More Catch Up

A friend of mine from Finland was visiting in mid-March to run the New York half marathon. I had a lovely New York City day with her that had all the ingredients you'd need in the perfect day with a girlfriend. First we went to see the Whitney Biennale (her idea, but I was extremely positively surprised), then we had lunch and the Bergdorf Goodman restaurant overlooking Central Park, some shopping, and to finish the day off, an off off Broadway play, the Blood Sky. Since this blog also serves as a sort of a diary, I want to have a mention of that beautiful day, because it really was so perfect. And best of all I got to spend it with a childhood friend from my original home town.

This work is by Gretchen Bender and is called "People in Pain". 

These works were by Joel Otterson, an LA based artist. 

New York City getting ready for half-marathon. The runner is relaxing on the rafters.

The Bergdorf Goodman restaurant is lovely. The decor is designed by the masterful Kelly Wearstler. 

Friends for 28 years!

The view from the Bergdorf's restaurant. 

This is from the Whitney museum permanent collection, Jasper John's Three Flags. 

Some solidarity for the pussy riot. A Whitney Biennale exhibit. 

By the way, the Whitney museum is thankfully moving to a new location next year. The museum is currently located in arguably the ugliest building of Manhattan. Hope the new construction and the new building will be a big improvement!

The Man

I'm sure that the man has put an appearance on the blog here and there, but I've never properly introduced him. Since he is such a big part of my life that seems kind of silly. He's my best friend, my children's father, most likely the person who knows me best, the person that I've grown up with, spent more than half my life with...

The Leather Jacket

The leather jacket is very big this season. Seems like everyone has to have one. My au pair bought this gorgeous black biker number from Zara. It goes so well with the Stella McCartney clutch, which is a bit rock'n'roll, but still sweet and sophisticated. Both items so perfect for this beautiful girl! This is another catch up post...hopefully we won't need leather jackets for much longer!

Catch Up

I have a few outfits that never made it to the blog yet. Here's the first catch up outfit post. This was a month ago, on March 21st, and I was still wearing my wool Zara jacket. Since then the weather has been quite unpredictable, we've had a few warm days and some really cold ones too, so it's been kind of hard to know what to wear. Layers, basically. Here I am wearing H&M jeans and shirt, DV boots, Fendi bag, Saks Fifth Ave earrings, Chloe sunglasses.

My Happy Place

The other day we were talking about our happy places, those places where you feel most relaxed and happy, the kind of place that you crave when you're all stressed out. My happy place is definitely the sea shore. Any time of year, any kind of shore. Whether it's a beautiful white sand tropical beach, or a rocky and rough kind of sea shore, or one of the gorgeous Long Island North Shore pebble beaches, that is where my mind can relax and my heart be happy. We found just such a beach on Easter Sunday. Here are the photos. 

Coco, you big goof! Don't make my cousin fall! 

The water here is beautifully clean and clear. We'll come back for a swim in the summer!

Finding treasures. 

The sword in the stone. 

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. 

My pockets are kind of heavy...

Can I squeeze one more pretty rock in here? 

A New York Thing To Do

Yesterday I went to a New York Philharmonics concert at the Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center, and had a pre-show dinner at Boulud Sud, which is directly across the street of Lincoln Center. Very convenient. Also quite luxurious and lovely. The restaurant was amazing, and the so was the concert. 

Boulud Sud is a pretty well known New York restaurant, and belongs to the Daniel Boulud restaurant empire. 


Here is the Zagat description of Boulud Sud: 
Whether or not you're "hitting Lincoln Center", Daniel Boulud's "civilized" "masterpiece" adjacent to Bar Boulud is "prized" for "sumptuous" "twists on Mediterranean cuisine" and "deft" service in "a bright, sophisticated" room; for its "well-heeled" habitués, the "pristine" performance is "completely worth the significant tab."

I had octopus for appetizer, and it was out of this world. Seriously the best octopus that I've ever had! Possibly one of the best dishes I've ever eaten anywhere, period. 

For the main course we both had the New York strip steak, and it was good, but I enjoyed the stuff that came with it more than the actual steak, a little piece of Greek Saganaki cheese, a fluffy potato bake and black olive tapenade. 

My friend loved her dessert, the cannolo and raved about it. My dessert had one tiny piece that was heaven, and the rest was meh...but at that point I was so full that it the little piece was enough to satisfy. The wines were also very good, we both had white with the appetizers, and red with the steak, and just took whatever our waiter recommended based on what we like. The service was also very good, if our waiter hadn't kept time we would have been late to the concert. 

And then the concert - it was New York Philharmonics playing Gershwin and Bernstein, with Alan Gilbert leading, and as a special guest, Makoto Ozone, a jazz pianist, who played Rhapsody in Blue, and improvised here and there with an amazing and beautiful skill. 

Being able to do these things and enjoying the quality of food, and music as an art form, just really made me realize how incredibly lucky I am. Life is beautiful. 

The best is here and now. 

Happy Easter

Unfortunately it's almost over for us... but fortunately this Easter Sunday was a gorgeous day which we thoroughly enjoyed. Let the pictures speak...