Thursday, July 24, 2008
{ new look }
well, yes, i have yet another new look for my blog. it was time to lighten up a bit. the new header is something i put together using photoshop and a brush collection from here. please let me know what you think about the new look, i would love to hear what you have to say.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
{jackie's visit}
well jackie and jay were back in town last week for jay's grandmother's birthday party. it was very nice to have them home again for a little bit. i didn't get to see them as much as i had hoped, but of course they had a very busy schedule while they were here, trying to squeeze in visits with everyone. last sunday we had a family get together at mom's for them and it was nice to have everyone together. on tuesday jackie and jay setup a happy hour at claddagh's pub in canton. we had a great time together. now they are back in sunny san diego. here are some of the pictures from the evening...
Friday, July 18, 2008
{coney island}
well the trip to coney island last weekend with shawn and leah was a ton of fun! while coney island is not necessarily the cleanest of places to visit, there were quite a few things that we found particularly enjoyable and interesting...
*union square - friday afternoon we embarked on the adventure of driving into the city so that shawn could meet and photography the saw lady for his shutter on the street project. while he did that, leah and i explored union square a little. there was a great little market going on in the park there and we had a nice time checking out all of the little booths there.
*burlesque - on friday night we attended the burlesque at the beach show. this was awesome!! it was a very small, intimate show with all sorts of variety acts. audience participation was encouraged and it was such a fun time. none of us had ever been to a burlesque show before, but i can guarantee it probably won't be the last. the acts included a juggler, a two-man band, a striptease, lots of singing, and sing alongs with the audience. lots of fun!
*marcus monroe - well, i think i would be lying a little if i said that leah and i didn't have a small crush on this very impressive man. he was the juggler / unicyclist in the burlesque show, and he was very entertaining. not only was he pretty easy on the eyes, but he could be the most amazing juggler i have seen to date. he was very talented and i am glad that we got to see his performance.
*fireworks on the beach - friday nights in coney island lend themselves to fireworks on the beach. we weer luck enough to have gotten to the beach a little early and had time to enjoy some cotton candy and watch an amazing fireworks show from the boardwalk. it was great, except for one random gentleman who insisted on screaming even more random things throughout half of the show..."thundercats are go!!"
*pay toilet - yes, you read that right, pay toilet. while we were wandering around friday night waiting for the show, we discovered the need to use the facilities, so we headed over to the first ones we found. well, (and i am not kidding) there was a fee to use the bathroom!! a whole quarter granted you entrance through the turnstyle to the unclean, crowded, and un-updated restrooms. i have no idea what kind of racket they were running with that situation, but it certainly is cool to say i have actually paid to use the bathroom. i wonder what they use that money for...
*the cylcone - one of the main reasons we went to coney island was to ride the cyclone roller coaster. being a huge fan of the old fashioned wooden coasters, this was a special treat for me. of course, i wasn't expecting to pay the $8 to ride the coaster, but whatever. it was totally worth it!
*sideshow - the main reason for our trip to coney island wast to see the circus sideshow and it was absolutely worth the trip. the acts included the human blockhead, a fire eater, a snake charmer, and a sword swallower. the show was incredibly entertaining and we all had a blast watching these very talented circus freaks.
*nyc subway - saturday night shawn's friend brandon and his wife dawn came out from their home in nyc to meet us and spend some time hanging out. after convincing them that the best thing to do in coney island was see the sideshow, we practically begged them to take us into the city on the subway and show us a good time. well it didn't take too much convincing before we were on the subway and headed to times square. i absolutely love times square at night, it is such a unique experience and it was a treat for leah who had never been in times square after dark. we had a great time getting to know brandon and dawn a little better and traipsing around nyc late at night.
*cheesecake - while in the city we were looking for a nice place to grab something to eat and have a drink. juniors was the place. we all enjoyed some of new york's best cheesecake and a few drinks. (the chocolate mousse cheesecake was to die for!) yum-o!
*i finally found out what this is:
this is something i have seen from the belt parkway everytime i have driven to new york for the last howevermany years. it is something that has plagued my mind everytime i've seen it. what is it? is it a ride? why is it never moving? is it art? is it old? is it new? what the heck is it for??? and now i know. after visiting the coney island museum (which was not very good by the way) i learned that this giant red tower actually used to be an attraction at coney island called the parachute jump. it was something that was built for the world's fair and then was moved to coney island. you can learn more about it here. i know it seems kinda silly to be so excited about something, but it was symbolic to me of all the times i have wondered about coney island and its offerings as a mere passerby and now i have fulfilled some of that wonder and intrigue.
all in all the trip was a blast. i think next time we would have opted to stay in the city and take the subway out to coney island for any of the following reasons: crappy neighborhood, sucky parking, expensive unregulated cab fares, nothing else to do in the immediate area, the city is just that much better! despite all of those thins we still managed to have a great time and we got to see everything we had wanted to see. here are some of the pictures from the weekend.
*union square - friday afternoon we embarked on the adventure of driving into the city so that shawn could meet and photography the saw lady for his shutter on the street project. while he did that, leah and i explored union square a little. there was a great little market going on in the park there and we had a nice time checking out all of the little booths there.
*burlesque - on friday night we attended the burlesque at the beach show. this was awesome!! it was a very small, intimate show with all sorts of variety acts. audience participation was encouraged and it was such a fun time. none of us had ever been to a burlesque show before, but i can guarantee it probably won't be the last. the acts included a juggler, a two-man band, a striptease, lots of singing, and sing alongs with the audience. lots of fun!
*marcus monroe - well, i think i would be lying a little if i said that leah and i didn't have a small crush on this very impressive man. he was the juggler / unicyclist in the burlesque show, and he was very entertaining. not only was he pretty easy on the eyes, but he could be the most amazing juggler i have seen to date. he was very talented and i am glad that we got to see his performance.
*fireworks on the beach - friday nights in coney island lend themselves to fireworks on the beach. we weer luck enough to have gotten to the beach a little early and had time to enjoy some cotton candy and watch an amazing fireworks show from the boardwalk. it was great, except for one random gentleman who insisted on screaming even more random things throughout half of the show..."thundercats are go!!"
*pay toilet - yes, you read that right, pay toilet. while we were wandering around friday night waiting for the show, we discovered the need to use the facilities, so we headed over to the first ones we found. well, (and i am not kidding) there was a fee to use the bathroom!! a whole quarter granted you entrance through the turnstyle to the unclean, crowded, and un-updated restrooms. i have no idea what kind of racket they were running with that situation, but it certainly is cool to say i have actually paid to use the bathroom. i wonder what they use that money for...
*the cylcone - one of the main reasons we went to coney island was to ride the cyclone roller coaster. being a huge fan of the old fashioned wooden coasters, this was a special treat for me. of course, i wasn't expecting to pay the $8 to ride the coaster, but whatever. it was totally worth it!
*sideshow - the main reason for our trip to coney island wast to see the circus sideshow and it was absolutely worth the trip. the acts included the human blockhead, a fire eater, a snake charmer, and a sword swallower. the show was incredibly entertaining and we all had a blast watching these very talented circus freaks.
*nyc subway - saturday night shawn's friend brandon and his wife dawn came out from their home in nyc to meet us and spend some time hanging out. after convincing them that the best thing to do in coney island was see the sideshow, we practically begged them to take us into the city on the subway and show us a good time. well it didn't take too much convincing before we were on the subway and headed to times square. i absolutely love times square at night, it is such a unique experience and it was a treat for leah who had never been in times square after dark. we had a great time getting to know brandon and dawn a little better and traipsing around nyc late at night.
*cheesecake - while in the city we were looking for a nice place to grab something to eat and have a drink. juniors was the place. we all enjoyed some of new york's best cheesecake and a few drinks. (the chocolate mousse cheesecake was to die for!) yum-o!
*i finally found out what this is:
this is something i have seen from the belt parkway everytime i have driven to new york for the last howevermany years. it is something that has plagued my mind everytime i've seen it. what is it? is it a ride? why is it never moving? is it art? is it old? is it new? what the heck is it for??? and now i know. after visiting the coney island museum (which was not very good by the way) i learned that this giant red tower actually used to be an attraction at coney island called the parachute jump. it was something that was built for the world's fair and then was moved to coney island. you can learn more about it here. i know it seems kinda silly to be so excited about something, but it was symbolic to me of all the times i have wondered about coney island and its offerings as a mere passerby and now i have fulfilled some of that wonder and intrigue.
all in all the trip was a blast. i think next time we would have opted to stay in the city and take the subway out to coney island for any of the following reasons: crappy neighborhood, sucky parking, expensive unregulated cab fares, nothing else to do in the immediate area, the city is just that much better! despite all of those thins we still managed to have a great time and we got to see everything we had wanted to see. here are some of the pictures from the weekend.
Monday, July 7, 2008
{trips, trips, & more trips}
well it has been a busy summer already. as my last post alluded to, i spent a week in ohio, a few days at cedar point amusement park and a few days camping. i went along with shawn and his family and we had such a great time. we rode some of the world's best roller coasters and it was so much fun. the days that we were not at the park we spent at the campground hanging out and enjoying each others company. shawn, being the culinary fan that he is, made some amazing treats for us while we were camping which included yummy pancakes, fabulous pineapple upside-down cake, and unbelievable homemade ice cream! (so lucky he lives at my house!) it was a nice trip, great weather and great company.
after a few days at home, we headed off to ocean city for the 4th and shawn's birthday. we headed down late thursday night with our new friends evan and noelle, who shawn met through his latest photo project, and celebrated the whole weekend. friday morning shawn went out (semi)early and bought fractured prune donuts for breakfast...yum-o! we spent friday at the beach enjoying the sunshine and warm sea air. the friday night we headed over to seacrets where we met keefer and lindsey and enjoyed the fireworks on the bay. then it started storming, which was actually fine since the place was pretty empty. so we enjoyed a few drinks and headed home after the storm. saturday included delicious hot dutch apple crepes at bayside skillet, mini golf, and a few hours at the boardwalk at some of our favorite spots like thrashers for french fries and the kite loft for silly fun shopping. i got a great new pair of glasses to wear to honfest next year. saturday night we enjoyed all-u-can-eat crabs at higgins. after dinner we headed over to the tiki bar at harpoon hanna's for drinks. this is our favorite local place when we are at the beach as it is walking distance from the house and is lots of fun. after we closed the bar we headed back home and spent the whole night up talking and getting to know each other a little better. early in the morning we headed out for donuts and french fries which we enjoyed at the beach just before a big storm rolled in. after a few hours of sleep, we headed to layton's for breakfast and drove back home.
it was a great weekend. we had a lot of fun getting to know our new friends a little better and showing off all of our favorite things to do at the beach. it was a very different fourth of july for me, as it was the first in years that i was not in east hampton for a big party at the carabines and a bonfire on the beach. kinda bittersweet, but it was nice to be in a familiar place with a very good and understanding friend.
so that sums up the last few weeks. this weekend we are off to coney island, new york so that we can see the sideshows, it is rumored that this is the last year for this specialty, and so shawn can meet some new street performers for shutter on the street. so hopefully i will have more good stories and maybe some photos to post next week. and, (bonus!) jackie is coming home this week! can't wait to see her and catch up.
after a few days at home, we headed off to ocean city for the 4th and shawn's birthday. we headed down late thursday night with our new friends evan and noelle, who shawn met through his latest photo project, and celebrated the whole weekend. friday morning shawn went out (semi)early and bought fractured prune donuts for breakfast...yum-o! we spent friday at the beach enjoying the sunshine and warm sea air. the friday night we headed over to seacrets where we met keefer and lindsey and enjoyed the fireworks on the bay. then it started storming, which was actually fine since the place was pretty empty. so we enjoyed a few drinks and headed home after the storm. saturday included delicious hot dutch apple crepes at bayside skillet, mini golf, and a few hours at the boardwalk at some of our favorite spots like thrashers for french fries and the kite loft for silly fun shopping. i got a great new pair of glasses to wear to honfest next year. saturday night we enjoyed all-u-can-eat crabs at higgins. after dinner we headed over to the tiki bar at harpoon hanna's for drinks. this is our favorite local place when we are at the beach as it is walking distance from the house and is lots of fun. after we closed the bar we headed back home and spent the whole night up talking and getting to know each other a little better. early in the morning we headed out for donuts and french fries which we enjoyed at the beach just before a big storm rolled in. after a few hours of sleep, we headed to layton's for breakfast and drove back home.
it was a great weekend. we had a lot of fun getting to know our new friends a little better and showing off all of our favorite things to do at the beach. it was a very different fourth of july for me, as it was the first in years that i was not in east hampton for a big party at the carabines and a bonfire on the beach. kinda bittersweet, but it was nice to be in a familiar place with a very good and understanding friend.
so that sums up the last few weeks. this weekend we are off to coney island, new york so that we can see the sideshows, it is rumored that this is the last year for this specialty, and so shawn can meet some new street performers for shutter on the street. so hopefully i will have more good stories and maybe some photos to post next week. and, (bonus!) jackie is coming home this week! can't wait to see her and catch up.
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