On the Continent, 1936

In 1936, when my grandmother was 28 years old and working at the Chicago Tribune, she and her best friend planned a trip to Europe. At the last minute, her friend got cold feet and decided to stay home; my grandma went anyways. While abroad, she collected all kinds of ephemera- postcards, menus, hotel stationery- and kept a journal of all her adventures, one of which was befriending Jesse Owens (who was headed home to the States from the Berlin Olympics) on her return voyage aboard the Queen Mary. The two of them played bridge together often, and apparently he was the subject of much talk amongst the ladies on the ship. Here are some of my grandma's treasures from her trip. Ever since David Leibowitz posted about sailing on the Queen Mary last year, I have been dying to recreate my grandmother's trip. Maybe one day...

this reads: "The Plane Trip: Left Chicago via Amerian Airlines 1:30 #17 July 11, 1936. Most thrilling experience. Best mode of travel. Clean, fast, comfortable. Sailing through the clouds was glorious- like castles. Landed at 6:AM in Newark- hated to leave the plane for the sordidness of New Jersey and New York. Trip took about 5 hours. Only uncomfortable sensation was ringing in my ears, which was stopped by yawning and swallowing."

I may share more bits and pieces as I read through the journal, so stay tuned!

New York! Pennsylvania!

banana creme pie at billy's
Pictures from my whirlwind trip to New York and Pennsylvania last week!

the country living "home of the year" studio

fresh strawberry at doughtnut plant

catfish sandwich at bobwhite

abc kitchen

rose custard at doughnut plant

the speedwell forge b&b, pennsylvania

road trip guilty pleasure

root beer float from big gay ice cream

men's room at the carlyle

prime meats, brooklyn

the library bar at nomad hotel

wish i'd bought this gorgeous parasol in adamstown, PA

and finally... year 7 of NSS

Weekend!

This weekend was crazy busy, and even though I haven't yet caught up on posting about my recent travels, I wanted to post this first. Saturday we had a bit of a family emergency, which was scary but everyone is okay for now. And it didn't stop me from making the most of the holiday weekend! I went to see the A's play the Yankees, followed by fireworks set to tv theme songs, attended an Outstanding in the Field dinner with a friend at Devil's Gulch Ranch in Nicaso (cooked by Thomas McNaughton, who had his pet pig Kona with him), watched the Golden Gate Bridge's 75th anniversary fireworks show from Cavallo Point, had a spa day, and took a mini road trip to the Sacramento County Fair by way of lunch in San Rafael, cherry picking in Farfield, and backyard cocktails (with fresh-picked grapefruit) in Davis. Not too shabby, all things considered. I only wish I'd gotten pictures of the fireworks over the bridge! Hope you all had a great weekend, too!

Niagara!

I just got back from yet another whirlwind trip to the East Coast. Ostensibly, I was there for the Stationery Show, but in a week I also managed to visit with 15 different friends, eat some incredible meals, visit the Whitney Biennial, walk the Highline, see family, go to a baby shower... oh, and take a road trip through Pennsylvania (via the newly re-opened Barnes Foundation, a 250 year old B&B, a wolf sanctuary, and the Antiques Capitol of the USA) up to Niagara Falls. Whew!

For starters here are the falls, which were more incredible and majestic in person than I could have imagined. We arrived late at night (in homage to Annie Liebowitz), and although we couldn't see the falls, we could hear their roar and feel the mist from half a mile away. In the morning we opened the curtains in our hotel room and were treated with a truly awesome view- we lucked out with gorgeous weather (I swear, I didn't adjust anything in these photos!), and were positively giddy riding into the mist on a boat tour. We stayed on the Canadian side of the border, which was really lovely. I can't recommend it enough!

More tomorrow!