Sunday, July 27

summer days in new york city

a summer thunderstorm is moving through the valley out my window and streaks of lightning are flashing in the sky. it is a perfect evening. the kind when neighbors sit out on their porches and comment on the weather and the kids ride around on their bikes. we are to the slow crawl here at the end of july. the heat is beginning to break a bit, thank goodness as anything near 100 degrees has me wilting. i have been wanting to post about our week in new york but i am just relishing these last few days of summer. once august hits we are gearing up to go back to school and i am getting things ready for my classes.
so this week i spent a whole day reading a book, went biking up the canyon, stopped at the corn stand, did things that i love to do in the summer without a schedule.


we didn't take enough pictures on our trip to new york of course! this time because i didn't want to look like a dopey tourist or i didn't want to drag my big camera with all the walking we did. this is the view outside our hotel window. looked like gotham city. in fact we tried to go see the new batman movie on opening night but it was all sold out. as it turned out one of the places i wanted to go manhattan costume supply was right across the street. everything a person would need to be a costumer on a movie set. one aisle had 15 different kinds of fake blood, non-drying, drying, light, medium, dark, it was crazy.



central park was beautiful, one of the places marina wanted to see. we asked a lady to take our photo and she didn't speak any english, but the photo turned out to be our best one together. thank you nice lady. . .
one of my favorite stores of course was tinsel trading. they were moving to a new store so i think i caught them not on their best day but i loved digging through the cardboard boxes they brought up from the basement that were filled with old button cards with all the paper turning to dust. the wall of flowers took my breath away. imagine me digging through all the lovely boxes of vintage flowers.




china town was amazing! we went to pearl paint a five story art supply store that had everything i could ever imagine. a whole floor of paper, a whole floor of paint, an aisle of masking tapes. it was fantastic. we both spent hours looking at every thing. lunch was at the excellent dumpling house. noone spoke english, we just pointed to the pictures on the menu. the food was the best chinese i have ever had. wish that place was close by :)




on the streets there were vendors selling fruits we had never seen before. i stopped and tried everything. at the open air fish market however i did not. a big plastic tub of octopus basking in the heat. the smell was suffocating. the markets were so fun to walk through, we picked out a whole sack of chinese candy to bring home for the family to try. the packaging was too adorable to resist.




we went to lots of museums to take in all the underground art we could find. the museum of modern art had a big salvador dali exhibit going on, what a weird guy. his photo was fantastic though. the museum docent said there is a book just on salvador dali's mustache.
this was my favorite exhibit. a room full of light fixtures that had been dipped in the dead sea until they formed salt crystals. they had them hanging in front of a big screen where a silent film was running of a woman swimming with 100 watermelons strung together making weird formations.


in soho we found the coolest small galleries. we saw an original character sketch by tim burton of the corpse bride he had done on the cardboard inside of a cereal box along with the designs for the original disney sleeping beauty, signed dr suess originals and an original pencil sketch of winnie the pooh. the energy in these works was unmistakable!
i bought this piece from an artist the had a table on the street during the saturday art fair. her name is Vartouhi Pinkston. the etching is so tiny and hand watercolored. marina bought several pieces as well. magic. . .



mood fabrics was another three story wonder. i didn't know where to even begin. here are two photos from the bottom floor of upholstery fabrics. it was so fun to see pages from fashion magazines with top designer fashions on the walls with swatches of the original fabrics stapled to the paper. oh to have this magical store at my backdoor when i needed it.


just before we left town we stopped at dylan's candy bar. three stories of candy. the stairs were poured resin with candy set in. each landing had a saying spelled out in candy. 'stairway to candy heaven' and 'may each step you take be sweet'.
a wonderland, you can find everything there imaginable. old fashioned candies from your childhood. i brought home some ultimate sour war head drops. sorry, they are long gone. . . .

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! Tinsel Trading looks off the hook! *drool*
Looks like you had a fabulous time in NYC!
xoxo
Dollybelle

Amy Huff said...

So glad you guys had an awesome trip and were able to see such lovely sites!

Lilli in Vancouver said...

Sigh.....it sounds like you did it right, hit many wonderful spots :) I haven't been there since grade 10, but the memories are forever in technicolor

Laurie G. said...

Hi J, Hi M! What a fun trip! I'm drooling over those velvety aqua fabrics!

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad you girls had such a fun time! Thanks for sharing the pictures.... can I say that I would decorate my entire house with those aqua fabrics.... to die for!

Maija said...

What a wonderful time you two had!!! I think my head would have exploded in the fabric store!

candice Elton said...

I can't believe those fabrics. How lovely. What an adorable picture of you both. A trip to remember.......

Dede Warren said...

It sounds like you two had a wonderful trip, and saw so much! It's great that both of you share a creative spirit, and are able to enjoy many of the same places, a true blessing.

Jennifer said...

Isn't NYC the best!!! I am so fortunate to be close by to go whenever I can. I love to hear about other peoples experiences though and you seemed to get alot in! I had no idea that TT was moving!!! Where are they going?

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness ... the blue velvet fabric in the photo was amazing!!!! I have always dreamed of going to Tinsel Trading.
Thanks for sharing,
melissa

Beth said...

oh you lucky girl - i would love to go into tinsel trading - someday !!looks like you had a blast !!

xo,
beth

m i c h e l l e said...

Oh what a fantastic trip!!! For not taking very many pictures, you sure got some super shots!!! I love 'em all but that very last one with the candy spattered floor and "may each step be sweet" sentiment? LOVE IT!!!

Dale said...

How utterly fabulous! It looks like you guys had a really great trip in new york. I would love to go there some time just for the shopping. And then on top of the shopping there is the food.... i think i'd be in heaven!!!

Kelly Henderson said...

What a great time you must have had on your trip. New York must almost be visual overload for artists! Inspiration at every turn it looks like... It's hot in good ole Utah isn't it?--I wish it would cool down a bit. Have a good one!

Lorrie said...

Sounds like you had a wonderful time in NYC. I'm so jealous of your visit to Tinsel Trading.

Lorrie

Bethany said...

Oh you had such a fun time it seems!! You went to all the favs I stop at each summer....you're making me drool!!! I am hoping and praying we are able to fit it in this year but things are going so crazy busy...sigh...well I have to get back to work but thank you so much for the tour :)
BTW yep I'm a tinsel trading cardboard box girl too! I have found things in them even they didn't remember having! he he :)

kristin said...

ahhh...Tinsel Trading co. does it really get any better than that?

Sandra Evertson said...

Wow, fabulous photos!
Sandra

Jenn said...

What an adventure. I have always dreamed of going there and love to visit Tinsel Trading online... but I am sure it doesn't compare to the "real" thing. Thanks for sharing Julie!

Whitney Johnson said...

So glad you got to take in NYC. I used to live there (I was a nanny in the city)- now I wish I could go back and see some of the places that my grown-up self would really love! Looks like you had a wonderful time with your girl. :)

liz elayne lamoreux said...

what a magical trip! thanks for sharing bits and pieces of it...that flocked fabric has me swoooooooning...

Anonymous said...

So much fun... soaking up a place so far away from home and returning with good memories, fabric and candy. Isn't life grand?

Anonymous said...

I am green with envy! Mood Fabrics, Tinsel Trading... sigh
I can't wait to see your table at Silverbella!

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