Beneath the City

I don't know about you, but it seems like every time I fumble with my keys and nearly drop them, I happen to be walking over a grate in a sidewalk. Which heightens the drama of nearly dropping my keys because, how on earth would I ever get them back?



Well, thanks to my friend Murph, now I know. Her coworker Alex dropped a favorite ring down a sidewalk grate, and it was rescued by a friendly pair of Con-Ed workers! Gothamist covered the story, and gave it a little Lord of the Rings flair, plus helpful information about how to get something back if it's dropped down a grate. But I still think I'll be tightly clutching my keys on the way home tonight :)

I wonder what else is down there?

(A Productive) Weekend in Pictures

These photos are a little deceiving. With the exception of the first two photos, a more accurate representation of my weekend would be the inside of The Container Store, the inside of my newly organized kitchen cabinets, and a few more pictures like that last one: messy, with clothes everywhere while I swapped out my winter wardrobe for the summer one. Not super exciting, but all things I'd been itching to find time to do, and are super satisfying to have done. Woohoo, productivity!

Black and WTF

Oh my. Somehow I stumbled on the collection of odd black & white photos at Black and WTF and I think I just wasted an hour clicking through page after page. They are so funny and strange! I'd love to know the stories behind a lot of them. Like, what's with all the bears?







Or strange animal activity in general?









Too funny!

Via Buzzfeed.

(A Wedding-y) Weekend in Pictures

Celebration season continued with a wedding! My former roommate Kaylie got hitched, I made them a tiny wedding cake, and then I slept all day Sunday to recover. Sorry for the lack of photos! I hope your weekend was lovely :)

Iceland

Do you think I should go to Iceland? This video says I should, don't you think? So gorgeous! I have my hopes set on a trip to Europe this fall, and Iceland has been calling my name for awhile . Have you been?

Video via Pret a Voyager.

Hi-Hat Cupcakes

For my friend Kate's birthday this past weekend, I was conflicted about what dessert I should make. I've made marshmallows for her for two years running, but started wondering if she'd maybe like a cake for a change. When I asked if she'd rather have marshmallows or cake, she helpfully answered, "Both!" So, both it was.



I made Hi-Hat cupcakes, which combine rich chocolate cake with marshmallow frosting piled high and dipped in melted chocolate. And they're really stinkin' adorable. I've been wanting to experiment with marshmallow frosting (so named for its resemblance to marshmallow fluff, I think it's also called seven minute frosting) and I'm in loooove with it! It's a little time consuming, but worth the effort. So fluffy and shiny and fun!





Topped with a pink cake flag with a sparkly skull (the birthday girl's favorite thing, next to marshmallows) they were pretty much too cute to handle.

(A Celebratory) Weekend in Pics

{park avenue tulips before good friday service}

{good friday service at apostles}

{spring flowers, hurried errand running}

{kaylie's bridal shower}

{icing shots & prosecco for kate's birthday}

{a mini easter basket from megan}

{blueberry bread pudding cups for easter brunch}

{peek-a-boo pink bow at the park}

{easter brunch picnic}

{afternoon light}

Friends, it is celebration season. I'm not sure if this happens in whatever stage of life you happen to be in, but in my late 20s the arrival of spring means the arrival of bridal showers, baby showers, and weddings. Add in a birthday party and Easter and you have yourself quite the celebratory weekend! It was all so fun and gave me ample opportunity to try out my new camera stand in.

Good friday service photo stolen from Trae Watlington, icing shots photo stolen from the birthday girl herself.

The Brighter Side

Something about the mood of these pirate party photos I saw on Design Mom (taken by Eric Josjo) reminded me of one of my all time favorite ads. It's an absolutely gorgeous ad by a fantastic director, with a pretty ending that's a perfect start to Easter weekend. Hope yours is bright :)

A Birthday Date

Earlier this week I took some of my favorite kiddos out for a belated birthday date. I've been taking each of my friend Kristen's kids on a special little outing for their birthdays, and it worked out well that the youngest two, Jones (now 6) and Lael (now 4), were born two days apart.

Since my camera died, I snapped a bunch of photos on my phone that I wouldn't normally post here because they're lame cell phone photos. But now that Instagram is available for my Android phone, I thought this would be a good opportunity to play around with the app!



When I originally asked Lael what she wanted to do for her birthday date, she said "Go to Shake Shack, then Starbucks, then my house." I decided to stick with just Shake Shack :) After picking them up, we headed over to the bus (them on scooters, I was on foot) and took a short ride over to the requested destination.



While we waited for our burgers and frozen custard, I pulled out the one trick I had up my sleeve to make it a "birthday" date: rainbow striped party hats. I was really not expecting the excitement that followed, they were thrilled! Lael ripped off her warm hat (which we put back on a little later) to wear the party hat, while Jones went for an over-the-helmet look.







All in all, a lovely time with this hilarious brother-sister duo. And a fun first try with Instagram!

In Focus

So, my camera died this weekend. It's been temperamental for awhile now, as extremely old DSLRs tend to be, but I think this weekend's photos were its swan song. So while I contemplate my next big camera purchase, I was reminded of a cool little camera that would be fun in addition to your regular camera or phone.



It's called a Lytro and it takes photos with the full field of light, so you can focus later. How cool is that?! I'm not the best with all the technicalities of photography, so it'd be great to be able to just take a photo and worry about the focal point later. You can play with the photos in their Living Gallery to see how it works.

Photos by Mugur Marculescu & Adam Gould via Lytro.

(A busy, busy, busy) Weekend in Pictures

{colorful easter egg cakes at costco}

{signage in harlem}

{baby shower decor}

{the wrong card accidentally included with a shower gift, "happy birthday albie"}

{stopping between showers to pick up a card}

{favors personalized with the bride's new last name}

{cheers! hooray!}

{individual tomato soup cups with a grilled cheese topper - amazing!}

{the end of a long and lovely day}

From a morning in Harlem (for a cheap visit to the eye doctor at Costco) to a baby shower in Brooklyn Heights, then a bridal shower in lower Manhattan, my weekend was full of subway rides and celebrating. And that was just Saturday! Our good weather reversed itself and brought on rain and gloom, although the rain showers outside made the shower festivities (both bridal and baby) all the more cozy. How was your weekend, friends?

The cupcake photo is borrowed from Bethany's Instagram.