NYC waterfall footage from last summer

Love in the Icestorm

Hiking through icicles in New Paltz

Thanksgiving in Asheville

So Rob and I met up with my parents and Katie, Todd and Olivia for a Thanksgiving celebration Asheville style. We feasted in the grand ballroom of the Grove Park Inn and then went for a nice walk around the grounds. We also visited the house that my Grandmother Josephine once lived in. The time went by too quickly, but thank goodness Christmas in Illinois is just around the corner! Rob and I liked Asheville, for sure. The nature, art and beer selections are all pretty winning...we shall see...

mountain cabin retreat

Rob and I went down to North Carolina for Thanksgiving. We spent three quiet and peaceful days at the Travis family's mountain cabin before we headed to Asheville to celebrate the holiday with Mom, Dad, Katie, Todd and Olivia.

To the west

Rob and I just got back from a really wonderful and relaxing trip to Oregon. Rob's parents took very good care of us, as they let us lounge on their comfy couches and prepared nutritious and delicious meals. We went to Sauvie Island to pick pumpkins with Kate Mills, Erin, Ben, Katy and Jule. I haven't been pumpkin picking in a long time...it was difficult to choose and apparently easier to practice pumpkin balancing on one's head. We went on a lot of hikes. Our first hike: Angel's Rest in the gorge on a very windy day. The pictures are true to color. The leaves on the trees were absolutely golden. The sunshiney-ness of the landscape made for a fun contrast with Rob's hiking attire. He looked like some sort of blue Elvis super-hero. Our second hike: Cape Falcon on the coast in Oswald State Park on a very overcast day. This hike took us to a pretty amazing view, as indicated in the pictures. Also, we stopped off in Hug Point and took some pensive photos by the sea. Rob, his dad and I went for an overnight camping trip near Mt. Hood and hiked a trail called Top Spur towards Ramona Falls. My camera died pretty much just after I took that lovely picture of Mt. Hood on a happy day. The next day there were very dark, menacing clouds swirling above the mountain...it was a grumpy day, hence, we did not find Ramona Falls. We had a nice hike, nonetheless. Overall, we were able to see lots of friends and visit with family, eat and drink lots of goodness and play in nature from mountains to coast. We love Oregon!

Day of Dia: Beacon

Rob and I took the Metro North up the Hudson River on Monday to visit Dia: Beacon. This beautifulness is just a couple hours north of the city. Some of the artists exhibited: Richard Serra, Sol Lewitt, Michael Heizer and Andy Warhol. There was, unfortunately, an overly large display of canvases and paper,seemingly, with just gesso. I have yet to figure this ridiculous phenomenon out.

A Walk in the Woods, or rather, Greenwood Cemetary

Saturday was the most lovely, fall-esque day in Brooklyn. Rob and I went on a long walk through Greenwood Cemetary with Patrick, Mina, Markus, Adina and baby, Yana. We saw Samuel Morse's grave, the inventor of the telegraph and morse code. We also walked through a giant, modern mausoleum, complete with a quiet waterfall, couches, a computer directory and an elevator. We're pretty sure it is mafia related.

P.S. 1 in Long Island--Refresh Your World!

During a visit to P.S. 1 in Long Island, a museum that is affiliated with the Museum of Modern Art and which is housed in an old public school, hence the P.S., we discovered ...chickens! There was also a huge urban-garden sculpture that sorta looked like a giant lego/tinker toy with flowers and grass and weeds and a stream of water with a solitary plastic fork floating upon its still, reflective surface.

Butters likes to smell things

Butters and rosemary, the most lovely smell that Butters will lay his damp, little nose upon amidst these Brooklyn sidewalks, that is for sure!

cousin mike in nyc with lady liberty

even though we skipped liberty island on our way to ellis island, i snapped a picture of mike back to back with the statue. that is not the kind of boat we were on; though, yeargh...that would have been arrrghuably cooler!

8th Annual Pickle Festival

Rob and I faced the blazing hot elements in the lower east side this weekend in order to stand in line for some cool, crisp pickle on a stick. La, la, La, La, la, la....

Montana or Bust...for Tracy and Scott's wedding!!

Ahhhh says it all. You really cannot beat a week in Montana with really, really, really good friends. The laughter, energy and fresh air was infectious and most enormously welcomed by me. Montana land is just somethin' amazing to behold, especially coming from the NYC. Here are some snippets from the week, like the bucolic scenery, Angela and beer, Paige and football helmet hair, pre and post wedding festivities, friends and family new and old.