lovingkindness

"in the babemba tribe of south africa, when a person acts irresponsibly or unjustly, he is placed in the center of the village, alone and unfettered. all work ceases, and everyone in the village gathers in a large circle around the accused. then each person in the tribe speaks to the accused, one at a time, recalling the good things the person has done in his life. every experience that can be recalled with detail and accuracy is recounted. all his positive attributes, good deeds, strengths, and kindnesses are recited carefully. this ceremony often lasts for several days. at the end, a joyous celebration takes place, and the person is symbolically and literally welcomed back into the tribe."

- jack kornfield, the art of forgiveness, lovingkindness, and peace

bird watching

on saturday afternoon, emily, annie and i met up with a bird watching club in brooklyn. it was a group of twenty bird enthusiasts of all ages and levels. we explored prospect park and enjoyed the beautiful weather and the beautiful park. we spotted song birds, warblers, flickers, hummingbirds and kingfishers. you wouldn't believe some of the birder's knowledge and passion. you wouldn't believe how peaceful it was.

a lovely day

night

nothing beats a night sitting out on my fire escape reading a wonderful book, listening to old records and to the sounds of the city. 

a well-rounded young woman

my friend ashley lightheartedly says that she has a dowry. she has a collection of beautiful things (mainly home related items) that she has obtained over the years that she will put into use at an unidentified time. i love the idea of this. to have a compilation of things that you love and are delighted by for when there is a purpose for them.

i have been thinking lately of a collection, not necessarily of possessions, but rather a variety of talents. a trousseau of wonderful and remarkable party tricks, fascinating subjects to talk about and ingenious crafty endeavors. to entertain myself and to charm others! isn’t that a wonderful thought? to stretch every possible interest you might have and to learn about it. right now, i have a bunch of random things going on in every different direction. some are simple, and some are not. my blog is a wonderful place to record these and to share my ever expanding repertoire. i will begin to post more about this in future entries. this weekend, i am going to be bird watching in prospect park, but for tonight, i am teaching myself a fairly impressive card trick. just in case.

wholesome fun

this weekend i went to my hometown of orange, connecticut's country fair with jenna, emily and my mom. though incredibly hokey, there was something so charmingly sentimental about it. livestock. hay bale tosses. tractor pulls. prized flowers. misshapen vegetables and third grader's crafts. running into old friends and eating fried dough.

when we arrived, the first exhibit we went to was the crafts. it was so wonderful to see the work of the townspeople on display. everyone got a ribbon. either first or second place. the last time i went to this fair, many years ago, there were definitely third place ribbons. it made me smile to see that they were eliminated. every exhibit, from the largest pumpkin in town to drawings by kindergartners, really had a delightfully simple appeal to it. these were the proud accomplishments of the town that they wanted to show off!

orange is a rather idyllic town, especially to grow up in. life is easy there and i can really appreciate it.

me and my mama

the fair wouldn't be the fair without fried dough (with sauce and sugar) or fried oreos!

the importance of knobs

annie lived in buenos aires from october to june, and in that time she missed our big move to the big apple. so when she came to visit, five days after arriving back to the united states, we had a lot of business to attend to in regards to what treasures i have collected in this time. a shared love of home decorating first bonded us together. so the beautiful sun was shining through my window, causing my room to be perfectly sun-drenched as we sat on my bed looking at everything i have accumulated and old favorites i have kept. we admired. and we remembered. and then, we realized that there was one thing that did not fit with my scheme of vintage floral loveliness, my dresser knobs. one dozen silver, cylindrical, modern knobs. they simply did not work. it started to drive us crazy. fifteen minutes later, we were dressed, out the door and off to anthropologie. we were officially knob shopping. this is a more detailed process than you might expect. there are so many beautiful options. but when we saw them, we knew. and what i ended up with was perfection. white and gold and for the top two, beautiful yellow flowers! classic with a bit of whimsy!

sushi

i love when i get take out sushi because it more than likely comes with that gratuitous piece of plastic grass. sushi, soy sauce, wasabi, ginger. necessary. the grass? no real purpose that i can see, except there to make me smile! from vermont to new york city, no city too big or too small, that little green cut out of happiness is in my tray. and i am rather pleased.

ashley

for the past eight months, the doorman at my office building has been calling me ashley. he must have misheard me long ago. ashley and lindsey do sound quite similar. every morning he greets me with a cheerful "hello ashley!" and usually lets people get on a crowded elevator and saves an empty one for me. he remembers that i work on the 7th floor and will press the elevator button for me. i think this is particularly nice because there are 22 floors and so many people that he would have to remember in order to press their correct floor, so i must be one of his favorites. but for some inexplicable reason, i just never corrected him on my name. and then it became too late. there is no way i can tell him now. nevertheless, i have come to really appreciate that he always makes the effort to greet me by name and it brightens up my morning.

dear diary

i started keeping a diary when i was eleven years old. back then, i thought that it would be really nice to see in the future what i was like when i was a kid. that is was what my first entry had said. that thought has kept me motivated to be a very dedicated diarist for over twelve years. my diary is totally worthy of being published. all eight volumes. though i cringe at the thought of anyone ever reading it. but for your viewing pleasure, i am including a few entries in this post. just to give everyone a taste of what i was like before i became the highly sophisticated, lovely young woman i am today!

my early diaries are mostly filled with little lindsey being completely boy crazy (and, let's be honest, maybe some of my most recent entries are too.) i had a crush on every boy. and was absolutely in love with them. and hated them the next day. and then loved them again. there is nothing like the emotional enthusiasm of a twelve year old girl and am glad to have that captured on paper.

my diary has been with me everywhere. junior high, summer camp, first boyfriend, first breakup, first day of college, last day of college, pets, surgery, vacations, first job interview, first job offer, first new york city apartment. everything. all of the scandal in my life. all of the happiness. and maybe more importantly, the average days. for two years straight (2006-2008) i kept alongside my diary, a notebook where i would write one thing that happened that day. everyday. so many significant events happen in your life. wouldn't it be nice to see what happened eleven years earlier on that exact day? one day you can be getting married and years earlier, on that same day, you could have been feeding ducks at the pond, completely unaware of what the future had in store for you.

okay, now for some insight into my young mind. my parents should be really glad that i turned out the way that i did. seriously. here are some gems from my finest years:

age: 11 (1997):

age: nearly 12 (1998):

age: nearly 13 (1999):

yikes.

police

i like to think that when policemen are told that they will be riding a police horse around new york city on that day, they act casually, but inside they are completely delighted! 

movie star

when i am a movie star, i am going to be really nice to everyone!

even and especially to fourth graders.

the chandelier

i live above an antique shop on bedford street. actually, three of them. and in one these shops, there was the most exceptionally beautiful chandelier. i noticed it one of the first days i moved in. it was hanging right in the entrance of the store and, for anyone i ever walked past it with, i always pointed out its beauty. i loved, loved, loved it. then one day in june, the chandelier was gone and another was in its place. it was a sad day. though i knew i never could afford this chandelier any time soon (it was twice my rent), i always enjoyed looking at it's vintage-y elegance.

fast forward two months to last tuesday, i was walking past the shop, and in the very far back corner, there it was. it had not been sold. the store was just simply rearranged. so i went in, and as always with camera in hand, i asked to take some pictures for a "friend who was decorating her new apartment."

i was absolutely delighted just to see it again and told several friends the good news. emily looked at the pictures of it and said "why don't you just make that yourself?" and that was probably one of em's greatest ideas. i was so excited all week to come home to connecticut, where i had a very simple chandelier frame that i had from college. there is nothing better than a good craft project. i spent all weekend on it. it took three days, two trips to the craft store, one can of flat-white spray paint and almost 750 beads.

the frame:

many, many hours of beading:

and voila:

i also have the original glasses that go into the metal rings that will hold candles, and crystals that i inherited from my great aunt celia to hang from the frame. 

oh, i love a good diy. 

the view

right before i left for college, my parents demolished our home and rebuilt anew. foundation and all. it took about a year to complete. but it was built in the exact same spot as our home before. so i have basically lived in the same place my entire life. the thing that is strange, i think, is that the view out of my bedroom window is about fifteen feet to the left of what it used to be. a new perspective.

fish

i bought myself a treasure candle. as it burned, a prize emerged from the wax. and what appeared, was a golden fish.

sweet revenge

one of the best things about my apartment: there is the best cupcake shop in new york city around my corner.

you really have not had a cupcake until you’ve had one at sweet revenge.

everything is perfection. the cake. the frosting. the delightful presentation. the neighborhood-y feel. the owner that is always there and that is always friendly and that everyone comes in just to say hello to. the fact that each flavor comes rather expertly matched with a wine cocktail or beer. if ever a conversation is leaning slightly towards anything cupcake related, i suggest sweet revenge. i take all of my visitors here.

i have tried them all (thanks mom for the box full of every flavor!) but the gem is definitely the raspberry red velvet with cream cheese frosting. this is the best red velvet. ever. they also have some savory goodies, like the jamaican curry cake (with chickpeas, ricotta, red pepper and coconut curry dipping sauce) and a delectable little croque monsieur, but really, you must have a cupcake!

sweet revenge

62 carmine street
nyc 10014

www.sweetrevengenyc.com