Balloon Festival (cont'd)

Here are 2 more pictures from the Balloon Festival last weekend. One can never have too many balloons—they're so festive and fun! I've never been up in one, have you?

Balloon Festival

I had never been this close to a hot air balloon before this past weekend. My vantage point here is looking up into one that had just been filled using VERY hot flames. Seeing them all in one field and up close was quite something. I loved all the colors!

The colors of autumn

What a beautiful Saturday in the Adirondacks. The leaves have already started to change, and the sun coming through the clouds intermittently made for some very pretty lighting on our drive.

Little finds

I smile when I find little things here and there that I think someone might like (especially if they're for a writing desk!), like these horn canisters from Ballard Design. Stylish and small, for the person who has everything—I already have someone in mind for Christmas...

Monthly promotion #1

We've decided to start offering monthly promotions! For September, it's 50% off oleander note cards; just enter code "SeptPROMO" at checkout. If you have one of our 2011 YEAR in BLOOM mini desktop calendars, you might notice that oleander is this month's feature—a flowering shrub I first discovered in France. Offer ends 9/30.

From one JAKE to another

While out on the west coast recently, I stopped for dinner in Del Mar, CA. As though the view from the table (sun setting over the Pacific) and the ambiance (the sound of the ocean, which I love) weren't enough, the restaurant's name was Jake's! I knew right away I was in the right spot.

Around town (cont'd)

I used to love to go to the flea markets, especially the Sunday one on Columbus Ave @77th St. This picture was taken at a market in Hell's Kitchen. I bought an old textile mill canister that day that I still use for my recycling.

I signed up for a walking tour of Tribeca one day, from a very knowledgeable guide who advertised in Time Out New York magazine. The decorative facade and contrasting logistically-necessary staircase caught my eye here.

Bustling 42nd Street is never quiet, but the stately Chrysler Building stands still against the darkening blue sky. Grand Central Terminal is the low building all lit up.

Around town

The cherry trees in Central Park bloom in the spring, and if you're lucky enough to be sitting under one at that time, this is what you see. Absolutely beautiful.

One of the great things about the Manhattan skyline is the water towers and various pipes and shapes you see jutting out of the roofs. This photo was taken in Tribeca from a friend's roof deck.

The abundance of seafood in Chinatown is amazing. This was one of several vendors on Canal Street, their bins almost overflowing with variety. When I snapped this photo, several of the vendors looked up and shouted, "One dollar!"

Today

I've been thinking a lot about today's anniversary, as I'm sure most people in this country have. I lived in NYC at that time and was on my way to work that morning. Remembering that day has led me to look back through photos I've taken in the city over the years, so I thought I would share a few here. (I might add more over the next couple of days.) There are none from 9/11 (I didn't have my digital camera yet that I take with me everywhere now, though I'm not sure I would have taken pictures that day anyway); these photos are of beautiful buildings and street scenes—the kind of New York City I like to think about. Above: Chrysler Building; below, in order: sculpture outside Lincoln Center, Alwyn Court (home of Petrossian restaurant), the Hudson River at sunset, Lucky Brand window display on the Upper West Side.