Old Sweet Song » i heart ny http://oldsweetsong.com Just another WordPress site Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:54:52 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Living near History http://oldsweetsong.com/2012/01/living-history/ http://oldsweetsong.com/2012/01/living-history/#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:10:40 +0000 amyferg http://oldsweetsong.com/?p=8434 I’ve mentioned that my aunt is a brilliant and dedicated archivist of any and all family memories. This includes paperwork, keepsakes, photos, even recipes. She scans everything and sends it to us on discs. For someone who has a love affair with all things vintagey and papery this is like hitting the lottery. One thing that has always stood out to me is this telegram. Dorothy was my grandmother (though we called her Dottie) and “baby girl” is the aunt I mentioned. I geek out over the old type designs and the creases and the aging that comes with the territory. There’s something nice about having an actual piece of paper to mark these big life occasions. Now it would just be a text or worse, a facebook update. (I just threw up).

One thing of note: the telegram was sent to 128 West 13th Street. Well, that’s right in my neighborhood. A five minute stroll over and I was right in front. Kind of perfect.

]]> http://oldsweetsong.com/2012/01/living-history/feed/ 12 Holidayhangover http://oldsweetsong.com/2011/12/holidayhangover/ http://oldsweetsong.com/2011/12/holidayhangover/#comments Wed, 28 Dec 2011 15:27:28 +0000 amyferg http://oldsweetsong.com/?p=8196 After 10 days in my beloved Atlanta I’m heading home this afternoon. I find that the end of the holiday season is always a bit of a downer, don’t you? There’s such a massive build up and then it’s all over before you know it. And then you have to head back to the real world and (in my case) to the terrible, bitter cold NYC winter. But, I have no complaints. I had a fantastic ten day visit and a wonderful Christmas and some really great quality time with my family and friends. Plus it’ll be nice to get back to the West Village and check on things at my cozy little place. I hope you’re adjusting to the end of the holidays and hopefully yours were as lovely as mine.


]]> http://oldsweetsong.com/2011/12/holidayhangover/feed/ 3 Some Cheer http://oldsweetsong.com/2011/12/some-cheer/ http://oldsweetsong.com/2011/12/some-cheer/#comments Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:20:18 +0000 amyferg http://oldsweetsong.com/?p=8144 My dears, I hope you had lovely weekends. I certainly did. Lots of holiday-style festivity and perhaps a few (too many) libations. But it’s sort of the season for that isn’t it? Well that’s my rationalization at least. On Friday night I went to a Christmas pop sing sing-a-long that was really kind of awesome. There was a big monitor that played old and cheesy holiday videos (and showed the lyrics karaoke style) so everyone just sang their little hearts out. Plus beers. There were tons of songs but the big ending number was, of course, this one. Is there anything more perfectly cheesy? And I love this song and everyone can just deal with it. What about y’all? Any faves?

And my own personal absolute favorite:

]]> http://oldsweetsong.com/2011/12/some-cheer/feed/ 5 party time is the best time http://oldsweetsong.com/2011/11/party-time-is-the-best-time/ http://oldsweetsong.com/2011/11/party-time-is-the-best-time/#comments Mon, 07 Nov 2011 14:53:17 +0000 amyferg http://oldsweetsong.dreamhosters.com/?p=7792 Hi friends. I hope you enjoyed your respective weekends. Mine was lovely. As I mentioned last week, Natalie and I hosted a little dessert party at my place on Saturday afternoon for NYC bloggers. It was a fantastic time with plenty of delicious desserts to go around. It was so nice to meet so many fascinating, creative lady bloggers. My pal (and photographer extraordinaire) Katie Murphy was there and she took some real pictures that I will share with you just as soon as I can get my hands on them. But until then here’s the invite we sent out and a few candids I snapped with my camera. All in all, a perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Did I mention we had some pretty fantastic gift bags, to boot! And guess what? There were a few extras so in lieu of each and every one of you being able to attend I’ll be giving away one of these awesome gift bags right here. It’ll be like you were there! So in keeping with the theme, leave a comment with your favorite fall dessert and I’ll pick a winner at the end of the week. Don’t miss out, everyone loves a gift bag!

——

I designed this invite that we sent out.

Co-hostesses looking festive.

Natalie made these insane caramel sea salt brownies. And we used these little flags to identify each delicious treat. Aren’t they cute?

Here are the GIFT BAGS I mentioned! Come on, don’t you totally want one of your very own?


My table was covered with delectable treats… each one more mouth watering than the last. (pictured: chewy molasses cookies, pine nut anise pie, apple cider candy corn rice krispie treat cake, caramel sea salt brownies and miniature pear pies)


 

]]> http://oldsweetsong.com/2011/11/party-time-is-the-best-time/feed/ 37 Books and The City http://oldsweetsong.com/2011/10/books-and-the-city/ http://oldsweetsong.com/2011/10/books-and-the-city/#comments Wed, 26 Oct 2011 16:04:19 +0000 amyferg http://www.oldsweetsong.com/?p=7655 Have you ever been in a reading rut? I’m just coming out of one. And it was a doozie. I started and abandoned like four different books because they just weren’t cutting it. I guess I’m not that great of a reader because I have to be pulled in, I can’t suffer through something boring that I’m not into. I’ll just put it away and try something else. This last rut had me worried though. I was starting to think I was never going to come out of it. But I did! And I owe it all to this fantastic book Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann. It was recommended to me by my friend Laura and I was almost immediately pulled in. It’s one of those wonderful novels set in New York City that weaves together the stories of a varied and beautifully tragic cast of characters. And it got me thinking, I just love reading books set in the city. I have to remember that for my next rut. I used to almost exclusively read novels set in small southern towns. What about you, what are your favorite type of books to read? Any preferred backdrops?

Here’s the book I mentioned and a few other novels set in NYC that I absolutely adored. And if you have any recommendations I’d love to hear them, based in NYC or otherwise.

Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
The Emperor’s Children by Claire Messud
Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

]]> http://oldsweetsong.com/2011/10/books-and-the-city/feed/ 4 New York, New York http://oldsweetsong.com/2011/08/new-york-new-york/ http://oldsweetsong.com/2011/08/new-york-new-york/#comments Wed, 17 Aug 2011 15:28:27 +0000 amyferg http://www.oldsweetsong.com/?p=7199 Y’all. Somehow in between this new freelance gig and all this time I’m spending with my new man, I totally missed my seven year anniversary of moving to NYC. Whaa?! Holy shit where did the time go?! They say that after 5 years this city is in your blood. Oh my I think they may be right. Somehow, in those seven years, this town became my home. It makes me crazy sometimes, but there’s nothing like New York.

photo by the insanely talented Jamie (who I can say I knew way back when)

]]> http://oldsweetsong.com/2011/08/new-york-new-york/feed/ 4 Glassybaby http://oldsweetsong.com/2011/01/glassybaby/ http://oldsweetsong.com/2011/01/glassybaby/#comments Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:47:46 +0000 amyferg http://www.oldsweetsong.com/?p=5846 There are so many (too many!) precious lil’ shops in this ridiculous city of mine. It can be overwhelming at times. It seems like there’s another treasure trove around every corner, but then again, that’s the beauty of this place. And one of my all time favorite NYC activities is wandering around all day and popping into shops that look interesting. There’s really nothing better. And it’s high time I start sharing some of them with you, right here. So that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Meet glassybaby.

Just blocks from my house, this cozy shop is located at 555 Hudson. Which (as the lovely Ed who was working at the time when I visited told me) is the former home of Jan Jacobs who was somewhat of a New York legend (Ed taught me a lot). She was an urban preservationist who was instrumental in stopping the Lower Manhattan Expressway (gasp!). So yeah, pretty cool location. The space itself is gorgeous! It’s got beautiful, creaky wood floors and white walls. Which is a pretty perfect backdrop for displaying glassybaby which are the most gorgeous hand made glass vessels. They’re perfect for votive candles and they come in every color imaginable. The company was started by 4 time cancer survivor, Lee Rhodes who was inspired by the warmth and hope that these glass masterpieces gave off. She learned how to blow glass and started making her own glassbaby to give to cancer patients as a sign of hope. Soon after that, the company was born. It started in Seattle and the New York City store opened about a year ago. And 10% of the proceeds go to cancer and AIDS charities.

I popped in on the way back from the greenmarket and ended up staying awhile. I tried votives in all the colors that I liked and kept clustering different colors together to see which ones I liked. For this color obsessed art director it was a pretty awesome way to spend an hour. I ended up going with “life guard” a bright and poppy orange-y red. But I’m definitely going to treat myself to a few more. These are perfect gifts! Who wouldn’t love something beautiful that has obviously been crafted with care and love? Plus the fact that it’s a company with such a great heart just adds to the appeal.

I am a big fan.

The entire store is organized by color. Swoon!

I could barely handle all this lovely yellow goodness.

And after playing around with all the different colors I decided these four looked pretty spectacular together. Don’t you agree? I hope so because that’s basically the color scheme of my apartment. So now you kind of just have to say you like it even if you don’t. Come on. It’s the nice thing to do.

Um. Is this heaven? No, it’s from the super awesome glassybaby online store. Go visit. Now.

Promise me if you’re in NYC or if you’re ever visiting, you HAVE to stop by this heavenly place.

]]> http://oldsweetsong.com/2011/01/glassybaby/feed/ 5 Let it Snow http://oldsweetsong.com/2011/01/let-it-snow/ http://oldsweetsong.com/2011/01/let-it-snow/#comments Fri, 07 Jan 2011 15:50:30 +0000 amyferg http://www.oldsweetsong.com/?p=5839 I missed the first big snow up here because I was down south (in the land of the pines). The situation that’s going on outside right now is really MY first snow of this season. And let me tell you, it’s coming down. I work on the 18th floor and usually have a ridiculous view of Manhattan. Not today, friends. It seems that Manhattan has disappeared. Stay warm!

]]> http://oldsweetsong.com/2011/01/let-it-snow/feed/ 3 Rain http://oldsweetsong.com/2010/12/rain/ http://oldsweetsong.com/2010/12/rain/#comments Tue, 14 Dec 2010 13:25:48 +0000 amyferg http://www.oldsweetsong.com/?p=5726 My dad and stepmom were in town this weekend which usually means lots of good food and drinks (check) and some shopping (check) and a show (check). We saw Rain which is the Beatles tribute show. It wasn’t the best show I’ve ever seen, but if you love the Beatles (which I do) it’s worth checking out. It’s more of a concert than a traditional show. And when all is said and done you’re really just paying to see a REALLY good cover band. But it’s still a great show and these guys do pitch perfect Beatles impressions, especially the Paul McCartney guy. Oh my goodness he was eerie. And it begs the question… what is your favorite Beatles song?

Mine is, hands down, without a doubt:

And a close second (I don’t care if it’s cliche. It’s an amazing song. And so true):

And now, your turn…

]]> http://oldsweetsong.com/2010/12/rain/feed/ 3 One of my favorite places http://oldsweetsong.com/2010/12/one-of-my-favorite-places/ http://oldsweetsong.com/2010/12/one-of-my-favorite-places/#comments Mon, 13 Dec 2010 20:08:02 +0000 amyferg http://www.oldsweetsong.com/?p=5715 If you live in NYC you probably already know about Fishs Eddy. But even if you don’t live in NYC you should know about it (in case you’re ever here you have to go, plus they have a pretty awesome online store that is worth checking out). Well, Fishs Eddy is one of my absolute favorite shops in all of NYC. It’s packed to the gills with great stuff.
They have lovely dishes in super fun patterns…

…tons of brightly colored glassware…

…and really awesome glove molds…

… and millions of little knickknacks that you didn’t even know you needed.

Like these 3 that I picked up last week; a bright red tea bag rest, a small hand figurine and a mermaid bottle opener (which I am QUITE fond of and will be perfect for opening negra modelos).

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