ABC Wednesday—Y is for Happy New "YEAR"

However you're ringing in the New Year
tonight, I hope your celebration is
exactly what you want it to be—whether
that means raucous revelry or quiet and classy.
(I'm going for classy revelry myself.)
Wishing you all the best in 2015!

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

Southern comfort

In a million years I wouldn't order a
drink that look like this at home in NYC.
But head 1,000 miles south and it 
seems like just the thing.

[Linking back to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.]

Place Vendôme

My first thought when I stepped into this
square one night last year was, "where is everyone?"
Then I realized I should enjoy the solitude while it lasts.
Once the Ritz Hotel completes its 10-year,
$250 million renovation in spring of next year, this
will no longer look like a pedestrian mall.

[Linking back to Monday Mellow Yellows
and NF/Catching the Light.]

inSPIREd Sunday

Here's another view of St.-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet,
in Paris, which I've shown you once before.  
On this plaque are engraved the names of priests 
who have led this church since it
was originally built in the 13th century.

[To see more churches from around the world, go here.]

The Weekend in Black and White

I'm headed south today to ring in
the new year far away from the crowds
and cold of Times Square.  There will be friends
and family and sunshine and—who knows?—
maybe even drinks with little umbrellas.

[To see more monochromes, visit Dragonstar's meme.]

Weekend Reflections

Last night, the aftermath of Christmas Day—presents
have been opened and a yummy dinner enjoyed.
Time to put my feet up, have a moment of
solitude—and reflect on a  great holiday.
Wishing a Happy Boxing Day to all my friends
who are celebrating it today!

[To see more Weekend Reflections, visit James's meme.]

Thursday Challenge

This Thursday Challenge is meant to be
another of my favorite photos, but instead
here's one of my favorite moments of
this day—the anticipation when the presents
are all wrapped and just waiting for the
family who will arrive any moment to spend
the day here at my house.
A very merry holiday to all of you!

[To see more of the Thursday Photo Challenge, visit Dale's meme.] 

ABC Wednesday—X is for "Xmas"

"At Christmas, all roads lead home."
—Marjorie Holmes

Here's one of my hometown's most iconic
symbols (still), all lit up for the holidays.  If 
you're celebrating Christmas tomorrow,
I hope you're already just where you want 
to be, with the people you love.

[To see more ABC posts—and I bet a lot
of them are "Xmas"—go here.]

Colors of the Season

They've washed the whole place in red light 
here at the New York Palace Hotel.
(I love it when New York goes a little bit 
overboard with holiday decorations.)

[Linking back to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.]

How the Parisians deck the halls

Or, more exactly, how they decorate one
small section of the Champs-Elysées.

[To see more Blue Monday posts, visit Smiling Sally's meme.]

Cyclamen

Given my choice of Christmas flowers
(well, the ones I associate with the holidays—
poinsettias, paperwhites, Christmas cactus),
I'll take these bright pink cyclamen, please.

[To see more of Today's Flowers, go here.] 

The Weekend in Black and White

iPhones and iPads and laptops—oh my!
The Apple store in Grand Central Terminal
has been doing a brisk business lately.
(Although, honestly, it can look pretty much this
crowded on any given weekday of the year.)

[To see more monochromes, visit Dragonstar's meme.
Also linking back to the B&W Photography Project at PODcast.]

Seasonal Sentiments

Things are looking very festive right now at
Grand Central Terminal.  This shop has
photo-worthy displays year-round, with lighting
that produces excellent shadows—this
time, though, it's colorful reflections.

[To see more Weekend Reflections, visit James's meme.]

Thursday Challenge—"my favorite photo"

I'd like to thank Dale at the Thursday Photo
Challenge for permission to repeat myself.
I have lots of "favorite" photos, but this one
of a foggy Brooklyn Bridge sunrise
from last January probably tops the list.

[To see more of the Thursday Photo Challenge, visit Dale's meme.]

ABC Wednesday—W is for "wing"

This is one of a pair of weeping
angels on the Stuart monument, in
St. Peter's in Rome.  It commemorates
the last three members of the
royal house of Stuart: James III, Cardinal 
Henry Stuart, and Bonnie Prince Charlie; this 
is not a tomb (though all three are buried
in the crypt below the basilica).
Stendhal said that visitors to Rome should
see this first to gauge whether or not they have
a heart capable of appreciating sculpture.
(Just watch out you don't end up with
a case of Stendhal syndrome.)

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

Once upon a time in New York

This year, Saks Fifth Avenue has chosen
an "urban fairy tale" theme for their
holiday windows—very well executed too!

[Linking back to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.]

Rockefeller Center

We're still hanging around Rockefeller Center,
because even though I showed you that
tree last Thursday, there's plenty more to see—
seriously, how do they manage to wrap
every branch of those trees in blue lights?

[Linking back to Monday Mellow Yellows and Blue Monday.]

inSPIREd Sunday

There's still some scaffolding around St. Patrick's Cathedral
here in NYC, as they continue to renovate—and
Atlas is still shouldering his burden across Fifth Avenue.

[To see more churches from around the world, go here.]

The Weekend in Black and White

Here is Parasolerie Heurtault,
where this fellow makes beautiful
umbrellas (and canes too).

[To see more monochromes, visit Dragonstar's meme.] 

Weekend Reflections

If you plan to visit Venice in winter, better
pack your Wellies.  Last time I was there it was
November and I was not prepared for the
daily aqua alta.  This bird managed to find the only
 (semi) dry spot in all of Piazza San Marco.

[To see more Weekend Reflections, visit James's meme.]

Thursday Challenge: "my favorite photo"

I stood under the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree
(an 85-foot-tall Norway spruce from Pennsylvania)
to take this shot of the angels in the Channel Gardens
and the well-lit façade of Saks Fifth Avenue.

That's the glow of 45,000 (!) LED lights.

[To see more of the Thursday Photo
Challenge, visit Dale's meme.]

ABC Wednesday—V is for "vole"

This one up in Alaska had to watch out for
all kinds of predators—including raccoons, owls,
 hawks, coyotes, snakes, foxes, dogs, and cats.
But apparently it knew it had nothing to
fear from my daughter Katie's friend Amelia.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

New York City . . .

. . . is getting pretty—we definitely know
how to decorate for the holidays!
(And I hope to show you even more.)

[Linking back to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.]

les ponts de Paris

Well, three of them anyway (in all, there
are 37, including 3 for pedestrians and 2 for trains).
Visible through the ornate railing of the Pont
Notre Dame (1853) is the Pont au Change (1860), 
and behind that is Paris's oldest bridge, the Pont Neuf,
which dates all the way back to 1606.

[Linking back to Mandarin Orange Monday
and to Travel Photo Mondays.]

inSPIREd Sunday

Yes, it's Notre Dame again—this time
from the vantage point of the little garden
behind it.  To be honest, I probably
have enough photos of this classic cathedral
to fill up a month of (inSPIREd) Sundays!

[To see more churches from around the world, go here.]

The Weekend in Black and White

"The birds fly south for the winter not
because it is cold, but because they have wings."
—Jarod Kintz

(Of course, this is the guy who also said, "She called 
it a slap, but I called it a high-five to my face.")

[To see more monochromes, visit Dragonstar's meme.]

Weekend Reflections

Leaves—and reflections—everywhere!

[To see more weekend reflections, visit James's meme.]

Thursday Challenge—"minimal"

About 21 years ago, I moved from a 2,000-sq.-ft.
(186 sq. meters) loft to a place that's maybe
half that.  Next step: pare down even more.
Could I fit everything I need/want in a home the
size of this place, for example? I'm actually thinking
apartment in Paris, not shotgun house in Virginia—
but sizewise, this is probably what I could afford.
Cozy is good, right?

[To see more of the Thursday Photo Challenge, visit Dale's meme.]

ABC Wednesday—U is for "(sea) urchin"

These were on display at the rue Mouffetard
market, in Paris.  I don't think I've ever
eaten sea urchin (have you?).  All I can say
is that at that price, it had better be at
 least as good as . . . chocolate!

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

A bright spot

The "flower farmers" who sell their pretty crops 
at my local greenmarket weren't there this
weekend. For a couple of weeks lately, they only had
cabbage roses and great big fragrant bunches of eucalyptus.
And this is Gomphrena globosa, aka globe amaranth, 
one of the last flowers they brought before
they disappeared for the season.
(I'll miss them until they return next spring—most
likely with tulips and daffodils for starters.)

[Linking back to Ruby Tuesday,
 Our World Tuesday, and
Nature Footstep: NF Blo-Ma.]

Christmas is coming

Here's a little reminder (though you probably
didn't need one) that the holidays will
be here before you know it.  This huge tree
was the centerpiece of the Christmas décor at the
Galeries Lafayette, in Paris, last year.
The dome is gorgeous year-round, but especially
when it's washed with color for the season.

[It's Blue Monday. To see more, go here.]