Old Sweet Song » i heart ny

Brunch in Brooklyn

Amy@OldSweetSong — Mon, 07 May 2012 14:01:19 +0000

I’m a self-proclaimed brunch enthusiast. And last weekend I was invited to quite a brunch my friends. It was co-hosted by Joanna Goddard, Pinhole Press and Sunday Suppers. It was a a perfect way to spend a Saturday morning. The setting, the new Sunday Suppers studio, was gorgeous. (That’s me in the pink sweater + blue dress).

(image credit: Karen Mordechai via Cup of Jo)

The meal, provided by Sunday Suppers and guest chefs Jewels of New York, was quite delicious. I mean, there was homemade nutella with sea salt for the love of all that is holy!

(image credit: Karen Mordechai) via Cup of Jo)

And the company, an assortment of creative women, was lovely and inspiring. (There’s me again in the stinkin’ pink sweater! And that’s Jenny Komenda of Little Green Notebook)

(image credit: Jamie Beck)

Thanks so much to Joanna for including me, to Sunday Suppers for the beautiful meal and location, and to Pinhole Press (who I already loved for allowing me to make my silly Christmas cards) for making the whole thing happen.

Hangin’ Out

Amy@OldSweetSong — Thu, 03 May 2012 13:02:20 +0000

Oh nothing much going on around here. Just stalking 20×200 and being totally inspired, as usual. I still have some empty spots in my place that could use some affordable art. And I have a ‘hanging up art’ itch that hasn’t been scratched in a while. Maybe I’ll partake in some NYC themed art. It is the best city in the world, after all.

Sea Creatures at The American Museum of Natural History by Jason Polan

The Sledding Hill (Dusk) by Jospeh O. Holmes

Ideal Bookshelf 364: NYC by Jane Mount

prettymaps (nyc) by Aaron Straup Cope

Cupcake Basics 101

Amy@OldSweetSong — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:21:26 +0000

Going to take a quick break from Thoughtful Eating today and discuss something of utter importance: cupcakes. This past Sunday I was lucky enough to get to take a cupcake making classes at the truly awesome ButtterLane cupcake shop in the East Village (seriously, totally kicks Magnolia’s ass). I found out about the class through CourseHorse which is a genius new website that connects New Yorkers with all sorts of interesting classes around the city. There were many course offerings on the website but Cupcake Basics 101 worked best with my schedule. And it’s a class about cupcakes so, duh.

The class consisted of about 12 people and was held in the ButterLane classroom. We split up into groups of about four and each group took care of one of the cupcakes and one of the frostings. The cupcake choices were vanilla, chocolate and banana and the frosting choices were vanilla, chocolate and cream cheese. I ended up at the banana cupcake table where we took turns dumping ingredients in and watching the kitchenaid turn the ingredients into a beautiful banana batter. While they were baking we made the frostings and tried them all, several times obvie.

After all the frostings were made and the cupcakes were done baking the instructor spread them out on a big table and demonstrated how to frost the cupcakes and make the signature ButterLane swirl. She told us to set aside our best swirl attempt because there would be a contest and the best swirl-er would get a prize.

Well. You’ll never guess who won. That’s right not only did I come home with NINE delicious cupcakes but because I did the best job of nailing the signature swirl I also came home with a ButterLane gift certificate. Pretty talented lady, huh?

I want to thank CourseHorse for sending me to the class free of charge. It was a great time and I’d highly recommend it. Because I can bake, the class felt a touch basic however it was still a fun way to spend an afternoon. The only thing I’d say is bring a pal along because the more the merrier, right? It might even be a fun date activity. And if you live in the City definitely check out CourseHorse and see what classes pique your interest.

I’m eyeing this or this for my next learning adventure.

Dear New York

Amy@OldSweetSong — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 13:18:44 +0000

Dear New York, I love you so much. If I forget to say it sometimes I’m sorry. But please know you are forever surprising me and making me fall in love all over again. Like the other day, I wasn’t working and decided to take the 1 train uptown so I could take a run around the reservoir. I got out at 86th Street which is my old stop and walked past my old bodega, my old grocery store, my old coffee shop, etc. I even walked past my old place (I moved up there about three years ago). Oh my goodness, I had forgotten how much I love that neighborhood. And I’m convinced that Central Park (and specifically the reservoir) is one of the most beautiful places in the world. So, when this lease ends (not until October) I’m thinking of moving on perhaps even leaving the West Village. I assumed this would mean Brooklyn. But my little visit to the Upper West Side last week has me considering it, as well. One thing is for sure: I freaking love this town.

So where will I end up this time ? Time will tell, my friends.

Artist Crush: Kazuya Morimoto

Amy@OldSweetSong — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 13:56:02 +0000

I decided to start volunteering. What I do for a living isn’t exactly great for the world so I figured I should start putting some positivity out in the world. It’s important to give back no matter what and I was long overdue. So, I joined New York Cares which makes volunteering ridiculously easy (New Yorkers, I highly recommend it) and my first project was this weekend. I spent Saturday afternoon helping organize The New York Public Library. Hooray Dewey Decimal System! If you are the type of person who likes organizing things, this is the volunteering job for you. Several quiet hours doing a simple task can be quite therapeutic and satisfying.

I was working in the Jefferson Market branch of the library which was featuring the work Kazuya Morimoto. He does illustrations and watercolors of city scenes and many of the Village ones were framed and displayed amongst the books at the library. So as I walked through the stacks returning book after book to it’s appropriate home on it’s appropriate shelf, I couldn’t help but fall in love with these lovely New York scenes of my neighborhood.

p.s. That building that looks like a church in the first picture is actually the library. And the garden outside is where Miranda got married.

Living near History

Amy@OldSweetSong — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:10:40 +0000

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.

Holidayhangover

Amy@OldSweetSong — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 15:27:28 +0000

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.

Some Cheer

Amy@OldSweetSong — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:20:18 +0000

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:

party time is the best time

Amy@OldSweetSong — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 14:53:17 +0000

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)

Books and The City

Amy@OldSweetSong — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 16:04:19 +0000

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