The colors on the hydrangeas that line the back patio wall at my parent’s house are insane. What I love about visiting my dad’s garden is seeing the varieties of flowers and vegetables begin and complete their cycle throughout the year. The roses, irises and peonies may be gone now, but the hydrangeas are in full bloom. It’s another good metaphor for life, isn’t it?.

We are slowly letting the concept of “the store” sink in. It’s always good to visit my mom and listen to her view on things. She’s made of pure bravado and guts and have taken her real estate office to the #1 spot in Queens since opening the business with her partners 3 years ago – in turbulent housing market waters, no less. They have over 200 agents now. Not bad for a nurse who immigrated to the states with $500 in her pocket in the early 70s with no experience in business whatsoever. So her opinion on the store has always been, “duh, of course you’re going to open a store”.

Fear of the unknown, of failure, of bigger things may not be enough of an excuse to ignore a vision, however vague or tentative it might be right now. The things that happened to us this year and seeing the bumps in the road that my mom has had to overcome in the last 15 years on her journey to where she is now is proof enough that business ownership is not for the faint of heart. We have had talks. I think I get it now. It’s not a matter of if, but when the next rough bump comes along, because it certainly won’t be the last. The difference is in how you deal with it.

I know that entrepreneurship is not for everyone and not everyone desires to be their own boss. The responsibilities of owning a business is tremendous – I really learned that this year. Maybe it’s in the blood, but both my parents and nearly all of my aunts and uncles are business owners. My generation has been the first to enter the work force as professionals in 9-5 jobs, but maybe growing up in a family of entrepreneurs has influenced me in more ways than I know.

PS. I am worried about a friend tonight who is in trouble and has been going through a tough period. Please send good vibes and thoughts her way. I do not like to see others suffer. It’s really hard to stand by so helpless.

The ocean waters at Robert Moses Beach on the western end of Fire Island was pretty rough today. The waves were huge and came crashing down much to the glee of the girls. They dared to go deeper and deeper in, all the while holding onto our hands in a death grip while squealing high pitched screams every time a wave broke. Girls.

We saw a few rescue situations from life guards though, so the waves meant business.

I’m trying to be very positive these days but to be honest, the sudden and unexpected changes with work all summer long is tiring. These waves are a spot on analogy. The last 2 weekends were a nice distraction, but we drive back into Brooklyn tomorrow early in the morning. Back to regular life. Staying positive is hard work. It’s up to me to choose what kind of week I’ll have.

What’ll it be?

Some random shots from my parent’s house out here in Lawn Guyland.

The morning light streaming behind my toes remind me how translucent skin is. Kinda freaky.

Lettuce, perilla leaves and some other greens we don’t know the English word for all came from my dad’s garden and onto the dinner table for lettuce wraps.

Yeah, Claudine still sucks her thumb. And she can’t suck her thumb without twiddling her left ear. She once drew a picture of a girl with one hand over her mouth and the other over her left ear. It was a self portrait.

Speaking of drawings, this is Claudine’s latest portrayal of me and Mia. I’m the one in the striped dress because, well, I was wearing a striped shirt today. Mia is wearing a ruffly dress (and yes, she was in a dress today that had ruffles at the neckline). I am a fairy doctor which is why I have a stethoscope plugged into my ears and I am checking out Mia’s head because she has a scrape on her forehead. The object between us is an ice cream truck. We’re standing in the street and behind us in the field is a flower, a pitcher of water and a bunny. The bunny’s name is “Hank”. You gotta love the imagination of a 3 year old.

One of the best parts about coming to our “country house” is the home cooked Korean meals. My mom made cold noodles for dinner tonight (Naeng Myun) which is a summer staple. It has pickled radish, cucumber, asian pears, apples, pine nuts and a cold icy broth (aided by an ice cube or 2 right in the bowl) mixed in with some spicy mustard. One of my favorites.

We totally did the suburban thing today – went to Target for various sundries, Michaels for craft supplies since Mia doesn’t go to camp for another 3 weeks, and then the mall in search of some kid sneakers. In the afternoon we blew up the kiddie pool and let the girls splash around while we watched the soccer game. We get to enjoy the perks of the suburbs without actually having to live in the suburbs.

So this summer is turning into the summer of starts and stops and shakeups. For the time being, once again, I will be living the life of leisure (oh freelance, you are so crazy). So we’re staying out here one more day and after deciding that it would be too crowded on a Sunday, we’ll be heading to the beach on a Monday morning. Just because we can.

Oh, did I say I liked summer? Not this kind of summer. The East Coast just had one of the worst heat waves in history. It’s a bit more tolerable now so I think we’ll be heading to the beach on Sunday after Mark’s return to the Flea tomorrow (rain is in the Saturday forecast though, bummer!).

Even though it’s been hot, the kids have been outside all week. Mia had her first week of camp, ever. She loved it and got to ride a pony, along with a bunch of swimming in the city pools and beaches. Because I was “late” in registering her for camp, she doesn’t go again until August which is really dumb, but I’ll know to register early for next year in you know, January (sheesh).

So we have a lot of kid time in the next 3 weeks. It should be okay. The biz is in its summer slowdown so Mark is functioning like a normal human being. I have a pretty aggressive work schedule with a new startup but it isn’t as stressful as the big ad agency, so it’s cool. Yes. I do believe that life has stabilized onto a calmer path.

I’m starting up this weekend with some drinks at the Ace Hotel with a cast of talented women from the design/food/styling world. How about you?

Hard to believe, but I bought my first sour cherries ever from the farmer’s market last week.  There are two main reasons I haven’t bought them before.  First, their season is very short so the chances of finding them are slim.  And second, they are very fragile and do not keep for more than a few days so you need to have time to use them if you don’t want to waste your money (and they can be expensive).  I bought these cherries without any clear plan on what to make, but decided on a pie when I got home.  I soon realized I didn’t have nearly enough for a full size pie, so I made a few mini-pies in a couple of individual tart pans.  The sour cherries had a wonderful flavor (they are the traditional pie-making cherry after all, but most recipes usually use canned cherries) and I don’t think I’ll be so hesitant to buy them again.

A note on making individual pies:  Roll the pie dough as thin as you can or else the filling to crust ratio will be off and it would be too much like eating the crust by itself.  To roll the dough extra-thin, make sure it is cold and try rolling it between two sheets of parchment paper to prevent it from sticking to your rolling pin.

As for the kids, Mia found a way to eat all the cherries first so there was a hollowed out pie shell before eating most of the crust.  And maybe Claudine didn’t like the cherries as much as everyone else because everything else was gone from the plate except for the cherries, which looked like all the juice had been sucked out of them.

Fresh Sour Cherry Pie (makes 4 individual 4-inch pies)

Crust:
2-2/3 cups flour
14 Tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cold water

Filling:
2 cups fresh sour cherries, pitted
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch

For the crust, mix the butter into the flour and salt with your fingers until mostly incorporated.  (You can use a food processor for this step if you like.)  Mix in enough cold water to make a dough.  Roll the dough as thin as you can (see note above), cut into 8 circles about 2 inches larger than your small tart pans.  If you need more dough you can just re-roll some of the scrap pieces.  Chill the dough until ready to use.

Meanwhile, make the filling.  Toss the pitted cherries with the sugar and let it sit for about 20 minutes.  Drain and reserve the juice.  Put the juice in a small saucepan along with the cornstarch and bring to a boil.  When it has thickened, remove it from the heat and stir in the reserved cherries.

To assemble the mini-pies, press one circle of dough into a 4-inch tart pan.  Fill almost to the top with some pie filling.  Place another circle of dough on the top, pinching at the edges so it is completely sealed.  Trim any excess dough and crimp decoratively as desired.  Cut a short slit in the top of the pie to allow steam to escape.  Repeat with the remaining pies, then bake on a parchment-lined cookie sheet in a  preheated 375-degree oven for about 40 minutes, or until the crust is cooked on the bottom and the filling begins to bubble out of the top.  Allow to cool slightly before eating.

I could use a jump in the lake right about now. Do you know that NY is going through one of the worst heat waves in history? People, today was 100 degrees. That is actual temps. Even at 2am last night the temperature hovered near 90.

The weekend seems so far away, but it was only 2 days ago. We’re back to the daily grind of hectic mornings getting the kids to camp, work meetings and deadlines and rides on cramped subways to Manhattan. I look at these pictures and will treasure that weekend. I found an old post that Sara wrote earlier this year where she talks about the lake house among her other favorite things, and feel even more privileged to have spent time at a place steeped in such family history. Thank you Sara, Thor and Henry for inviting us in.

There was a moment during the weekend when Sara and I both admitted that we were a wee bit nervous about meeting each other for the first time. After all, someone’s online persona may not be what they are like in real life. There’s always that chance you’ll be disappointed or let down. I think this is why I feel a little bit awkward when I meet blog readers. I usually feel like a dork and don’t know what to say. I’m more anti-social and private than perhaps I might appear online (or maybe you can tell). But you also have a gut feeling for these things and in the past, I have had very good luck meeting people who have become such awesome, trustworthy friends in real life.

You take a chance and sometimes what you gain is worth its weight in gold.

ps. a video of Claudine at the lake house doing her special “bow”.

We just got back from one of the best weekends we’ve had in a long time. This is the summer of first meetings – people that I’ve gotten to know online, but are meeting for the first time and who have generously invited us to stay with them.

Sara Jensen and her family used to live in NYC, but they moved to the San Juan Islands in Washington state a year and a half ago (take a look at their wonderful shop. I’ve been using their pomegranate tote bag all summer). I didn’t know her when she lived in NY and I had only really started to get to know her earlier this year, but she invited us to her lake house over the 4th of July weekend while on their cross country road trip back East (yes, she single handedly drove her 2 year old and husband to NY in 6 days from the San Juans).

The lake house is a special place. It was built in 1906 and has been in her family ever since. There is no electricity or running water, there never has been. Life is stripped down to the basics – cooking, eating, swimming, talking and hiking. There were about 15 people staying in the 5 bedroom house and the girls had the best time. Claudine kept saying “it’s so quiet here” and Mia learned how to swim with a life vest on. We couldn’t get her out of the water so she happily paddled around by herself collecting lakeweed when all the adults got too cold from swimming. We warmed up in the sun and watched her from the dock with our coffee and beers.

The days really slow down when you have no regard or care for time. Though this wasn’t camping in the woods, this was as close to camping as I’ve gotten in probably 18 years when I did some serious camping and hiking for weeks at a time in the summers during college. It was a reminder of the importance to stop, unplug and just breathe.

More photos tomorrow…

Like last year’s visit to the spectacular Neto installation at the Park Avenue Armory, Big Bambu is a massive site-specific installation by Doug and Mike Starn for the rooftop garden at the Met. Part sculpture and part installation art, the bamboo structure is being continuously built from opening day in late April up until October by a group of artists and rock climbers. This work is one of those pieces you need to see in person in order to appreciate the complexity of the structure and the way the light playfully filters and dances through the intricate lacework that is created by the interlocking bamboo poles. It’s possible to climb the installation through a series of winding staircases and platforms that are being built into the structure, but you need to grab one of the limited guided tours in order to do so (to the big disappointment of the girls).

We couldn’t have picked a better day to come. Wednesday was the first day that the heatwave broke and we were treated to a sunny and comfortable day that couldn’t have been more perfect. The view from the rooftop garden overlooking Central Park and the surrounding buildings was a view that I hadn’t seen in about 20 years. Visiting an installation by the Starn twins on that roof also seemed fitting as I remember their rise as stars in the art world in the late 80s from my high school and early college days – their taped photographic assemblages to me, in many ways, represented the art of that era. It’s interesting to see how their work has evolved over the last 25 years from those early photo works to these large scale installations. That evolution and the fact that the brothers, who are identical twins, have remained a creative partnership for so long is sort of awe inspiring. But this is what art does. It inspires, it transports, it confuses, it confronts, it makes you think and seek out more. Maybe the girls will have a recollection of all this someday, beyond the funny butt jokes. Maybe Claudine will remember how the filtered sunlight inspired her to put on a dance under the bamboo ceiling, way up high on a roof one perfect summer day in NY.