Country Living Online:: published!

Last summer, I took a trip to Massachusetts with my dear friend Rikki. On our way back to Rikki's home in NY state, we went and saw the Vanderbilt Mansion. It was a casual visit. I only took a few pictures, and then we stopped in the gift shop they had.

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by someone on staff at Hearst Corporation. They sought out my picture of the Vanderbilt Mansion for an online piece being written by Country Living on the Hudson Valley.

 

(image obtained from countryliving.com)

The article has been published online and my picture is there. It's always exciting seeing your work published, even if in a small way.

Morgan, thanks for contacting me and for publishing my work. The Hudson Valley IS a beautiful place. If you're looking for a fun getaway, check out the Country Living Fair in Rhinebeck, NY taking place June 7-9.

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NYC adventures:: Day One

This past week I went to NYC twice. You may be asking yourself, why twice? Well, I'd love to tell you. :-) I went in on Wednesday with the G's - to see our friend Caleb. Then I went back in the next day to see friends from photography school. It actually made more sense to go in on two separate days than to figure out the logistics of carrying around luggage all day to spend the night.

Here's the adventures on Day One:

As we're getting ready to leave PA, I catch this little gem...nothing like sharing your love for reading:

Leave PA at 8:30am. Go through the Lincoln Tunnel. Arrive NYC and park in some non-descript parking garage, where the attendants get a thrill revving engines as they whip around the garage fetching cars. Walk many city blocks and avenues to be tourists for a bit. We show the kids St. Patrick's Cathedral, point out Rockefeller Center, the Empire State Building, and some other historic places.

But what's on Meg's mind? Going to the American Girl Place. So we head to our next destination. And she is enthralled. Molly is her favorite.

Then we walked to meet up with Caleb, and he took us to eat at Blockheads, a wonderful New York chain of Mexican food.

After eating, we walked back toward Caleb's building and enjoyed some chocolate chip cookies in this beautiful 'oasis' - an open space between two buildings, complete with little tables, pots of blooming daffodils, vines climbing the walls, and a walled fountain. The kids enjoyed running around and chasing some birds.

After we say our goodbyes to Caleb, we head toward FAO Schwarz, and watch the kids enjoy sensory overload for a bit. As we walk toward the store, we hear dance music coming from this guy's bike....and we deem him the coolest guy in town, amidst all the yellow.

All in all, we had a fabulous day. As soon as we got in the car, the kids fell asleep and we began our journey back to PA. Check back for adventures from Day Two!

Flashback to Christmas:: NYC

A few days before New Years Eve, two friends from photography school and I met up in NYC. We traveled via car, train, and subway, then on foot. Our meeting point: Penn Station.

It was one of the more cold days of December, so we bundled up for our day-long walking around the city.

We saw people skating at Bryant Park, meandered around the little shops surrounding it, then headed toward Rockefeller Center to see the ice skaters there. We continued on and had lunch at Potbelly... yum!

We walked up toward the Plaza Hotel, and saw this building along the way. I love the decorations that are up during the Christmas season.

We went into FAO Schwarz and then on our way back, stopped at Tiffany & Co. to admire the expensive jewelry we'd never be able to afford. Funny story....while we were in there, we wanted to go up a few floors to see all the engagement rings. When we got to the elevators, a store worker was 'promoting' the stairs as another means to get upstairs. She said something like, "Take our fabulous stairwells, complete with marble and beautiful bannisters." She used so many descriptive words that I can't remember, but you would have thought these stairs would be made of gold. Well, we walked into the stairwell, more because we didn't feel like waiting for the elevators, and much to our disappointment, the stairs were nothing short of 'normal'.  :-)

Chris and I snuck pictures of Rikki reading in the book section at FAO.

As we got closer to nightfall, we passed by St. Patrick's Cathedral. A service was just about to begin, but it's always something wonderful to walk in and see the history of the building as you look up and around at all the richness to a building like that.

No trip to NYC (for me) would be complete without some cashews from the street vendors. I guess you have to shop around. Some were selling for $2.50; others must have been ambitious in selling for $4 a bag. But I got my cashews and was a happy girl....

We ended our evening with some dessert at a really great little cafe/deli we stumbled upon. I got a fabulous cannoli. Then we went to Starbucks to warm up with some drinks before we headed back to Penn Station for my train's departure.

We had a wonderful day spending time with one another....I can't wait till next time. Here are some pics from my camera (all the others were from Instagram); Chris and Rikki took some of the pics below too.

Photo by Chris

Photo by Chris

Photo by Chris

Photo by Chris

Photo by Rikki

Photo by Rikki

Photo by Rikki

Vanderbilt Mansion:: Hyde Park, NY

A few weeks ago, a dear friend and I visited Hallmark - the photography school we attended. I met Rikki at her home near Poughkeepsie, NY, and she mentioned the Vanderbilt Mansion. Before I left town, we headed to the mansion, sometimes known as Hyde Park Mansion. It's near the estate of FDR.

When we pulled in, I immediately thought of how much it reminded me of a new favorite show - Downton Abbey. I was fascinated by the grandeur of the home, and imagined the galas thrown, the fancy cars, the butlers that roamed around the interior, and the conversations that were held within the walls of this beautiful mansion. In 1940, FDR signed legislation to allow the Vanderbilt Mansion to be part of the National Park Service ("Did You Know" fact from the mansion's homepage)

We didn't get to go inside, but the grounds were grand. The back of the house overlooks the Hudson, and to the one side of the house are these fabulous gardens. Wikipedia says this of the gardens:

"Frederick's interest and love of horticulture caused him to develop several large gardens on the Vanderbilt estate. These lavish gardens incorporated the formal “Italian” style. This meant that the beds were arranged in such a way that if you drew a line across the middle, either horizontally or vertically, one side of the line would mirror the other side. These formal gardens also consisted of multiple tiers, which depended on the type of plants. Each level was different. Frederick himself added the rose garden which contained almost 2000 “vintage” rose bushes along with other kinds of roses. The Vanderbilt gardens were grand and exquisite."

I'm so glad we visited this historic estate. There are times when I wonder what it'd be like to live in a place like that.

And while we were there, we went inside the gift shop. It was full of gift books, how-to's and lots of random gifts - from soaps to teacups and collectibles of all kinds. One of the books I picked up was The Art of the Handwritten Note.  I love sending people notes, and it was a must-read. I now have a copy of the book and am so enthralled with reading about the history of writing notes and the etiquette of doing so. It makes me wish I knew how to do calligraphy or that I had a quill pen that I could dip into an inkwell. Maybe one day!