Gathering Dust

One More Day In New York City

Last Monday, on our trip to New York City, we had tickets to see Katie Couric's show. Katie was just like she seems on TV; funny, perky, friendly.  She chatted with the audience in between segments, and was very good about explaining what was going on; where the cameras were, that she was talking to her producer on her wireless mike and not to an empty chair before the show started.

Katie and her staff were very nice about letting everyone take pictures.  If I had wanted better pictures, I probably should have made friends with the lady in turquoise standing in front of me...

Normally the show is filmed in six segments, in order, but because of different guest's time constraints, we saw last Monday's episode, filmed out of order, and two seperate segments from other shows. 

We had been on the subway by 7:45, in line at 8:30 and seated in the studio since about 10:00.  By the time we got done watching so much TV, I was STARVING.  (Katie's show was nice enough to provide granola bars to tide us over).

As we left the Katie show, a staff member handed out a list of nearby restaurants.  When I spotted Top Chef's Head Judge Tom Colicchio's sandwich shop, WichCraft on the list, I knew where I wanted to go. 

WichCraft is a soup and salad cafeteria style eatery.  There are several all over the city.  We ate at Lincoln Center.

.  I had the chickpea sandwich and tomato soup that was delish. 

An aside: I'm currently on a quest to find the world's best tomato soup.  Maybe not the actual whole world, maybe just where ever it happens to be convenient for me. So far, Nordstrom's and Jason's Deli are neck and neck.

Later, we headed to Times Square to the TKTS booth to get discount tickets to Forever Dusty, a musical about Dusty Springfield.

If your in New York and don't have your heart set on a  particular show, the TKTS booth is the way to go.  They sell same day tickets at 20%- 50% off both Broadway and Off Broadway shows.  I've gotten tickets for every show I've seen in New York City through TKTS, and its always been a positive experience.

The lobby of the Dusty theater had some interesting displays.  They didn't have anything to do with the show, but I thought they were picture worthy.

Especially these hanging corsets.

After the show, we had more delish food.  Crab and Pork Soup Dumplings at a packed restaurant on a dark narrow little street in Chinatown.  I would never have gone there if I hadn't read so many great reviews.

See the "B" sign on the door?  Restaurants in New York are required to post their inspection codes.  Everywhere else we ate had an "A".  The dumplings and scallion pancakes were so good, I'd go there even if they had a "D".

 I've got to make some money for more dumplings, so I've added some new (old) things to my Etsy shops.

Here's what you'll find in Gathering Dust

And SugarPinkMoon

I Know I'm Not the First One to Say It, But I (Heart) New York

(Washington Square Park)
Why do I love big cities?  I think it's the element of surprise.  You just never know when you might stumble across someone sitting on a trash can, playing a grand piano in the middle of a park.

Or maybe it's that you can be in the hustle bustle of Chinatown and Canal Street with its sidewalk vendors and open markets, head down into the subway, and ten minutes later pop out of the subway in Greenwich Village where the view is these serene townhouses.

(On the right, the narrowest house in the city)

(Love this pink townhouse.  I don't care that it still has it's holiday wreath- if you live in a pink house, you decorate it however you want.)

(detail of wrought iron gate and steps)
There are always new neighborhoods to explore. This time, it was Chelsea.

The Chelsea Market is an upscale food court, with an Anthropologie and bookstore thrown in for good measure.  The building was originally the home of the National Biscuit Company, maker of Oreos and Fig Newtons.

They've kept  a lot of the original industrial architectural details like brick work, exposed pipes and beams.

And added some eye catching accents like these arches of lights.

The High Line, an abandoned elevated railway that's been turned into an elevated park, is a few blocks from Chelsea Market.  I'm sure it's prettier in spring as more is in bloom, but it still had a certain elegance in its spareness.  You can read more about it here.

We went to the theater, saw a taping of Katie, and ate great food, but I'll leave that for another post. 

Karla's Romantic Gothic Cottage

Earlier in the week I went to Karla's Cottage to do a practice run through of  our classes for the Romantic Gothic Ghosts workshop next weekend. I was just blown away by the way she had decorated her studio for a romantic Halloween.

Karla said all the decorating started when she was suppose to be cleaning up her studio- but she wasn't really in the mood to clean, so anytime she got a decorating idea, she stopped cleaning and made something, draped something, arranged something etc etc.

And who's going to notice if the windows are washed and the floor is swept when you've got all this fun stuff to look at?

These pictures are just a small part of the decor, everywhere I looked there was a fun "gothic" touch.

I love these drapes- especially since I know what they looked like before Karla got ahold of them.  Originally they were a peach colored velour from the $1 table at the flea market.  Karla tea dyed them and they look spooky, romantic and rich all at the same time.

Little ghostly details are everywhere- slipped into this grouping of tiny bottles, under the bird cage and inside the spider web box.

These are Karla and my projects from her Ravishing Raven class. 

I believe there are still one or two spots open for the workshop next weekend- we'd love to get spooky with you.

And how's this for a class bonus- Twinkle's nine puppies will be six weeks old and available for petting, holding and snuggling.

Out and About: The Kauffman Center for Performing Arts

(Photo from here.)

Last week the Other Karla and I had the chance to tour the newly opened Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Since Karla has only lived in the Kansas City area for about a year, there are lot of places she hasn't gone...places that I probably went to when we moved here 23 years ago. 

When hubby and I first moved to "THE CITY" from a small town in ND, we were thrilled at the chance to go to museums, theater, different restaurants, festivals, baseball games- all the things a city has to offer.  But in recent years, we've gotten complacent, and I've considered it a big week if I go to estate sales on both Friday and Saturday.

Karla's philosophy is "if you have a chance to see something new or different, and it doesn't cost too much or endanger your life, get off your butt and do it".

I'm paraphrasing- Karla would say it much more eloquently.  But that's how I've happened to see Monet's Water Lilies and Princess Diana's Wedding Dress- and last week, the theaters at the Kauffman Center.

The Kauffman Center is right off I-35, so you can't help but notice it because of it's shell shape and an entire wall of windows

The wall of windows is breathtaking- and a little bit scary- when I walk to the edge, my palms get a little sweaty and I feel a bit dizzy- like I'm afraid I might fall.

One detail that caught my eye was the pulley look finish of the interior struts.

The large glass dome cover is called Brandmeyer Great Hall and it serves as the lobby area for two theaters- the Murial Kauffman Theater and the Helzberg Hall.

Behind the acoustical panels in the Kauffman Theater are works painted by students from the Kansas City Art Institute.

The fronts of the balconies look just like they're covered in metallic wrapping paper.

The other theater- Helzberg Hall- has all wood construction has been called Noah's Ark.  Different parts of the room are made of different kinds and hardness of wood to enhance sound.

The guide explained to us that every part of the Kaufmann Center was designed for event goer's ease of use- an easy to find underground parking garage, elevators that go to every level of seating, and restrooms on every level- with 2/3 of the lavatories devoted to women.  You've got to like that kind of thinking.