Weekend Reflections

I started this week last Sunday with photos
from the Passage du Grand Cerf, in Paris;
it's full of interesting shops with clever signage.
This libellule graces the workshop
of artisan jeweler Cécile Boccara.

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

Thursday Challenge: red

Red, you say?  I snapped this shot last
November on rue Montorgeuil—one of
Paris's wonderful market streets—of
red tables, red chairs, a red awning, a red
building . . . and some red roses!

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

ABC Wednesday—C is for crêpes

This cute vendor was selling his wares at
a little street market on rue Montmartre,
 near les Halles (which is currently 
undergoing another huge renovation).

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

local weather conditions

We've been having some bitter cold, snowy
weather around here lately—but even so, I still
managed to find a little bit of green peeking through.

[To see more flower macros, vist NF Blo-Ma, here.]

Make mine a pinot grigio

Perhaps I've been living under a rock, but
this was a first for me: At the Whole Foods
in Charlottesville, VA, they have a bar.
(But I saw no bartender, so maybe it's just
a clever way to display the wares?)

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

Passage du Grand Cerf

Back in November I visited this beautiful 
flower shop located just inside the 
Passage du Grand Cerf (hence the stag's 
head), in Paris's 2nd arrondissement.  
Inside were lovely hothouse blooms . . .

outside—(well-wrapped) Christmas trees.

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

The Weekend in Black and White

This photo of my shell collection makes me
think of strolling a beach where the weather is toasty.
One of my kids is returning today after a month
in the warm, sunny Caribbean.  She'll be leaving
temps in the 70° to 80°F range and coming back to
wind chills of below 0°F.  And we're due to get
a bit more snow today too.  Welcome home, Katie!

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

Roatan sunset

This one is borrowed from my daughter Lila,
who took it when she and her sister,
Katie, were celebrating the New Year on
this island off the coast of Honduras.

[To see more Skywatch posts, go here. For
more Weekend Reflections, visit James's meme.]

Thursday Challenge—shadows

Hi there!
(I'm a bit late posting, but I lost my
Internet connection—oh no!—and
only just got it back.)

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

ABC Wednesday—B is for "barista"

I'm not a big coffee drinker, but sometimes
Starbucks is just the perfect convenient
place to hang out when you have to kill some time.
This one, on the Upper West Side, has a very
warm neighborhood-y vibe.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

bat those lashes

As though a red Mini Cooper weren't
already the most adorable automobile . . .
(My friend Lisa is letting me "borrow"
her shot of this cute car.)

[It's Ruby Tuesday. To see more, go here.]

deconstructed bouquet

Found a bouquet in the kitchen at work
on Friday, abandoned by its owner
before the long weekend.  So I grabbed
my phone and my fun phone lenses—for the
only sure way to make those flowers last!

[I'm linking back to Macro Monday, Mosaic Monday,
and Mandarin Orange Monday.]

Shadow Shot Sunday

Lately, if it hasn't been way too cold to
walk over the Brooklyn Bridge in the morning,
then it's been pouring down rain.  Finally,
this past Wednesday I deemed it both warm
enough (high 30s) and dry enough.  I turned around
to get this shot of the sun rising over Brooklyn and the
bridge totally fogged in.  Eerily beautiful, isn't it?

[To see more Sunday shadows, go here.]

The Weekend in Black and White

Confession:  Last year, I was a bit obsessed with
taking pictures of fat people on the subway.
I've turned over a new leaf and am now searching
for beautiful people to sneak shots of, and this is my
first of 2014.  I've seen this woman on the train
before and I think she's gorgeous—but
I wonder why she always looks melancholy.

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

Le Louvre, La Nuit

I'm always surprised—and pleased—when 
I pass by the Louvre late at night and 
find hardly another soul around.
(Just wish I had the chance more often!)

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

Thursday Challenge—distant

My recent flight down South gave
me a pretty good—if distant—view of the
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge (along with a decent
slice of Brooklyn and a bit of Staten Island.

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

ABC Wednesday—A is for "assistance"

And also for "affection."

Can't believe this is the start of Round 14 of
ABC Wednesday.  I started playing five years ago;
some letters are increasingly challenging, but
I still think it's a lot of fun.  Thanks, ABC team!

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

Dans le Metro

Yesterday, I showed you a fairly over-the-top
version of NYC subway advertising. Here's a more
low-key Paris version—although most of the
ads in the Metro are huge (and some are racier than
anything you'll find here). This guy could slap
one of these posters up in no time flat.

[It's Ruby Tuesday; to see more, go here.
And for more of Our World, go here.]

The Juice Train

There are three shuttle trains that run
back and forth between Times Square and
Grand Central Terminal—and often, one of them
is almost entirely "wallpapered" with some
ad campaign or other.  Can you guess what they're
flogging at the moment?  Yup, it's OJ (Tropicana).

[It's Mandarin Orange Monday. To see more visit LoriK's meme.] 

Shadow Shot Sunday

This little store on the Palais Royal garden had
 interesting jewelry, inventively displayed.
(I didn't check the cost, but every
other shop here is pricey, so . . .)

[To see more Sunday shadows, go here.]

The Weekend in Black and White

Took a walk one bitter cold morning recently on the
land of friends I was visiting down in Virginia.
It was beautiful, but I'm a city girl and have a hard
time wrapping my head around the idea of
measuring property in acres rather than square feet.

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

Weekend Reflections

I recently traveled from Virginia to NYC on
the train (where business class is actually
affordable and you don't have to remove your
shoes before you board).  I found this somber
winter reflection just outside Washington, D.C.

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

Thursday Challenge—architecture

I live in NYC, where there is so much amazing
architecture.  But I was also recently in Paris,
where I snapped this shot of M. Eiffel's masterpiece
(and my all-time fave piece of architecture).

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

ABC Wednesday—Z is for "zebra"

No, I haven't been on safari (or even
to the zoo).  This is one of the wonderful
dioramas at The Museum of Natural History.
When I was a kid, I thought it was just
like being right there on the African plain.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

Candy!

Do you ever get a craving for something
 tooth-loosening and yummy from your childhood?
 Like maybe a long-lasting Sugar Daddy or some
Bonomo Banana Taffy, bright pink Bazooka Bubble Gum
(or itty bitty Tiny Size Chiclets)—or maybe just
some party-in-your-mouth Pop Rocks.
They have it all at (one of four in NYC) It'sugar stores.
Personally, my teeth and I try to stay far away.

[It's Ruby Tuesday. To see more, go here.
Also linking back to Our World Tuesday.]

Monday Mellow Yellows

Last November was "photography month"  
in Paris, so while I was there I made sure I 
got to the (free) Brassaï exhibit at the
Hotel de Ville.  All of the wonderful images
were in black and white, of course, 
but some of the viewers were quite colorful!

[To see more Monday Mellow Yellows, go here.]

Today's Flowers

The temp was in the frigid range, but if you
passed by this flower shop in Paris you
could still stop and smell the pretty little
bouquets of roses (and I love how they even
made the fallen petals part of the display).

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

The Weekend in Black and White

A couple of weeks ago I showed you Paris's
Passage du Caire, one of those that still
houses mostly functional, wholesale
kinds of shops—and this is one of them.

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

Weekend Reflections

This time a year ago my daughters were
here in Ushuaia—the capital of Tierra del Fuego—
on their way to their Antarctic adventure.
(The shot is compliments of Katie.)
This year, they rang in the new year on the
Honduran island of Roatan—lucky girls!

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

Thursday Challenge—clouds

I was on a plane on New Year's Eve, so here are
some gorgeous fluffy white clouds from 30,000 feet
somewhere between North (NYC) and South (VA).

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

ABC Wednesday—Y is for "happy new YEAR!"

Stirring up the collards for the Hoppin' John, a
fine (and delicious!) old Southern New Year's Day
tradition.  (You can find some info here.)
Hope you had lots of fun last night 
and will enjoy all the very best in 2014!

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]