Napoleon once famously declared Britain to be 'a nation of shopkeepers', unfit to go to war with France (this was shortly before his defeat at Waterloo, ahem). In the centuries since, this throwaway Gallic insult has become something of a source of national pride, with the village shop being the heart and soul of any local community and a fiercely defended institution.
In an attempt to recover my lost vocabulary, I post a new word every Monday evening (sometimes I’m late) that I don’t use in my day to day life. Then I attempt to incorporate that word into my weekly post.
This week’s word:
fard \ fahrd \ , verb;
1. To apply cosmetics.
noun:
1. Facial cosmetics.
I generally don’t use dictionary.com’s word of the day, but this one made me giggle.
I am fortunate enough to have fallen in love many times in my life…with boys, books, and truffle oil; wine, my husband, my son…I know it when I feel it.
I fell head over heels for the Boston Children’s Museum. It’s spectacular. Somehow, I’ve been to many a Children’s Museum in my day and this one is right up there with the champs.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
First of all, the lunchroom is attached to an Au Bon Pain so no hamburgers and fries for lunch. We had black-bean burgers with avocado and a side of hummus and cucumber instead.
Yes!
Then we headed right up to the 2nd floor (out of 3) to the fabled 3 years and under room. It took us about an hour to get there because we had to stop in the children’s art gallery, then the water play room, then the kindergarten classroom…I could keep going, in fact there are so many rooms and exhibits worth mentioning, I just have to link to them here.
We spent quite a bit of time at the GIANT checker board.
Not only is everything bright and clean, but the staff came over to interact with the children from time to time to maybe show them how to use something or to inspire them to play with something in a different way. They even just came over to blow bubbles. What? Bubbles? Yes. It was fantastic.
When we finally made it to the under 3 area, G literally squealed with delight when he saw all the other kids having so much fun. The area is vast with 8 different sections including an art room, a kitchen and an indoor playground. The story room is complete with a rocking chair for 2 and a full library of children’s books and parenting books (!!).
And the best part about it? There is seating for parents along the perimeter of each section. You can just sit down and kick up your feet while your little one runs from room to room. PLUS the whole under 3 area is gated and has only what I can describe as its own door man. This watchful attendant stands guard so big kids can’t bust through and knock the little ones down and the little ones can’t escape. If they had just had a cocktail bar it would have been perfect! This type of set up really allows little ones a taste of autonomy. Plus it provides them with the ability to interact with other kids without their parents hovering over them simply because they have no other place to go. He and I both had a great time.
Suddenly in the midst of all our fun, there was an announcement that there was to be a puppet show in the kindergarten room! Hoooray! Off we went…we then still had more than half of the museum left to explore by closing time (yes, we closed the joint). I had to tear him away through sirens of wails and sobs. As I tried to calm him and get the stroller, the attendant said, ‘Don’t worry…that’s the reaction of most kids when they have to leave this museum.’
tggallagher.com
On Fridays I like to re-blog something I read during the week that made an impression on me.
But since today is the little man’s 2nd birthday, I thought I’d do a birthday party re-blog instead.
Have a great weekend!
Actual Birthday
First Birthday
Today!
What I love the most about New York City are the palimpsests that haunt every corner just waiting for you to trip over them.
One day (Sunday-April 15th, 2012) you’re living your life, getting some groceries, minding your own business and suddenly you realize you live next door to a monument erected for Isador and Ida Straus, the famed couple who opted to go down with the Titanic together.
wikipedia
It is also the 100th anniversary-to the day-that the ship went down and their great-great grandson is standing in front of the monument giving a speech.
westsiderag.com
Since we just moved into the neighborhood, we haven’t really been out exploring yet. So now we know you walk out onto 106th St…cross Broadway…and there it is…a sweet little park with trees and benches and a statue of a lovely woman dipping her toes into a fountain.
Wikipedia
I’ve seen her before this day, but I missed what was engraved in gold behind her. It reads:
In Memory of Isidor and Ida Straus. Lovely and Pleasant Were they in their Lives. And in Their Death They Were Not Divided. Book 11 Samuel 1:23
Mr. Isador Straus owned Macy’s after Mr. Macy passed away. He turned it into what you see on 34th St. today, for the most part. Needless to say, he had a lot of money from that particular venture.
When the Titanic sank, the men, even the wealthiest, even Isador Straus, helped to get the women and children into the life boats first. Mrs. Ida Straus refused to leave her husband’s side and gave her place on the life boat along with her fur coat to her maid, Ellen Bird. Mrs. Straus is quoted as saying to her husband, ‘We have lived together for many years. Where you go, I go.’ What a refreshing and romantic reminder of what life was like before the Real Housewives franchise.
Nonetheless, they were last seen sitting in deck chairs, holding hands until the ship went down.
In James Cameron‘s film, Titanic, they were depicted as the older couple holding each other on their bed while the cabin filled with water.
About a year after their deaths, their house on 105th and Broadway (a very rural area 100 years ago) was sold and torn down to build the apartment building that stands there today.
untappedcities.com
On the ground level of that very apartment building is our very favorite neighborhood restaurant, Henry’s.
What? Henry’s!? That is amazing. Am I the only one who finds that amazing? I love stuff like that.
The Straus Memorial dedication…100 years ago…almost.
untappedcities.com
Smithsonian Magazine ran a fascinating article last month on famous men who missed booking a ride on the Titanic—saving themselves from almost certain death that April morning in 1912.
Some New Yorkers were on that list, like financier J. Pierpont Morgan (left).
"Morgan attended the ship’s launching in 1911 and had a personal suite on board with his own private promenade deck and a bath equipped with specially designed cigar holders," writes…
In an attempt to recover my lost vocabulary, I post a new word every Monday evening (sometimes I’m late) that I don’t use in my day to day life. Then I attempt to incorporate that word into my weekly post.
I had aptitude testing last year at the Johnson O’Connor Research Foundation. One of the most important things I took away from it was that I needed to expand my vocabulary, especially after pregnancy brain and then the ongoing mommy brain (I still refer to grown people’s body parts in adult company as ‘tummies’ & ‘toesies’, etc…it has to stop).
This week’s word:
palimpsest \PAL-imp-sest\ , noun:
1. A manuscript, usually of papyrus or parchment, on which more than one text has been written with the earlier writing incompletely erased and still visible.
2. An object or place whose older layers or aspects are apparent beneath its surface.
Faded ad on a building on 75th & Broadway
photo credit: Ephemeral New York
Mondays are always somewhat bitter as far as days go, but there is a subtly more abrasive quality to the atmosphere when I walk into the team room at 0500 this morning. The gang is all there - two wonderful interns, an excellent senior medical student, my sweet junior med student colleague - and all are pleasantly preparing to receive sign-out from the night intern.
In an attempt to recover my lost vocabulary, I’m going to post a word every Monday evening that I don’t use in my day to day life and then attempt to incorporate that word into my weekly post.
I had aptitude testing last year at the Johnson O’Connor Research Foundation (I loved it, ps…but that’s another post). One of the most important things I took away from it was that I needed to extend my vocabulary, especially after pregnancy brain and then the ongoing mommy brain (I still refer to grown people’s body parts in adult company as ‘tummies’ & ‘toesies’, etc…it has to stop).
The first word…grouse
Grouse is also a type of bird.
(photo credit: Wikipedia)
\ grous \ , verb;
noun:
