Quattrocento

I haven't blogged about my New York because it's just too overwhelming. I did upload scads of pictures to Facebook and I figure anyone who really cares can see them there. This blog entry has pictures from the trip but it's not about the trip, well, not really.
In the Metropolitan Museum of Art is a small room. It is the "studiolo from the ducal palace in Gubbio, in Umbria, Italy". While we were in there our "guide" Jenny, referred to a book she was reading that started in that very room. I finally remembered to get the name of the book from her and recently finished it. It's called "Quattrocento" and it's written by James McKean. I admit as I started it I could hear the voice of Mrs. Brownlee, my elementary school librarian saying "if you pick up a book, open it to a page and there are more than five words that you don't recognize, put it back on the shelf". There was definitely a lot of terminology I didn't recognize since it deals with art restoration but once I got past those terms (or looked them up on dictionary.com) I really started to enjoy the book. The author paints a rich vivid portrait of the "Quattrocento" period that left me wishing someone would turn the book into a movie because it would be a visual treat. The main character actually does some time travel in the book which usually drives me nuts (I hate losing track of which century someone is in) but it's done so skillfully in this book that it didn't bother me.

The fact that it starts in my favourite room in the museum doesn't hurt either. I definitely recommend this book, whether you've been to the studi0lo or not.

Attitude of Gratitude V2#10 - Winter Coat

There is a list of things I need to get and events that need to happen before I move to Ontario. Things like paying off my car are done. Next up was a proper winter coat. I know it shouldn’t really be a big deal but I don’t like spending a lot of money on clothes so it was a big deal for me.

Knowing I am going to New York in a few months makes the importance of a proper winter coat even more important. I say “proper” because I have jackets that I wear. They’re warm enough but they’re not formal looking and they won’t do in cold weather. (It never really gets cold here, and if it does, I really don’t have to be out in it for any length of time)

When I went to Alberta at Thanksgiving I made a goal of buying a winter coat. My rationale was two fold. A. There are more coats available in Alberta because it gets colder (I had looked here and couldn’t find anything I was happy with) B. There’s no PST (provincial sales tax) in Alberta so I’d be saving 7%.

Luckily a new mall had just opened and everyone wanted to go check it out so on Sunday the whole family piled into vehicles and went to Crossing Mills in Balzac. We were a large group so we split up. Brittany, Candace and I took Joshua and hunted for my coat. Those girls were troopers. Went into practically every woman’s clothing store and I tried on anything that would fit. They gave me their opinions (positive and negative) and when we finally found a coat in Ricki’s (of all places) we knew it was the right one.

I haven’t posted this story until now because I wanted a picture of myself in the coat and with it getting dark so early now, it was hard to get one. This is a self portrait taken in the gardens behind the library.

Today I am thankful for my winter coat. I’ve needed it for years and I am grateful that I finally found just want I was looking for.

Insider Report

I’m a blogger but I’m also a blog reader. I am subscribed to close to 100 blogs via Feedblitz but of course many of those don’t update regularly…and a few I don’t read regularly. I need go through and update my subscriptions but I haven’t had the time yet. Most of those are SS friends of some sort but a few are other blogs I’ve stumbled upon. One I’ve been reading for a few years is “Cooking with the Single Guy” http://singleguychef.blogspot.com/
Chef Ben is located in the Bay Area and reviews restaurants I’ll probably never visit but he’s adventurous and by reading his posts I’ve been brave enough to try lots of new dishes because he’s profiled them.

I’ve done the arm chair travel thing to Hawaii (more than once), Buenos Aires and lots of Californian locations. This past weekend he was in New York.

I have a HUGE radar out for anything New York right now. So when I saw that he was there, I was super excited. Then he reviewed a restaurant and I googled the distance from our hotel. It came in at “about one minute”. http://singleguychef.blogspot.com/2009/09/travel-dish-boqueria-soho.html

You can read the comments but it turns out that he stayed at the same hotel that Mere and I are booked into!!! So cool! I did email him and it sounds like a great choice in hotel, and we have some suggestions of places to eat around there too.

Woohoo!

I'm going to New York!

It doesn't feel real.

My best friend Meredith and I have been planning a trip to New York City for our "25th Anniversary" for years. I moved to the neighbourhood in October of 1984 (although when we actually met is up for debate) so 2009 is our "25th Anniversary". I love the idea of New York at Christmas time so we were planning our trip for sometime in December. Last night we booked it.

Leaving Seattle on Boxing Day (December 26th) on a red eye flight and arriving in New York at 6 in the morning. We'll be there for five full days and coming home on New Years Day. That means we get to do New Years Eve in New York. Wow!