It's the Holiday Season...

This weekend Lauren and I hosted our Annual Drink the Tree Party. It's a holiday tradition wherein friends bring little bottles of booze (nips) to decorate our tree with the idea being that we drink them at a second party held at a later date, but that typically never happens so we try to drink the tree every other year. This year was fantastic.

Pre-party, not a creature was stirring...

The tree looked totally lovely with a nice combo of legitimate ornaments as well as alcohol-filled ones. Here's one of the yarn skein ones I made up last year. Knitter Jenn from DC says her mom loves the ones I made last year, particularly the one that looks like a fetus. Happy Holidays!

Not a fetus

There was a crackling fire on the teevee.

And there were even knitwear ornaments courtesy of Knitter Jenn C. She says the use of BoSox colors was completely unintentional and she claims they're holiday colors, but Lauren loves them and begs to differ.

The only problem (if you'd even call it that) is that our fridge is still stuffed full of beer. Apparently wine and mixed drinks were more popular this year, though there is a can of PBR currently hanging from the tree.

Even in the midst of all the party prep and substantial cleanup, I managed to make serious progress on the Christmas gift front. I've got 2 cowls finished, a thorpe hat for Cousin Anthony and a noro striped scarf for Cousin Danny both at the halfway stage, and two more bulky hats to cast on once those are finito. Add that to the sweater completed for dad and the hat for my bro, and I'd say I'm doing just fine, thanks. I may have a few more crafty ideas up my sleeve as well.

Manly?

Unfortunately Christmas cookies are lagging far behind, a situation not helped by the fact that both batches of cookies I made for the party were totally wiped out. So I get to make a whole bunch more tonight. Delish.

Memories of Memorial Day

Three day weekends, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways!

1) Finished objects galore!



Here we have Picovoli in Knit Picks Shine Worsted, Mallard Colorway. I added a 2x1 ribbed hem at the bottom to help it stay put and prevent any curling since I didn't do a picot edge.



Here we have the Child's First Shell Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks in Sundara Sock Yarn, Mossy colorway from the Seasons Yarn Club Autumn.

2) Baked goods!


Rhubarb and Orange Pie

I had never tasted rhubarb until last summer and I was intrigued by the idea of using a less traditional pairing of rhubarb and fruit (in this case, citrus) than strawberry. This happened to be in my much beloved Martha Stewart cook book. I used her Pate brisee crust recipe and it's deliciously buttery. Yum! I used valencia orange for the zest and juice and it tastes absolutely delightful!

3) Spring cleaning!

You may have noticed in those FO pictures above that I have a new background for my finished objects instead of my solid blue duvet cover. I kind of went nuts at Ikea a few weeks ago and got a new summery duvet cover, curtains, and rugs for my bedroom along with some organizational stuff and kitchen paraphernalia.

4) New projects!


What better excuse to stay in bed knitting than a long lazy weekend? (plenty of time left to get all that other stuff done, right? ha!) I started on the Roped Shell from IK Summer '08 and it's flying along. I'm really digging it so far and hope it turns out nicely.

5) Walks in the park



It wasn't all sitting on my butt knitting and eating pie. I actually forced myself to get out and enjoy the nice weather. I strolled through Ft. Tryon before heading downtown on Sunday and was handsomely rewarded for shlepping my camera around all day with some glorious shots.



These reminded me of Georgia O'Keeffe's Black Iris III which I discussed in my senior Art History thesis lo those many years ago. I got another shot that was very reminiscent of a different O'Keeffe flower painting, this one of two poppies:


I will make even busy New Yorkers take time to see what I see of flowers. -Georgia O'Keeffe

Then on Monday I took a walk down to the George Washington Bridge. The Gay Recluse likes to photograph the GWB too, but I liked being able to view it from some different angles.


This one makes me strangely excited for the new X-files movie:
I want to believe...

100: These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

Whoa. That was quick. I can't believe I've had a hundred posts in less than a year. Whatever happened to quality over quantity, eh?

I tried to think of a fun way to mark this milestone, but it's difficult at best. But I had a bit of a brainwave this weekend and I thought I'd give you a bit of an insight into some of my favorite things.

Favorite Neighborhood Place
Heather Garden in Ft. Tryon Park


Great advice

I take more pictures in this park than anywhere else and this is definitely my favorite spot in my favorite park. I paid a visit here on Easter Sunday when I went out walking while the bread was rising. When I was in grad school, I'd take walks here in the morning before class when it would just be me and the little old ladies. Now that Spring has arrived, I like to follow the way that the garden changes from week to week. On Easter Sunday, the sheets of ice on the rocks were rapidly thawing and the crocuses and heather were blooming as well as some violets.


The sheet of ice cracked and fell
immediately after I took this shot.
Take that, Winter!



The daffodils and forsythias (which for some reason I always called "forcynthias" when I was little) are just about to bloom meaning next weekend is sure to be a sight.


Forcythias, Daffodils, Crocus

From the garden you can look out onto a really spectacular view of the Hudson River and the George Washington Bridge.


Hey there, Big Fella

I've noticed that the Gay Recluse is not the only one with a bit of an obsession for that particular structure. The pathways in Ft. Tryon were designed so that they are never straight and as you walk the view changes subtly as new vistas open up between the trees. The only time I'm grateful there are no leaves is when it let's me take a picture like this. I feel like the bare branches nicely mimic the support trusses of the bridge.


Can you believe they ever wanted to clad this in stone???

Favorite Dishware
Pantone Bowls from Fishs Eddy (and they're on sale!)



This pattern combines my love of dishware and my love of paint colors in one adorable package. I also have the bowl in blue, but I keep it at work. Actually, ANYTHING from Fishs Eddy could qualify as a favorite thing. My sugarbowl is in the 212 NYC skyline pattern. I've given the Democrat and Republican glasses as gifts to Knitter Jenn in DC. The hula girl pattern to Cousin Jess. Vintage dishes to coworkers (apparently only available in the store). And I'm especially covetous of these new floorplan plates. The penthouse platter is probably the closest I'll ever get to the real thing.

Favorite Lotion
Crabtree and Evelyn Gardener's Hand Therapy



I have the pump above sitting on my desk at work. Somehow, despite the extreme anti-social vibes I emit, people still manage to visit my cube for a squirt of the stuff. I can't really blame them. It smells delightful and it is simply amazing for the hands. Um and I got it for free because Dad attends golf fund raisers where he gets swag bags. Apparently he is not a fan of lotion?

Favorite Shoes
Sofft Serena in Aubergine



Sofft's shoes are super comfy and super cute. They're typically tucked away with all the hush puppies, aerosoles and naturalizers in the "comfort" shoe section at Macy's which is in no man's land on the fourth floor behind dresses. I mean, come on, aubergine suede with patent leather trim and an adorable little flower? Precious! And I got these on sale... 60% off!

Favorite Place to Sit and Think
Sand Dunes on LBI



It doesn't matter if it's post-hurricane or on a warm sunny day or at night with a glass of wine.

I'm sure I've just verified multiple items on Stuff White People Like (#9 Making You Feel Bad for Not Going Outside, #24 Wine, #26 Manhattan, #49 Vintage, #51 Living by Water, #54 Kitchen Gadgets?, #73 Gentrification, #84 Graduate School), but honestly I do love all these things, and I am, in fact, a white person.

What are your favorite things?

Nabe Names: Stop the Insanity!

I've never been too fond of the trend to apply cutesy nicknames to neighborhoods. Especially not when a neighborhood already has an identity such as, for example, Inwood. Ok TriBeCa, DUMBO, you had no identity before you got your asinine names. Congrats. You've now ruined it for the rest of us.

Instead of using a perfectly lovely name (Guess what, we kind of are in the woods! How appropriate!) there came "WaHI" which I'm ok with since it identifies us as part of an ugly stepchild area of Manhattan that so often gets thought of as being in the Bronx. Washington Heights and Inwood get no love.

The whole Washington Heights thing I think is what the perceived problem is. For some reason, "Heights" seems to be associated with higher urban crime. Think: Crown Heights, Morningside Heights (well, in the 80s and early 90s anyway)... none of them give you quite the warm and fuzzy feeling you might be looking for in a potential neighborhood. So the real estate industry needed to spice things up a bit.

A former professor who lives in Hudson Heights said that another considered appellation for his neighborhood was Ft. Washington, but many neighborhood residents opposed it because of whatever connotations "Ft." has. Is Ft. Greene really that bad? I'd have thought they'd want to go with Fort instead of Heights because Fort projects that sense of security that people don't expect venturing into the Manhattan hinterlands.

But then there was "NoMa" (good grief) and now there's controversy about how to pronounce the stupid names in the first place.

Vote for Inwood!

Over at Curbed there's something interesting going on:

The Curbed Cup, our annual award to the New York City neighborhood of the year, for the past three years has been determined by reader vote. This year, we're upping the ante with a 16-neighborhood elimination tournament spanning the month of December. The first round concludes today with two more faceoffs, the winners of which will meet in round two, which begins tomorrow.

No one cares about Williamsburg anyway! It's so yesterday's news.

Inwood

I love my neighborhood.

But as in any place that you live there are inevitably things that you don't like, be they noise, traffic, rude neighbors, etc. You learn to live with the things that you don't like because the things you do like outweigh the negatives by far. I don't like being stereotyped or labeled, but it's definitely not enough to make me leave.

I came across a blog yesterday written by a woman who lives in my neighborhood. It sounds affected, but style aside, it's interesting. The thing that interests me the most is the repeated use of "gentrifier" when she gives actually no qualification for why she uses it. Is she being ironic? Or is she laying an accusation? (ETA: Continuing discussion over at Inwoodite)

Let's take a look at Wikipedia, shall we?
"Gentrification, or urban gentrification, is a phenomenon in which low-cost, physically deteriorated neighborhoods undergo physical renovation and an increase in property values, along with an influx of wealthier residents who may displace the prior residents."

Now gentrification, yes I get it. People don't like being "forced out" of their neighborhoods by people who have money that they put into infrastructure. But is that really what is going on here? Inwood is relatively low cost for Manhattan, but physically deteriorated? By and large, no. There are a few instances of new buildings going up, one particularly sad example is a building on Payson and Seaman where a community garden used to be. (Full disclosure: My studio class singled that one out as an endangered site for development in our Inwood study.)

And it seems like she uses "gentrifier" to refer solely to the white 20-somethings who make their home here when, let's face it, these 20-somethings hardly qualify as "wealthier residents." So is Inwood being gentrified? Are we 20-somethings who could live here or in parts of Queens or the Bronx or Brooklyn paving the way for the upper middle-class families who may be priced out of the Upper West Side? Will pied-a-terres be coming to Inwood? Oh, the humanity!

As a white 20-something who is the daughter and granddaughter of Inwood residents (East of Broadway, no less), am I a "gentrifier"? Given my family's early addresses on Vermilyea Ave, Sherman Ave, and Academy Street, some might say I'm moving up in the world.

But let's face it: My family left Inwood when crime went up and people who could afford not to live in New York City anymore exited en masse. So I'm an outsider. Worse, I'm from the suburbs. (Gasp! New Jersey!) I make more than the neighborhood's (Community Board 12) median $28,865 household income. I'm college-educated with an advanced degree in my field. I like nice restaurants, organic food, green markets, clean streets, and low crime.

Does that make me a "gentrifier"?

Do the things that seem to come along with gentrification (the aforementioned restaurants and green markets, as well as the renovated buildings and new developments) necessarily mean that long-time residents - who maybe don't have the same income as the new arrivals - will be priced out?

I work in the preservation industry in the city which means that I have seen the ways that gentrification works (and doesn't work) for the communities where it occurs. I also had the privilege to study Inwood while at Columbia for my Preservation Studio. I walked the streets, studied the buildings, researched the history and the culture. I'm not here for selfish reasons. But I'll admit, a nice apartment that doesn't break the bank? That's pretty good incentive to live here all on its own.

My dad moved out of Inwood in the 1970s when he married my mom because she had an apartment in Englewood, NJ that was bigger and cheaper than the apartment he had in Inwood that was practically underneath the 1 train. No brainer, right? But my dad still got priced out of Inwood. Who knew. And now I'm living in this neighborhood where my dad grew up and people who look a heck of a lot like me are labeled gentrifiers. My dad owns a house in New Jersey in a neighborhood that he and my mom couldn't afford to buy into now. They just happened to get in at the right time. Did their neighborhood gentrify around them?

Things change, neighborhoods change. As the population grows there just isn't room enough for everyone. It's the basis of conflicts throughout history: the fight for the best hunting grounds, water sources, shelters. The early Irish-American and Jewish residents of Inwood were displaced by a changing society. Some of those early residents of the beautiful Art Deco pre-war buildings in Inwood chose to stay, but most didn't. And people moved in to fill the void. Take away the crime levels that drove those early residents out and suddenly people of similar socio-economic groups want to move back and that's gentrification?

Everyone needs a place to live is all I'm saying. And places that are nice are going to be the first ones to go. And Inwood's nice.

Slightly unrelated: This weekend I'm bringing my camera to the greenmarket on Isham and I'm going to take some time to take some pictures. I've been sorely neglecting my camera. These pictures you see above are definitely not descriptive of Inwood, but good lord I love those parks.