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Showing posts from March, 2012

For a Good Laugh

It takes a lot to make me laugh but when I do it is even harder to make me stop. Most television commercials do not amuse me and half the time I am not even positive what they are for. However, there are the chosen few that I am in love with. Once I have seen them I can watch them all day long and still crack up. Just the mere mention of them, or hearing the song that is played is enough to get me going. Then I am off- laughing so hard I can barely control myself. And, you know what? Sometimes you just need a hardy chuckle. You need to laugh so hard you are crying. It feels good. It is a release. So, I thought I would share my favorite commercials of all time with you. I know some cable channels save this tradition for the New Year but today I am in the mood for a good laugh. I hope you are too. 

For Lunch Where Harry Met Sally: Katz’s Deli

“When Harry Met Sally” is one of my favorite movies. I can watch it over and over again.   This iconic scene made Katz’s Deli a household name. Ever since the line “I’ll have what she’s having” has been delivered, people all over the world have wanted to know what is so special about Katz’s Deli. But actually they have been in business since 1888, so they must be doing something right. On any list, on any travel show countdown, when it comes to favorite NYC spots, or best sandwiches or anything of the sort, Katz’s is guaranteed to be mentioned is this discussion. This is why is has always been on my list of things I must do in NYC. I had already made my pilgrimage to that other famous deli in NYC (the  Carnegie Deli  http://bit.ly/o7fwam );  so I knew I would have to go to Katz’s to see which one I really thought was better. Bragging rights always go to Katz’s but I really enjoyed Carnegie so now the heat was on. Luckily for me Katz’s is locate

For Lessons in “Getting By”: Tenement Museum

What I love about preservation is that it allows me to take a step back into all walks of life. Just as I can visit Newport Rhode Island to follow in the Vanderbilt’s footsteps, I can also come back to NYC and visit a historic tenement and see how my ancestors lived when they first came to this country. The Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side of NYC is a great organization that has restored an entire building and has many different types of guided tours for whatever experience you are looking for. When I went this past fall, I went on the “Getting By” tour. I climbed two stories into this building on Orchard Street and learned of the two very different families that lived on that floor in two very different time periods. It is so hard to comprehend a family with several children living out of a three room apartment with the dim lighting, coal burning for fuel, lack of space, and the stress of going through the Great Depression. It is also hard to imagine that neighb

For the Vanderbilt’s Summer Home: The Breakers

To borrow from Mr. Rodgers, today was a beautiful day in the neighborhood. NYC has been in the upper 70’s most of this week and today as the sun was shining I forgot it was only March and I felt like I should be planning a summer road trip. Actually any excuse for a vacation is fine by me. But today I was in the mood for Rhode Island. I say in the mood for because I crave locations the way most people crave food. Now don’t get me wrong, clearly from past blogs I am a woman that craves carbohydrates with the best of them, but mostly I use it as an excuse to travel someplace new. I get these overwhelming urges of a place that I have to visit that year and that’s how I decide where to go. I have to confess I have only been to Rhode Island once, for an afternoon, and didn’t get to see much. I have great plans to go back and a folder filled to the brim of what I will do when I get there. But my desktop on my work computer is a pleasant reminder of what I did get to s

For Cynthia Nixon's "Wit"

I remembered seeing Wit as a movie in 2001 where the main character, Dr. Vivian Bearing portrayed by Emma Thompson, is dying of Stage IV ovarian cancer. Although there are some characters on the sidelines it is mainly a one woman show. However, this was originally a play written by Margaret Edison for which she won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. I cannot think of a playwright more deserving or a title that ever more accurately describes its subject. C ynthia Nixon has been acting on Broadway since she was a child. She rose to fame on  Sex and the City playing lawyer Miranda Hobbes. But I think television doesn’t do her justice. I first saw her on Broadway in The Women in 2001. Wow I can’t believe it was that long ago. If you saw the recent remake in the movies I apologize the play is actually nothing like that and of course much better. What I remember most was how incredible Ms. Nixon was and that after the matinee I saw, she came out of the stage door with her young daught