Life in 2012

A view of the Hudson River this summer at sunset
TD and I had a wonderful holiday season packed with many activities with family and friends. In the middle of it, my aunt Molly died. She had been sick for a long time but still it was a surprise to me when I received the news. I wrote about Molly here on the blog before, and we attended her birthday party. She was a larger-than-life figure in my childhood who was always taking us on adventures. Summertime was her strong suit and so she was often leading us to swimming pools, the beach at the lake or picnics in the park. She raised five children and she said to me once, "I loved children so. The 'terrible twos, the troublesome threes', I never experienced that. The children were like sponges and they absorbed everything up." TD and I drove up to her funeral service which was held on Friday in Rochester. At the end of the service, her son Peter, my cousin, delivered a great remembrance. He said, "What is the lesson of Molly's life? Have fun, play hard, spend time with your family, enjoy the present moment." Driving back from the funeral to New York City in the car we received an email from our friends April and Matt with the joyful news that their baby had just been born, and two beautiful pictures of little smiling Miles Perry. That made us so happy. Birth and death and everything in between – that is life. We embrace the happy and hope to avoid the sad though sometimes it must come. I am wishing you dear reader more happy this year. Have fun, play hard, enjoy the present moment.

A Peaceful Holiday

TD and I had a very nice holiday season and I hope you did too. Just before Christmas I got a chance to get uptown to Rockefeller Center. Though it was completely mobbed with visitors shoulder to shoulder, if you looked upwards, it was a glamorous vision. I loved the combination of the white lights in the trees, the golden flags flapping, and the big Christmas tree covered with colored lights, all set in front of the soaring Art Deco-style NBC building.

On Christmas Eve, we were guests of my brother Eric's family in Montclair, New Jersey, and on Christmas day my parents came to visit us. I put a white cloth on our table along with a bunch of evergreens, little vases of white and red striped carnations, and some antique red and white ornaments. Kind of Swedish looking.


The day after Christmas, a huge snow storm, a blizzard actually, blew in. Along with the howling winds came thunder and lightening; I had never experienced that before in a snow storm. Here was the view of 15th Street during the storm. Much more snow fell – 20-30 inches. What was nice was that the street became very quiet, with no noisy traffic or honking horns.

We had another family get together during the week when my brother Thom's family came visiting from Toronto. I made cupcakes

which went on to one of my favorite green and white platters.

The table was set again for a festive buffet dinner.

The next night we went to the Oak Bar at the Plaza Hotel for a drink. Thom ordered a Manhattan. He said it reminded him of 611; Milly drank Manhattans.

He said to me, "Smell it," and when I inhaled the rich, full mix of vermouth and whiskey, all of 611, especially at Christmastime, came back to me. Our Proustian madeleines are Manhattan cocktails.

On New Year's Eve TD and I went to a neighborhood bar and had an early drink. Then at home we made spaghetti and shrimp from a Mario Batalli cookbook and drank champagne. On pay-per-view we watched The Kids Are Alright. If you haven't seen it already, I recommend it as a good movie with two great performances from Annette Bening and Julianne Moore which I hope are remembered during awards season.
On the way home from the bar we passed this deli on Seventh Avenue, its joyful selection displayed behind tall snow banks.

I am wishing you dear reader a colorful and happy New Year.