A few weeks ago we went to brunch at Lillies (now one of my favorite brunch spots in the city) and then headed over to the Met for their exhibit: Playing with Pictures: The Art of the Victorian Photocollage. I adore all things Victorian, so finding out that there was an exhibit that featured the combination of Victorian art and photography into collages made me incredibly giddy. Here are some of the collages from the exhibit:

This exhibit is no longer on display at the Met, but if you’re interested you can still get a copy of the exhibition’s book from Amazon.

One thing you should never do is go to the Met without going up to the roof. Not only is it gorgeous and breezy up there with a great view of Central Park, but they also have rooftop art installations. The current installation is especially awesome, it’s called Doug + Mike Starn on the Roof: Big Bambú. It’s basically a gigantic bamboo fort. It kind of reminds me of the fort from Where the Wild Things Are (the movie). You can also sign up for tours of the fort, where you actually get to walk up into it. (You need to be wearing sneakers and you have to get tickets at the main entrance.) This exhibit will be at the Met through November, so there are several months left to see it.

You can learn more about the Big Bambú exhibition here.

View of Central Park & NYC from the top of the Met:

Anyway, the only photos I have from that day are from our time at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. It was too early for the Cherry Blossoms, so I’d like to get back out there soon to experience that. But nonetheless, we had a lovely time and got some great pictures.

Brooklyn Botanical Garden

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Brooklyn Botanical Garden

Brooklyn Botanical Garden

Tea House

Tea House Entrance

Hybrid Oak

Brooklyn Botanical Garden

My full set of photos from the gardens are in this Flickr set.

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First, we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. Emma is afraid of heights, but the Brooklyn Bridge is a good bridge for anyone who has this fear, since you don’t walk close to the edge – you walk right down the middle. You also don’t have water below you, you have another layer of cement down below (between the two way traffic lanes. It was cold and windy, so crossing was a bit of an adventure. The bridge looks much more intimidating with a sky like this:

Brooklyn Bridge

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At one point in our crossing we were delayed by a very large group of people posing for a photo along the path, blocking everyone’s way. I got a very amusing photo of Emma while we were waiting for them:

 

Group photo in the way

She may be a Michigander, but she’s got a native New Yorker’s dislike of having their route blocked. :)

 

Next, we walked to Brooklyn Heights and explored some of the former homes of famous authors.

First up was 70 Willow Street, the Adrian van Sinderen residence. It was built in the 1830s, and Truman Capote lived here in the basement apartment, and wrote many of his most famous works there.

70 Willow Street

Next up is 142 Columbia Heights, where Norman Mailer lived. He was living here at the time of his death in 2007:

142 Columbia Heights

We also visited No. 22 Willow Street, where Henry Ward Beecher lived (he is also a distant relative of Emma’s!):

Emma

Along the way we saw many beautiful buildings that we decided we would gladly move into at a moment’s notice. One such building had a very lovely window with a piano:

 

Window

After visiting a few bookstores in the area, BookCourt and Rocketship book store, and eating lunch at a cute cafe, we hopped on the F train to Park Slope.

 

Brownstones in Park Slope

We visited the fabulous Community Bookstore, and fell in love with its charming children’s section in the back.

Community Bookstore

Children’s section at Community Bookstore

Next we went up to Grand Army Plaza, and took a picture of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Arch before the wind pushed us out of the plaza.

Soldiers and Sailors Arch

Close by is the main branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. It’s huge and magnificent. The wind was getting out of control at this point. We watched people’s hats fly off their heads and travel 100 feet down the sidewalk. We tried to take Emma’s picture in front of the library, and as we were taking the first shot an enormous gust of wind blew the camera askew in my hands and almost knocked Emma over. We had to try another take. Here is the first attempt, and the second, successful attempt:

BPL picture – take 1

BPL picture – take 2

After exploring and admiring the library, we hopped back on the subway and went back to Manhattan to give some of our money to Strand before heading home for the day.

 

Strand

Further adventures and photos will be posted soon!

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Last week I had a dentist appointment on 57th street, so I took the R uptown and my stop let out right at the bottom of Central Park. I love the park at all times of the year, and I couldn’t resist taking a few pictures of how peaceful and beautiful it looks during the winter.

Central Park – Winter

Central Park – Winter

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I’m so delighted that we’re actually having a spring this year! Last year it went from 50 degrees to 90 degrees seemingly overnight.

Ryan and I (and basically the entire office) have been heading to the closest park, Madison Square Park, during lunch every day. It’s gorgeous. Here are some photos I took on Wednesday:

Madison Square Park in Spring

Madison Square Park in Spring

The Shake Shack in Madison Square Park

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I was a wreck, giddy and manic and I kept snapping pictures and walking around (they told us we had to keep moving because we were in the background). I kept putting my camera completely away and then changing my mind rapidly and having to dig around in my purse for it.

Sex and the City Movie Shooting!

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Between this and the Late Show with David Letterman taping, it will be hard to top this birthday.

Goodnight!

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The Ziegfeld

Last night Ryan and I saw Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End at the Ziegfeld Theatre. It was our first time seeing a movie at the Ziegfeld.

First, The Ziegfled. It’s absolutely incredible. Ryan joked that it must have been built when someone had 100,000 yards extra of red velvet. It’s classic and beautiful. It’s one of the last great picture houses left in the US. The kind with a single screen and a massive theatre where there are almost no bad seats among the 1000+ that it offers.

They don’t play annoying ads the entire time you’re waiting for your movie; they play music. Then, just before the previews, the golden curtain opens up to reveal an absolutely gigantic screen. The audience cheers. I love that people cheer and clap after the previews that they like, and that they also cheered when Johnny Depp sails onto the screen. The crowd was extremely excited and energetic, but extremely respectful. When the movie started the theater went completely silent. No one talked during the movie. It was a great experience.

Here is a picture of the lobby:

The Ziegfeld Lobby

Next, the movie. I was obsessed with the first movie. I watched it nine times in the theater. My expectations were not incredibly high for the second because I thought the previews looked disappointing and bad. And my instincts were right, I did not like the second very much at all.

So I had low expectations for this one as well, especially because of the horrible reviews it got. However, I absolutely loved it. It was better than the second by far. The critics are right: it is confusing. Especially toward the middle. But it’s funny. Much more funny than the second. It’s also cooky – there’s a plot line involving Captain Jack that’s funny and weird, and sort of explains a little about why he’s wonky. It also glorifies his weirdness, and it’s fun to watch.

The second half is absolutely awesome. The visual effects are incredible, and the idea behind the battle scenes is outrageous and so cool.

So when (or if) you see it, don’t worry too much about understanding absolutely everything. Just enjoy the pirates, Johnny Depp, the effects, and the humor. It’s fun.

Here is a post from Amazon’s blog that does a much better job than me about explaining why this movie is awesome. (And don’t worry about spoilers, there are none, except for one at the end written in white font that you have to highlight to see.)

Last but not least, a picture of Ryan, while waiting to enter the theatre.

Ryan and Elephant, at the Ziegfeld

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