"Mary Mary" Premieres TONIGHT @ 10pm on WE tv!

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WE tv's hit reality series "Mary Mary" is back for season two premiering Thursday, December 6 at a special time 10PM ET/PT with 13, one-hour episodes. The series continues to provide a rare glimpse into the lives of three-time Grammy Award-winning singing sisters, Erica and Tina Campbell, better known as the famed gospel duo, 'Mary Mary.'   In the premiere episode, Erica and Tina are in for a marathon: back-to-back concerts and appearances to promote "Go Get It," booked by their headstrong manager Mitchell Solarek. Excited about the influx of opportunities, Erica rises to the challenge of nonstop touring and occasionally brings along hubby Warryn and newborn Zaya for the ride. On the other hand, Teddy is concerned about his wife Tina-who's in her third trimester-as she puts more strain on her pregnancy with constant touring. Behind the scenes, trouble continues between sister/celebrity stylist Goo Goo and Mitchell when a last minute wardrobe malfunction threatens an important performance on a popular gospel show. Adding to Goo Goo's stress, she's been tasked with planning her sister's, Alana, wedding all while trying to keep things afloat with long-distance boyfriend Justin.



We had the Pleasure of attend the Premiere of the Second Season of Mary Mary in NYC At the AMC Empire 25 Time Square. It is going to be a great Season , Stay Tuned!
Check out the Pictures  

Our Holiday Movie Picks , Happy Viewing :)

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Most of us spend a good deal of time watching television or Netflix (Our Favorite) over the holiday season. If you are looking for your Holiday fix here is a  great list to use.

Here is my pick for quality viewing time for the visitors in your home this week and next. There are also different movies I watch for different reasons.1-     It's a Wonderful Life - On the Top of any list. We watch it every year, and it just keeps getting better.2-      Miracle on  34^th Street - The original is a heartwarming story. You cannot help but smile and think of the kinder days in your childhood.3-      Deck the Halls-  It tells the story of just how competitive we have become with Christmas decorations4-      The Santa Clause We all know what it’s like to have to agree to something and we feel unworthy.5-      The Christmas Shoes It will make you pay attention to the people in front and around you. You may be able to make someone’s wish come true6-      This Christmas It will remind you that being with family  is  truly the best gift of year.7-      The Preacher’s Wife-  It tells the story of healing and love’s enduring heart.8-      The Nativity. It reminds you  of what Christmas is Truly about9-      The Polar Express. It may be animated but it tells a story of Hope.10-    A Christmas Story. Surely we all have seen it but you need to watch it again just for the laugh out loud quality of the child and the frozen flag pole.11-    Home Alone - The first one, not the sequels! A really good family film for the holidays, except there's no family! Funny gags, hilarious antics and truly feel-good moments as well. (one of our favorites)12-     A Charlie Brown Christmas  - We know it's a made-for-TV movie, but to ignore it would be stupid. Generations of kids have grown up on it.13-    Elf  - Will Ferrell drives this great-for-the-entire-family Christmas comedy. Of course the uncredited appearance of Peter Billingsley is a special holiday treat.14 -   Bad Santa  - Come on, admit it! You know it made you laugh. There's just something funny about a drunken Santa.
What is your favorite holiday movie?Happy Viewing!

8 Ways to Deal With Holiday Blues

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The holiday season can stress out the best of us. Often we get overwhelmed by the list of things we need to purchase or the people we need to see. It often becomes a time of the year where we look back at all the shortcomings and disappointments of the year. Here is a list of  tips that can be helpful.1. Spend time with people who care about you and your well-being. A really good support system is the best thing you can do to cope with the holiday blues.2. Celebrate the present, and accept that change is a normal part of life.3. Volunteer your time in service to others. When you are helping or pitching in with something you will not think about yourself.4. Understand that you cannot control your family members. They are who they are.5. Don’t feel obligated to attend everything.. You are one person. No one will be angry with you if you cannot attend.  If they are angry than reevaluate your friendship.6. Don’t overspend. Stick to your spending limit. When January arrives it  will not come with credit card shock.7.  Really take a look at what is going on in your area. Google holiday events and attend something fun. It’s a good way to meet people.8. Give us a Call , we will always have encouraging words for you  :)

Healthy Living : Five Things You Can do to Lose 5 Pounds

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Have you ever said “I just want to lose 5 pounds.” There are a few things you can do to make it happen. An easy way to remember these tips is the word “LOSES”. Each letter represents a tip.

“LOSES"

Lots of fruits, vegetables, and water.Omit fried food, fast food, sodas, ice cream, regular salad dressings, and cheese.Subtract 500 calories/day from current diet to lose 1 pound/week. 3500 calories = 1 pound fat.Exercise Burns calories, decreases fat and sugar cravings, improves mood.Stay On Track- If you splurge on a high calorie food or meal, get back on track at the next meal, do not let it trigger a week long binge!If you put your mind to it, resist temptation, and stay on track, you can do it. Make a list of reasons why you want to lose weight and post it on the refrigerator. This will keep you motivated until you reach your goal. Remember, nothing tastes as good as being fit feels!




By Lisa DeFazio, Certified Registered Dietitian

Movies: Sneak Peek of Tyler Perry's Temptation

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A marriage counselor’s personal and professional life becomes complicated after she enters into a relationship with one of her clients.The movie is about Judith (Jurnee Smollett-Bell, all grown up from her “Eve’s Bayou” days), an Ivy League-educated married woman who wants to be a marriage counselor but is stuck working in a matchmaking agency for high-powered men run by Janice (Vanessa L.. Williams).  Her rival at the office is Ava (Kardashian) who is overly critical of Judith’s appearance and personal style (Kardashian does seem more at ease talking about fashion than “the largest social media inventor since Zuckerberg”).  But then Judith finds her own marriage in trouble when she comes under the spell of a new client, the successful and charming Harley (Robbie Jones).Will you  going to the movies to see it? It does look interesting. 

FASHIONISTAS' HOLIDAY IN NEW YORK (c) By Polly Guerin

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Fashionable New York opens the season with stylish reasons to view the Fashion Week collections and revisit “Ivy Style” or tap into new documentaries or magazines that make the art of fashion the reason New York is the Fashion Capital of the World. Only the Best of New York my friends. Here’s the Scoop!!!

FASHION ILLUSTRATION gets its due venue at the Brooklyn Public Library where the never-before-seen illustrations of ANTONIO LOPEZ and works by Richard Haines and Samantha Hahn are among the rare collections on view Monday through Thursdays, 9am-9pm, Friday and Saturday, 10am- 6pm. and Sunday 1-5 pm. The exhibit also includes a fashion film series, panel discussions and author talks throughout the fall. For aspiring illustrators there will be fashion illustrations classes. Check it out a brooklypubliclibary.org, Central Library, 10 Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn. 718.230.2100.
IVY STYLE celebrates one of the most enduring clothing styles of the 20th century at The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology. From its origins in the prestigious college campuses of America in the late 1910s to the many reinterpretations seen in contemporary fashion, the “Ivy” League Look” or “Ivy Style” has come to be viewed as a classic form of dressing. More than 60 ensembles, both historic and contemporary, will be on display. A more in-depth study of Ivy Style will be featured in the accompanying book also titled, Ivy Style. Opens September 14 to January 5, 2013. FREE and open to the public. Museum Hours Tuesday-Friday-noon-8pm, Saturday 10am-5pm. fitnyc.edu/museum. The museum’s annual fashion symposium takes place November 8 and 9, 2012, in conjunction with the exhibition.
DIANA VREELAND: THE EYE HAS TO TRAVEL an entertaining new documentary is in preview right now about the legendary fashion editor, Diana Vreeland whose amazing eye on fashion fascinates us even today. Vreeland’s voice seemingly pervades the film (an actress actually narrates) with her early years in Paris, London and New York and of course, we see her pages from Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue, which she transformed into a pop-culture venue. The film opens in limited release on Sept. 21 and will be shown at the Paris Theater on 58th Street, opposite the Plaza. Two other new documentaries came out during Fashion Week, Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s and Versailles 73, which will be shown for one week only at the IFC Center, beginning Sept. 7th.
CHRISTIAN DIOR’S famous name launches its own print magazine, DIOR, to be published twice a year, September and March in nine languages and a controlled circulation to its best customers and prospects. French and English versions will be released first, around September 10th. The print issue follows the February introduction of online editorial at Diormag.com. Meanwhile if you are in Paris during the holidays Printemps’ public façade, starting in November, features mechanical windows with dolls dressed in exact replicas of iconic Dior outfits, created by its couture ateliers.
TA TA Darlings!!! I’ll vicariously be off to Paris to catch the fashion buzz and enjoy the sights!!! Fan mail welcome at pollytalk.com. Polly’s blogs are best accessed at pollytalk.com website, just click in the left hand column for a direct link to visionary men, amazing women, poetry or fashion.

FASHIONISTA'S HOLIDAY IN THE BIG APPLE (c) By Polly Guerin

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No wonder New York City is called the Fashion Capital of the World; from textiles to fashion and celebrity book signing there’s more than meets the eye in venues this week. Only in New York, my friends, the best of New York. Here’s the Scoop

THE WORLD OF D.D. AND LESLIE TILLET If you are waxing nostalgic and want to capture the glimpse of textile history The Museum of the City of New York honors the memory of the legendary textile designers, the Tillets. The D.D. stands for D.D. Doctorow who married Leslie Tillet and 60 years later, the lyrical but never-published pictures she took for a feature for Harper’s Bazaar bring the story of their collaboration to life. The Tillets moved to Manhattan in 1946, reaching a level of recognition all but unheard of in the fabric world. Their best known patterns are chrysanthemums busting like fireworks in a mélange of color. American sportswear designer, Claire McCardell included Tillet fabrics in her collections and celebrities like Jacqueline Kennedy had a favorite Tillet sundress. At MCNY Fifth Avenue between 103 and 104th Streets. (Image above: The Tillets)

MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD Here’s a lesson in fashion history. For its revival of “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” the Roundabout Theater is costuming the musicians and the ushers as well as the cast of almost 30 in period costumes befitting the 1890s era—-63 hats, 33 wigs, 32 costumed house staff, 16 bustles, etc. etc. To bring the story to the stage, playwright and composer Rubert Holmes created a multiple-choice musical, whereby audience members at each performance vote for an ending which the actors then perform. Costume designer, William Ivey Long created the elaborate costumes which create a brand new way to appreciate historical fashion.

FASHION SYMPOSIUM Ivy Style will be FIT’s 12th fashion symposium, bring together diverse array of scholars, authors and designers to discuss, debate and celebrate the “Ivy League Look,” a distinctly American fashion genre that has been shaping the evolution of menswear for decades. Ivy Style has spread way beyond the university campuses where it began to become a major influence on many of today’s fashion designers including Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger and Thom Browne. You’re in for a treat. Speakers will include Richard Press, grandson of J. Press; journalist G. Bruce Boyer; designer Jeffrey Banks, Claudio Del Vecchio, chairman and chief executive officer of Brooks Brothers and Patricia Meers, FIT deputy director of the exhibition. Held in the Morris W. and Fannie B. Haft Auditorium, Marvin Feldman Center, second floor on Thursday and Friday, November 8 and 9th. Free to the FIT community and to students everywhere (with ID). To register call: 212.217.4585.

INCOMPARABLE: WOMEN OF STYLE By Rose Hartman This photographer/fashionista’s book is a photo gallery of the goddesses who populate modern glamour—-models, actresses, jet-setters, editors and celebrities, famous or obscure. Rose Hartman is a whirlwind on the New York fashion scene and I keep bumping into her at many a press opening. Earlier this year a retrospective of her work, Selections from the Rose Hartman Photography Archives, 1977-2011, was shown at the Gladys Marcus Library at the Fashion Institute of Technology. She is a force and her uncanny lens is accompanied with texts by Anthony Haden-Guest and Alistair O’Neill with 132 color illustrations by the high priestess of fashion photography. Published by ACC Editions.

Ta Ta darlings: Looking forward to seeing you at the FIT Fashion Symposium. Fan mail welcome: pollytalk@verizon. Polly’s blogs are best accessed at pollytalk.com just click in the left hand column for a direct link to visionary men, amazing women, poetry or fashion.

CULTURAL VENUES RESTORE THE BIG APPLE'S HEART (c) By Polly Guerin

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The rush of cultural venues restores the city on new ground with good reason to get out and enjoy the rich heritage that only New York City can offer in such abundance. Only in New York my friends, the best of New York. Here’s the scoop!

EDVARD MUNCH: The Scream, A haunting rendition of a hairless figure on a road under a yellow-orange sky, says it all about the reaction to Sandy. Here is an opportunity to see for yourself. The Scream has garnered worldwide attention for the stark portrayal of the human condition. The Museum of modern Art’s special six-month exhibition of Edvard Munch’s iconic ‘The Scream’ (1895) is among the most celebrated and recognized images in art history. The exhibition includes a small selection of works of the same period drawn primarily from the Museum’s collection. Of the four versions of the Scream that Munch created, this pastel of The Scream, is lent from a private collection and will on view at MoMA through April 2013, at 11 W. 53 St.

THE ROLLING STONES 50 years on Film: In celebration of the 50th anniversary of The Rolling Stones, MoMA presents the first comprehensive retrospective which chronicles the band from the mid-1960s until today with documentaries, fiction features, concert films, music videos, experimental shorts, and archival footage, training the film careers of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, and Ronnie Wood, as well as former band members, collectively as composers, performers, producers and actors. Over the past half century, The Rolling Stones have influenced music, cinema, and art, working with some of the most original directors of their generation. In The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater.

THE PURSUIT OF A VISION: Two Centuries of Collecting American at the American Antiquarian Society tells the story of the significant book, newspaper, and art collectors who helped develop and expand the Society’s collection, which is described as the greatest collection of early Americana in the world. On the second floor gallery, The Grolier Club present a groundbreaking examination of Italian-language publishing in pre-war America, ‘Strangers in a Strange lane’ showcases a wide range of literary works which entertained, educated and inflamed an Italian-language audience during a period of critical historical development. Free admission. The Grolier Club, 47 E. 60th St.

THE RODIN PROJECT: The Russell Maliphant Company performs the U. S. debut of its celebrated founder’s latest work, The Rodin Project. First presented in Paris this past January, it is inspired by the “energy and twisting” of the 19th century master’s forms. The six dancer piece blends street and contemporary idioms and features a score by the Russian composer and cellist Alexander Zekke. Dec. 5 through 9 at the Joyce Theater, joyce.org. Sneak preview and discussion with the choreographer Dec. 3 at the Guggenheim Museum, guggenheim.org.

THE SALON, ART & DESIGN at the Park Avenue Armory Nov. 8 to 12th opens with a gala to benefit the Kips Bay Boys & Girls club, Wed. Nov. 7th. Special events in the Tiffany Room, Friday Nov. 9th and Saturday Nov. 10th include Real Estate and Interiors: How does design affect the value of your home? In addition, French Flair: Top designers talk about designing in the French Style and Elements of Contemporary Style deatures the next generation of Interior Designers. At Park Avenue Armory, 643 Park Ave. at 67th St. Info: thesalonny.com.

Ta Ta darlings!!! It’s quite a relief to be back on board with my PollyTalk column. I trust you are all okay by now. Fan mail always welcome at pollytalk.com and my Blogs can be reached by clicking on the left-hand column links on pollytalk.com.

FASHIONISTA'S HOLIDAY HAPPENINGS (c) By Polly Guerin

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The glitz and glamour of fashion steals the holiday spotlight bringing with it a chance to take a diversion and revisit fashion at various venues around town. It’s the Best of New York, my friends, the very best!!! Here’s the scoop!!!!

FASHION and TECHNOLOGY A new exhibition in the Fashion and Textile History Gallery at The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology (MFIT) presents a fascinating review of how fashion has engaged with---and been altered by---technological advancements throughout history. Spanning 250 years, the exhibition is displayed in chronological order with a focus on technological innovations that had had an impact on the production, materials and function of fashion. The exhibit includes objects as diverse as an afternoon dress, circa, 1860, produced using synthetic dyes that resist fading, and Pierre Cardin’s seamless dress from 1968 that showcases his pioneering ‘Cardine’ textile. Also on view is Jean Paul Gaultier’s 1996 jumpsuit that utilizes the aesthetic of the “Cyber Age” as a decorative motif, and the LillyPad Arduino circuitboard, which allows designers to push the function of clothing further by integrating smart electronics directly into their garments. Free and Open to the Public. On view through May 2013. At 27th Street & Seventh Avenue. Image: Jean Paul Gaultier, jumpsuit, mulicolored nylon and spandex with Op-Art cyber graphic print, 1996, France.

125 ICONS Celebrates the work of Pratt alumni and faculty staged at the school’s Manhattan location at 144 West 14th street, and covers the past 125 years dating back to Pratt’s inception. Fashion’s favorites include snapshots of Norman Norell’s designs, as well as actual ensembles by Betsey Johnson and Jeffrey Banks. It was Pratt alumni, Kermit Love, who dressed Big Bird by figuring out the feather application for Jim Henson’s big-beaked friend. You’ll also see images of cartoon characters Betty Boop and Tom and Jerry, a 1995 Ford Thunderbird, Charles Lindberg’s ‘Spirit of St. Louis’ airplane and the Chrysler Building among the Pratt-related designs on display. More on view include Vera Maxwell’s ultrasuede dress, a “Fantasia” video with Bill Garrity’s sound engineering. The venue tells the history of art, design and architecture in America, just with the creations that Pratt produced. Worth your time! Ongoing.

DESIGNING TOMORROW: America’s World’s Fairs of the 1930s Breadlines and raging unemployment were a hard reality during the height of the Great Depression, but the world’s fairs of the 1930’s provided a spectacular diversion. Six American world’s fairs presented streamlined cars, models of skyscrapers, electric toasters, nylon stockings, and television, providing a vision of a brighter future for tens and millions of Americans. Visitors to the exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York will see sleek, modern furniture and appliances, vintage footage from the fairs, and futuristic drawings of the New York World’s Fair buildings, both built and proposed from advertising to architecture and domestic innovations and furnishings, all of the fairs’ most popular and recognizable attractions. Samples of tubular steel furniture, models of streamlined buses, and image of cities filled with light and color all illustrate the creativity and hope these fairs came to represent. At the Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) 103rd St and 5th Ave. Opened Dec. 5.

THE EVENT OF A THREAD is Ann Hamilton’s large-scale interactive installation at the Park Avenue Armory where visitors will be able to hear live performers reading aloud, or listen to the sound on portable radio transmitters as they walk through the armory. Inside the Drill Hall take a leap into the future and hop onto swings that hang from the trusses of the cavernous space; your movement swill rustle a giant piece of fabric, generating a massive kinetic sculpture, a flock of homing pigeons, spoken and written texts and transmissions of weight, sound and silence weave through this expansive space to create a fabric of experience. Open to the Public till January 6 at Park Avenue Armory, 643 Park Ave., at 67th street. Admission $12/$10 for students, Seniors, Groups. Tues.-Sun. 12pm-7pm. Closed Mondays, except December 24 and 31.

Ta Ta Darlings!!! It’s time to hop on a swing at the Park Avenue Armory. Fan mail welcome at pollytalk@verizon.net. Polly’s Blogs are best accessed at her website pollytalk.com. Just click on the link in the left-hand column for visonarymen, womendeterminedtosucceed, poetry or fashion.

IT'S A DICKENS CHRISTMAS IN TINSEL TOWN (c) By Polly Guerin

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Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree you ignite the holidays all aglow, and an old fashioned Christmas welcomes everyone to celebrate the goodness that the Christmas brings with renewed hope, joy and love. Only in New York my dears, Only in New York. Here’s the scoop!!!

CHARLES DICKENS’S A CHRISTMAS CAROL Every holiday season, The Morgan Library & Museum displays Charles Dickens’s original manuscript of A Christmas Carol in the museum’s history library. Although Dickens wrote his iconic tale in a six-week flurry of activity, beginning in October 1843, the story still captivates the imagination of an old-fashioned celebration with conviviality and dancing. He wrote it in time for Christmas publication and had the manuscript bound in red morocco as a gift his solicitor, Thomas Mitton. The manuscript passed through several owners before Pierpont Morgan acquired it in the 1890s. During your visit travel back to Valley Forge on Christmas day, 1777, explore the impact of the handwritten manuscript of Truman Capote’s comical early story, A Christmas Vacation, and discover how the modern American concept of Santa Claus was shaped by Clement Clark Moore’s poem, Twas the Night Before Christmas. Through January 13, 2013. 225 Madison Ave, at 36th Street. Open Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.

CHARLES DICKENS: The Key to Character Celebrates the power of Dickens’s characters to be imagined ever anew, examining important precedent for his art of characterizations as well as intersections between his personal life and his literary creations. His fictional creations represent a cross-section of society from law-clerk to crossing-sweeper, miser to midwife all united by the vividness with which they are described. The exhibit at the New York Public Library, Schwarzman building at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue emphasizes how these characters, talk, dress and move. The exhibition features artworks by nearly thirty illustrators, including unpublished watercolors—along with rare translations, original sheet music, and the memoranda book the author used to jot down possible names for characters. Also on display is the 1867 pocket diary containing the code with which Dickens communicated with his mistress Ellen Ternan, along with audio-visual stations featuring unusual recordings from the period collection of the Library for the Performing Arts. Now through January 27th.

CHRISTMAS TREE and NEAPOLITAN BAROQUE CRECHE A long-standing yuletide tradition in New York the Metropolitan Museum of Art present the Christmas tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche on view now through January 6th. The brightly lit, 20-foot blue spruce---with a collection of 18th-century Neapolitan angels and cherubs hovering among its boughs and groups of realistic crèche figures flanking the Nativity scene at its base---will delight one and all in the Museum’s Sculpture Hall. Set in front of the 18th –century choir screen from the Cathedral of Valladolid, with recorded Christmas music in the background and daily lighting ceremonies…is a breathtaking tree of historical significance, not to be missed. The Museum will be open on two special Holiday Mondays December 24 and 31 from 9:30 to 5:00 pm. Lighting ceremonies on those dates will take place at 4:30 pm.

THE HOLIDAY TRAIN SHOW at The New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx is back with more trains and landmarks than ever before. Within the enchanting setting of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, model trains zip over bridges and past replicas of New York landmarks made of plant parts such as nuts, bark, and leaves. Show favorites include the original Yankee Stadium, The Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge and even the Collectors Club in Murray Hill. Bar Nights at the Holiday Train Show let you get into the holiday spirit while sipping a complimentary signature cocktail. To round out this holiday outing with a the Bar Car Nights ticket also provides discounts and offers for partner restaurants in Little Italy’s Arthur Avenue nearby. Hop on the Metro North train at 42nd Street and get off at the Botanical Garden stop, a mere 25 minute ride from midtown Manhattan.

Ta Ta Darlings!!! My favorite is the Neapolitan tree at the Met!!! Fan mail welcome at pollytalk@verizon.net. Polly’s Blogs are best accessed at her website pollytalk.com. Just click on the link in the left-hand column for visonarymen, womendeterminedtosucceed, poetry or fashion.

St. Nicholas Day comes to Montgomery County

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Historic images of St. Nicholas

ST. JOHNSVILLE -- Santa Claus and his many incarnations is one of the great historic figures of our world. One example is St. Nicholas, whose tradition was brought to America by the early Dutch and Palatine German settlers, many of whose descendants live in this area.

The annual St. Nicholas Day celebration is set for this Sunday from noon to 3:30 p.m. at the Fort Klock Historic Restoration, located two miles east of this Montgomery County community.

The free prelude to the holiday season is aimed at children and their families. There will be spiced cider, hot chocolate, cookies and gingerbread.

St. Nicholas will have a wooden ornament for each child, plus a storyteller, colonial music, and militia drill will be offered for visitors' enjoyment.

And then there was only the Carnegie Deli

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NEW YORK --

The Stage's pastrami sandwich.

Don't you just hate it when an iconic business closes up shop -- especially one that involved food and its accompanying memories?

I do, so it is with sadness I pass along the word that the famous Stage Deli in Manhattan has closed after three-quarters of a century.

Friday was the final day for the midtown spot, located on Seventh Avenue between 54th and 55th streets. As is so often the case with small-business closings, employees were not told of the decision until the last day of operation.

Jose Robles, manager of arch competitor Carnegie Deli, commented to the Daily News, "There's not a lot of delis like this left. There was only the Stage and Carnegie left of this type."

The Stage was opened in 1937 by Max Asnas at a Broadway location where the Russian immigrant quickly developed a following for his towering sandwiches, Jewish-style side dishes and service with an attitude.

A final farewell to Mr. Food

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The late Art Ginsburg.

Art Ginsburg, 81, who parlayed local TV appearances in the Capital Region into national fame as Mr. Food, died Wednesday at his home in Weston, FL.
The cause of death was pancreatic cancer, according to the Associated Press.
Ginsburg, a native of Troy who taped many of his 90-second syndicated cooking segments at WRGB in Niskayuna, got his TV start in 1975. His cooking segments were part of the regular daytime lineup on WRGB.
He was the author of 52 cookbooks that sold upwards of 8 million copies, and was known for his simple approach to comfort foods made from recipes about which he always said, "Oooh! It's so good!"
I recall a visit Ginsburg paid to the company cafeteria at the Times Union during my time there some years back when he was promoting one of his cookbooks. He drew quite a crowd, and was as personable and down-to-earth in person as he appeared on TV.
In a statement to the Associated Press, TV personality Rachael Ray, a native of the Adirondacks who got her start on Ginsburg's show, said, "Art Ginsberg was a warm, gregarious man who knew food is more about love and sharing than a fancy ingredient list. He was a supportive and loyal friend, and I'll miss his smile and warm hugs. This Thanksgiving I'm thankful I knew him."

More Victorian/holiday strolls this weekend

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You might have thought we were finished with Victorian strolls -- see Troy, see Saratoga Springs, see etc. -- but that doesn't mean we're ready to stay indoors.

For example, if you're visiting the village of Athens, Greene County, this coming Saturday and see a horse-drawn trolley and people in rather old-fashioned clothing, you're in the right place.

It's the annual Holiday Victorian Stroll, and will run from 1 to 4 p.m.  Children's activities, traditional music, house tours, a photo booth with historic costumes and more will be available. Food- and drink-related events include:

• A chocolate station at the Rivertown Senior Center, 39 2nd Street. 

• Cameo's Restaurant, 7 2nd Street, will hold a tasting of Brookview Station Winery's wine, along with cider and donuts. 

• Tours will be offered at the Crossroads Brewery, 21 2nd Street.

You can get a full schedule of all event-related activities online.

But that's not the only such event. The 5th annual Lake Placid Holiday Village Stroll will be held this Friday through Sunday (December 7-9).

Local businesses wil be offering dining specials, entertainment options, shopping bargains and special hotel accommodation packages.

Among the food-related attractions are:

• Saturday cheese fondue tasting,  fondue pot promotion, Temptations, 2509 Main Street, 2-5 p.m. 

• A 10% discount on wine and spirits purchases at The Smoking Cork, 2527 Main Street, all three days. 

• Live music 9-11 p.m. Saturday, late night happy hour specials ($3 drafts from eight choices; $4 pints of Cuervo Maragritas, Cottage Cafe, 77 Mirror Lake Drive. 

• Half-price draft beers and house favorite pot roast dinner for $19, Taste Bistro & Bar at the Mirror Lake Inn, 5 to 9:30 p.m. Friday.

You can get full details on all Lake Placid event-related offerings and activities as well as photos online. If you want just the schedule, you can find it here.

Final 2012 Mohawk Valley Farmer's Market

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AMSTERDAM -- The final "Taste of the Mohawk Valley Holiday Farmer's Market" of the year is scheduled for Saturday, December 15.

The indoor event, set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., will be held at the Alpin Haus business, 1836 Route 5S opposite the Target Distribution Center.

The market will feature 14 or more local farmers and producers. Admission is free.

Farm fresh meats, dairy products, soaps, custom made gift baskets, winter vegetables, alpaca yarn, and more will be offered for holiday sale.

Anyone wishing to participate as a vendor is asked to contact Toni Christman at 853-4015.

let's hear it for new york

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today, august 9th, we've lived in new york city for 1 year.
year 1.
i heart nyc.

late on august 9th, we pulled up in our car, having already traveled across the international dateline (from japan), flew into dc... then drove the 4.5 hours to nyc. we were subletting, getting to know our neighborhood, harlem and struggling with the worse jet-lag we have known. somehow we found an apartment in a week, ben was able to function in law school (the first and hardest year!) and i was able to find a job within a couple months.
all miracles.

or maybe the biggest miracle was actually moving into our fifth floor walk up - we hired movers but one of them didn't show up and we've never been that sore in our entire lives.
also remember when we bought our beautiful brown leather couch and we decided just to move it up the stairs ourselves? just the two of us. with a big couch. and a narrow winding staircase.
other fun things...
we were silly and we used to "quickly" go enter the book of mormon musical lottery... like every single day.
we were stoked out of our minds to get unlimited ride subway passes.
realizing once we had seen handfuls of celebs - that it's a common occurrence and no biggie.
we ate harlem soul food when we signed our first manhattan rental lease.
grocery shopping is a whole other planet experience in the city. especially when you have to carry the groceries up many many many stairs.
it's funny how we thought we knew the city fairly well when we moved here, but we have learned something new everyday (mostly good).
we've built a lot of new favorites, new memories - not all based on our old memories from when we would visit on weekends.
we still love our apartment.

side note... no matter how much i love this city, there are still some things i will never love. dirty streets and subways. that the subway is 20 degrees hotter in the summer than it is outside. being in such close proximity of dirty, smelly strangers EVERYDAY. rats, mice, roaches, pests in general!
that is all :)

with that...

the first year at something is always tricky... you're trying to find your groove. but i feel like each day gets better here... and i have a feeling each year will also just get better.

AND, well... we believe it's best to always be a tourist in your own city. otherwise, you may miss something.

the wedding of jeffy

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happy couple married at the mormon lds temple in logan, utah.
groomsman brandon, groom jeffy, groomsman ben
smiley heidi // the quintessential jeffy face
mmm cake
groomiesmen
come hell or high water we were able to make it to the wedding of jeffy this past weekend.

basically what went down was we originally bought our tickets to fly to utah, come to find out there has been a slight miscommunication as to when the wedding ceremony would be. then by some miracle we were able to change our flight without a fee (those pesky fees). and then came the day we were to fly out (thursday night) and our flight was delayed, delayed then cancelled. a cancelled flight is a billion times worse than a delay.
we stayed overnight in the classiest place in jersey - newark (and if i can help it, i'll never fly out of newark again!). then flight the next morning, cutting it awfully close, but we did in fact make it to the ceremony and wedding reception party of jeffy.

jeffy (aka jeff) is our friend from college. one would say a close-breast-friend type.
ben and jeff were roomies/housemates at one point, as well as great friends. and jeffy and i were just inseparable. we did a lot of after school hanging out and we (jeffy + i) both attended uvsc together before we both transferred to byu. we had institute class together. oh man the memories. jeffy is just full of goof, fun and happiness.

and i am oh so happy for jeffy.
and heidi, the new wifey of jeffy.

i know they will be great together. and to be honest, i haven't felt that happy for someone in a long time.

jeffy, we love you long time.

beautiful women in my life

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foxy ladies (plus some babies)
emilys squared
emmy + linny
em + si + baby kai (who didn't want to be photoed)
seesters
mamma and seesters

a huge treat i get when i/we go to utah... is i get to see some of the beautiful women in my life. many of them, in fact.
i felt lucky to see all these women - especially because being in utah was such a whirlwind of events and seeing people and driving places and getting things done.

i'm glad i got to baby-shower-it-up for my favorite emily (besides myself, of course). and oooo and awww about a lot of pink clothing and a lot of tiny baby things. tiny baby things are the cutest things.
i'm glad i got to talk with old friends like we're still old friends.
i'm glad i got to hang with sister + her fam and my parents, eating food, talking about travel and just sort of soaking up our time together.
i'm glad we got to stay with sister-in-law at her new house, have pool time, have pancakes.
i'm glad we got some aggie ice cream, with just enough time to rush it and enjoy it.
i'm glad we got to be
in utah
in summer.

not pictured (but i saw): linda, katie, christina. we should be better about taking photos together! let's make it our goal.

to have a friend

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over the weekend, lindsay come to visit.

we have been friends for so long that i don't even remember what it was like to not be friends with her. linny left her cute family behind for the weekend and came to play in the city.

we were able to visit some of the best museums, MoMA and guggenheim (i guess it's cool to call it the goog). we ate pizza, burgers, curried rice, smoothies (at home), really big cookies, thai food and frozen yogurt. we saw the famous rock.e.feller. tree.

we saw once...you've heard of it right? that musical? that i've seen 4 times? yeah, that one. one of my favorite quotes from the show is, "love's all very well, but in the hands of people it turns into soup." then one guy asked another if he's married, "yes." "still in love?" "yeah." "fair play man...good soup."

we also got our nails did. linny's first manicure! 

and upright citizens brigade. that great improv comedy place. we went to the assscat 3000 show on sunday evening (the 7:30, $10 one) - because it's the best and something about a ninja with bad gas and someone getting pulled over for singing katy perry too loud in arlington, va.
so. funny. we laughed our guts out. 

and we got to take a sunday nap. oh bliss.

but what i wanted to say is i am grateful for friends. and grateful for linny. to have a friend - that knows me, that knows the back story, that knows that i am still middle school emily, high school emily, spanish class and yearbook emily, college emily-insecurities and all, top-bunk emily...and just that it's ok that even though i've grown up and moved away and i have strong opinions on feminism and social issues and church and life --- we understand each other. 

a little holiday market

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i convinced ben to leave our apartment for a couple hours yesterday. i wanted to visit the union square holiday market.

ben lost all of his reading days because of the hurricane :( and so he had class all last week and is starting finals tomorrow. not so fun for him but i knew he needed a break and i knew he wanted to share a mini cannoli with me. and i know he's going to ace his finals.

the holiday market was fun - with a cool poem of hanging words, spices and wooden bowties. it wasn't amazing --- but mostly it was awesome to get outside in the pleasantly not-so-cold weather and have a little break. there is also (ending today) an art installation in union square park --- a projection of war veterans being interviewed (and some family members) onto the statue of abraham lincoln. i feel lucky to be perpetually surrounded by art - not just the cutesy and pretty but also profound and important.

and
this has been a strange holiday season for us because we have been exceptionally busy and crazy. we bought our christmas tree at midnight (thursday, november 29) and didn't get it decorated for about 5 days. ben hardly even participated too...and i have barely listened to any christmas music. it all feels like a blur but in a few days or a week or so i think i will start feeling more holidayish. if anything, i am always willing to splurge a little more on my electric bill in december. you can't take those christmas lights away from me.