Oct 30, 2013

Art-full Greenwich Village


Today I'm kicking off a weekly post: TOO GOOD TO MISS TUESDAY. On tuesdays I will share past travel faves that deserve appreciation, fun stuff that has been kept in my back pocket--due to no fault of its own.

Starting with one September day in NYC, the end to a week of beautiful weather in the Big Apple. We hit many of the iconic landmarks but found the most fun wandering the neighborhoods. Our last day we (my old/new roommate Amy and I) went back to an area close to our hotel with a hip vibe: Greenwich village!

Looking to do some last minute shopping we stumbled upon the motherload: blocks of street vendors selling jewelry (oh if only that ring had been in the right size), 10 minute back massages (they know how to reel you in), t-shirts screenprinted with balloons and bicycles, food. . . and art of all kinds.

Welcome to The Market NYC

I still dream of these beauties especially those 2 on the far right, in the lower background, but alas my carry on max was already at its limit and those are whopper woven creations, even if they are aqua. So I went with a baby lavender version. I love it, but the visual impact is just not the same.

Who can pass up the "best CANNOLI . . . imported from Brooklyn". Hey that's what they advertised. It was pretty good.


My favorite part was sauntering down the street and seeing this art display out of the corner of my eye, doing a double take, walking over trance-like without telling my travel buddy where I'm going and being sucked into these beautiful ink drawings. I pulled one after another out of the stack, my new favorite friends. The artist is Dan Butler, yep that's him, totally cool guy. He draws primarily without looking at his paper . . .

And he openly tells you about each piece, a story for each one. Like my purchase on the right of a fire escape in Chinatown, where a large crowd gathered to watch him. And Amy's purchase on the left, he just had to get the tree outside his window at the moment he was struck by it, making him late for an appointment, oops.

Bonus: I (and you) can buy more at his Etsy shop Handmade in Brooklyn.




Oct 23, 2013

Girl-power day in Denver

I proclaimed Today Girl-Power Day: seeking inspiration and motivation in all my activities to refresh and renew my energies as I doggie paddle through this job-search-thing.

So of course I . . .
1. Got a manicure
2. Devoured a homemade poptart or "popster" at a new bakery (to me): Sugar Bakeshop
3. Was enlightened by a visit to . . . (*see below for details)


4. Perused the shops at Cherry Creek North, store and restaurant lined streets all decked out in the finest fall leaves.
5. Devoured a hamburger at  the Cherry Cricket with BACON--true girl power food.
6. Went halfsies on a Bread Pudding Cupcake at Big Fat Cupcake
7. No girl-power day would be complete without a chocolate or 2.


*but back to  number 3
On Pennsylvania Street in the Capital Hill area of Denver, majestic, historic, brick, stone, victorian, modern, restored and reinvented homes, offices, churches and coffee shops stand side by side shaded by wise leafy trees.


One building, one former residence was the centerpiece for this girl-power day!


From 1894 until her death in1932 the "Unsinkable Molly Brown" lived here. Fun facts I learned on the tour:
  • She learned 5 languages as an adult and spoke them fluently
  • She worked to create the first juvenile court system in the nation
  • She founded one of the first humane societies in the nation, The Denver Dumb Friends League
  • No one ever called her Molly.  She went by Maggie and/or Margaret. The newspapers got her name wrong after the sinking of the Titanic and again when reporting her death. But Molly rhymes with more pleasant words than "Maggie" so the error was perpetuated in the musical "the Unsinkable Molly Brown"
Go girl!