Bubbles!

I don't know if I've ever mentioned this before, but I really like bubbles. While I was walking through Central Park with my sister last week, we saw a man making enormous bubbles. Of course we had to watch and admire the Bubble Man. As we left, we gave him a few dollars ... and then he said we could make some bubbles! Katherine immediately got in on the action while I manned the camera.

Obviously I have a new dream: to be the Bubble Lady. Excuse me, I have to go build myself an enormous bubble wand now.

One Day In The City

At the end of my July New York trip, I spent one day in the City with my sister. While she was at her French class, I read by the window in her apartment and admired the view:

An hour before she got back, I ventured outside for a walk and walked with my head tilted back so I could admire the buildings. I might as well have been wearing a t-shirt that said Please Mug Me, I'm An Idiot Tourist.

I only had five minutes to pop inside Grand Central Station, but really, that's all the time you need.

After lunch in Chelsea, my sister and I walked along the High Line, a public park built on an old elevated rail track. Artwork is scattered along the route, and the foliage in July was lush and beautiful. It's a great perspective of the City: you get to look down on traffic and see the City stretching before you.

I could have spent all day on the High Line, except it was about 90 degrees outside, humid and SUNNY. I could theoretically handle the heat and humidity, but I am a vampire that turns to ash in the sun. But at least we walked far enough to see the Empire State Building.

After a visit to the Guggenheim, my sister and I bought macarons at Laduree and then gorged ourselves while sitting on a bench in Central Park. The boats are operated by remote controls that you can rent, and we considered renting two controls... but the boats drift along slowly, like boat turtles. No fun. I want the boats to speed around the lake at 50 mph and then self-destruct in an enormous fire ball. But, I suppose the slow mellow boats are more photogenic.

Thank you, Katherine, for a wonderful sister day in the City! I give you permission to continue living in Manhattan, because the Big Apple is so much fun to visit. (But you do need to come home for Labor Day, Columbus Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and Arbor Day.)

The Hamptons

While I was in the Hamptons earlier this month, I enjoyed a lovely day with my Grandma Shirley at Cooper's Beach. It's a beautiful beach with clean sand, relatively clean bathrooms, and a friendly beach chair/umbrella rental service.

It's the Hamptons, so they try to keep the beach exclusive with expensive parking. By "expensive parking," I mean "forty bucks" a.k.a. "the price of a nice dinner for two." My inner Scrooge would have thrown a shit fit at the thought of paying $40 for the honor of parking my car, but fortunately, we had a free parking pass for residents (BOO YAH).

You might think that an expensive beach at the Hamptons has an exclusive, classy crowd, but you would be wrong. While I was sitting with my grandma, I heard a gentleman shout, "Come here and play frisbee, you lazy punt!" (Note: he did not say punt. He shouted, for all to hear, including children, a certain word that rhymes with "punt.") Also, while sitting with my grandma, a woman walked by in a thong bikini. By "thong bikini," I mean "we saw her entire ass." It was a well-toned ass, but I did not need to see any woman's bare naked butt during my beach day, especially while sitting with my grandmother. If I wanted to see lots of naked tushees, I'd go to Brazil or a nude beach.

I also went on a road trip to Greenport with my mom, sister and grandma that involved two ferry crossings. We do not have a lot of ferries in Southern California. Who first came up with the idea of loading a bunch of cars on to a boat and then going out into open water? It just doesn't seem safe.