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5.31.2012

SUMMER TIME ON THE HIGH LINE









 



it's officially high line season around here. and good glory!
(p.s. dear mama--we miss you!)

5.30.2012

FLEAS AND FAIRS


last weekend, while my mamallama was in town, we spent a lovely afternoon wandering the chelsea flea market. and oh, flea markets. shall i wax poetic?

when we lived in idaho there was a little antique mall down the way that i stalked like a crazy person. i mean, i was there every weekend. me and my icy cold mcdonald's diet coke, we spent hours at that place. i knew the layout by heart and could spot new pieces from the front door. occasionally the owner would set things aside for me that she knew i would like. we were broker than humpty dumpty and the hunt for inexpensive things i could love forever was seriously addicting. i tried to be careful and passed up on so many amazing things in the process... what i did buy at that antique mall always gave me such anxiety. after all this time, i wish i could go back to my old self and tell her "buy MORE!" because without exception, every piece that i brought home was a total treasure. and SO inexpensive. i'm talking perfect-condition clothing from the 1930s at $4 a pop ... a wagon wheel toddler bed with wooden steer horns at the foot from the 1950s for $50 (oh huck! you need that wagon wheel toddler bed!) ... and those same cathrineholm enamel bowls i passed up over and over are going for six times as much out here! old natalie, quit dinking around and just buy that stuff. crap.

vintage regret is the worst kind of regret, write that on my tombstone.

thrifting out here is all fun and games till you see the prices, yeeeouch. i was a good girl this weekend and left everything behind for future thrifters with bigger pockets. am i turning over a new leaf? is this the end of my thrifting era? i even passed on that buck trophy who i was certain was named harold, and why don't husbands feel as strongly about buck trophies named harold as their wives do? such a mystery.

on our way home we happened to walk through the craziest street fair we've ever seen. it was a little bit alarming. and though we were too late for fried oreos (seriously the greatest things ever), we were not too late for miniature sweet potato pies, so now i'm going to put in some photos and call it a day.








this stall had the greatest collection of vintage children's toys, i was dying to bring some home for huck.












p.s. a really flea market in manhattan for perusing
25th street between 6th and 7th avenue

MEMORIAL DAY IN THE CITY


the cool thing to do in the city for memorial day weekend is not be in the city for memorial day weekend. you know? but who needs to be cool to have a good time? luckily, not us. we decided to take advantage of the relative quiet of the city with everyone out of town and cover the entire island by foot. we visited tourist spots with zero crowds, we rode the carousel, discovered new-to-us neighborhoods, sipped on mcdonald's diet vanilla coke mixed with shots of diet cherry dr. pepper (try it), ate fajitas on the east side, stomped through sheep meadow, and stopped to pet every puppy we passed. 

maybe next year we'll do it right and go in with some friends and rent a little house in the hamptons and enjoy memorial day weekend on the beach, or whatever. but this year it was pretty nice to take it slow and have the entire city all to ourselves.















5.29.2012

VERILY MAG FEATURE


back in february i was asked to give an interview for the teaser issue of verily magazine
a brand new online and print magazine launching this year. 
it was such a pleasure! 
you can check it out HERE.

i'm on page 24 talking about personal style, motherhood, and life in the city. 
the whole issue is so great! i am so proud of be a part of it. 

THE GREAT COOKIE QUEST WINNER! :: the recipe ::



so very sorry for making you wait, 
but i had to get permission first since it's not my recipe.

 janelle has proffered her blessing, however she's requested that i only give out the recipe on the condition that nobody gets "self-righteous about shortening" 

"yes it's disgusting to think about," she says, "but it makes delicious, chewy cookies." 
no shortening snobs allowed at this table! (or if you are just keep it on the d-l.)

janelle's famous, 
best-in-the-city, better-than-levain 
chocolate chip cookies


ingredients
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup shortening (she says crisco, in the sticks)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 scant teaspoon salt
lotsa chocolate chips (upwards of two cups! do it!)
flaky sea salt


directions
preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit
cream together butter, shortening, sugars, vanilla and egg until fluffy
add sifted dry ingredients (minus sea salt) and mix till combined
fold in chocolate chips and drop by spoon onto greased cookie sheet
sprinkle with sea salt before baking
bake at 350 for 6-10 minutes
(we like to pull them out between the 6-7 minute mark, our ovens run hot!)

5.27.2012

BRING IT ON, SUMMER, AND HAPPY WEEKEND!


it's memorial day weekend, the humidity index is something like 3,000%, and we forgot to plan ourselves any exciting escapes. but! i slept in past nine two of the last three days, and i totally intend to pull a repeat performance tomorrow morning. and now that i think about it, i'm pretty sure i just might have some popsicles in the freezer.

happy memorial day weekend to you!