Who's that Girl?It all started many years ago when I ran (literally ran) into Hilary Swank and Chad Lowe at the Pier Antiques Show.  Her body guard expertly elbowed me out of the way while the actress barreled through the crowd insisting on carrying a coffee table that she had just purchased all by herself.  (It was not a small table and the group of six or seven people with her were clearly agitated by the situation.  Chad looked up at me sadly.  He was very short).  Next was Tim Robbins while Christmas shopping at Utowa (now closed).  I was buying one gift and he had no less than thirty of the same thing in his arms (he was not short and must have a lot of friends).  If you walk around the city at odd hours (like when you should be in your office, at your desk, working) you might find that run-ins are nearly an everyday occurrence.  I shared a chuckle with a salesperson at Barneys when we both spotted Terri Hatcher (super small) in Mrs. John L Strong.  He dished about the last time she was there and all that transpired.  Meadow and I stood in the same checkout line at Buy Buy Baby and I could swear Julianne Moore (tiny and short) is following us ... first at Tompkins Square Park, then in the Village, and a week later in a driveby in her black Ford SUV.  The coup however may be the miniature Madonna and her Guy heading into an UWS restaurant (possibly at the dinner where they civily discussed their separation).  I have to say, its too much fun to keep track of where celebrities are around town and how tall they really are.  

Moving on UpWe're moving again.  That's ten homes in ten years.  I'm not sure we even completely unpacked from the last move.  At least that makes things efficient.  In NYC you don't have to lift a finger during a move.  There are companies dedicated to moving your piano, moving your artwork ... there is even someone called the couch doctor who specializes in making things fit in small spaces.  Once you're in, there is the classic man with a van option on craigslist to help you get over to the Brooklyn IKEA and bring back all of your new furniture.  There's no doubt about it, moving is stressful ... but the excitement of finding that special new place and making it a home can become an obsession.  After all these years, it looks like we are finally honing in on a permanent location on the East Coast.  But the ideal situation is still to live in three or four places throughout the year.

One Generation Plants Trees, the Other Gets ShadeI have a thing for cherry blossom trees.  I manage to forget this until April of every year, when entire city blocks are transformed by the blooming masterpieces.  This year I did some research ... it turns out the first sakura were sent as a gift of friendship (around 1912) to the United States from Japan.  Since then, the trees have migrated up to NYC and I've noticed many New Yorkers stopping to take in the sights (and pluck a blossom or two).  It's actually big business for florists during this time of year to sell entire flowering branches for $10+ a branch.  Very recently, we went tree shopping to choose the tree that was planted for Nash's birth at his grandparent's lakeside cottage.  We settled on a Persian Walnut and look forward to watching it grow alongside him.  In ancient Persia, only royalty could eat the fruit known as the Royal Walnut from this type of tree.  On his first birthday, we plan to give Nash a nutcracker.  

What's Behind Door #1?During the renovation of our storefront in the East Village, we managed to back into a vulnerable situation that required us to have a custom door created for our bathroom.  After two months without any privacy (literally no bathroom door), I finally made it a priority to track down a doormaker.  Mr. Doormaker's assistant was friendly enough in email exchanges ... then we arrived at his loft office near Macy's on 34th and shared our budget.  Wait, let's back up.  When we walked into the loft, Mr. Doormaker mistook my companion for my bodyguard.  That's right, Mr. Doormaker lived and worked in such a privileged world that his clients had bodyguards.  Anyway, the numbers were so far off (his forged iron doors started at $10K and we needed one zero knocked off that number) that the meeting lasted all of ten minutes.  What did I learn from this?  It proved (once again) that someone can make a (really good) living in this city in endless ways.  Trust yourself, make a name for yourself and doors will open up to all kinds of possibility.

ps. I bounced back from the meeting and ended up tracking down an antiqued door that looked something like this.  Much, much cooler than iron.

Me, Tarzan. You, JaneI start to think about swinging when warm weather hits.  And with more than 1,700 (!) parks and playgrounds in NYC, you have a choice when it comes to finding a place to swing.  My son recently celebrated a couple of firsts: first tooth, first half birthday, first ride outdoors on a swing.  That's the thing with October babies, you kind of hibernate after they're born.  When spring rolls around, you all come bursting out of the cave swinging.  Rather than sign up for any and every experience we found in the parenting magazines (and trust me, the selection of available mommy + me classes is overwhelming), I decided to hone in on two categories: water activities and spiritual pursuits.  Yes, for a six month old!