my kind of pear

rainbow + pear = happy perryn.

[found here.]

beautiful city

If I didn't love New York City so much, I would surely move to a place like this. This is a community in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil where the community was commissioned to help beautify the neighborhood by transforming the facade of 34 houses into a colorful art project to create pride and ownership for the residents. They were given a small salary and an education during the process of turning their neighborhood into a beautiful, bright, cheery rainbow! I love it.

[Found here via Suwatch. Thanks!]

only in New York,

will you find a weenie dog walking in the park wearing a hat and sunglasses! Notice, if you will, the onlookers gazing in astonishment in the background.

[Thanks for the picture, Pamcakes.]

sad, I missed this last sunday:

Kyo's 27th Birthday party, with some of my best friends, good food at Calle Ocho, and Maggie's cake-baking. But, HAPPY BIRTHDAY anyway, Kyo!!

[Thanks for sharing the pics, Maggie!]

fabuloso dress-o

I don't speak Italian at all, and I only speak a teeny bit of Spanish so I'm sure the title of this post is insanely butchered, (Anyone who wants to help- Anna? LA?- feel free to leave a comment...) but the main idea stands: this dress is completely beautiful and fabulous! And something that I would have possibly stolen from the museum had I seen it in person.

Anna sent me this picture from her travels abroad in Italy this summer. She said this is from the Roberto Capucci Museum in Florence. Until I can get there one day and see it with my own eyes, I'm going to be on the hunt for about a million different color silk fabrics to make my own version...

big apple bbq fest

4 years and counting. That's how long I've been going to the Big Apple BBQ Festival in NYC. Katherine, Pamela, LA and I sealed the deal on our friendship in the summer of 2007 when we went to the festival for the first time together. We were four southern girls in the Big Apple and we missed pulled pork sandwiches and sweet tea. Now, I plan weeks in advance to make sure I don't miss this event and drag all my northern friends to Madison Square Park with me.

Brendan's two attempts (above and below) at capturing an artistic photo. We were also trying to portray how much we missed our 4th BBQ-goer, Katherine.

photobooth on the beach

This is just a glimpse of the fun I'm having this week! Tate and I had our very own photobooth session on the beach today. And, he got surprisingly into the "shoot" and kept asking to take more and more pictures...

garage

If you're looking for a great restaurant in NYC, you should try Garage in Greenwich Village. Brendan took me here for dinner last week before I left the city and it was amazing! It had a great menu and nice atmosphere, and the best part was that there was a live jazz band playing the whole time. Nothing too loud or overwhelming, though, which made it enjoyable (I'm not a fan of having to scream to each other across the table at dinner). I also loved the design of the restaurant which had a slightly rustic feel while also being homey and comfortable. If you find yourself in this neighborhood and hungry, I give it a thumbs up!

tate's new best friend

Tate: Caow! Caow! [pronounced Cay-ow] I wuv you Caow.

Cow: [Silence]

Tate: Caow, come 'ere. Come 'ere. Hey Grampaw, 'ere's Caow.

Grampaw: Hey Cow. Gimme Five.

Cow: [Gives Five, Silence]

Tate: Kiss!

Cow: [Bends over to receive kiss, Silence]

Tate: I really wuv you caow.

belay on

I won't lie. I was pretty nervous as I walked into the climbing gym. Especially when Marco, our instructor, told us that we should get at least one size smaller shoe size than we normally wear because the shoes should be uncomfortable and our toes should curl at the end. If I'm climbing high into the air, shouldn't my feet at least be free from misery? Somehow, though, Margaret and I survived and actually loved our rock climbing excursion!

I had a little trouble remembering how to tie the double-figure 8 knot. Luckily, I fixed that before I belayed on...

magic garden

Jesus describes the Kingdom of Heaven in parables so that it will become more real to us and we can grasp it in our own terms: how we see beauty, wonder, splendor, and treasures since that is what Heaven will be. [Here are a few examples: Matthew 13:31, Matthew 13:44, Matthew 20:1] This is what I think heaven will look like for me:

The Magic Garden is an outdoor garden-like-house-structure with tunnels and grottos that is completely covered in mosaics. Walls, ceilings, floors- all mosaics with beautiful glass, tiles, bottles and other pieces of recycled material. Isaiah Zagar began this as an art project in a vacant lot in 1994. He completed it after 14 years of working on the installation, where it is now a beautiful work of art for residents of the neighborhood and visitors to enjoy. In 2002, when the lot was supposed to be sold to construct a parking garage, the residents of the community raised $300,000 to buy the lot and preserve the beautiful art! I'm glad they did.

i finally saw it!

The first time that I visited Philly, I had one request: to see the Liberty Bell. But as we hopped on the train that night to head back to Manhattan, the one thing we hadn't seen was the Liberty Bell.

That changed with this trip. We walked right in with no line, no problems and snapped a few front row pics:

A few pictures of the beautiful Independence Hall, where the first US Capitol was located.

Although I saw it on the first visit, I couldn't pass by the original LOVE sign:

A beautiful sunset from the bus window to end a fabulous weekend.

"where chili pepper lights meet christmas tree lights"

Lights of every kind.

Christmas. Red Hot Chili Pepper. Little basketballs.

Hanging down 2 feet from the ceiling.

Mirrors on the wall.

That is Panna 2.

I convinced Brendan and Allison to go to dinner there with me.

because I love this place so much.

And believe me.

It's well worth fighting through claustrophobia to enjoy a cheap Indian meal.

It's my favorite.

Just ask one of these two.

tomorrow:

going here.

the facebook song

This is rather hilarious if you listen to the words. And this very talented singer, Monica Allison, just so happens to be the friend in the pictures below pointing to the bright shiny lights in Times Square!

[You should really check out her stuff, here!]

no turkeys

No one had any turkeys but I did bowl a strike! And I did beat a few people...

Brendan and I went bowling a few weekends ago with some friends in my small group, Monica and Kevin. (Or rather, Monica is in my small group and Kevin is her boyfriend.) We ventured over to Leisure Time Bowl in Port Authority, which (surprisingly) is a really nice bowling alley. We had a great time until we were kicked off our lane for the next incoming reservation. But, luckily, since the night was still young we decided to stroll through Times Square and act like tourists, hence the picture above of Monica pointing to the beautiful lights. This gave bowling a run for its money... Brendan suggested we ask a tourist for directions somewhere, but I couldn't stop laughing long enough to do it. Next time....

reunion @ boat basin

When I moved to New York City for the first time four summers ago in May 2007, I didn't know anyone. And when I say I didn't know anyone, I do mean I didn't know a single soul amongst the 8 million people living here. I had been introduced to one girl, LeeAnne (who is more commonly referred to as LA on this blog), who also went to Auburn, was an interior design student, and was doing an internship in the city with an architecture & design firm, but we didn't really know each other. Then through a serendipitous turn of events, I met Pamela and Katherine in Central Park one Sunday afternoon. They invited me to church at Redeemer to hear Tim Keller (who, at the time, I'd actually never heard of...gasp!). I thought they were being nice and friendly southerners who I'd probably never hear from again until I received a phone call later that afternoon with a voice on the other end saying "Hey! It's Katherine from Central Park! Where should we meet for church?" We, along with LA, all became fast friends (and one other, AmyJ, who LeeAnne and I met at the meet&greet portion of a church service the next week) and joined a start-up fellowship group the next week. Katherine and Pamela had met Aaron at a citilights event who was just starting a group with a few friends he'd met at a Redeemer Retreat earlier in the spring. We all became great friends and a very unique fellowship group from many different stages and walks of life. Since then, the original fellowship group has grown and changed and multiplied into at least 5 different sister groups. Aaron has a gift for bringing people in, teaching them, and then sending them back out to form new groups and bring more into the circle. Then we all get together and talk about the good ole days when the group was in its infancy and the five southerners were only referred to as "the interns". Things have changed a lot, but some things never will. Getting together, catching up and looking at how far God has brought the group in only three short years sure is fun, and especially when the venue is Boat Basin!

I love this picture of Pamela... not sure what I'm thinking about though.

Pamela, me and LA. (And Katherine will finally be rejoining us in the city in August!)

The "interns" (minus Katherine and Amy) with the grandfather leader, Aaron.

accent walls

I was looking for inspiration on accent walls today and I found some good stuff. There are some beautiful and creative walls out there.

she's ready

...for the beach in 23 days!!!

mini-cinnamon rolls

My sister got the recipe for these, here. Then she gave the recipe to my mom who then gave the recipe to me. And coincidentally, I woke up with a big craving for cinnamon rolls last Sunday morning. So, I whipped these up (very easily, I might add) and they were delicious. And I decided to share the love.

Cini Minis

1 can crescent rolls

Butter

Cinnamon Sugar

Confectioners Sugar

Milk

Unroll and press the two triangles (the crescent rolls) together at perforations. (You'll have one big rectangle!) Spread soft butter over the crescent rolls. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Roll up, along the long side of rectangle. Cut the roll into slices (like slice-n-bake cookies!), and bake according to the crescent roll package. (I baked mine on 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, and they were cooked perfectly!)

For Icing

Mix approximately 1/2 cup confectioners sugar with a tablespoon of milk and stir until it reaches the right consistency. (I had to add a little more confectioners sugar...hence the reason for the icing all over the cookie sheet in the photo above!) Drizzle icing on mini cinnamon rolls.