The Last Days of Summer

I’ve been at school in Connecticut now for three weeks (still have no Internet at my house!) but this blog is from three weeks ago when the US Open was just getting into the swing of things and when I had my birthday weekend.

A huge hurricane was supposed to hit the East Coast. The Weather Channel made it sound like the apocalypse but we only experienced a few sprinkles at the Open.

I don’t actually remember who this was, but he was handsome and playing tennis…

Who could so many people be trying to see? Well, if you guessed Roger Federer, then you are correct. He gets the practice court furthest from the crowds and keeps a tight profile.

Apparently covering the Open is a completely time-consuming event because Patrick McEnroe was getting his hair cut before going on the air.

The next day there was lots of sunshine so we headed to Westhampton Beach. My dad is one of the white specks in this photo, Victor’s dad is the other. They brought in quite the catch of clams.

These little fellows were cleaned and then steamed in a white wine broth with herbs and then they were devoured.

We also had a lobster friend for a few minutes – he didn’t last very long.

Hope the weekend is treating you well. I have my fingers crossed that I will get Internet again soon and can post photos of New England fall.

Off to the Polo Match

There are those moments in life where you get a glimpse of how the upper crust lives. There was that time in Paris at the art gallery evening opening of Fernand Léger’s works when the New York art dealer turned to me and told me he could get the painting for me for 12, instead of 13. And by 12 and 13, I mean million. So this weekend Victor and I drove to Bridgehampton. Pretty windmill always shown on Royal Pains:

This is a pretty lake. If you turn around when facing the lake, then all of a sudden you are in polo land.

That’s right: polo in the Hamptons. It is up there with the Paris gallery (not quite as good) but the people watching was equally fantastic. There are two kinds of people at polo. The ones who sit and watch (actually care about the game) and then the people there for the VIP tent (I guess I fall into the category of observer of both).

One of the trainers let us hold a mallet and it is surprisingly light-weight as is the ball they are trying to whack around:

And now for the voyer part of the blog (really, this isn’t creepy, The New York Times runs a page of this every Sunday issue). First up, winner for best pants in the male category:

Second up, winner for the best “I look like I just got off of a jet from Milan.”

Here, we have a double winner for best hat and couple trying to be on a Real Housewives show:

And last but not least we have the winner for best accessories:

I really don’t understand how women can stomp divots in shoes like these:

Well after the high society, beach time is always nice:

But wait, the best beach outfit goes to this kid. I kind of wish they made adult sizes because then I wouldn’t get sunburnt!

Alas, all weekends must end, so there is always that ferry ride back to Connecticut:

Lazy Days of Summer

This past weekend was a perfect combination of relaxing and taking it easy (too bad this week I have tons of things I need to tackle). I worked through my lunch a few times last week so I was able to leave work early and head to New Haven from where I took the train to Bridgeport and then a ferry to Port Jefferson, NY where Victor met me and we then drove out to Westhampton. The view from the ferry is always nice. There were two guys hanging out on a boat fishing:

There are plenty of sail boats in Port Jefferson making for a picture perfect entrance to the city (the Bridgeport side of the ferry run looks industrial. As my guidebook on New England said, Bridgeport has seen better days).

On Saturday we went to the farmer’s market in Westhampton Beach. I saw these funky carrots and had to take a photo. We bought a bunch and the purple one had a milder taste than regular orange carrots. The white tasted like normal carrots. Maybe they are designer carrots?

We also drove out to Fire Island and walked around. We were there on the anniversary of the TWA 800 crash and we walked by the memorial which was nicely done.

Now I have to get working on my research proposal for my internship. At least I can look at photos of the beach while doing it!

Humidity Heatwave

It is hot on the East Coast right now. No, that is an understatement: it is miserable here now. This past weekend, however, was absolutely lovely, perfect weather so I headed down to NYC. On Friday I bummed around with Alana and Evan and we spent our lazy day walking around and sleeping in parks.

Washington Square Park: stop number one. Half of the park has been redone and looks lovely, the other half is still under construction.

All of the flowers in the park are in bloom – felt a little like Paris in the summer.

Central Park: stop number two. Before our two hour nap in Central Park we had lunch at Braai which is a South African restaurant. Lunch was tasty and I would go back again. I want to try the ostrich. And after sleeping in the park we got macarons (by accident we walked by the place) at La Maison du Chocolat – the macarons there are wonderful.

Here’s a view of the city at sunset (on a perfect temperature day) from Kosciusko Bridge:

The next day I went shopping with Victor and his brother to pick up some things before heading to the beach. We stopped at the Green Market in Union Square and got lots of fruits and veggies.

And that night I baked banana bread for the first time and it came out perfectly:

The next day we stopped at a fruit and veggie stand on the side of the road. Think local, heh?

The beach was crowded. I may have put on sunscreen that was not waterproof. I may currently look like a lobster – ouch.

We watched fireworks over the bay. Happy Birthday, America! I’m currently praying for it to rain here so the humidity can break…fingers crossed.

Raspberry Days of Summer

This past weekend I headed down to NYC (I’ll post soon about Friday night) and then out to the beach on Saturday. It was a pretty busy Father’s Day at the beach so we actually had to go to the town of Quogue (which was charming) to their general store on Main Street to buy groceries. I took care of my Father’s Day card and gift early on. The other day I read a great column by my favorite columnist at The New York Times, Nicholas Kristof, which was a great tribute to his dad and just an amazing life story – worth a read.  Food-wise this weekend involved a lot of berries. To be specific: raspberries.

Victor’s family has several bushes on the side of their house so we picked a lot and then I decided to get creative with recipes.

The first thing I made: raspberry mojitos. To do this you will need:

-fresh raspberries

-fresh mint leaves

-limes

-white rum (I used Bacardi)

-ginger ale

-ice

Combine raspberries, limes, and mint leaves and mull. Add ice, ginger ale, and rum in quantities that you like. Some people prefer to strain the fruit and leaves out, I like leaving them and just drinking it all.

We still had quite a few raspberries left so I baked a raspberry tart. The recipe was a bit sweet for me, personally if I was to follow this recipe again, I would melt down my own raspberries and make my own sauce instead of using any store bought preserves (although I am a big fan of Bonne Maman, yes, I am a sucker for anything with a French name). I also added some shaved chocolate bits on top, mainly because I wanted some chocolate.

You may be asking yourself about the photo below. Personally, I had never heard of horseshoe crabs. My dad informed me that they are East Coast dwelling creatures. After reading the Wiki entry about them, I am still a bit confused. You can’t really eat them but they are still pretty cool looking.

Note: this one was alive and not pleased to be poked. Oops.

Saturday was a beautiful day…

…so it was disappointing when Sunday was misty and foggy. Actually felt like Northern California coastal weather in the fall and winter but not quite that cold.

And I leave you with a beach rose. Best of luck with the rest of the work week. Now that I work 8:30 to 5:30 I get the phrase “working for the weekend”!