storm king

we love storm king. 500 acres of beautifully (and so so simply) lanscaped land in the catskills dotted with amazing modern monumental sculpture. calder, serra, di suvero . . . and several more amazing artists have their work throughout the park. peaceful and striking all at once.

this was our fourth visit to the park, which seems so paltry given the six years we've been in new york. but we loved it just as much as we always do. mim came along. no trip to storm king is complete without mim. and the beans, after hearing us rave for years, walked the grounds with us too. tom may rank among eve's top five favorite people in all the world, and he and his are at least in my top 20 so we were all happy and entertained.

it was a day full of all the small details that make days fun. cricket catching, land envying, a groundhog, chip scaring eve to tears, sunshine, itchy arms from napping in the grass and a lot of smiles and laughter. a beautiful day, with beautiful grounds, beautiful sculpture and beautiful people all around.

if you ever have the chance, go. and wander on your way home. that drive through the hudson river valley continues to be one of the most beautiful drives we've ever taken.



and maybe you too should go to the delicious ess-a bagel (on 21st and 1st) before taking off. . . and don't ask for the bagels to be toasted like i did. the workers don't like that so much. besides, the bagels totally don't need it. they are perfectly crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside all on their own. they may be the only bagel that is really worth eating. the egg and cheese bagel sandwich i ate was so good and kept me full for at least 7 hours. . . well, that and the half of eve's strawberry-cream cheese bagel. . . and a bite or two (or five) of ruthie's cinnamon raisin . . . it's tough to keep track.

japan is fun

i'm pretty sure that's what the photo booths in san francisco's japan center want me to believe. and i do.

empire state (and post)

friday before labor day we hopped in our two-door honda and headed four hours up the hudson for a wedding and some wandering. with no concrete plans outside of festivities surrounding the wedding, we threw our tent in the back and figured we'd find something to make a great four-day mini break. we did.  and came home with 600 pictures on our camera to prove it.

here's an attempt at giving a quick -and long overdue- report of the weekend.

the flower girl

when jaclyn and jonathan (jackie is chip's former work partner) asked eve to be their flower girl we were really excited. traditional walk-down-the-aisle weddings are so much fun and somewhat rare in our circles, so this was so great. but, we had some serious concerns- would eve actually do it without crying or scowling or collapsing in the middle of the aisle when someone looked at her the wrong way? the girl loves attention but strictly on her own terms. chip and i were unnecessarily stressed out before the wedding. we were hopeful that all the prep work we'd done would pay off. (i.e. discussing how fun it is going to be and answering her really random questions "so, there gonna be dragons too? oh, no dragons? ok." and helping her practice walking down the aisle [space between our carpet and couch] while tossing flower petals [puzzle pieces] and smiling at all the people around). it did. she was a champion when she was "getting married." no crying. no scowling at people looking at her, no collapsing. just delicate walking, a little smiling, and dropping of petals, one by one all the way down the aisle. cue huge relief and parental pride.

if you look closely, you can see eve's little leg and foot between the two bridesmaids she was walking with. and yes, that is what our area looked like by the end of the ceremony, anything to keep them entertained and quiet. we're really good picker-uppers.

the rest of the ceremony was beautiful too. and jackie, who i don't have a decent picture of (what was i thinking?), was even more gorgeous than usual.

the reception

 

easily in the top five of reception locations i've been to. softly rolling green lawns, distinguished trees, slow river, white planked and black shuttered beautiful historic home. . . the timing was perfect; close of day. long shadows, orange glowing light dancing on the water, making everyone look young and serene. and the celebration itself was so friendly and fun. toasts and toasts and more toasts, yummy food, yummier cupcakes. and a lot of the dancing by all- especially eve, who is apparently a hard core party girl when dresses and strong beats are involved. i loved every bit of it.

note to self: weddings are fancy. everyone will be wearing a lot of shimmery flowy fabric with bare skin. don't choose a cotton, patch-pocketed dress that is appropriate for, let's say, a librarian. you'll always have to be modest, for sure, but patch pockets? come on, katie.

saratoga springs racetrack

the glory of the weekend-long wedding celebration. woke up, had breakfast with everyone in the hotel then headed for more fun at the race track. collared shirts required for men, dresses not required but fun for women. no betting for us (although the ones with pink were getting eve's votes) but we had a great time eating and watching the races and the people who had put money down. and i loved seeing so many ladies all fancied up, big hat, heels, and all.

bolton's landing

after the track we said adios to the happy couple and started driving north. lake george was our target and we figured we'd find a motel or campground somewhere around there for the night. we settled on bolton's landing, located on the north end of lake george. a little more calm and charming than lake george proper. but if mini-golf is your thing and you like an assortment of your typical zany-themed courses to choose from, then that little town is your paradise.

we found a motel with a pool, a gorgeous view of the lake and a ridiculous nightly rate. but, it had one of the few "vacancy" signs up so we committed. about two minutes after doing so the neon "no" lit up. grocery store, local park, tv and fun in the room and our private porch.

hague, ny

11am rolled in and we rolled out. up route 9N. then west on route 8 a few hundred feet to the teeny tiny town of hague, ny. less than 10 buildings visible, all charming in their distinctly adirondack way. we caught breakfast at "the uptown." we caught it on its last open day of the year (summer only, i love it and want to have a place like that of my own someday) so the house was crowded. we were given the outside area which was perfect for our misbehaving girls. they could run and jump and watch the water in the brooke without disturbing anyone other than chip and i. (do you see that brooke? the water and rocks look just like a trout's skin). ruth still managed to break a glass, but she wouldn't be true to herself if that didn't happen at least once a month.

after our hearty and really good meals, we pet the pretty and eerily calm dog, wandered around the little town and its three shops, came close to buying the wolf rug just for the weirdness value of that in our brooklyn apartment, then headed over on rte 8.    

natural bridges

all the way over on 8 (spectacular drive past beautiful lakes) and up on 9 for a bit and we made it to "natural bridges". i don't really know what to say about this place. it was crowded, there were some enormous geodes on display (which you an always count on me being impressed by) a lovely stream, a treasure-hunt-ish walk through big rock formations, the largest marble cave opening in all of north america, a gift shop full of rock themed crap and several caveman statues. i loved it. eve seemed most impressed by "that man with the really big panties" but neither she nor ruth were fans on the dark cave with the loud underground river.

 

schroon lake

"the adirondack's best kept secret" according to a friendly lifeguard we met on the beach. i'm always up for a "best kept secret." (i used to live in brooklyn's best kept secret- just ask the old people in my neighborhood who wear sweatshirts with the saying "windsor terrace; brooklyn's best kept secret" on them.) i don't know how secret this place is, but it is really really pretty. we found a campground with an opening, set up the tent and went to the little nearby town for pizza. eve practiced stacking the salt and pepper shakers. we ate our mediocre pizza then found a drive-in movie theatre 30 minutes south and  watched the bourne supremacy. the girls slept while chip and i sat in the crowded lot with a speaker hanging in our window enjoying the show. perfect movie to see in theatre . . . or in-car. then it was

back to the campsite where we all stayed fully clothed, laid down on one wool blanket and covered all of us with the other. it was a cold night, the ground was hard and we were on an incline. if the girls weren't such angels, it could have been a really terrible night.

the long road home

we like to meander while driving and the girls are really great travellers, so we took about eight hours getting home (it took 4.5 to get up there). down route 9. we stopped for pony rides for the girls (i don't recommend this place. eve got a better ride last year on eastern parkway during the west indies day parade. isn;t there a rule somewhere that says people guiding kids on pony rides and taking money from eager parents have to smile at least once?). but the horse's name was "magic" which eve was pretty impressed by. later along rte 9 we stopped again for some hot dogs, ice cream and a view of the trickle that is the northen fork of the hudson river. napped near the rocky scanandaga river and made our way out of the adirondacks, through the catskills and the hudson river valley. drove around the grounds of the grounds of the vanderbilt mansion, stopped at a 50s-ish diner, checked out local roads, homes and views of the river in rhinecliff, then over the taconic parkway and back into the city that is our home.

a good labor day weekend.

this is my take-home from the trip:   

empire state, i owe you an apology. i've always compared you to my beautiful california and breathtakingly rugged oregon without ever giving you a chance to show me your beauties. and i'm sorry. because now, after living in your boundaries for more than six years, i'm truly blown away by how gorgeous you are. the lush, undulating, lake-sprinkled landscape of the adirondacks. the miles and miles and miles of pristine countryside. the green, lush landscape that leads my thoughts to quiet and peace and tenderness and images of a contented farmer. the beautiful, low mountains and gorgeous homes of the catskill mountains. the incredible vistas over the hudson river, with all its charming history. oh new york. i love you. you're not my first love or my true love, but i love you. . .you and fun weddings where my girl in the cutest flower girl in the universe.

wow. if you made it through that, you deserve a prize. maybe a geode of your very own. but if your eyes turned glassy when you saw all these words and you just looked at the pictures, i'm still impressed that you've scrolled down to read the last line.

we're back

we were gone 21 days and i wish i had at least that many more to go. i'm rarely excited to come back home after a trip to oregon, but i was nearly heart broken this time. it was terribly hard to say goodbye to the life we live when we're in brookings. the life where ruth's first statement each morning. . .wrong, her first is always about food or daddy. . . her second statement each morning was "i wa go o-side" (i want to go outside) and i was able to just open a door and let her go out to run and play and find. (do you people with real yards take that for granted? don't. you and your backyards and garages haunt my dreams, taunting me. . .). the life where nature is at its best all around you, all the time, and you can access it all in no more than 10 minutes. the life where there isn't a shirtless, toothless guy from the government housing across the street drinking a 40 in your stairwell. . . the life that, admittedly, still entails some semi-public urination but that's only by my own three-year-old daughter and niece. . . that life.

anyway, it was a perfect trip, really. summer in that little coastal town is heaven and being with family there is an even better heaven. chip and i are racking our brains trying to figure out how to get ourselves closer so we can take part in some of the goodness more regularly. so far, we haven't come up with any viable options, but we're thinking of maybe setting some real goals, which, if happens, will be a momentous landmark occasion for us. our goal-setting sessions usually go like this:

"ok, so, goals."

"right"

"what do you want to do?"

"uhh. . . be happy and someday maybe have a backyard and garage of our very own?"

"ok, where and what should i do with my career?"

"sigh . . . do you want some ice cream?"

"yes."

so, until that process improves (and i really do feel like we're on the brink of something here) i'll stick to the highlights of our trip.

clearly, family was amazing. mom and dad, sarah and eric and their FOUR kids. little baby bryce is so cute and sweet and may end up being the first chubby jones baby. jeanie and her three were joined by scott about a week into the visit. food poisoning and a stubborn kidney stone added up to it maybe not being his favorite trip but he and his vicodin were good sports. and then, for a quick and amazing visit, david and erin and their SIX (six!!) came up for the weekend bryce was blessed. for four days there were all 15 porter grandkids running around laughing and fighting and playing and crying. it was insane and maybe a little much for my mom, but so entertaining. bobby and megan couldn't make it because bobby is apparently a dedicated student and megan seems to be a responsible employee. . . here's to getting them to slack off next time we're all together. . .

secret beach. the last place my camera took a picture. i hate broken cameras. we hiked down with the kids, kayaks and supplies. the hike is a little rough, especially when carrying ruthie on my back and half a kayak (the other half being held by sarah who happens to have given birth 5 weeks prior to the child she is carrying down in a sling. no big deal.) but i'd do it every day if i could because the place is amazing. we went kayaking out on the ocean and through a bunch of sometimes-small and creepy but always beautiful arch-rocks. while out we saw, of all things, mountain goats on a cliff nibbling on little bushes. mountain goats people! they were perfect and i was happy. chip and jeanie also saw seals on their trip out which i am sure made chip nervous that a shark was going to come for them, get him by mistake and leave him legless or dead on the ocean floor, bloody water his last sight on earth . . .

mcvey park beach. post camera death. perfect rolling fog and clouds, receding tide and full of great rocks to throw. and dad came with us. elise and eve and ruth played in the rocks and on papa's lap while ethan looked for cool rocks, chip and i threw them into the ocean and dad entertained the girls (who are in love with him completely). i love a good rocky beach in the morning.

chetco point beach. the parking lot for the park and then trail to the beach is right next to the town's water treatment plant which, predictably, smells like an outhouse. makes it hard to enjoy the view when you're sucking that in. but, soon we were out of it and chip, mia, ethan and elise and i (girls napped in the car with sarah and bryce) wandered. the ocean was almost completely smooth, the water barely lapped in over the rocks and two seals were on a nearby rock sunning themselves. ethan found and accidentally de-clawed a crab, we touched some anemones and crawled up some big rocks. papa joined us with ruthie who quickly threw herself into the water, rolled in the sand in her pants and sweater and then screamed and contorted her body as i tried to get her out. that's my girl.

cape ferrelo. maybe my favorite day of the trip. perfectly clear. hiking out to the cape i felt like a pioneer, like i should have been wearing a long skirt and an apron that i was using to wipe my hands just after making fresh blackberry jam. long, wavy grasses, rolling hills, glittering ocean, strong breeze. . . as we were gathering kites and putting babies in slings and backpacks chip spotted a whale. we made our way out to the cape, planted ourselves on the edge (with the ever-paranoid eric and chip keeping vigilant watch of the little kids), got some kites going and watched the pod of whales for the next couple hours. a lot of spouting, a lot of backs and even the occasional tail fin. it's nearly criminal none of us had cameras because the coastline was breathtaking.

the river. when we wanted some real swimming for the kids (outside of swim lessons) we went 15 minutes inland, popped floaties on the girls and played at loeb park on the banks of the chetco river. eve and ruth are fearless with those floaties. eve jumped off rocks and ruthie practiced doing sideways rolls as the current moved them slowly downstream. the adults swam and kayaked while the big kids went looking for salamanders and snakes, which they found both of. a river otter joined us one night and a sad, broken-legged heron the next.

swim lessons. eve spent most of the lessons (which she took with her cousins elise and chloe) shouting "i want to go again. i want my turn." i was hoping the teacher would be a little more hard core and make eve struggle more than she did. i really want her to be able to swim the way she thinks she already can. but, it was still adorable to watch the little girls all lined up. and watching their individual interpretations of the teacher's instructions was hilarious.

slugs and stones. this place, paired with my complete lack of discipline, are to blame for my extra tummy chub. but who can resist a place that serves delicious ice cream (bing bang cherry whammo and lemon sugar cookie= yum) and gives kids three and under free cones? we couldn't, so we went there as often as possible. if i lived in brookings the owner would know me and my children by name and i would be at least 15 pounds heavier than i am. sarah is desperate to re-do the poster menu. i think it is a part of the place's weird charm, and a good indication of the town's general level of sophistication.

i have more to share and document (sewing, shopping and the curry county fair) that all added up to my favorite vacation, but i'll save it all for another post or two. this is already mammoth.

i am still that girl

several days ago (long before the street exploded in front of chip's office) i found myself driving home from the pool with two sleeping girls, crying. and why was i crying? because i was imagining how sad i would be and how sad the girls and chip would be if i died. and then i imagined how sad the girls and i would be if chip died and cried more, and then if one of the girls died. . . really? was i really driving home, crying about these made-up scenarios? yes, yes i was. why do i do this to myself? why do i let myself get so upset about something completely imagined? i don't know why, but i have done it for as long as i can remember.

as a child i would stand by the window sobbing as i imagined my mother in a car accident, dying. i would cry myself to sleep imagining life if jeanie died, or dad or sarah, bobby, david. . . in fact, there was a good period of time where i don't think i ever went to bed without first crying about some fake death scenario running through my head. i thought i had gotten over that. i really thought i had progressed past this strange self-indulgence. . . nope.

so now i wonder, have i progressed at all over the last 28 years? if i played risk with sarah would i throw the board and its millions of pieces everywhere at the end of it, screaming that i would never play again? if i forgot about the soup i was making and it got scorched on the bottom of the pot would i stand by and let sarah get in trouble for it? if i wore jeanie's shirt without asking would i hide on my way home when i heard her voice, take the shirt off, shove it in my backpack and then insist that i went shirt-less to third grade that day? would i just try to stir up the cool whip a bunch to try to cover up the fact that i ate some without asking? would i let wonderful friends go just because of distance and time?

i'd like to think that i have evolved, that i've matured at least a little in life. but if tuesday's morbid imaginings are any indication, i haven't made it far up the evolutionary ladder. so, all my short-comings aside, thank you family and friends. thank you for the second chances, the love, and the over-looking of the fact that i might still be that girl. rest assured that at some point i will cry over your imagined death. sure, it might be an immature outlet for handling emotions i can't otherwise process, but let's just say that those emotions are my overflowing love and appreciation; my special tribute to you.

backlog: shirt

i'm behind on documenting things i've made. in an attempt to catch up, i post this shirt which i made in may. simplicity 4589, same pattern as this dress, with adjustments again.

as i was making the shirt with this fabric, i was sure it would end up looking ridiculous. but, i like it enough to wear around the neighborhood (which actually means nothing- the bar for "things to feel good about wearing in prospect heights" is set very, very low. . .). but, i do also wear it to church, which does mean something.

the oh-so-smooth self-portrait in the car is shown to give you a sense of the actual colors. in the first photo, the white-balance setting for the camera was on (i have yet to actually "balance" the white). i couldn't adjust it enough in post-production without being too obvious (i.e. my skin turning green). and i now am realizing that the wind blowing distorted the actual shape of the shirt (less maternity than it appears) but you get the idea.

and because i like them alright, here is the rest of my family on the way home from church in staten island today:

p.s. if you haven't seen the video clip from on the previous post, do scroll down and watch it. you'll get a total picture of who my little girls are lately.

crafts of love: mary

chip's mother, mary, made this quilt for eve when she was brand new. i love this quilt. it reminds me of the magic that filled our lives when our very first little baby, our little eve, joined our family. it reminds me of the strange and incredible understanding i had of who she was as i carried her those nine months. i knew she would have the attitude and smile she has, i knew what she would look like and how she would remind me so much of myself. . . i just knew her. and each time i pull this out to sit under with eve, i remember that time and i appreciate the little magical girl just a little more.

i also appreciate the magic behind the quilt. this quilt began years and years ago as mary had the foresight and creativity to save all those shirts of chip's and his dad's. all those great shirts from the 80s that were unabashedly full of pink. i'm sure there were moments when she thought of tossing them, wondering if they were really worth the space they consumed in her ultra organized home (mary's homekeeping skills will put anyone to shame). but i'm so glad she didn't. i love looking at the little squares of strips and imagining pink-shirted chip running around with his mullet, knobby knees and a walkman twice the size of our video camera hooked onto his shorts. i love thinking of bob, chip's dad, on his casual day, sporting a pink plaid button up and maybe grilling some burgers. i love the bits of history that are preserved in this blanket. all the time bob put into working to pay for them, the time pre-adolescent chip spent checking out his triceps in the mirror while wearing them, and the time mary spent laundering and caring for them. i love imagining her as she cut them up years later. remembering those pink-shirt times, what her joys and worries were and reflecting on all the change and new life that has come to her little family. and then knowing the care and patience she took as she planned, arranged, pieced and bound. all to give something to this newest little life, to let the tiny baby know that she is welcome. that she is a part of a family that loved her long before we met.

maybe i am over-romanticizing all of this, but isn't that part of the glory of homemade? the thoughts, ideas, reflections and, ultimately, the love that is given through these things? these things we make and are made for us, or even better, for our children? i love it. i celebrate it. and today i celebrate mary for the many ways she loves us; her worry, her conversation, her heralding, her generosity, her intensity, her sympathy, her unquestionable care, and most of all (today at least) the time she gave to the blanket that warmed my first little baby girl. the blanket that serves as a continual reminder of who eve is, because it reminds her of who she came from.

happy birthday mary. i love you.

here is a little movie chip put together of the out-takes that happened this morning as we tried to record the girls singing the happy birthday song to their grammie. for some unknown reason, eve bawls at the end of this, no matter how many times she has seen it. it makes me want to bawl too. where did that tiny baby go?

camping, city style

every year a group of moms go camping to a beautiful little campground on lake whaley just outside of pawling, ny for a few days. we do camp in tents, use a campfire to cook hot dogs and kebabs and i even made some dutch oven peach cobbler for everyone, but that's as hard core as it gets at camp liahona. showers, bathrooms and refrigerators are involved, as are trips to the grocery store (10 minutes away) to restock the marshmallows. our five man tent was filled with our queen-sized aerobed mattress (that i used an adapter in my car to fill up) complete with sheets and quilt, and a pak-n-play for ruth.

this year, since the trip fell near the 4th of july, chip was able to come up and spend almost the entire time with us. so great. he put the girls down and fell asleep right alongside them each night, while i was able to inhale smoke around the campfire and watch stars with good friends.

i hardly took any pictures at all, which means that i was either too lazy or having too much fun. i choose having too much fun. the beautiful two hour canoe ride we took with the girls all around lake whaley, looking at homes, ducks, some fish and even a muskrat (gross) is not documented. neither is the fact that they were both sound asleep by the end of it. i'll have to rely on the kindness of friends to send me some pictures of the girls fearlessly swimming in the lake for hours on tuesday. this is a tangent, but the girls are awesome little swimmers. ruth is amazing at kicking and holding her breath. she's also surprisingly good at trying to get herself to air when the water goes above her head. never scared and always willing to go back for more practice. with floaties on eve, we'd swim eve out to the dock and practice jumping into the lake. she'd go all by herself, refusing any help or joint-jumping. down she'd go, pop right up, spit out some lake water and kick herself close enough to be pulled up again for the next jump. it wasn't until she got the idea that sharks were in the lake that she got a little nervous. unwilling to accept that they did not live in the lake, it was decided that they were asleep. with the sharks safely tucked in bed, eve kept on swimming all around like a little mermaid. i also missed, yet again, a chance to document chip being the sea monster. every year he pulls this out and every year he gets enough of a response from the kids to keep him going. happily, alysha got a shot of it, so check it out over here. the stuff is just as smelly as it looks. i also missed the running and playing with friends, the staring at the caught frog, the sneaking into others' tents and the amazement of hearing an owl in the night.

i did, however, have the camera out just long enough to get some shots of ruthie, who has been sadly neglected here lately.

we went home still terrified of bugs and hating s'mores (eve), more attached to our bink than ever (ruth), determined to make a better cobbler next year (me) and wanting a nice, long nap (chip), and all just a little sick. but we still love camp liahona and, as always, were glad to get a little of the quiet that comes with it.



and for the fourth of july fireworks we were back in brooklyn, sound asleep. like good americans.

weekend cakes

the weekend is over and i'm happy. with a talk and a lesson at church for me, interviews and a lesson at a training meeting for chip, sunday was busy and exhausting. not the best way to celebrate a birthday. but, all the busy-ness of the weekend aside, we were able to enjoy the incredible weather, eat some good food and have some birthday cake.

this time around i went for carrot cake, specifically "the world's best carrot cake." i love ridiculous claims like this. but, in fairness, this cake is so good. it's the orange zest in the cream cheese frosting that does it. eve was my special helper with the cake. she was sure that adding some linguine noodles would have really made it something special. normally i trust her judgement but i just wasn't so sure about this one. . . so, i passed on the noodles. but i am curious . . . just how gross would that be?

i went for a small 6-inch, three layer cake and had batter to spare for cupcakes. didn't have time to wait for the cake to cool completely, so the frosting melted and the layers kind of slid around on top of one another. and apparently, i didn't have time to wait for the picture before eating half my piece either. . . but looks aside, it was, and always is, really good.

World’s Best Carrot Cake



preheat oven 350. grease, flour, wax paper, grease three round pans.

1.5c whole wheat flour
2/3c white flour
2tsp baking soda
2tsp cinnamon
1/2tsp salt
1/2tsp nutmeg
1/4tsp ginger
combine and set aside

1c sugar
1c brown sugar
1c buttermilk
3/4c veg oil
4 eggs
1.5tsp vanilla
stir until well blended. add to flour mixture along with following:

1lb grated carrots
8oz can crushed pineapple, drained
1c chopped walnuts (pecans)
1c flaked coconut
1/2c raisins
bake until tests done, about 30 minutes. Cool 10 minutes then remove from pans and cool completely. frost with following frosting:

cream cheese frosting

1/2c butter, soft
8oz cream cheese, soft
beat, then add:

16oz powdered sugar
2 tsp grated orange rind
1tsp vanilla

and here we have last weekend's cheesecake. i can't be sure this is the world's best (but don't think it isn't amazing, 'cuz it is) but i'm willing to bet it is the world's fattiest, so here it is:

World's Fattiest Cheesecake

preheat oven to 500.

1c graham cracker crumbs
1/3c sugar
1/4c melted butter
mix and press into springform and chill

5 packages cream cheese
1 1/3c sugar
3Tbs flour
grated rind of one lemon
lemon juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2tsp vanilla
blend hi speed. then add, one at a time:

5 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/4c heavy cream
bake at 500 for 10 minutes. reduce heat to 250 and bake for 60 minutes.

blend:

1 pint sour cream
1tsp vanilla
1/4tsp salt

remove cheesecake from oven, increase temp to 500.

spread sour cream mixture on top, bake at 500 for 5 minutes more.

cool in pan, refrigerate overnight.

i've been eating some sort of "weekend" cake for almost every meal for the last two weeks, which has been really good in that completely gross way. . .

artwork by ethan

the new banner was drawn five years ago by my nephew ethan. my sister, sarah, husband and two kids came to visit us in brooklyn for nearly five weeks during the hottest july known to man. to date, that is one of the best months we've spent in new york.

five adults (mim was also staying with us for an internship that summer) and two kids crammed into our 700 square foot railroad apartment in windsor terrace without an air conditioner. it could have been horrible but it was so great. i love remembering that month. . . chip was in art school taking one or two summer classes, i was in-between jobs, eric was on summer break from dental school, and sarah and mia (2) and ethan (4) were game for anything and everything. so we all just hung out together, wandering through the city. parks, bridges, coney island, museums, shops, regis and kelly, dana carvey, chinatown, broadway, bakeries, trains, zoos, massages and plays in central park, playgrounds, stoopsales, driving tours. . . we were able to do so much and were never rushed or anxious, just hot, exhausted and happy.

i really, really loved that time. i loved that we were really able to share our world with them. it is sad to know that it will never happen again. everything lined up perfectly just for that one month of our lives. but i'm so glad we took advantage of it, before life and bigger responsibilities carried us away.

back to the drawing. here is the explanation (and subsequent inquiry) as recorded by sarah on the back:

"7-21-02 by ethan. this is a picture of the subway. brown spots are gum. [after being told all the spots he was seeing on the subway platorm were gum] ethan asks 'so, long time ago people chewed black gum?' there's the train and mom, dad, kate, chip, miriam, mia and ethan standing behind the yellow line."

we've been in love with this drawing for more than five years, always trying to display it but never in a way that has really done it justice. so, i'll hang it here for awhile. of all the pictures i've seen capturing the city, i don't like any nearly as well as i love ethan's portrait of new york life and the family we were for that one summer month.