SOPHIE'S 2012 "I LOVE NEW YORK" CALENDAR.............

It's that time of year Again.......

When Daughter get's together with her Mini-Creative Half

and they put together a calendar to end all calendars.....

Atleast in this Grandmother's opinion!!!

This year finds my girls uprooted from their home in Jersey

Thanks to that Ass of an ex-SIL.....

And they are enjoying themselves in their new home in

The BIG APPLE.......

So.......without further adieu....

Here is Our Girl in the City......

JANUARY........ Times Square!

Yes! "If I can Make it Here, I can make it Anywhere!

Mary Tyler Moore.....Watch Out!!!!

FEBRUARY...

The DMV gave her a license..... so like all new New Yorkers Sophie thought she'd try her hand at being a Cabbie...

MARCH.......

She thought about occupying Wall Street..........but then figured.......NAH

APRIL....

Next on her list? Eating....... It ain't New York without a Hot Dog...

or a Bagel.....

MAY...

Sophie considered being a BeatNik in the Village...

JUNE....

And........ for the start of Baseball Season

she wanted to try and blend in on the subway......

JULY....

Sophie also thought about trying out to be one of New York's Bravest...

AUGUST....

But..... on Second Thought.......

she felt more comfortable being a 'Literary Lion'

SEPTEMBER.....

Just in time for Fall........ Bloomie's shows the latest Sophie in fashion. ....

OCTOBER.......

Sometimes though.......New York Can Make You just want to go

All "Godzilla on it's Ass"......

NOVEMBER.......

At the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade-- is that a Turkey, or a Ham??

DECEMBER......

Best Thing about New York?.......... All these Christmas Trees!!!!!!

Here's hoping you enjoyed Miss B this year......

Isn't she getting big from the first year she debuted as the

World's Cutest Calendar Girl....

For anyone who has not seen the past years......

You can find the links here....

2008

2009

2010

2011

I would also like to add that Daughter goes through all this work to produce this wonderful

Keepsake for only one person.....

ME!!!!

CHRISTMAS IN NEW YORK.................scenes about town.

I just got back from a very short week in NYC......

Seven days in the Big Apple

felt more like two...

I snapped a few pictures about town.....

It didn't seem very Christmas-ie this year....

But it was all about being with my girls!!

We did a little shopping but we also saw one fabulous Musical.....

Called "Pricilla Queen of the Desert".....

Ofcourse Woody Allen

And

Stephane Wrenbel a Gypsy guitar player out in Brooklyn.....

I got to see Daughter's new residence....I was amazed just how many dogs

people have.....It seemed everyone had one or more.....

Which I can't even imagine having one while living in an

apartment....but our Miss Zeta seems very happy

And Miss B finally realizes that it's an apartment....

For weeks and weeks she called it "the hotel".....

A lovely little park right across from her apartment.....

with an intriguing blue door....

and an interesting light fixture....

And this magnificent entrance door....I can only imagine how gorgeous the

apartment is on the other side...

We are happy that daughter settled into a nice area of town.....

Sutton Place....

Miss B is a real city gal.....

On the door of a townhouse on 58th. street

Another Townhouse floral display.....

The window of Bergdorfs....

Joyce told me how terrific their window displays were and that was an

understatement....

They were all animal related and very over the top.....

the best of all the big department stores...

we went to the Christmas market in Bryant Park.....

where there was an ice rink.....and tons of gift and food booths....

A bit pricey.....One food booth wanted $5.00 for a

Chocolate Chip Cookie....that would be one cookie......five dollars?

we wandered through the big library....isn't this ceiling amazing.....

and hit up the gift shop....

In fact we had very good luck shopping for gifts at all the museum shops ......

the week with the girls flew by.....

Sophie took this picture of me...

I think she'll turn into a photographer like her mother...

How is this for advertising,,,,,,

which brings me to this years "Miss B" calendar.....

It will be my next post and I think it's one of the best yet....

Someone asked me as Sophie gets older what possible type of calendar would be done....

Daughter came up with a very clever idea....

It has something to do with this car....

So we will see you in a few days....

It won't disappoint......

Merry Christmas!!!!

MAKE A WISH FOUNDATION.........Senior Citizen Edition

This post falls under the same category as

Neil Diamond....

You either hate him or love him....

In our case.....that would be me and the daughter...

We both LOVE Woody Allen.....

So when daughter knew I was coming to NYC for a visit

She suggested that she take me to see Woody Allen play his clarinet

at the Carlyle Hotel....

He's been doing this for years and years on Monday nights and we

Have always wanted to go....

One other Thing to mark off that list before I die.....

So with reservations for dinner at 6:30 and the show to begin at 9:00

we.....in typical never happy where we get seated fashion.....

We moved our selves from the side corner of the room to the front of the

stage.....Much better for viewing....

Please don't ask why my eyeglasses are tinted orange....

I borrowed them from the Boss.....

I felt like the people that get free eye wear from

"The Lighthouse for the Blind".....

Dinner was great......it took us about 2 hours from appetizer to desert....

And then the show began....

I must say that besides seeing the Three Tenors preform in front of the

Eiffel Tower back in 1998 this was the second best

musical show I have ever seen...

Woody looked much younger in person then in pictures....

He looks about 65 not 75.....

and the man really can play the clarinet....

Add to the fact that I love Dixieland and Big Band music and I was in

Hog Heaven....

He was very quiet and did not make eye contact with the intimate

size of the room....I believe there were only 78 people....

During the parts where he did not play this is how he sat.....

looking down at the floor....eyes closed....

Daughter suggested he could be a narcoleptic

And then he would perk up!!

I'm sure the trumpet player was leaning over and saying....

"Woody are you still with us or have you died??"

He ended the performance with a song....Yes folks he sang....

Everyone had left the stage and it was him and the banjo player and he softly sang

"I'll See You in My Dreams".....

The crowd went wild.....

the experience is something I will never forget....

He was awesome.....

And you can't visit the Carlyle Hotel with out seeing their tribute to the late

Bobby Short.....who played piano for years and years in the Cafe....

He was a National Treasure as they say.....

So Of course I made daughter take my picture in front of his picture....

The cost for all of this........Don't even ask......

For what daughter paid we should have been able to bring Woody home with us

as a souvenir......But it made Mom very very happy...

And that is priceless!!

p.s.

It's getting to be that time of year again.....Yes, that's right.....

Sophie's 2012 Calendar....

I'll give you a hint.....it's all about NYC....

I have seen a draft of the pictures and I'm thinking it's the best one yet....

So stop back after Christmas and see Miss B in all her Big City Glory....

CHRISTMAS ON TARPLEY PLACE............

It was a glorious Day in the South today so I decided to

get out the Nikon and take some

Christmas pictures....

We haven't celebrated the holiday in years since we usually spend Christmas

up in Jersey....But not this year....

We will be spending time on

Tarpley Place.....

What a difference a year brings.....

This is our new cul de sac.....

Dorothy we aren't in the "Hood" anymore.....

We actually got to decorate outdoors!!

Each house has rows and rows of garland with red bows....

You know me....I have to be different...

We went with wreaths all along the fence....

13 in all....

A Bit Fancier on the gate....

I've had this ribbon for years....I knew someday it would come in handy!!

I had fun inside too!!

I've been collecting nutcrackers for over 35 years....

They seem to fit well in this house...

I wondered when you were going to ask why the pictures look a bit odd.....

Two Words.......Fisheye Lens....

Looking from the Kitchen into our Great Room

See the tree hiding in the corner....

I wanted it in the entrance hall.....

The Boss said next year...

It's 9 feet tall and it remained right where he assembled it....

Can't argue with the Boss...

the Dining Room....

Nutcracker plates and mugs from Williams Sonoma....

A Christmas gift from the guys last year...

The Centerpiece!

the Library had to have a little holiday cheer....

a simple decoration adorns Aunt Mary's picture....

Yes...we really have a Deer Head over the mantel...

Most people assume the Boss had something to do with this....

No....it's my Deer Head....

The old Lionel Train is his....

More Nutcrackers on the Mantel....

At one time I had over 100....

Mostly "Steinbachs"

little by little I sold them on E-Bay....

The wood tends to dry out over time and parts start to fall off....

What's This???

Another Deer Head.

and the Tree.

Mostly decorated with glass ornaments...

90% of them have been bought in Germany....

They have held up well over the years....

I started collecting them back in 1970 when we were first married

and took out first trip to Munich...

Love the little clip on ones....

Here is Santa in a plane....

I hope you enjoyed seeing our Home........

We just seem to wander around from room to room and comment how this house

was made for Christmas decorations.....

Happy to Finally be "Home"....