Miller Time Friday, Part Deux - When Wendy Met Ema, The Naked Cowgirl, Farragut and Teddy

Oh My Goodness! 

I have arrived back with blisters on my feet!!!  That can only mean one thing - I had fun.  Oh yes, the other one thing it can mean is: I need better walking boots, shoes, etc.  I brought sensible foot wear, but to no avail.  That topic can wait till Wednesday however!!!

HOW ARE YOU!!!!!  I managed to sneak in a couple of times and loved all of your comments to GetFresh's posts!!!  Wasn't she wonderful????? I think this officially means she needs her own blog and I am starting the petition immediately!!!!!!  Thank you SOOO much Elizabeth Anne - your posts were interesting and fun!!!!!!!!  Take your applause!!!!!  And if you are signing in late and only see this post first, please go back and read Anne's post of today here, as there is a great drink recipe, a great question and just her all-around wonderful writing!  At this point, I am leading a rousing chorus of "For She's a Jolly Good Fellow!"

This was a very nice trip for Barry and I.  Because our children had friends with them, we were able to go at a much more relaxed pace...

AND THEY'RE OFF!

Four people with money burning in their pockets.  There will be no Forever 21, Hipster record store, book store or shop with Boho clothing left unscathed!   I did 2 hours with the girls on Sunday and gave up!

I will not bore you with every place we went, and purchases will await another day!  But I did get to meet Ema the day we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  All of the kids came to say hello to her  en route to the museum, mainly because my son kept telling them that he was certain that Ema was likely an ex-convict named Charlie and I was about to get the surprise of my life!!!

A cappucino with Ema

Nope.   In real life, Ema is very beautiful and funny and quite lovely!  Barry and I stayed and had a cappucino with her for about an hour and half and we gabbed like we were old friends.  As much as you like Ema in her blog, you would like her even more in real life (well I guess our blogs are real life too!).  I was a bit nervous that Ema might find us country bumpkins, but I don't think so and we are taking her (and maybe her husband and daughter too!) out to dinner next time we are in the big city!

Ema told me she was in her "uniform" and looked simple and elegant!  I am wearing the j crew scarf I picked up the day before - a lovely blue with navy checks silk scarf.  I am surprised you can't catch the paparazzi who were outside the window waiting for us to leave! 

With Barry, who was quite besotted with Ema!  He talked and talked and talked which I knew meant that a) he really liked her because he doesn't normally talk THAT much and b) he really wanted to make a friend in New York City!

Ema and I on the street, saying goodby!  Look - she even had her earmuffs with her - I was so excited to see them!!!  It was so cold and EVERYONE (except me) had puffy coats on on!  I wish I had brought mine!!!

Ema - thank you so much!  We just loved meeting you!

The Naked Cowgirl in Times Square

Actually, there was a naked cowboy there, too, just so you know!  I know she was there making money, but I am telling you folks, with the windchill, it was probably 20 degrees fahrenheit!  I worried about her all evening....Barry thought I was crazy, but I am a mother and she definitely needed Ema's earmuffs for strategic places...

Meeting Farragut

If you recall, I was obsessed with seeing Augustus Saint-Gaudens' statue of Admiral Farragut when I went to New York City.  You can read about that obsession in my earlier post here.  So Monday morning, in freezing cold temperatures, Barry and I trooped off to Madison Square Park so I could see it for myself!

I have never looked closely enough at statues before reading about Saint-Gaudens; that will not be the case now.  Now I am gobsmacked when I look at them, having read how they are created and the amount of physical and artistic effort required by the artist to make the final piece truly representative of the subject.  So we stood in front of old Farragut for a good 20 minutes in the freezing cold, but it is truly a beautiful statue and worth a visit.  Perhaps you might go on a nicer day.  A lot of folks stared at us staring at Farragut ("Ah, another person who had read McCullough's book," they thought knowingly to themselves "and stupid enough to visit the Admiral when it is not fit weather for man nor beast and Farragut is actually wintering in Miami..")  Never mind, I had a little conversation with Mr. Saint-Gaudens (and Farragut himself!) as I walked about, and gave Barry the whole story, which helped him get over the fact that we were standing in sub-zero temperatures with the wind beating us down...  The one thing that you cannot get from the pictures is that the stone behind me is so well done that it feels like sand - it was amazing and Farragut looks as if he is on his ship's bow, every inch a Commander!

Immediately in front of the statue is a base of smaller smooth rocks set in stone.  And embedded beside those rocks is a small bronze crab, with the words Augustus  Saint-Gaudens, Sculptor on top and Stanford White, architect, on the bottom.  I truly recommend (for the 15th time - I know I am getting tedious) reading The Greater Journey to read more about this artist and his interesting friendship with architect Stanford White, who many of you will be familiar with due to the movie Ragtime, which dramatized the sensational trial that followed White's murder at the hands of his mistress' husband.

So Mr. Saint-Gaudens did not disappoint!  Nor did his statue of Sherman up at Central Park, but it was even colder the day I was up there, so I passed on standing about with that one! Next time!  Nor was it warm enough to do the High Line or the Brooklyn Bridge - the wind was just brutal during our entire stay.

Finally, the last person I had my picture taken with was Teddy Roosevelt in The Museum of Natural History.  Teddy is always mixed up for me with the movie Arsenic and Old Lace.  If you have not seen this movie, it is worth it to see Cary Grant and Raymond Massey chew up the scenery!



Bully!

Oh I have a few more stories up my sleeve, including adventures in clothing, shoe and makeup shopping, the play we saw, and my Sunday at Tiffanys.  
But I have missed you all and am glad to be back.  I was telling Ema that I often feel like this blog is sort of like Cheers, people come in and out, stop for a chat, or not, depending on their day or week and talk or not depending on how they feel, and I am just Sam behind the counter washing the glasses!  So was so glad to see you kept on with the party without me and am happy to jump back in and say hello, I missed you!

Happy Friday - am off to make Anne's drink du jour and put my feet up!!!