to Mystic Seaport today with the Third Graders. I was supposed to go and chaperone but when I learned that we had to be at school and on the bus at 8:00 (normal school start time is 8:30) and wouldn't be home until after 4:30 I just felt that I couldn't go. I had arranged for Alexander to stay at school for the whole day, but the extra hours just made it too long a day for a three year old. Rebecca was terribly disappointed and asked if she could stay home with me instead. I thought about it and thought it was a great idea.

Rebecca, Alexander and I had a lovely morning together, just the three of us. (Christopher tried to stay home too, but I wouldn't let him. He'll have his special day with me very soon.) On Wednesdays Alexander has his class in the afternoons so Rebecca and I dropped him off then headed out to lunch to spend a little time together, mother and daughter, just the two of us without the brothers to distract. We went downtown to Cafe Madeline for lunch.


We talked about this and that and poured over paint swatches deciding what colors to paint the bathroom off of the kitchen, the family room and the kitchen. Rebecca, it turns out, has great taste... Of course she does; the apple doesn't fall far from the tree!

After not too long a wait our food came. We ordered some delicious panini -- each of us choosing a different sandwich so that we could try both. I almost treated myself to a Peach Bellini, but decided to save the calories for the dessert menu. This ended up being a very wise decision!

I chose the Affogado, a traditional Italian dessert in which a scoop of vanilla gelatto is served with piping hot espresso. It was absolutely TO.DIE.FOR!

And Rebecca ordered a warm apple tart with vanilla gelatto. That was pretty good too ;) Of course I had to try some!

As you can see nothing was left to waste!

With full bellies we walked down the street and stopped in at Border's. Rebecca's been nagging me for this book Allie Finkle, Rules for Girls and just because I felt like being nice I also got her Allie Finkle, Best Friends and Drama Queens -- Tweenybopper lit!



I didn't get myself anything. It took a great deal of restraint on my part. I did sit down with a few cocktail books though, mentally noting recipes...

We had a great day together and I promise not to wait another 6 months before we get some alone time together again!

The other day I noticed that Alexander was tripping over his feet. (More so than usual) and looked down at his little blue sneakers and thought to myself that (other than his white boat shoes we got for Florida) he hadn't gotten any new shoes since September! Surely his feet must have grown a size since then. So I took him over to Stride Rite to get measured. The sales girl told me he was a size 12. So that would explain the tripping. You would be tripping all over the place if the shoes you were wearing were two sizes too small!

He wanted these cute little red sneakers but there were none in his size. He was a bit sad but I found a pair that I immediately fell madly in love with and he liked them too! I love a plain white classic sneaker and these fit the bill. He's so proud of his new shoes and probably feels like he got two new feet as well!

After the shoes we went next door so the boys could get hair cuts. They were way overdue. Christopher hates to get his hair cut and I had to bribe him to go! (Salt and Vinegar potato chips and a Gatorade) He looks adorable. Absolutely adorable but he hates it. He wouldn't let me take his picture. Alexander on the other hand...

... doesn't know how to smile with his eyes open!

My Birthday is in FIVE days... stay tuned to see what my big give away will be. I know you will all love it!!!

Perfectly Preppy Lawns and Other Fun Summer Stuff!

We spotted this argyle lawn last night as we were leaving a Memorial Day BBQ... Daddy and I loved it! Wonder if his John Deere can manicure our lawn like this!

Talbot's has great Staycation ideas...

Love this movie night idea... I think we'll be having an outdoor Movie Night this summer!
For more information check out Talbot's website.

and what's a summer without a perfectly (or two or three or four) yummy Peach Bellini

2 large peaches , cut into chunks
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 bottle Champagne or sparkling wine Garnish
1 large peach , cut into 6 slices
6 sprigs mint


Combine peach chunks, sugar and lemon juice in a bowl. Allow to rest 30 minutes. Place mixture in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Reduce heat to low; cover and cook 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Pour through a strainer, pressing solids to extract flavor and juices. Chill. Discard any solids.Place about 1 tablespoon peach syrup in each flute and fill with Champagne. Garnish with a peach slice and mint sprig.


(Drink and photo from O Magazine website)

And of course you'll need some new beach towels... I love these... wonder how long before I find them in the outlets? For other great beach towels check out Real Simple's The Best Beach Towels.


And when you're lying on your chic new beach towel you'll need a good summer book to sink your teeth into... Beth Dunn's Social Climbers is this year's "It" book! Check out her website and then check out her book!



And for the chance to win a Free Connecticut Vacation enter Here! (And be sure to bring your new beach towels and your new book!)

And stay tuned as over the next day or so as I will be giving one of these items away to celebrate MY Birthday!