Barbara-Q!

Every year I invite my friends up to the suburbs to partake in a little mom and dad coddling-dog loving-backyard grass-ing-hammock swinging-frisbe throwing-bbq good time! Its really amazing to be able to open my house up to my friends to provide a quick escape from the city. Plus FREE FOOD!
This year the eats were all vegetarian (my first all veggie bbq-ever!) and mostly vegan. I made delish portobello caps marinated in terayaki sauce. MMmmmm! Also available were asparagus, cold sesame noodles, gazpacho, chips, vegan hot dogs and burgers, and sword fighting corn on the cob. To drink-lemonade, beer, beer, beer and mint julep! The day ended with vanilla ice cream, and soy pomegranate chip ice cream. Soooo good!

Bob and Josh brought a guitar and drum box that one sits on and hit between one's legs whose name I've forgotten, and I brought my uke so we could pump up the jams. Lisa's dad and James delighted us with an awesome collaboration. Guitar and Uke unite!

A freak rain shower forced us all in quickly, but the party still continued! We all sat around my mother as she told us kiddies the orgins of Fritz, our mounted reindeer head. And the night ended with Brendan and I playing two hands piano, of which I feel its pretty clear that I haven't played in 10 years. I even screwed up Heart and Soul.
It was a great gathering of my birthright peeps and my home town friends and moms and dads. Super good times!

Factory Fresh

I got an invite to check out galleries in Bushwick, so instead of cleaning the apt as I should have (being a responsible adult...) I decided the best way to spend a Saturday was doing that. One of the ballerest ones was Factory Fresh with Anxiety Room being the show that is currently up.
One of the gallery owners, Ali (who was super sweet and talked with us a bunch about the show) invited these two artists Jon Burgerman and Jim Avignon to hang out in her living space for two weeks and make art. The collaborative results in the current show.

The gallery seems to be dedicated to street art, according to the website.
Ego, Id, SuperegoThis was the Board of Anxieties which I loved. It was very cutesy, but that never bothers me. The gallery space was once a factory (hence the name) and I supposed the large fridge on which the Board of Anxieties was plastered on came with the space. I kinda like that there is a thermomonter in the middle of the piece.


Probably the best part of the space for summer time openings was the graffitti yard in the back. I want to have a beer out there, and a bbq.

Whoopsie Daisy

I did it again. I guess I love tourists way too much. I ended up at Dallas BBQ again. Cheap drinks get me every time. I'm going to get fatty-boom-batty if I drink Pina Coladas and eat fries too often.
We went to the one in Times Square since we were (unfortunately) in the hood (endless hell) so we made the best of it and pretended we were from Columbus (C-bus) Ohio.
werd.

Brooklyn Botanical Gardens

This past Sunday was the last day of the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens' Cherry Blossom Festival. The weather was perfect, and the gardens were beautiful. The festival itself was horrible. Surrounding us wherever we went was blaring pop music. There was nothing traditional or "Japanesey" about the fest. The blossoms were in full bloom but there was a tent running down the middle of the blossom "lane," mostly destroying the aesthetic beauty of the landscape. I managed to take photographs that make everything look really nice.
We left and ran to Prospect Park, it's neighbor, and got lost. Caroline revealed her true geek by identifying birds every five feet. Apparently, Prospect Park is a NYC birder's paradise...who knew?

Modern dancers, doin' their thing.
Afterward we went to a rooftop bbq, and were able to enjoy the sunset.
A perfect end to a pleasant day.