about forgiveness

When I saw all the cherry blossoms around the Great Lawn, I started to forgive NYC for that horrible horrible winter. As we were walking around, I asked the boys what colors they saw in the trees. Owen was the first to answer. He confidently said, "Brown!". I was hoping for a response of pink or white, but I wasn't surprised that he focused on the dark brown branches. That's Owen. We had a picnic lunch, bought some warm roasted cashews from a street vendor, and walked over to the Shakespeare Garden. After the boys ran through the garden, I had completely forgiven the city for winter. Here's to hoping spring is as wonderful as everyone told me it would be. And less brown! Even if that's the color Owen's going to focus on anyway.

Paris Souvenirs: Art

Photo by one of the Ferneys

 Jordan and I found the artwork (below) of a blue haired boy on the ground, leaning against some furniture at the Paris Flea Market. Oh the Paris Flea Market! I could have spent my whole weekend there. Millions Trillions of alleyways bursting with anything imaginable. Pillows, knobs, wigs, hats, clocks, party supplies. It was like I was seeing the originals before they get copied and massed produced by Anthropologie.  

In regards to the painting: It probably caught every ones eye when they walked down they alleyway. It was by no means hidden. And how haunting he is! Is it even a boy? Is it junk and not purchased by so many for a reason? I loved it regardless and bought it. I was worried about getting it home in one piece though. So I taped all my clothes around it, put it in my suitcase, and bid it farewell when I checked it in at the airport. Luckily the frame and glass survived! I think it looks good in our living room, despite the fact that it scares the kids. Completely understandable. I'm using it as a way to make them more resilient.

about Central Park

A lot of people who live in Manhattan refer to Central Park as their backyard (read here). On Monday, I was one of those people. My kids dug holes, sang songs really loud, and threw around a mangy tennis ball. We all felt right at home.

Paris Souvenirs: Part 3 French Chocolate

It's blasphemous what I have done to get this post up.  When the real chocolates were eaten faster than I could take a picture of them, I bought cheap look a like candy from CVS. The real things came from A la Mere de Famille, one of Paris's oldest sweet shops. They hand wrap their chocolates in the most beautiful shades of foil in every color of the rainbow. I bought 3 in each color. And the chocolate! Rich and sweet. The candies had no chance of waiting a week for a photoshoot. It's a miracle they made it through my long flight home.

Tips for crossing Brooklyn Bridge with kids

Here's my recommendations for walking across the Brooklyn Bridge with kids based on the experience I had today.
1. Take the 2/3 subway from Manhattan to Brooklyn and get off at the first stop in Brooklyn (Clark St.). If you get distracted and miss that stop, the next stop (Borough Hall) works too.
2. Once you get out of the subway, if you're feeling really lost, you can always stop at a near by Starbucks. It's always available for directions, water and ridiculously overpriced organic chocolate milk for the kids. But it's worth every dime.
3. Eventually, find your way to Brooklyn Bridge Park. Throw rocks in the water. Lay in the grass with your arms out stretched. Have a picnic. Run around in the playground. This is when you might have a few moments when motherhood is as great as you dreamed it could be.

4. I asked my boys, "Are you brave enough to walk over that humongous bridge?" They shouted, "YEAH!" and ran out of the playground. I was shocked they transitioned so well. Try it!
5. Take the stairs that lead to the bridge. A tourist might help carry the stroller.
6. Dig in your bag until you find a couple of dollars to buy two bottles of ice cold water from a street vendor.
7. Last tip: If walking over the Brooklyn Bridge, stay out of the bike path. The white line divides the bike lane and the walk lane. Oscar (left) is demonstrating the concentration, stillness, and seriousness it takes if you want to stand on that line. Owen (right) takes a bit more relaxed approach.  Whatever suits your personality!

Union Square Farmers Market

My friend Corinne and her sweet daughter came with me and the boys to the Union Square Farmers Market.  I like that on Fridays, the market is smaller and slower than on Saturday. Owen filled his bag with 5 pounds of apples. Oscar felt satisfied with two perfect red apples. My shopping list included: mushrooms, bread, and yogurt. It was all going well until my boys had to go to the bathroom four times (plus an accident somehow!). Sadly Corinne saw the reality of taking 3 year old twins around the city.  It's not terribly different than the blog, but not nearly as pretty either.  While I can't fool her anymore, I hope somebody out there still is! Instead of taking pictures, my time was divided between the bathroom and talking to Corinne. A pile of dirty mushrooms is all I got to show for today.

how to play in cold weather

I'm not going to go into details about my feelings on NYC weather, because I think that topic is such a bore. All I will say is that I don't like it. One more thing: It was in the 30's today while I was in Central Park. Don't fact check my numbers, but I promise it was. I kept wondering why my boys seemed so happy, but then I remember it's been weeks since I took them to a playground. They spent a lot of time on the tire swing. Making up for lost time.