Alan Visits

One of my brothers (Alan) drove up last weekend to bring us the car we'll be using to drive across the country this summer. He'll also be making the drive to Portland, because he's moving there later this summer as well! While he here, we got in most of the big sights. Here are a few photos from our city exploring.

We have 3 more sets of visitors coming - 2 have previously been to NYC but one hasn't (so we'll be doing all the sights again at least one more time before we move). Alan was a really easy tourist - we'd go see the sights and just keep going. He wasn't picky about what we saw and just kind of let me tour guide him around the city for 3 days. I do have to say though, I realized how SLOW I am now and how much energy I actually LACK! (Seth thinks it's awesome, because usually I'm asking him to SPEED up his walking. Now I'm asking him to SLOW down his walking!) After 3 days of exploring the city - the last 3 days of my break week have been spent being L.A.Z.Y! Making a baby is hard work!

The Newest Addition

Meet my niece Khloe Rae. She was born early early yesterday morning! A Thursday baby.

7 lbs. 9 oz. and 20 inches long. 

Oooo she is sooo adorable! That sweet little nose and those chubby little cheeks! I cannot wait to meet here (although it won't be until July! I will be counting down the days!) 

my next job begins in october

somewhere around october 17th - to be exact. 

there's our little lime. growing and growing each day. the little lime is about 6 cm long and moving up a storm (although its sweet little jolts and dance moves are happening without me feeling yet... if it is any indication to how active of a child we'll have, we'd say we'll have our hands full).

a zoom in of the profile. cannot wait to see this little one's profile in october and kiss that sweet nose!

and a last one of its sweet little leg and foot! 

we saw the baby and heard the heartbeat (161 beats per minute) for the first time yesterday. what an amazing and magical moment. 

13 weeks along. over half of which i have been sick for (miserably sick). i was beginning to become afraid that i had made it all up -- this "morning" sickness almost seems the norm for as long as it has lasted (and continues!) as it turns out, there really is a little one growing inside. and in the end,  these weeks/months of sickness will all be worth it. i hope this baby is so wonderful i forget all about being sick (it has to outweigh it - my brain has the repress the memory - or women would only have one child). 

the sun is beginning to set...

 ...on our time in new york city.

seth and i have made the big decision. 

everything has fallen into place. 

the end of june will be the end of our residency in nyc.

no longer new yorkers -

we've always known the day would come, 

but i don't think it will seem real until it is.

there are so many things in new york that i am ready to leave behind:

the 2 and a half hours i spend commuting each day to get to and from work

the crowds of people 

the trash

the polluted air (especially bothering me lately)

the honking cars

my small living space that i never truly made into a proper home 

(we feel like we have a college apartment - never wanting to commit to permanent furniture

in our temporary home here in nyc)

and there are so many things about new york that i'll miss:

the parks, beautiful parks - the way people flock to them because green space is so rare here

the subway (while we have a love/hate relationship, i will miss 'er)

the diversity (walking the streets you hear so many different languages... 

sitting in the museum yesterday, i realized i was in a room filled with so much diversity, so many different people)

the graffiti and art museums and all museums and inspiration in the most random places

the food

and i wonder what it is that i will take with me when i leave? 

and will i feel like i left my home? even though the home of my youth is the place i call home?

or will i be so ready for something new that i won't look back 

(like i did when i came to new york from kansas)

i know that i will cry. and be sad. and miss new york. 

or i assume i will. i cried when i moved to new york. it's the change. the standing on new ground.

all i have come to know will be completely different in a few short months.

i haven't really spent a lot of time thinking too deeply about it

because i am so excited for our new adventure to begin.

in a few short (i hope ;) months, seth and i will be heading west.

all the way west. 

to portland, oregon.

it'll be a new city, a new adventure. 

and the sun will set on new york, but rise on portland.
o i cannot wait!

city street

so many days have passed since i last posted. it seems as if i haven't been a blogger at all lately. i've actually cut my computer time way back. i'm only reading about 10 other blogs which update a couple times a week (so it's pretty easy to manage). i check facebook (maybe too much - & i don't even know why??) from my phone... and i definitely haven't been on pinterest (except i did try to get back on a couple times this week - i'll explain my absence from pinterest soon... well and maybe the reason i've been absent completely...)

this was a photo i took the other evening - another thing i haven't been doing. the last photos i took with my camera were months ago.

lots of updates to hopefully come soon, but for now this is a start. xo.

NYC

If you want to be who you are, you stay where you are. If you want to be someone new, you come to the City.
-documentary "New York"

Becoming Regulars

We've started a regular Friday night tradition lately. About a month ago, we decided to try a new place that we hadn't tried before. The place we tried wasn't new to the neighborhood - it's been here since we've lived here at least. We'd just never been (& I'm not really sure why). 

We are turning into regulars at Scalino's every Friday. We are even regulars down to what we order (even though our waiter said we had to mix it up next week... not sure that's going to happen.) We essentially order a spaghetti in meat sauce, and for me to order this at a restaurant (I mean - I can make this at home, right!) says a lot! It. Is. Aaaaamazing! 

(I kind of like the idea of having a Friday night tradition - reminds of growing up and how we ate pizza every Friday night!)

Painting

Tuesday night, I took a Color Theory class at the Brooklyn Artists' Gym. It was originally scheduled to be an Acrylics Still Life class, but I guess they had some scheduling changes. I went ahead and took it, because I had been waiting for my break in order to be able to enjoy the class without extra work exhaustion. The class was essentially a basic color mixing class, and while I feel like it was a bit common sense, I might not have actually sat down and done some color work without the class. 

After class, as I was falling asleep, I was inspired to use one of my drawings from the class I took last summer as an inspiration for a painting. I used the charcoal transfer technique that many artists use (including deKooning - but on a much smaller scale - 6 inches by 8 inches compared to a 6 foot by 8 foot canvas). I included the photos of the progression through the piece (I know it's not a masterpiece... I just like to see it for myself... and it's not so scary showing on my blog ;) 

Using some of my new color mixing techniques, I created a small painting. I don't love it. The one above is not the final version - the orange is screaming too much in that version! The head is kind of wonky and I didn't get the shading correct for her to look like she's leaning back. Maybe I'll make another one. I'm thinking I need to start going to the drawing sessions at BAG once or twice a week for a while. (It's just pushing myself to go to something new and outside of my comfort zone...) 

MIA

I have been pretty MIA this month. It's not that I've not been on my computer - trust me, I've spent more time than I SHOULD on it. It's just that I've lacked motivation to post. Seth and I haven't been to particularly exciting lately. We haven't been completely boring, but it's pretty run-of-the-mill kind of stuff. It's nice when things are just regular - you know what to expect, it's low-key, not as much of an emotional roller coaster... But it's also a bit blah.

I'll try to be a little better with updates (family who reads ;)

One of my favorite places

This week I am off work, but I have spent the days being quite a bum (in my books). I had such grand plans for this week, but somehow I cannot seem to get motivated. I have, however, downsized my wardrobe by 5 bags. I have also cleaned off a shelf of papers that I thought I needed to hold onto (all the lesson plans from my first 3 years of teaching are hard to get rid of, but they are waiting to be taken out with recycling - I don't need them, I don't use them. I merely have them for sentimental value.)

This morning as I walked Seth to the subway he convinced me to get on it and ride with him to work. A spur of the moment ride into the city for a spur of the moment walk through Washington Square Park (a FAVORITE place of mine - wish I could spend every sunny morning here!) My final destination is the art store and then home to maybe paint.

This morning would be complete with an ice coffee, but I gave up coffee in the beginning of January (what a sad parting it has been).

A little afternoon snow

Small Canvas

Kendra recently snapped a photo with her phone that I absolutely LOVED. She'd been running in Williamsburg the other morning and captured the city skyline. A while back, I learned how to do transfers. I've had all the supplies but had yet to try it out for myself. Her photo inspired me.

This canvas has probably 20+ layers of paint as I tried to get the coloring right. I still don't know if I'm completely happy with it, but when am I ever TRULY happy with something I create. I transferred the definition for the word run on it since she was running when she captured the moment. Then I used her photo and transferred it onto the canvas too. This was the first photo transfer I've done, and it's not perfect (right in the middle, some of the coloring came off). It's also the first time I've used acrylic paint (which I also don't know if I'm doing it "right"... taking a class next month on painting with acrylic, hopefully that will help). This canvas was mostly an experiment. I liked it enough to give to Kendra. (Giving it away says Something. I usually find everything unworthy.)

Impressive Yoga

I'm nowhere NEAR flexible or strong enough for something like this...

Morning Sunshine on the Snow

I love the way the sunshine glitters off the snow in the morning. It's a masterpiece that is quietly created while most people are unaware and sleeping. The colors of the lighting are the most beautiful in this time of morning, the magic hour. Sunset has a similar time (yet I never see it much living where I live with buildings blocking the falling sun's rays). 

Time is going so quickly. Here we are with most of January done. Even my kiddos mentioned how quickly time was flying for them the other morning. I explained to them how each year, time goes by faster and faster. Yet, I may have found a secret to slowing it down. Change. Mostly change of location. When we moved to NYC, the seasons lasted longer. The fall had so many days of beautiful leaves and fall adventures. The winters of cold days and a few magical, glistening snow days. The springs lasting forever with flowers budding from trees for what felt like ages. So many things to see, so many things to photograph. And summers. The adventures and fun never seemed to end. We were always doing something new. Yet, as our years have passed here in NYC, the new has worn off and the norm has set in. Making everything pass by so quickly without as much wonder, without as much notice. And even though I try to make a conscious effort to savor the moments, even if they are just the ordinary moments I'm used to in my day-to-day life, I am often too busy, too tired, too forgetful. And off passes the time without me realizing it flying by. So while it's nice to keep life the same (especially for someone who has had past trouble with change), maybe it is actually the change that makes you slow life down.

Kentile Floors: Another