Moving to the 'Minn'ies

   
So it's been a long, long time since I updated anything on this blog.  And a lot has happened in the meantime.   For the last year I've been writing about how our family was planning to leave NYC.  My last post of 2012 was at the end of November.  Things happened VERY quickly and on December 20th we packed up and moved out of NYC. After over 8 years of living in in the Big Apple, where most of the significant events of my adult life have happened, including meeting Patrick, giving birth to Fiona and meeting some of my best friends.

Where, exactly, we were moving was still up in the air until about 2 weeks before we left.  There were a multitude of possibilities: Copenhagen, London, L.A., Austin, Sacramento and Minneapolis.  In the end, it was to be Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota.  A decision that, after researching the Twin Cities, I was excited about.  Initially I was reticent but, other than the cold, no one seemed to have a bad thing to say about it.  It seems like a great place to raise a family, there is good food to be had, culture, art etc. and we could rent a house (a HOUSE) in a nice neighborhood for less than the cost of the rent on our 1 bedroom apartment in NYC.   And still live in the city.

So here we are.  Living in Minnesota.  One of those things I NEVER thought would happen, but it has and so far so good.

Things I like about the Twin Cities so far:

It's quite cosmopolitan - lots of culture, art and theater as well as restaurants, places to go out etc.
Nothing takes longer than 30 minutes to get to.  Even rush hour traffic is nothing compared to NYC or Chicago, where I grew up and went to college.
The lakes and parks in the middle of the city.  It's beautiful.
Tons of free activities to do with kids that are not nearly as crazy busy as the free activities in NYC where you always have to get somewhere super early to get a spot/participate.

Things I don't like:

Ok, so yes, the winter is long and cold.  And the snow this year (most years??) doesn't melt until spring...it just...keeps...piling up.  It's pretty but I miss early spring in NYC.   Although the snow is pretty too.  I sometimes missed the snow in NYC since the winters have been so warm for most of the last 8 years I lived there.

I miss all of our in NYC friends.

And I miss walking everywhere or taking public transportation.   We actually have a little neighborhood main street nearby that is about a 5-7 minute walk with a grocery store, library, post office, hardware store, bakery/bistro/bar, italian restaurant, clothes store, book store and shoe store.  Plus a micro brewery and bar is planning to open up in the summer. So we CAN walk to some things.  Which I love.  But it was too COLD to really do that (maybe I'm just a wimp) until the last month or so.  There is also light rail in our neighborhood that they are expanding and there are city buses that go everywhere.  But it's not Broadway.

So before this post gets too long, I just wanted to mention that I am hoping to share some Twin Cities adventures on the blog.  I'm still settling in here for various reasons that I will reveal in ongoing posts so I've been a bit slow to share but I'm hoping to getting back into sharing a bit more in this space.

So hello from Minnesota!

Copenhagen, Illustrated

As I've been talking about occasionally on this blog, we will be moving out of NYC fairly imminently.  One of the possible places we might be moving to is Copenhagen.  Isn't this illustrated map of Copenhagen by Matt Chase pretty fabulous?  

Discovering Columbus

Hello Columbus.  Nice to see you all up close and personal.  

I went to see the Tatzu Nishi Discovering Columbus Exhibition by the Public Art Fund a couple weeks ago.  The exhibition is actually a room that has been built around the statue of Columbus in the middle of Columbus Circle.  Overall, I liked it.  It provided a different perspective on Columbus Circle and the statue.  It was surprising how large Columbus felt up close.  However, although there were some clever things about the decor of the living room Columbus entertained us in, I do feel they could have jazzed it up a bit more.  There was a little something lacking.

Regardless, the views from the top of the exhibition were stunning.

59th Street

Broadway, facing North

Central Park West

One fabulous thing about the exhibition is that it is free.  Although you have to reserve tickets in advance.  Originally it was supposed to close mid-November, but it is now scheduled to close December 2nd.  Check it out here.

I love how the woman in this shot appears to be self-consciously smiling at the camera...

I was there at the end of the week Hurricane Sandy hit.  Columbus Circle happens to be right nearby where the crane is dangling in Midtown.  Broadway South of Columbus Circle was cordoned off and so were many of the adjacent streets.

After the Storm

View of Central Park from Columbus Circle. 11.2.2012

There is a melancholy hanging over the city post Hurricane Sandy.  We have been lucky here on the Upper West Side in that we did not lose power and most of the damage up here seems to be confined to the trees.  Regardless, the last week has not been 'normal' by any means, even here.  Most of our friends in our neighborhood did not work all of last week for various storm related reasons: from being unable to get to work due to the loss of the transit system, to their offices having lost power, or having their office indefinitely closed since it was located across the street from the dangling crane in Midtown.  There is a long line of cars that stretches in front of our house every morning while people wait to get gas.  Store shelves are emptier than usual.  Schools have been closed all week.

Although power has been restored to many, our friends and family that are still without power are going on over 1 week without power in winter weather.  Pretty awful.  And then, there are those in worse circumstances still that have lost their homes. The sadness is palpable, although so is the determination to go on.  That people are offering to help in so many ways is uplifting. Things are slowly beginning to feel more normal but I think in some ways we may be only beginning to learn what the true costs of the devastation will be.

How to Help
Artists Giving to Sandy Victims
Help a Family that Lost their Home

Inspired by...Maira Kalman

Rick Meyerowitz

Ok so everyone seems to be highlighting Maira Kalman this month.  See here in Lonny Mag and here on Design Mom.  And why shouldn't they (or I)?!  She's fabulous!  I loved reading her illustrated columns in the New York Times (now available as books:  "The Priciples of Uncertaintly" and "And the Pursuit of Happiness").  Illustrating the "Elements of Style"? Brilliant.  Her style (art and writing) is so direct and relatable, poignant and funny.  Thank you, Maira, for you all your loveliness.
Now I'm going to have to delve into her children's books with Fiona.

Some other interesting links concerning Maira Kalman:
Love this article, especially the story about her mother.  Just that small tidbit of information says so much about her.
She gave a TED talk
Julie Saul Gallery

 

The Vogels...Herb & Dorothy

While painting this evening I also watched/listened to 'Herb & Dorothy' on Netflix on Demand.  Herb & Dorothy have been collecting art since they were married in the early 1960s.  They were devoted to collecting, in particular, minimalist art.  It was interesting to get to know them a bit as a couple of modest means but with an intense passion for art that they funneled into collecting art.  The movie offered a unique view into a specific part of the New York art world of the late 20th century to be sure.  But most of all it was inspiring to see the passion with which they loved the art they bought and also the relationships they cultivated with the artists they collected.

I painted a small piece inspired by them.  I would show it to you but I can't get my scanner to scan the whole piece. Only random parts of it. Hmm. Going to have to figure that out.  ahem.

explained absence...and tonight, paint

We've been sick pretty much non-stop since we returned from our Road Trip of the East Coast. Boo.  We all caught colds coming back from our trip.  Then Fiona contracted Hand, Foot and Mouth disease (not to be confused with the bovine foot & mouth disease.  this one is mostly confined to toddlers).  And I somehow got another nasty cold.

I've obviously been absent from this space lately.  In addition to our illnesses, I've decided to put most of my energy into creating art, and to make blogging a lower priority for a while.  I expect to get into a groove where I can do both, but for now, I have been sketching every night (almost since mid-August), and tonight, painting.   Here is my palette for the proof.