Baby Caden

Last week I had photo sessions two days in a row! The first was 5 week old Caden. His dad contacted me about taking photos and I couldn't wait to take newborn photos again. Caden is the sweetest little baby and was just perfect during the photos - and wide awake. I just couldn't get over how alert and content he was. We started out with some photos of Caden with dad and mom, and then moved up to his nursery to take some of just Caden. I'm pretty sure I could have just stayed and taken photos of him all day - he was just so perfect!

THANKS again for asking me to take Caden's photos! I hope he is feeling better real soon.

There are just no words . . .

I saved my most interesting NYC photos and story for last. On Wednesday, we walked through Central Park and spent some time at the Bethesda Fountain before heading back. On our way through the Angel Tunnel towards the fountain, we noticed an odd looking man and woman setting up for what looked like meditation - lots of little tapestries and incense. We watched them for a little bit while they put on some makeup and then went on our way. On the way back, their set up was still there, but we didn't immediately see them. The woman (who we found out later was named "Pink Angel") was off to one side stretching and warming up, but the man ("Thoth") was no where to be found. We soon discovered that he was under a giant black umbrella off to the other side doing who knows what (I really, really wish I had a photo of that!). Half of the group went ahead, but the other half of us were intrigued and decided to wait and see what was going to happen. After a lot of warming up and meditation, they finally began their performance. As one of Chris' students said ...there just are no words to describe it! Thoth played the violin and sang in his own made up language (we read about it in a book he had sitting there) while Pink Angel did the same. Their "prayformance" (that's what his website calls it) was quite bizarre and almost haunting. They started just with the violins and singing, and then slowly added in the bells by stomping their feet. At one point Thoth was spinning in circles and playing his violin. Quite talented! After watching one song performed, we decided it was time to move on . . . mainly because we all had headaches from whatever was being burned during their performance!


I did a little research once I got home and discovered Thoth has a website with even more photos and explanations and dates of his upcoming performances (in case you are interested) and Pink Angel has a blog where she mentioned us and also explains how she met Thoth!! Very interesting stuff there!


AND....in case my photos are not enough, you can view the same performance we saw here. Be sure to watch the whole thing or you will miss Thoth's fabulous spinning moves!! If you still can't seem to get enough of Thoth, he does have a CD available for purchase. :)



They did this little "greeting" when they both came out of their corners after warming up. . .
Getting ready to begin the prayformance . . . he stuck a giant red feather in his hair right before they began. . .
Thoth doing his thing . . .
Pink Angel during her thing. . .
Thoth and Pink Angel . . . her eyes were really creepy - she just seemed to look right through you . . .

I heart cupcakes. . .

One of the things on my list of things to do in NYC was to find a cupcake bakery and get a yummy cupcake. I was so excited when we were walking around the first evening and found Magnolia Bakery only 5 blocks from our hotel!! Of course I had to go in and get a cupcake. I picked yellow cake with chocolate icing and sprinkles. Imagine my surprise when I opened my box a few minutes later to take a bite and discovered a red velvet cupcake instead. Somehow my order got switched as I was paying. Oh well....it was delicious anyhow - especially the icing! On Day 2, as the female chaperones and I were walking down Bleecker St. we came across the original Magnolia Bakery (where the Sex and the City girls visited on a couple episodes). It was so cute and was just calling our names....so I purchased cupcake #2. This one was definitely my favorite - it was called hummingbird and was a type of spice cupcake with amazing cream cheese icing. Day 3 almost ended without a cupcake...until Chris and I went for a walk around Rockefeller Center in the evening and decided we needed a sweet treat, which meant cupcake #3 - vanilla cake with buttercream icing and sprinkles. Somehow I made it through day 4 without a cupcake, but I made a quick trip on our last day there to get some cupcakes to take home for the kids.

Since being home I've been going through cupcake withdrawl...but I am looking forward to trying a recipe I found on line for Magnolia cupcakes and buttercream icing. A little piece of NYC right in my own kitchen.

Yummy cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery on 49th Street. . .

Me with my first cupcake....the one that officially got me hooked (even if it was the wrong kind). . .

The original Magnolia Bakery on Bleecker Street. . .

Inside. . . self-serve cupcakes. . .

My new addiction. . .

NYC in black and white

Even though I've been to NYC five times in the past five years or so, I don't think I could ever get tired of taking photos around the city. I took some of my favorites and changed them to black and white. I love how they turned out and may just have to frame some of them to add to my NYC corner in our family room.


Radio City Music Hall . . .



View down 6th Avenue . . . Apartments in ChinaTown. . .

Bicycle Rickshaws outside the deli across from our hotel . . .

Subway . . .

Literary Walk in Central Park . . .
Plaza Hotel . . .

Chelsea Market . . .

Rockefeller Center (home of Top of the Rock) . . .

Movie sets, TV shows, and movie stars...Oh my!!

I have been to NYC 5 times and never saw movie sets or movie stars until this visit! Our first sighting was only a few hours after arriving. We were walking down Broadway and passed Tracy Morgan (SNL and 30 Rock) on the sidewalk. He posed for a photo with two of the girls before moving on. The kids (and adults) were so excited to see their first movie star!



Wow....he looked right at my camera just when I snapped the photo. Thanks Tracy!




The next day, while walking through Greenwich Village, we saw a movie being filmed. We didn't get a chance to see any stars, but we did talk to one of the equipment guys for a while. Apparently they were filming a low budget film called "Howl" starring James Franco (Pineapple Express, Nights in Rodanthe).



The movie set....they were actually filming inside the building on the left edge of the photo.



Later that day, Chris, one of his students, and I were walking down 60th Street and saw another movie star - Jay Mohr (Jerry Maguire, Gary Unmarried). He was nice enough to pose for a photo with me and let me pet his cute little dog.




Right down the street we came upon another movie set. After doing some snooping (looking at the back of the director's chairs) and asking some questions, we found out they were filming an episode of Gossip Girl. I will admit that I watch the show every week (Cheryl got me hooked), so I was pretty excited that they were filming. Unfortunately, they were filming inside a restaurant and never came out. Leighton Meester (Blair) and Taylor Momsen (Jenny) were filming a scene with some of the other girls. I even saw Blair pass her famous headband to Jenny. I did get a couple glimpses of them inside the restaurant and managed to try to take a few photos. (I was really wishing I had my big lens to get up close and personal!) If you watch the episode in about 4 weeks, you may just see the top of my head outside the restaurant on the sidewalk. :)



I pointed out Blair and Jenny with the arrow. If you look real close you can see them.

We also saw a movie set on Friday while we were in Greenwich Village. They were filming right near Washington Square. One of the workers told us they were filming the live action version of the Sorcerer's Apprentice (from the Disney Fantasia movie). He wouldn't say who was in the movie, but did tell us one of the actors was from "Knocked Up" (Jay Baruchel). After I got home and did some internet searching, I discovered that Nicholas Cage is producing and starring in the movie. No wonder they wouldn't tell us who was inside!!

This dog was on the set with someone wearing an ID badge for the movie. The man was really protective of the dog and the dog was really well behaved. He sat down right next to me, so I reached down to pet him. I'm pretty sure the dog is a part of the movie. If so, I can say that I pet a movie dog!

Day 3 and 4 . . .

Day three was a rainy, cold day - yuck! The female chaperones and I spent our morning shopping along 5th Avenue before taking the subway to Columbia to meet up with Chris and the kids. We ate lunch near Columbia and then took the subway to Ground Zero and the financial district. They are doing a lot of work at Ground Zero - getting ready for "Freedom Tower", so you can't get anywhere near it. We were able to get a peek from the window of a building nearby though. Later part of the group went on to Battery Park while the rest of us headed back to the hotel to get warm and dry and rest. This was the only day I really didn't feel great. I think it was a combination of being on the go non-stop and the cold and rain that just wore me out. After a nap at the hotel, I was ready to go. That night things were pretty quiet. I ended up going to dinner with one of the other chaperones and later Chris and I walked around 5th Avenue and Rockefeller Center by ourselves.




The subway sign at Columbia University - I love the subway murals! It would be so fun to take photos of lots of them - they are definitely works of art!



St John the Divine Church near Columbia. I would love to also spend a day and take photos of all the old churches around the city. Some of them are amazing. Stock Market at Wall Street Taxi line up in front of our hotel

Empire State Building from Greenwich VillageGround Zero site
Rockefeller Center from 5th Avenue

Snaxi!

Day four - the first day of spring - and we woke up to SNOW!! Luckily it didn't accumulate and ended by late morning. The entire group headed to the Today Show...except me! Somehow I managed to sleep right through it. I guess I needed sleep more than a visit to the Today Show. Matt Lauer wasn't there, so I was okay with missing. While the kids and Chris were at Columbia, the chaperones and I headed to two places that have been on my list of "things I want to see someday in NYC" - Dylan's Candy Bar (owned by Dylan Lauren - Ralph Lauren's daughter) and Serendipity! Basically it was a sugar high morning! We spent a lot of time browsing Dylan's and buying some treats to take home and then headed to Bloomingdale's to waste a little more time. We spent most of our time in Bloomingdale's dodging the massive amount of perfume sample sprayers. They were out in full force!! Finally we went to Serendipity. It was the cutest little place - really tiny! We all ordered frozen hot chocolate - their speciality. It was absolutely amazing. None of us even came close to finishing and were all ready to burst by the time we left! We met the group back at the hotel and then headed to Greenwich Village for lunch and then on to Chinatown! I love Chinatown. There's just something about the thrill of buying a purse in dark basements and secret hidden rooms! My group of girls and I ended up buying our purses from a van in the back corner of a parking lot in Chinatown. Can't beat that experience! I splurged on a raspberry pink coach purse and a Tiffany bracelet.

View from my hotel window Friday morning - all the stuff that looks like static in the background is actually snowflakes!

Serendipity.....home of the famous frozen hot chocolate!

Terrible photo taken by our waiter . . . the frozen hot chocolate looks as big as my face!

Friday night 5 of us had tickets to see Mama Mia. I went to dinner at Ruth's Chris Steak House with one of the chaperones and her daughter - AMAZING meal!! Then we walked around the corner to see our show. Mama Mia was excellent - I laughed and sang through the whole movie. Now I need to buy the soundtrack so I can sing loudly in the van!!