Sketching...

I have decided to start posting the occasional sketch...since the middle of August I've been trying to draw every day, even if it's just for a few minutes.  Sketched this earlier tonight with pencil from a photo I took of Fiona a few weeks ago... I added a little watercolor to the lips.  Recently,  I have really been getting into the look of drawings with watercolor.

Road trip!

We are on a two week road trip of the East Coast. Last week we left NYC and rented a car to drive down to Yorktown, Virginia and spent a few days with my grandparents. We then continued down south to Charleston, SC where we rented a beach house with a bunch of my family for my sister's wedding this past Saturday. The wedding could not have been more perfect and now we are staying on at the beach house for a few more relaxing days at the ocean and fun nights in Charleston. This picture was taken looking out toward the path to the ocean from our deck. Heavenly!

Today at the Playground...

Here are a few favorite pics I took today with my new DSLR.  I'm still shooting mostly on auto mode, but I experimented a bit with manual mode today...and I'm happy to report that some of what I learned when I used to shoot with my parent's film SLR camera 10+ years ago is bubbling up from the deep recesses of my memory...

Finally....

I FINALLY did it.  I braved 34th street to go to B&H yesterday (love B&H, hate 34th Street) and bought myself a DSLR camera.  I didn't want to spend a ton of money on my first DSLR since I'm pretty much a beginner so after some research I decided on a refurbished Canon EOS Rebel T3 with a basic 18-35mm lens.  I am in love.  Why oh why did I wait 6 years to do this?!  I think I was afraid it was too big and bulky to carry around and I wondered if I would really use it.   But the image quality is so fantastic just on auto mode, and I can't wait to delve into manual mode.  And the camera is really not that heavy (at least not with the lens I have).  Here are a couple pictures I took yesterday afternoon with my new DSLR... Um, the quality is soooo much better than my Canon PowerShot A710 or my iPhone Camera.

Governor's Island Ferry Terminal Art

I love how this art installation by Lawrence Weiner stands against the Brooklyn Skyline on the ferry fender rack at the Governor's Island ferry terminal.

Ice Cream at Dylan's Candy Bar

We were out and about all over the city this past Labor Day weekend.  Patrick was out of town so it was just Fiona and I adventuring about.  We spent part of Friday visiting some home deco stores around the 59th Street and Lexington area.  Since we were indulging my whims, I figured Fiona deserved a break so I treated her to an ice cream at Dylan's Candy Bar.

It was our first time there and she was enraptured by the colors and the kids.  And boy did she savor that ice cream, barely letting me get a bite in.  She had a dairy sensitivity until about a month ago so she has only had ice cream a handful of times.  It is such a riot watching her eat it.  Her eyes roll back in her head a little and she pretty much looks like she has just tasted a little bit of heaven.  Welcome to your lifelong love affair with ice cream kiddo.

We walked back to the West side through Central Park and enjoyed watching people begin their long weekends relaxing in the beautiful sunny weather...

Governor's Island a/k/a Pig Island

We visited Governor's Island over Labor Day Weekend with some friends for the annual Pig Island Festival, a celebration of pig, sourced from local farms.  The day was perfect for an outdoor festival.  Friends, sun, good food, beer and music in the great outdoors.  It doesn't get much better than that!