Christmas is coming

It's been a while since I updated- school did get overwhelming for a while there. I'm done for the semester and looking forward to a bit of relaxation. I did have an order for some earrings recently so I made these this week:

Municipal Archives

Last week one of my classes met at the NYC Municipal Archives. We got a tour of the conservation facilities and archive rooms. The volume of records and historic documents stored there is amazing. There are property photos, marriage records, mayoral records among others. The woman who runs the archive told us that they have over 160,000 square cubic feet of material. Some of the items they pulled for us included 19th century mug shots and police evidence including a statement rolled up with a knife point that was extracted from the victim. Going in to one of the basement storage rooms was like the last scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark when they wheel the crate into the warehouse.

Halloween fun!

The Merchant's House Museum has lots of fun, historically-themed events in October. Check out what they have going on http://www.merchantshouse.com/events/index.html

Great Jack O' Lantern Blaze

Last night I went with a group of friends, some newly made, to Van Cortlandt Manor. Before heading to the spectacle, we had dinner at Umami Cafe in Croton-on-Hudson. The place was busy, the food was reasonable and excellent, and our host was a Civil War reenactor to boot! I got some fun tidbits about the local history from him while waiting for friends.

We headed two minutes down the road to the Blaze. It was quite a production, to say the least. I believe the site has over 6,000 carved pumpkins now. The turnout was impressive as well. It's definitely merchandise-heavy (cafe tent, gift shop with tons of plastic toys for the kids and pumpkin themed food items, postcards and mugs) but I really like the fact that the proceeds support Historic Hudson Valley. This is entertainment that won't rot your brain. Some of my favorite displays:


The Halve Maen


The Headless Horseman's road


Dinosaurs!


Kitties

Busy week

I have had a busy week- a walking tour of lower Manhattan for one of my classes, research at the library, preparation of a Powerpoint presentation for one class and cramming for a quiz in another class. This weekend should should bring some fun though. I'm going to check out the Great Jack O Lantern Blaze http://www.hudsonvalley.org/content/view/195/198/ at Van Cortlandt Manor. It's feeling like fall.

19th c. Pub Crawl

Last night was the 19th c. pub crawl http://www.19thcpubcrawl.com/ organized and hosted by Sarah, Eva and Ilana. A great time was had by all, and many connections and new friends were made. Some ladies and gents even came dressed in their best 19th century finery. Our troupe attracted some attention and picked up a few self proclaimed "tour stalkers" along the way! This was the inaugural event of the New York Ninteenth Century Society, and if it is any indication of the activities to come, I think it will be a great success.

Something sparkly

I gave myself permission to slack off on making jewelry if I felt overwhelmed with school, work, etc., but these were quick and easy to make. I took a break from reading yesterday and put together these rough diamond and sterling silver danglies.

Progress Report

School is fun and challenging thus far. For my Documentation and Interpretation class, we are focusing on the Columbia Waterfront neighborhood in Brooklyn. The area is a little slice on the East River bounded by the BQE, Gowanus and container piers on the waterfront. We will be delving in to the history and development of the neighborhood and suggesting directions for development in the future. Promises to be interesting...

Last Hurrah

For Labor Day weekend, my hubby and I decided to go to Lake George and re-experience a place from our childhoods. We visited Fort William Henry and took a ride on the Minnehaha. We even got rootbeer at the A&W, with car-hops and all! The weather was perfect and Lake George was suprisingly uncrowded. The lazy days of summer are officially over...

School Days

Today was my first day of classes. I am both excited an nervous about embarking on this journey. I am going to have a lot of classwork in additon to my regular job, so I really hope I am able to balance it all.
As far as making jewelry, I have decided that I won't pressure myself to keep churning out new stuff, as school and work will have to come first. If a new design idea comes to me, and I feel like I have the time to make it, I will. Otherwise, I will put the ideas in storage for when I am ready to make them. One thing I will make time to do though, is my family holiday gift. It's a new tradition of mine to design a piece of jewelry for the ladies in the family each Christmas. I think it's important to keep that one going.

mole-a-skeen'-a

I have always wanted a Moleskine but could never justify getting one. Now that I'm a serious grad student, I decided I needed a serious notebook. I got a soft cover extra large plain to take notes in. I'm going to have to write microscopically because I want it to last for my entire grad school career (just kidding)! All those creamy, blank pages are sort of intimidating though. Here's an action shot:

These are the places in your neighborhood

I like to keep an eye on the buildings in and around my 'hood. There are some good things and some bad things happening. It seems that every bit of character or patina around here needs to be hermetically sealed in a shinery new candy shell. The first 2 are kind of old news, but they still make me angry. Here is what they are doing to 3 Columbus Circle:

http://www.3columbuscircle.com/

The work is progressing



Here is what has already been done to 2 Columbus Circle

Before




After with 3 Columbus Circle in the background.


As for the good things, work on rehabilitating the Windmere has finally begun. The building was landmarked in 2005. My former doorman was one of the tenants. http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/press/09-07_windermere_record_settlement.pdf


http://www.nylandmarks.org/programs_services/endangered_buildings_initiative/windermere/









I read today that Senator Tom Duane is pushing to get the IRT building landmarked http://www.tomduane.com/news_2009/public_testimony_2009/IRT%20Powerhouse%20LPC.html

Sign the petition! http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-the-irt-powerhouse

Ghost building

I lament this departed building on 57th St.

Anyone have a cherry-picker I can borrow?

Lately I have been fascinated with the decorative castings on through-bolts. I have been taking pictures of them with hopes of adapting them into jewelry but, unfortunately, I would really need to get up on a cherry-picker, or into a building across the street in order to get the shots I need. I have to figure this out...

Two great tastes that taste great together

In an unexpectedly serendipitous turn of events, my love of jewelry and preservation have come together in a very fortuitous way. I find myself designing jewelry for historic house museums based on decorative arts and objects in their collections. My first piece for the Merchant's House Museum is based on a Duncan Phyfe chair in their collection. My next 2 pieces are based on the Grand Staircase at the Vanderbilt Musem in Hyde Park, NY. I can't wait to see what other objects I can translate into jewelry.

My very first blog.

All the kids are doin' it, so I thought I'd join the fun. I have a feeling it will be a non-topical catchall for my sundry interests.