homeward bound...

Wednesday afternoon we packed the car, hooked the trailer back up and headed to New Haven, Connecticut to visit Danielle and Jason. The next morning we headed for Union Station and took the train into NYC. Jeff and I were so excited, neither one of us had been before!

The plan was to go to Soho but first we walked 5th Ave. and then over to Times Square.

 Trump Tower - we loved the trees growing on the side of it.

 Times Square

 and more Times Square... definitely sensory overload

A fashionably late lunch and drinks on the sidewalk in Little Italy... drinks in the afternoon always seem like a special treat! Our bar bill was more than the food :-/

Soho was fun and way less jammed packed with people than Times Square. At the end of the day we took a cab back to Grand Central Station (the cab rides are an adventure, in and of themselves!) to catch the commuter rail back to New Haven.

Tonight we will be back in Seagrove. I miss Sophie kitty as well as my bed.

Growlers!

Isn't that a fun word to say? I didn't even know what a growler was until I was contacted last year by someone representing a micro-brewery. They were looking for a potter to make growlers with their logo stamped onto them. So if you didn't already know, you probably figured out that a growler is a re-sealable beer bottle. Long story short, this company had no clue what handmade specialty items would cost, so we didn't get an order from them.
Since then, Jeff has had growlers on his mind. The challenge is making them and getting the stoppers to fit securely. You definitely don't want your home brew to lose it's carbonation! The other challenge was finding a quality ceramic & rubber stopper supplier. There aren't any in this country so I think the shipping cost was more than the stoppers.

This one is my favorite and one of the larger that he has made

These are a little smaller, above with ash glaze & shino, below in shino and photographed with two of my tumblers.

Clicking on the photos will bring you to Jeff's Etsy shop, where these growlers are for sale. If you are a home brewer you will enjoy and appreciate having these... we tested them out and they pour really well.

Hey it's Saturday, so "BOTTOMS UP"!

baby it's cold outside...

Yesterday was awesome... despite the fact that was 24 degrees outside! Danielle and I started our day with brunch at a little waterfront cafe that is walking distance from her house. We sipped blood orange mimosas while dining on crab cake eggs benedict. Can you think of any better way to wake up on a Sunday? ... 80 degree weather COULD have made it slightly better but we were having too much fun to notice.

After brunch it was off to the Yale district for a girly afternoon of shopping. The Yale campus is beautiful and of course I had a beautiful girl to photograph as well...

Occupy New Haven is still out there despite the frigid temps...

Personally, I would have packed up and headed home as soon as it got close to freezing! Then again, some of these protesters may not have homes to go to anymore.

We finished the day with dinner at a fusion southwestern restaurant called Geronimo where they made our guacamole table side, exactly to our liking. The food was awesome, the margarita's very good. Prior to calling it a night we stopped at 116 Crown for a cocktail, a very trendy little place a few blocks away from Geronimo. The drinks for great, mine was called Four Thieves and was blueberry infused vodka... YUM!
Like any trip, it always goes so quickly. Tonight I will fly back to NC, warmer weather and Jeff, whose company I am missing.