D.C. State of Mind

Ben and Kait's wedding. Lovely. Happy occasion. Streaks of sunlight. An outdoor fire on the deck. A million different stories in the room (or were many of them the same?) and scores of beautiful people. Sun-kissed bridesmaids from a tight-knit Virginia clan, younger blonde sisters of the pretty, gracious blonde bride, good-looking groomsmen, college friends of two generations (Ben's and Kait's, plus our friend Celia's, from Wesleyan in Connecticut). A dream NYC born-and-bred groom we watched grow from boy to man. Family who drove into Stuyvesant Town to read the Torah with Celia, her husband, Greg, Ben and her parents every Passover. Celia's grandmother's kiddush cup, the rabbi from New York City, a richly flowered chuppah symbolizing a new home for the bride and groom. The bride's godfather. Women my age, with daughters Figgy's age--every mother zipped into just the right dress, with a movie-star blowout, expensive but discreet jewelry. Handsome, fit, suntanned husbands on their arms. (Accessory note: Next wedding, I swear, I will have a pretty, organized purse, not one that is overstuffed and cannot close.)

It feels good to be just the two of us, Dan and I navigating the weekend (tho with many wedding guests, too). I would not have been able to leave comfortably without my sister staying back at home base in Montclair with Punchy. It's a freedom.

We visited the National Portrait Gallery today, got lost in that playground for about two hours. It was like following a candy trail, another and another goodie to make our eyes widen. Not just people, but also hibiscus blooms in Hawaii by Georgia O'Keefe (who was sent there by the Dole Pineapple Co. for an advertising campaign), a high Maine cliff over the sea by Winslow Homer, on and on and on. (I went to the Gallery with Kim, Nan and Liz, too--twice lucky.)

Among the Presidential Portraits, it was a treat to see Ike, George H.W. Bush, Abraham Lincoln, Jimmy Carter, Reagan, Teddy Roosevelt, Nixon (the last by Norman Rockwell, who made him look more likable). I loved the 1963 painting above of JFK by Elaine de Kooning from sittings in Palm Beach, Lilly Pulitzer country. Note the beautiful Lilly colors. So in other words, you came to the National Portrait Gallery and found Lilly Pulitzer, Dan said. Exactamundo.

John F. Kennedy / Elaine de Kooning / Oil on canvas, 1963 / National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution / © 1963 Elaine de Kooning Trust. The following copy from https://npg.si.edu/blog/elaine-de-koonings-jfk  "When I first saw him, he was bigger than life. It wasn’t that he was really taller than the others. But he seemed to be in a different dimension. The eyes were a total surprise to me. I have never seen the color in photographs—the violet of grapes!" In the golden sunlight of Florida, Kennedy seemed to radiate warmth and color—and an energy that became a struggle for the artist: "All my sketches from life as he talked on the phone, jotted down notes, read papers, held conferences, had to be made very quickly, catching features and gestures, half for memory, even as I looked, because he never sat still. It was not so much that he seemed restless, rather, he sat like an athlete or college boy, constantly shifting in his chair. At first this impression of youthfulness was a hurdle, as was the fact that he never sat still."

President Obama.

Stardust ballroom portrait of me with our longtime friend Celia, the mother of the groom.

P.S. Celia and other Jewish friends, I hope I got the Jewish traditions right.

New York City Style Holds up in Thursday Downpour

Above: LoveShackFancy store on Madison Avenue--a street that is a living museum of style shops.

Sis is my museum mentor. (Dan is another.) She is a fan of The Frick Collection of art, temporarily relocated to the building that housed the Whitney Museum--at Madison Avenue and 75th Street. 

She got us two tickets to the Frick Madison. Enlightening. History, beauty, masterful skill. Ornate gold frames, blue and white urns, sculptures, marble-topped tables. Paintings of impressive height and width. You would need a mansion with big rooms to display them.

Above: We saw this painting....Rembrandt, Self-Portrait, 1658.

The Montclair-based Decamp bus line to NYC suspended its by-then-phantom buses in August. The #66 careen up and down Valley Road for months, empty--people were working from home, not commuting on buses that were previously packed at rush hour. And in the summer, they took (safe) vacations. The New Jersey Transit train line has been up and running, but since the pandemic hit, I have only gone into NYC by car:

• In the fall, when Dan and I drove in to meet our friends Celia and Greg for Saturday sushi dinner near Stuyvesant Town.
• In December 2020, when I drove Skippy in with two friends one evening to window shop and see holiday decor as only NYC can do it. (Skip’s two young friends are Jewish, and we even saw a donut menorah and, on the Upper East Side, the moving, mobile Mitzvah Tank.)
• In February, when Sis and I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and got corned beef sandwiches and best pickles to go at Katz’s Deli.
• Today.

Sis and I sat outside in the street at Serafina--plastic tent, heat lamp above each table, plexiglass barriers, masked wait staff--and talked about our beloved city over ravioli with porcini mushroom sauce (me) and salad with steak (she). We talked and ate as the rain poured outside.

Our city isn’t the same, and that’s no surprise. We miss the passion, the pulse, the crowds, the hustle and bustle. I miss seeing people of all ages chasing the best of the best--writers, models, actors, hotdog vendors, artists, comedians, dancers, singers, editors, reporters, ballerinas, chefs, makeup artists, doctors, scientists, bookstore owners, tailors, designers, salespeople, baristas, fashionistas, coffee roasters, sandwich makers, cookie bakers--with a fire in their bellies and their hearts. 

I hope our beloved city comes back full swing.

Fun sightings today:

1. LOVESHACKFANCY store on Madison Avenue. I’ve seen the brand in collaborations on Aerin.com but was exited to see the shop. Wow. We walked in and a young man was styling the final details for a bridal shower in the store this evening. The tables looked so beautiful--with LoveShack pink floral linen tablecloths, pink china, exquisite flower bouquets and pink iced cookies. Glass jars filled with pretty pink candies and pink-foil-wrapped Hershey's Kisses. The other store locations are in Newport Beach, CA; Palm Beach, FL; Sag Harbor, NY, etc. So glad I went in here, and got less frivolous Sis to enter, too! The hand towels and the candle in a teacup--so lovely.
2. MEPHISTO. Stylish, comfortable shoes--flat or not, sneakers, Mary Jane styles, sandals--made in France. So pretty. Cork inside. Going back! Really nice. I'm behind the curve, not walking on Madison Avenue to window-shop and wish, as I used to. I am behind on knowing my fashion labels.
3. JOE COFFEE. Served in the Frick Madison cafe. But my parking meter was going to run out and I didn’t want to risk a ticket (I paid $10.75 twice, for two maximum two-hour blocks of time). It smelled very good; the large lattes/capps in cups and saucers looked great. I like the blue packaging/logo.
   
   
   
4. DIPTYQUE (pronounced DIP-TEEK). Luxury French fragrance and sensibility via Madison Avenue outposts, and several other NYC locations. Sis had been eyeing a scent for her bday--I paid for about a third of it. They gift-wrap beautifully. And we attended a virtual Sniffapalooza Diptyque event from our homes that entitled us to a solid perfume in pretty case with any purchase.

Eyes closing. I drove us back to Sis’s in Connecticut and I’m sleeping over tonight. Good night.

Bus Ticket in Purse, Awaiting #66

Hi...I'm sitting at Starbucks in the Port Authority Bus Terminal waiting for the #66 bus to Montclair. It runs every hour on the half hour on weekends. I will catch the 2:30.

I am secretly glad the C subway train got me here from Brooklyn just 5 minutes too late to get the 1:30 because I love to blog away from home--even if I'm just a short drive away as the crow flies.

Liz, Kim, Nan and I had a great time in 24 hours in Brooklyn this weekend. [My trip was 29.5 hours counting travel.] We walked around the Brooklyn Botanic Garden--though it was cold and kind of barren on Leap Day, you could see all the promise, the dogwoods, the kitchen garden, all waiting to bloom. We went to the Brooklyn Museum, where we saw ancient mummies and Judy Chicago's "The Dinner Party," described as an installation artwork by feminist artist Judy Chicago. Widely regarded as the first epic feminist artwork, it functions as a symbolic history of women in civilization. I had never seen it, and it was moving. Places are set around the table for everyone from Emily Dickinson to Sacagawea. It will long stay in my mind's eye.

Kim and her husband, F., and their daughter, C., live in an historic home built circa 1860–great soft pine plank floors, narrow stairways that have withstood many a step, many an armful and heartful, marble mantels upstairs and down, because people had to stoke fires to keep warm. Our friends' other two lovely daughters are on their own now. 

Kim and F. love to cook and are excellent at it. We were treated like royalty. [I think F. has some royalty in his background, and at the very least, he has princelike qualities, so he should know.]

They blocked out their newly furnished Airbnb apartment downstairs for the three of us last night, and served us delicious treats including homemade spicy Pakistani dahl; shrimp with vegetables; from-scratch hummus and tabouleh; platters piled with vivid fresh fruit; Kim's signature pavlova with berries and clouds of whipped cream; luxurious lox; Brooklyn bagels; and more. Omigosh. It was so much fun and so pampering.

The three of us went out for craft cocktails last night at Weather Up, a bar with a speakeasy vibe. I had the Night Shift; someone had the Ancient Mariner. That might have been Kim--her tall cooler was stirred up with crushed ice and excellent housemade ginger syrup. We stayed up late catching up--we read each other's blogs and we already know a lot, but now we had a chance to fill in the details. We laughed and chatted, and remembered Nan's sister, Mary, who left the world, and her husband and three kids, at a young age.

Now home I go to my more pedestrian life, but I still love it, and am grateful for Dan, Figgy, Punch and Sug. It was a nice break. I'm curious to learn more about Brooklyn. Dan lived on 3rd Street near Seventh Avenue in Park Slope when we dated, and he took me to Prospect Park, BAM, Junior's [cheesecake] and other places. Dan F. lived in Brooklyn for a long time and we visited often. I've been to Williamsburg, and to Coney Island with my parents and with Punch, and to Brooklyn Heights for a work assignment. We have walked over the Brooklyn Bridge. But there is so much more to explore. One day I will.

TCOY

1. The Bloggers Bash immersion! We walked, talked, bonded, caught up.
2. Good night's sleep.
3. Excellent nourishment at Kim and F.'s farm table.
4. Bought some nasturtium seeds and ranunculus bulbs, a promise of beauty and color to come, at Brooklyn Botanic Garden store.

$ MONEY SPENT OUT OF POCKET SATURDAY/SUNDAY

• Saturday, Feb 29: 2 bus tix, $15.30.
• Duane Reade, shower cap, $1.69.
• Refill MetroCard, $11.
• Cocktails, $20.
• Gift shop at BBG, $21.
• Coffees at BBG, $9.
• Museum admission, $10, my part.
• Sunday, Mar 1: Cold brew and quiche slice/salad to bring home for lunch w tip, $18. Nice Ethiopian business on Fulton Street called Bloom, expensive but wanted a taste of hip Brooklyn to take back to NJ. Punch loved the salad, with its fresh dressing.

total spend: $87.99.

total monthly spend as of Feb. 29: $2,480.34.
avg daily spend: $85.53.
I'm glad this came down from January, below.

ongoing monthly spend as of March 1: $18.
avg daily spend: $18.

compare to January 2020:
Total monthly spend as of Jan 31: $3,063.60.
Avg daily spend: $98.83.

december 2019 [Christmas and all that entails]

total monthly spend as of Dec. 31: $3,998.16. 

avg daily spend: $128.97. 
__________________________________________________________________

Total spend for November (30 days): $2,979.03. 

Average daily spend: $99.30. 

__________________________________________________________________

TOTAL SPEND FOR OCTOBER (31 DAYS): $2,495.36.

AVERAGE DAILY SPEND: $80.49.

_____________________________________________________________________

TOTAL SPEND FOR SEPTEMBER (30 DAYS): $2,214.43.

AVERAGE DAILY SPEND: $73.81.

___________________________________________________________________________

TOTAL SPEND FOR AUGUST (31 DAYS/PLUS VACAY IN HERE): $2,895.06. ⬆️

AUGUST AVERAGE DAILY SPEND: $93.39.  ⬆️

Don't Know Much about [Art] History

Sis is a member of the Bruce Museum in Greenwich and she took me as
a guest to this talk tonight.

I loved going to the Bruce Museum with Sis. The lecture was so cool. I felt like I was back on a college campus again, taking notes. 

I never took art history and though both of my parents were chemists and my Sis a research scientist, science is not my strength. I have been to fine and famous art museums, but don't know nearly enough about artists and their works.

I'm here to visit Sis--going back tomorrow midday, so don't want to spend too long blogging. We've had a chance to talk a lot about Don, who has left a big gap in the world as we know it. We have also walked with the dog by the cove and by the marina. It is a gift to be with my Sis and I am grateful that Dan is holding down the fort at home in Montclair.

But I did want to share some notes I scrawled in the dark:

1. It's estimated that when you walk through an art museum, about 80 percent of what you see is the work of the artist and 20 percent is the work of the restorer, said Dr. Jennifer Mass, college professor and president, Scientific Analysis of Fine Art.
2. Paintings can change over time due to the inherent quality of the materials used or the way the paintings are stored and handled.
3. Dr. Mass showed us how the colors in Henri Matisse's 1905-06 Bonheur de Vivre [The Joy of Life] have faded from their original hues. The yellow in some parts is not what it was.The once vibrant lemons on the tree have gone brownish, due to light-induced oxidation.
4. She showed us that some of the colors in The Scream by Edvard Munch--the brush strokes on the man's neck--faded from vibrant to white. The dr. and her team did molecular analysis as part of their investigation.
5. I thought of past and present art students I know: My cousin Lin; my daughter Figgy; my friend Kim's father and daughter; Dan's brother Dave--who immersed themselves in the study of art for at least some time. I was grateful to get a little crash course tonight. I'm not proud of it, but I didn't know about Picasso's Blue Period until tonight. As a young woman and eager writer, I was passionate about punctuation and synonyms and words like Ida Tarbell [a muckraking journalist] leapt out at me from my history book at Saint Mary's. Picasso did not excite me. 
6. Light and humidity must be carefully controlled [for oil paintings].
7. Can the damage be reversed? Dr. Mass said it is more likely that the team would use digital reproduction--Photoshop a new version of the painting showing its original colors and display that next to the original, so you can see both.
8. Sis is smart and she knew about hidden portraits already--it's hard to surprise her. But I didn't know about them, so I loved when Dr. Mass revealed the hidden portrait under Picasso's The Blue Room, done in 1901. The under portrait is of a man and Dr. M. called it "decadent," since he had rings on every finger. One in five to one in 10 paintings have another painting underneath, she said. Canvas was extremely expensive at the turn of the twentieth century. So artists recycled their canvases.
9. She talked about pigment colors: Prussian Blue, Emerald Green. Such pretty names. She knew their chemical formulas and said the green, which was widely used through the Victorian era, contained arsenic. So there it went. 

All fascinating. I soaked it up. 

I want to go back to school--pull up a desk in Art History 101 and Chemistry 101. Do they still have desks in college classrooms? Figgy has told me about a lot of things on campus that seem different now.

Good night to you.