2/22/13
Central Park East - 6:12am

This is why I love the mornings.

Carpe diem,

J

Thursday, February 21st, 2013

Good morning!  I feel like this morning is a Monday after my 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' yesterday.  My Dad was in town before he went home to Oregon so I took off work yesterday so we could do fun stuff.  We went to The Frick Collection yesterday - which I had never been to see despite the fact that it is less than 6 blocks from my house.  Henry Clay Frick was a steel guy in the time of Carnegie, Rockefeller, and JP Morgan.

When he was a live, he built a ridiculously palatial house on an entire city block on 5th avenue across from Central Park.  It's kind of neat to go in, because you definitely don't feel like you're in a museum - you feel like you're in a really, really rich person's house.  Many of the rooms are even decorated with the original furnishings and in the same orientation as when he and his wife lived there.  As you walk through the house - you can't help but not be struck by how wealthy he was.  Priceless works of art are everywhere and this house is in NYC - it feels like Versaille or something.  The collection is also manageable - you can see everything in an afternoon, whereas at some of the bigger museums you can feel a bit overwhelmed.  In NYC in particular the Met is almost always really crowded - so it's tough to browse and linger and get lost.  At the Frick it was pleasantly non-crowded and the fee for students was only $10 - a great deal.  Another thing I thought was interesting about the collection that they mentioned in the little film they showed you in the "Music Room" of the house was that the collection has a very personal feel to it.  You can feel the way that the art was "domestic" and would have appealed to his wife and was pleasant for him to look at - that's a touch of personality that's missing from most other art museums. 

I saw a lot of paintings and sculptures that I liked but there were a few that stood out as favorites.  I really liked Rembrandt's "The Polish Rider."  I also really liked Bellini's "Saint Francis of Asissi in the Desert."  My absolute favorites, though, were William Turner's pair of paintings that line one of the house galleries.  They are enormous works and one depicts the harbor in Cologne at sunset and the other shows the harbor at Dieppe at sunrise.  These paintings really appealed to me because I kind of identified with how Turner felt about light at changing of the day.  His paintings feel a bit magical and unreal - which is sometimes how early or dusky light can make a place feel and look.  I've attached links below so you can see the paintings I really liked. Finally, of the sculpture, my favorite were the pair by Giovanni Susini "Lion attacking a Horse" and "Leopard fighting a Bull."  In particular, the Leopard fighting the bull was really neat because if you looked very closely, you could see that Susini had etched delicate, barely visible spots all over the leopard.  Susini meant to represent the Horse and Lion as the valiant struggle for life - The horse is giving it a good fight.  On the other hand, the bull falls to his knees when the leopard attacks - he accepts the inevitability of death honorably. 

The Harbor at Cologne:
http://collections.frick.org/media/view/Objects/136/3427;jsessionid=C9FD643B935A3054E0F5D911D3C99119?t:state:flow=ca25856f-7ba6-498b-acf1-fa1befa3e558 

The Harbor at Dieppe:
http://collections.frick.org/media/view/Objects/268/3428?t:state:flow=c97d2e48-a3f4-4ad7-b3c1-78d5204e0da5

Lion Attacking a Horse:
http://collections.frick.org/view/objects/asitem/search@/0?t:state:flow=9cec9834-ed4d-4cdc-8c8e-33493113c532

Leopard Attacking a Bull:
http://collections.frick.org/view/objects/asitem/People@423/0?t:state:flow=6cf8f510-e601-4e41-9d39-5c7994916dd0

The Polish Rider:
http://collections.frick.org/view/objects/asitem/search@/0?t:state:flow=b44f76f0-2be3-40ac-9f7d-9e4a79566bfd

Saint Francis in the Desert:
http://collections.frick.org/view/objects/asitem/People@46/0?t:state:flow=3c70d0ce-9f29-4232-973b-e57287641a9f

My Dad also brought some treats for us as you can see above - Hawaiian coffee & macadamia nuts - there is nothing better - NOTHING!  We also got some new toys from Grandma for Sofie & Bear - which have gotten a thrashing already.  We also got a late X-mas present from Uncle Keith & Aunt Jeanne - a framed photo of Brian, Sofie, Bear, and I while hiking last summer in Oregon :) :) :)

After the Frick we all went out for dinner at the Palm.  It was great service and a great meal, as usual.  We started with some cocktails - Dad got a vodka martini, I got a lemon drop, and Sarah got some pomegranate thing.  Brian got a beer.  Then we had some salads and finally swordfish steak for me topped with cherry tomatoes, capers, and kalamata olives; Dad got a big steak; Sarah got a smaller steak, and Brian got crabcakes with a mango salsa.  We all shared green beans, frites, and a bottle of Malbec.  Finally we finished by sharing some coffee, NY cheesecake, carrotcake, and Dad had a bit of Glenfiddich Scotch - which I tasted and actually really liked.  I have never tried Scotch before but I expected it to sting and burn and make you feel like you could breathe fire kind of like Whiskey - not so - it was very smooth.

All in all we had a GREAT night and a GREAT meal.  It was so much fun.

This morning Dad left at like 5:50am.  I was totally out of it when I said good bye and ended up sleeping in until 6:40am.  No workout for me this morning! haha!

Anyway, I hope you all have a great day!  The only thing missing from last night was Mom!!  (though we would have needed to order another dessert if she had been there :))

Carpe diem,

J

Good morning!

Today was well, just sort of blah - that's why I have no picture for you.  On the East coast, usually late February through early April is an ugly time of year.  Spring has not really sprung, yet it's damp and dead out.  Nothing bounces back until early April around here.  Another thing is that it starts being light in the morning again, which I know I shouldn't complain about, but I like seeing the sunrise and feeling like I'm out at some special time of day. 

When it starts feeling officially warm again, I dig it, but that just won't be for awhile yet.  I'm also holding out for 1 more blizzard - come on...give me some SNOW!!!

Carpe diem,

J

Monday, February 18th, 2013

Good morning, folks!

Happy President's Day, Happy President's Day, indeed!  I had a great gift bestowed upon me today (as I usually do on weekends as well).  Brian is home from work today (but I am not) so he said he would get up and take the dogs so that I could sleep in (there are no better gifts than sleeping in - I defy you to give me a better gift!) - as he did yesterday & Saturday!  He is so the best!  How it works is he gets up at 7:45 to take them and I sleep until they get back & it is glorious.  This morning I just got up when they left and have been sitting here having my oatmeal and checking my email. 

Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy my walks.  However, I thoroughly enjoy sleeping in as well.  The photos I've posted show a lot of what we've been doing lately.  Runkies sleeping while I work on my ACE and eat salmon & brussels sprouts.  My brain needs all the good oils it can get!!

Well I have lab meeting today so I should hustle my butt off the computer and go get ready for work.

Have a wonderful, wonderful day - hopefully home from work!!

Carpe diem,

J

Thursday, February 14th, 2013

Good morning! 

You may have noticed that neither of these photos is recent.  Actually - the top photo is from when we first got Bear and he was just a wee pup.  The bottom photo of Brian is from almost 4 years ago (cannot believe that) when we went camping in the Adirondacks. 

I won't be gag-inducing, but since it's Valentine's day I'll just express my love and appreciation for the 3 of them. 

I'm so glad I get to love these 3 every day.  They make everything in life brighter and happier.  My dogs teach me how to love, pay attention, have patience, and play, and Brian is my friend, my love, my sharer of tasks, protector, and fellow dreamer of dreams. 

I love you three! 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Carpe diem,

J

Wednesday, February 13th, 2013

Top 2 photos I took last night when the pizza delivery guy came.  It cracks me up every time when the buzzer rings because the dogs have learned that that means a stranger or a friend is coming up to our door next.  They get very anxious and hop around near the door whining.  When it's a stranger with pizza or something, Bear (not usually Sofie) gets a little territorial and sometimes barks to go out and check things out.  Brian has to go out by himself to get the pizza because otherwise Bear will run after the delivery guy down the stairs.

Guess what?  I signed up for a dog agility class!  It's time I stop pretending and just admit to what I truly am - a nutty dog person.  You could get a pretty good picture of who I am by the following:

Loves animals (especially kittens, cows, horses, chinchillas, lions, tigers, bears, and goats), Merrell snowboots, cotten v-neck T shirts, quiet, crime shows, stars, yoga, snowstorms, Ghirardelli Coconut Rendezvous bars or (toasted almond-equally good), brightly colored things, treehouses (*someday I will live in one), things that glow in the dark, those bent/linked together puzzle nails, my family, pizza, lentil soup, ratatouille, running, brightly colored leaves, mountains, woods, James Herriott books, cheese, tattoos, science, and DOGS!! 

Yep, that pretty much sums me up - & in less than 60 words!! - but mostly I'm just a crazy dog lady.

So back to agility.  I'm going to do it - starting April 24th.  It is my prospective present to myself for passing the ACE (which I hopefully will have by then).

Carpe diem,

J

Tuesday, February 12th, 2013

Good morning! 

Here's to a good morning.....a morning where I got up extra early, walked the dogs, got to the gym - workout in hand, changed, and realized I FORGOT MY SHOES!!!! :-(

So, I went to Dunkin' Donuts for a bagel.

Here's to yoga tonight. 

Carpe diem,

J