Pets in costume

Hi Mom,

So in New York, people go beyond getting their kids dressed up for Halloween. They dress their pets.

Some of the costumes for pets are more elaborate than what I'm planning on wearing. This dog is dressed like a lobster. I saw another dog in a workout suit. And a third in a tutu.

Time to go figure out my costume. I used to think I was too old to participate in this great American tradition (lifted from the pagans, who at some point had some rather unmonotheistic-sounding ceremonies), but then I realized that here--not that you need a reason to wear something strange in the streets of New York City--it was just an excuse to wear something silly.

Love,
Karen

To know how to sew

Hi Mom,

I'm getting pretty crafty these days. Today I was down in the garment district--that's where all the designers go to get bolts of shiny fabric to line their runway dresses. There are stores that just sell fasteners, stores that only sell trimming, one or two that promise to teach even people like me how to sew. I tried to Google them; apparently it's more of a find-as-you-stroll kind of thing.

I mostly like the giant bolts. They lean against the walls in store after store and I wonder how hard it would actually be to make something wearable out of them. The people making purchases seem pretty confident, but I'm not so sure. I may be better off just going to H&M.

Love,
Karen

Yarn Wall

Hi Mom,

Making a scarf in New York City is more expensive than buying one. I went to a store that sells more colors, textures and genres of yarn than I had ever imagined possible. It was like a Disney World for yarn.

In the back, a table full of people were learning how to make sleeves, necklines and hems. At the register, women and men held bags full of yarns, ringing up hundreds of dollars in potential mittens, sweaters and baby booties.

A corkboard at the front of the store listed events for learning special stitches, classes at hundreds of dollars apiece. There were groups for men, movie knit nights; a whole community full of knitters.

Me, I think I'll stick to buying the stuff they sell on tables out on the streets. I don't have the attention span for this particular hobby, anyhow. But it sure looks impressive.

Love,
Karen

Mom Monet

Hi Mom,

Guess whose famous Water Lilies picture I saw today?

That's right, your favorite impressionist, Claude Monet. A whole room full of Monet is currently at the MoMA.

I thought of you and your easel.

Love,
Karen

Frosted inspiration

Hi Mom,

Look. I was given an inspirational cake. Very motivational. And it tastes good, too.

Bonus: I hear its pareve. How is that even possible? Tasty chocolate cake that goes with everything...

Love,
Karen

Carnegie Hall

Hi Mom,

Thought of you tonight. I went to Carnegie Hall and saw an amazing performance by Murray Perahia, one of Soojung's favorite piano players. She heard him in Korea at some point and jumped on the tickets as soon as they went up for sale. It's a good thing, too, because the place sold out.

I was waiting to pick up my ticket at Will Call. "I'm here for the piano player," I told the guy at the window. He handed me my ticket with a smile. "He's not just a piano player," sniped a woman in the lobby. "He's Murray Perahia, and he's famous." How nice of her to clarify.

She must be from New York.

Love,
Karen

Always looking for tiny cups

Hi Mom,

They're having a sale at Fish's Eddy on these small cups. I walked in, saw them and thought, they're the perfect size for honey.

Guess I've been well-trained. To be fair, they're actually a little bigger than you might want for something like that, but if you think they look like the size you'd like, let me know. I think the sale runs through Friday.

Love,
Karen

Banana

Hi Mom,

I had stopped to buy a banana from my friendly neighborhood street fruit vendor when I realized I had no cash on me. "Hello," he said. "How are you?" I mumbled something about being an idiot and forgetting to carry change (a whopping 35 cents, I mean shouldn't I have that just rolling around the bottom of my purse?).

He smiled at me and pointed at the cart. "No problem, no problem," he said. "You can pay me tomorrow."

That was nice.

Love,

Karen

Museum of Higher Art

Hi Mom,

A group of little kids sketched with great diligence. They looked up at the large, abstract picture on the MoMA wall and scrunched their up their tiny faces, intensely concentrated on making most perfect, pad-sized replicas. "Teacher, teacher, does mine look the same?" The woman with the volunteer sticker on smiled at the little girl, who happened to be adorably missing a front tooth.

I thought to myself, this is a job I could do. But then I found out, it's not. I asked.

The volunteer explained that most people who work with the kids have PhDs in art. Or at least, a Master's. Barring that, it would be unlikely that you would get to interact with the kids, she explained. I know who Dali is, and I'm not sticking a pencil up my nose like the little boy in the back of the group, I thought to myself. I FEEL qualified. But then again, I guess people do send their little kids to art class to actually learn from people who know about it, and probably want reassurance it won't just be well, someone like me. Back to the drawing board. Literally and figuratively.

Love,

Karen

Books on shelves

Hi Mom,

Once upon a time, a little while ago, before Kindles and iPhones even existed, there were libraries. 

I went to one today, the Brooklyn Public Library, and was reminded why libraries are so great. They smell just like I remember them. 

Book dust, juice boxes and librarian hairspray all rolled into one. And even better, they're full of books.

I used to go all the time as a kid, remember? I'd emerge with stacks taller than I was and gobble the books up in a weekend, then go back for more. The main media room these days--it's called a media room because people go there for media maybe even more than they do to look for books--was full on this particular Saturday afternoon. I felt compelled to look up kids' books I liked, and then checked to see if they had grown-up ones I hadn't read and wanted to borrow.

If I could ever remember to return the books on time, I'd start checking them out again. For now, I think it's still cheaper for me to buy.

Love,

Karen

Charlie

Hi Mom,

This is Charlie. She was at the Brooklyn flea market today in the cold, telling fortunes for a quarter. She was quick to explain that she sells bracelets as well. Good marketing, but I only had a quarter, and a borrowed one at that. 

You ask her any question and she gives you a fortune in a clear plastic ball, which has either "yes" or "no" written on it. I asked if one day I'd have a fabulous career doing exactly what I loved for lots of money. She said yes. Good enough for me. 

Bonus: hot chocolate, chili and cupcakes were on sale at the market, too. I may have sampled some or all of the above. Except for the bacon-flavored cupcakes. They sounded strange. 

Love,

Karen

Haunted

Hi Mom,

First there was trick-or-treating, then there was haunted housing.

After years of being a regular at the white-trailer-turned-haunted-house next to K-Mart, I graduated in high school to haunted houses in Milford, Pontiac and other hard-to-find venues. We'd all pile in someone's car in costume and see where adventure took us.

In New York, they've taken it to a whole new level.

Went driving out into Pennsylvania somewhere to a combination haunted cornfield, hayride and house fiasco. They really left no rock unturned, and must have employed at least 150 people between the caramel apples and the ghouls leaping out from, well, everywhere.

To their credit, the haunted house's elements were much more Disney's Haunted Mansion than they were Freddie versus Jason. The special effects were neat, and the makeup well done. Apparently the team that runs it usually does staging for shows.

My favorite part? Clearly the carmel apple.

Love,
Karen

In the white dress

Hi Mom,

The lady in the white dress is standing randomly on 21st street behind a building, her lips pursed and then pouty. She turns away from the handsome 50's-style guy standing next to her. "I don't want anything to do with you," she mouths dramatically. Ten cameras flash. They thank him very much and he continues on his way down the street.

It's lunchtime and they are doing some kind of dress shoot. I know this because I ask them, and they look offended that I've asked, which is strange because I waited until they were done shooting. Or at least, on a break. I think I overheard them saying it was for Vogue. Anything's possible around here.

I wonder how they picked this street in particular. Looks just like most of the others in the area. Especially from the loading dock side. That's today's New York moment.

Love,

Karen

Two hot dogs, with love

Hi Mom,

At noon today I ate two hot dogs in honor of Deborah Weisserman.

She was a really rare sort—what she built in terms of her family, her business and her relationships never ceased to amaze me.

I feel so lucky to have worked at the store with her, Harold and Maureen, to have eaten cinnamon rolls, bagels and melba toast with tuna salad from the bathroom/kitchen, and watched her make everyone’s occasion so incedibly special.

They really made me part of the family.

Deborah had chutzpah, class and so much love. I loved the stories she told, the way she told them, and how at the end of the day she decided it was just as easy to write on the computer tower as to type on the darn machine.

Plus, as she always used to say, she raised good kids.

Two hot dogs, all the fixin's. And many fond memories.

Love,
Karen

Union Square, the hut

Hi Mom,

All Chabad had to do was put up a little hut, and suddenly it's all anyone in Union Square can talk about.

It has outdone the kittens for adoption, the art made of photographs from the 70s, the whole bit. That's some solid sukkah marketing.

"Hey Joe, aren't you Jewish? Shouldn't you be in that hut over there?" Two construction workers sat on the edge of the concrete fountain adjacent to the sukkah. "Nah, I'm not a Jew, but maybe Mike is. Hey Mike, you a Jew?"

The little kids with payas, NYU students shaking the lulav and the general ruckus of the market all rolled into one--just what holidays were made for. I'm going to get a sandwich.

Love,

Karen

Follow them where?

Hi Mom,

These days, everyone is on Twitter, Facebook, you name it. And they want me to follow them. From the treats truck (I get it, it's mobile) to the Scrabble Club, they want to let me know they'll be there for me whenever I want them to be. The rest of the time, too.

But when WHOLE FOODS wants me to be its friend, well, there I might just have to draw the line. Unless they're planning on keeping me up to date on their line, like the nice people at Shake Shack, I'm not sure what being "friends" with my overpriced neighborhood grocery store will do for me. It has a few tastings here and there, maybe they're getting into more events and want to let me know when they are, but in general, I go there to buy produce, when I go there at all.

The chalkboard was cute, I just don't know how up-to-the-minute on my groceries I need to be.

Love,

Karen