Thursday, September 29, 2011

Roger That




We've been SO busy unpacking and trying to get settled, there's no time to write!

Here is a little story about our most recent sailing excursion......

A few hours into the first day of our ten day sail I said to Chris, “How long before we’re there?” To which he replied, “ Leigh, we ARE there. This is where we want to be. Sailing on the open waters, sun shining, sipping cocktails.”

I laughed and rolled my eyes. But he was right. And those words will forever ring clear in such moments moving forward.

We ate and drank and swam and rode bikes and sailed and sunned and discovered new coastal towns. Just the two of us. In a way, it was kind of like another honeymoon. Until Hurricane Irene threatened to send us sailing all the way back to Connecticut on day four. Over wine and a gorgeous sunset off the back of the boat in the middle of the Edgartown Harbor in Martha’s Vineyard, we decided to take our chances and continue on the with the trip. We assured ourselves this was the best option considering heading back to where the storm was surely going to hit was not a safe bet for the boat or for us. We would ride the storm out in Nantucket! Perfect.

The sail to Nantucket was absolutely beautiful. Perfect amount of wind and we practically flew there. The harbor was packed but when we arrived they had a mooring ball waiting for us. The harbor master pulled up, helped us with our lines, and handed over a booklet of information on the island. So cute!

We walked around the crowded town a bit and then headed back to the boat to nap shower and get ready for the evening. A friend from CT was vacationing on the island and she had invited us to dinner at The Galley. We happy hour’d on the boat and then dined with our toes in the sand near the crashing waves of the ocean.

The next morning…..we got kicked of the island. They were going to evacuate the harbor and we had to go. But go WHERE??? We can’t go back to CT. We’ll never make it in time and the storm would be WAY worse down there! We quickly decided to go back to Martha’s and started the sail back.

RIDICULOUS wind gusts and seriously tall waves did not make for a pretty commute back. In fact, the head sail completely snapped out of it’s tight closure and spun all the way out loudly flapping in the wind. Chris and I looked at each other stunned. What the hell where we supposed to do now?? We both just sat there for what seemed like ages staring at the beautiful sail flap hysterically. It was painful to watch. I knew it was just being beat to death and not only that-the lines of the gorgeous cloth were beating the deck to death busting out lights and nailing the port hole windows. Chris was frozen and panicked. And I shouted at him to “do something!!” “I’m thinking! I’m going back to sailing 101,” he replied to no one. It was too windy. We couldn’t tighten the lines. And we couldn’t just keep going this way. How was I to grab the mooring when we arrived? The sail would either pitch me over or beat me to death. “We have to get it down,” he finally stated solemnly.

I asked if he had a life line. We hooked it onto his life jacket and then to the boat. He would manually pull the sail down and stuff it into the captain’s quarters at the bow of the boat. He handed me a knife and told me to cut the lines if he couldn’t pull it close enough to him. Then he told me how to turn the boat around if he fell off.

I was FREAKING out. I had completely forgotten how to use the radio? “What button do I push to call the coastguard? Sit on your bottom and scoot out there. Can we just turn the boat off? Let’s turn the engine off! BE CAREFUL!!” I shouted to him as he walked up.

I frantically watched on as he tried with all this might to get the thing down. He was hidden now, standing in the porthole and buried beneath sailcloth. My heart pounding, I watched for an arm to reach out and grasp at yet another bunch. After a time had passed without seeing anything, I was convinced he was suffocating under all the material and I scooted up to the bow. Without a lifeline. Stupid. I know. I then tried with all my might to help him get the last bit down. He was in pain and exhausted with scratches all over his arms and back. But he did it…

It was over.

What if I had lost him? 



Thursday, September 15, 2011

In Print

We've been SO busy working on the house that I really haven't had a moment to write! 
So I'll just share these images from the September/October issue of Serendipity magazine. They're from the shoot I did at the Racetrack back in July. 










Wednesday, August 17, 2011

CT or Bust

So, we're here. For good. Full-time Connecticut residents. I wasn't planning for this quite yet (and we all know I am a planner). But the economy took a nose dive and so did our plans to gut renovate. Chris and I made a pretty solid decision to hold off on the major work until things are a little less volatile in the marketplace. We were supposed begin the work in two weeks, which meant moving back to our little studio in the city until the house was ready. I was kind of looking forward to that. I never really said goodbye to NY, because I always thought we'd be going back. We still have the studio and can of course go in anytime. It's just different... 

However, this was the smartest, safest, and least stressful decision we could have made and we are both super happy with it. We don't need the extra space (yet) and our house is such a gem. It just needs a little help. 

So, we are "sprucing"! The (new) plan is to paint the entire house inside and out, re-finish the floors, add some new furniture, do some landscaping and get on with it. 

I've never done this before and I'm a little anxious. I must have perused the Benjamin Moore color wheel a thousand times. Ballet White? Antique White? White Dove? Maritime White? How is one to choose? Or know what will look best? I nervously settled for Sailcloth for the living room. I'm afraid I chose based on name. But it looks good! Kind of boring, but neutral. Chris wants to paint the ENTIRE house stark white. Absolutely not. So in order to compromise, I must pick boring neutrals that are mere shades away from white.

I'll post before and after pics soon! 

Friday, August 12, 2011

Gorgeous Girls

Bella and Linnea came to visit a couple of weeks ago. We went to the beach, painted bird houses, cooked out and had a sleepover :) How GORGE are these girls???






my favorite shot :) 






Saturday, July 30, 2011

Blueberries!

I made these Blueberry Crumb Bars a couple of weeks ago. I got the recipe off of 
Note: I found that putting them in the fridge to store makes them less crunchy! I like crunch, so def won't store in fridge next time...





Oh, and I ran out of blueberries-so I threw in some raspberries I had. LOVED the raspberries in this recipe. Would add more next time. 









Wednesday, July 27, 2011

You've GOT to be kidding me?

You've got to be kidding me #1: 
We have Reinier's car this week-YAY! I drive to Tod's Point yesterday morning, arriving at 7AM on the DOT (again, if you go before 7AM, no pass required). 
The woman comes out of her booth saying, "Can I help you?" 
I reply sweetly, "Is it after 7?" 
"Yes, it's 7:01." 
Me, "Oh, well 7:01?" Thinking, who cares?! It's one minute past. I'll be more prompt next time :) 
She doesn't budge. "Town rules." 
WHAT?! I say, "Really?" 
Robotically, "Town rules." 
UGH. I turn around, pull my phone out of my purse and notice: it's 7:00AM RIGHT THIS MINUTE! I pull BACK around. 
"Ma'am, my phone says 7!" holding my phone out the window for her to see. 
"Well my clock says 7:03!" What?? How did we just advance three minutes in a matter of 30 seconds??? 
"Well, my phone is on satellite time-most accurate!" 
Angrily, "Do you live here!? Where is your pass?!" 
"I don't have one yet!" 
"TOWN RULES!" 
You've GOT to be kidding me.

You've got to be kidding me #2: 
So, I have the car this week, right? I am thrilled to venture out to Whole Foods in Cos Cob! After driving around (lost) for half an hour, I arrive to find Whole Foods closed. They lost power. You've GOT to be kidding me. 

And finally, You've got to be kidding me #3:
I drop off a couple of dresses and a scarf at the dry cleaners, they hand me my ticket, I leave. Glancing down at the ticket in the car, I notice that to dry clean a small scarf cost $10.50! I bought the scarf at a yard sale for $2!! It's not even real silk! And a dress-$19.75?! I could buy a whole new dress for $20!!! You've GOT to be kidding me????



Monday, July 25, 2011

Hot & (Totally) Bothered

To save $89.99, I took Big Red into the city for a tune-up on Thursday. It was free at HUB where we bought our bikes. And as my only mode of transportation, the poor thing has taken a beating over the past couple of weeks.  

It was about 110 degrees in the city on Thursday. I rode to the Old Greenwich train station around 10AM (you can only take bikes on trains that arrive at Grand Central AFTER 11AM). As people stared, I lugged Big Red up two flights of stairs, spilling my coffee all into the basket AND into my helmut resting in my basket. Ugh. No one offered to help. 


Then I wheeled her onto the train and took an awkward seat around her. We arrived at Grand Central, and walking off I notice we are at the lower level. Awesome. I pick the bike up (barely) and walk up FOUR flights of stairs to ground level. Chanting, "I can do it. I can do it." The thing ways a TON. 

Again, no one offers to help. Well, ok, I take that back. One old man said to me gruffly, "want me to help?" No no, I've got it. Don't bother. He tried to pick up the back, but it only made it worse. 

Where are all the gentlemen when you need them?? Oh, right... I'm in yankee-ville. Not down in the sweet South. 

Shoot. 

I feel as if I might faint. I now have to walk the damn thing down 42nd street across eleven avenues till I reach the West Side Hwy. Now I am chanting, "I can't do it. I can't doooooo it."

Dripping. My elbows and eyelids were sweating. Finger tips and toe-nails, sweating. Anything that could sweat-was. 

DRIPPING. 

I finally make it. Get on, and cruise down to Charles street. Drop my bike off with George and proceed to wipe my entire body off with paper towels. My pretty little silk,  just-dry-cleaned dress is SOAKED. Gross. 

ooops, these are out of order. Big Red in Times Square & (below) Grand Central


I want to badly to just cruise around my old hood for a bit, before meeting Alst for lunch. But in this heat-there was no way. I hop in a cab. I'm WAY early, so I stop into Red Cat, sit at the bar with my book and sip on pink sangria and snack on cold fresh radishes :) 

Alst and I chat catch up over lunch :)  Then I head to photog class, where we work with reflectors and diffusers. SO much fun!! 


Below are my two best shots of the class assistant, Oscar. 


I beg Chris to stay in the city for dinner and we do. We meet downtown at Hudson Clearwater. SO delish! I took the Highline down. These are some shots from the new addition. 






Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Look!

I spotted these guys outside my window this afternoon. 
I can't WAIT to get our board over here. 


Date Night!

Last night the two of us set out for great conversation and great Mexican food! 

Not Chris and me. But me and my new fun Greenwich friend, Virginia. (Remember the cute housewarming cookies? From her :) 

We met a little over a year ago at Cafe Cluny. It was a quiet afternoon at the restaurant and pregnant pretty Virginia came in for a late lunch. Right as her lunch hit the table, Virginia grabs her belly and has a distressed look on her face. I walk over from my podium, "Are you ok!?!" I think to myself-this girl about to give birth in the restaurant!? She casually replies, saying something along the lines of, "Yeah, I'm fine. I just can't eat when she's sitting right on my ribs like this!" 

I settle down and we begin chatting. I'm not sure how it all came about, but we discovered that: 

A.) She used to live in NYC. 
B.) She recently married a man 9 years older than her. (My boyfriend is 9 years older TOO!) 
C.) They had just moved to Greenwich, CT (MY boyfriend is from there, and is dying to move out there one day!) 

Anyway, we hit it off. She gave me her card and we emailed once or twice after that meeting. I even received the cutest baby announcement when her, now almost 1 year-old, was born :) 

So, when we finalized all the tedious phases of purchasing our house in Old Greenwich, I reached out to her again - filling her in on our impending move. 

We finally set a date to get together, she picked me up last night (again, no car) and we headed out to one of her faves, Lolita on the border of Greenwich and Port Chester. 

We lucked out with a table outside where there was an old movie being projected onto the restaurant wall. They started us off with like a little grapefruit granita. The server asked if we would like it topped off with a complimentary shot of tequila. But, of course!

We chatted, drank margs, and way over-ordered! We exchanged bits & pieces of each others life story and even closed the place down! oops. 

It's funny this making new friends thing. I mean, just a month ago I felt like I had a bazillion friends and knew everything there was to know about each one! But even moving just 45 minutes away-I feel WORLDS apart from them. 

Such as life, I guess. You move on. Make new friends. Keep the old, for sure! (My girlies from the city are hopefully dropping by Monday night to see the house :) But you build a life in the next locale. 

We had a great time and it was nice to have some girly talks. Thanks Virginia :) 

P.S. I did get up at 5:30AM to make Chris breakfast... HOWEVER, I went RIGHT back to sleep for another 3 hours when he left. I figured if you could wake up with a baby after going to sleep at 1AM and not be able to go back to bed. I could at least do this ;)


Monday, July 18, 2011

Solo


I knew it would come. Slowly but surely, the joyous freedom, endless sunshine, and this blissful spirit have faded a bit. I've definitely felt the pangs of moving to a new place and knowing NO ONE, recently. I miss my friends. I, of course, miss the restaurants. I miss being completely alone in New York. It's different being alone out here in the burbs. I feel people wondering silently from their car windows, "who is this girl on the red bike? she is always alone.. and usually carrying many different things in her basket, and she's always in the way!" 

I say alone, I mean I do have a very sweet roommate. But he goes to work everyday. And sometimes he has to work late, or go to after work drinks. And I remain here. To sulk. 

Which is so not fair for me to even say. I couldn't ask for more right now! I have complete and utter freedom. I have NOTHING to do. (Minus the daunting task of writing thank you notes.) I can go to the beach and read a book-and I have! I can ride my bike-and I do! I can cook-yes! I can workout! I can play with my camera and write and ponder this wild and lovely little secret idea I have been harboring. 

Free as a bird. 

And I know if life continues, as it does, this freedom will be short-lived. So why not SOAK IT UP!?

I was supposed to have some friends out tonight to sip cocktails in Connecticut. Have girly chats and giggle and catch up. Well, of course, TODAY it decides it's going to rain, possibly even HAIL. It hasn't rained one day since we moved out here. 

Re-scheduling is a nightmare with such fun & busy girls and we find ourselves settling on next week. Sigh.... 

So, I sit alone with my book, homemade walnut pesto pasta and a glass of wine. At 5PM, mind you-with no husband to wait for (work drinks) there is no need to wait to serve dinner for one. 

I watch the rain from inside and listen to weird Indian music. Chris' brother has an affinity for finding cool and interesting tunes and then creating great play lists. It's actually pretty calming. I feel like I'm in yoga class! 



It's raining. But no hail. (It's actually really bright out!) I know that tomorrow will be the same. Unless I take advantage of this time that I have. Which Chris reminds me of often, "I am lucky to have it!" And it's true. Fast forward five years and two or three children later (God willing). I'm not envisioning much free time? Or much wine for that matter! 

So tomorrow WILL be different. I will work on my photography website-almost ready for a reveal! I will write more than five thank you notes, and I will continue to research and toil away at this little idea that I hope will one day come into fruition. And I will appreciate every second of it. Rather than feeding into the loneliness...