Don't Miss the Frank Sinatra Exhibit at the NY Public Library

Since this was such a GREAT exhibit, and also FREE, I wanted to remind you that it is still going on until September 4th at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center. 

I thought I would show some other items that were not in my prior post, as I did take quite a few photos! How cute is this teeshirt? It must be very cool to say Frank Sinatra is my Grandpa! 

They have many personal items for view, such as this costume from a film Mr. Sinatra appeared in. I think it's so great of the family to allow his fans to see so many of these amazing items! 

This was set up like the home he grew up in, in Hoboken, New Jersey,. 

I actually have this album in my Dad's collection. He was a huge fan, and we always had the music playing in our house. Whenever I hear a Frank Sinatra song, I think lovingly of my wonderful Dad! 

These are more personal items on display, I love the beat up suitcase! 

Frank Sinatra is credited with 64 movie and television roles. Some of those movies are real classics like High Society, Ocean's 11 and From Here to Eternity, where he won his Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

Frank Sinatra had 11 Gold Records. That is pretty impressive! I would be silly to say that my favorite is nothing other than New York, New York! If you ever hear that playing while you are in NYC, you just feel so fabulous! It's such an awesome song! 

Many more personal items here, baseball jackets given to Frank by various teams. 

This was a real cool set up, to resemble the Capitol Records studio. This exhibit is just done very, very well. 

Frank Sinatra was also a painter, and the above was from his workspace. 

I found his paintings to be very fun and full of life! 

If you missed my prior post on this exhibit, you can check it out HERE as there are other photos not in this post.

SINATRA: "AN AMERICAN ICON" 

Now through September 4, 2015, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center - Admission is FREE but you can give a donation if you would like! I highly recommend this exhibit, and I just may pop in again before it closes. I think I just may have to give singing a try!

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Bvlgari on Fifth Avenue

We are doing some window shopping at the famous Bvlgari shop on 5th Avenue. I just love looking at windows in New York City. The jewels here are just amazing, just think if you could afford one of these pieces! I don't think I would ever take it off!  

Their famous watches, Serpenti, are just so amazing!  

Everything here is done with so much elegance. No wonder the company has been around since 1884. The first store can still be seen in Epirus, Greece, where it all began. 

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A Trip to Abingdon Square Park

The West Village is one of my most favorite places to walk around. There are so many lovely little parks in New York City, people probably do not think of that in a big city. This is the fabulous Abingdon Square and we really enjoyed it on a bright sunny day. Here is some history on the park from the NYC Parks and Recreation Dept:

Abingdon Square Park shares its lineage with some of Greenwich Village’s earliest European landowners and social figures. Sir Peter Warren entered the British Navy as a volunteer in 1717 and rose to the rank of vice-admiral after an impressive tour of duty in such locales as the African coast, the Baltic Sea, the West Indies, and North America, where he fought in the French and Indian War. By 1744 he had purchased a three hundred acre farm in the area known as Greenwich—extending along the Hudson River from what is now Christopher Street north to about West 21st Street and bounded on the east by Minetta Brook and Bowery Lane (now Broadway). Sir Peter and his wife Susannah De Lancey lived in a manor house with a large formal garden in the area now bounded by West 4th, Bleecker, Charles, and Perry Streets.

Their eldest daughter Charlotte married Willoughby Bertie, the Fourth Earl of Abingdon, and a share of the Warren estate was part of her dowry. Her portion included the land that came to be known as Abingdon Square. In 1794 the City Council changed the designation of streets and places with British names in order to reflect American independence. Nonetheless, the name of Abingdon Square was preserved, because the Earl and his wife had sympathized with the American patriots, and he had argued in Parliament against British policy in the colonies. The Goodrich Plan of Manhattan drawn in 1827 depicts Abingdon Square as a trapezoidal parcel between Eighth Avenue and Bank, Hudson, and Troy (later West 12th) Streets.

On March 4, 1831 the Common Council resolved that the ground called Abingdon Square should be "enclosed as a public park" and appropriated $3000 "for the expense thereof." The City acquired the parcel on April 22 and enclosed it with a cast iron fence in 1836. About fifty years later, Mayor Abram S. Hewitt promoted a citywide effort to improve public access to green spaces. Parks superintendent Samuel Parsons Jr. and consulting architect Calvert Vaux collaborated on a new design for Abingdon Square. The iron gateposts at the West 12th Street entrance may have been introduced at this time. "Abingdon Square has been so long crowded with fine trees that a winding walk ending in a little plaza, and bordered by a few shrubs and little bedding was all that could be satisfactorily done," wrote Parsons in 1892, "Shrubs and flowers would not thrive in such deep shade."

Nonetheless, school children planted a garden plot at Abingdon Square Park in 1913 and "took entire charge of the garden, raising the flower from seed." In 1921, twenty thousand spectators gathered in and around the small park to hear former and future Governor Alfred E. Smith present the Abingdon Square Memorial (also known as the Abingdon Doughboy) in memory of local men who fought in World War I. Created by sculptor Philip Martiny, this monument was restored by Parks’ monument crew in 1993. The flagstaff was dedicated by the Private Michael J. Lynch Post No. 831 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in 1933.

.222 acres 

So loving this very fashionable lady in the park for the day relaxing with a magazine, ice coffee and of course, the cell phone!! 

Be sure to stop by this park if in the area for a bit of a rest while walking around the village. You will really enjoy it very much!! 

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St Thomas Church on 5th Avenue

Do you ever find you walk right past beautiful things constantly, but don't appreciate them? Saint Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue is one of those places. We all know the famous St. Patrick's Cathedral, however, this church is pretty amazing too! 

Here is some history on the building from the Saint Thomas Church website: 

The current Saint Thomas Church is actually the fourth church for the parish. The third church, which was also at the current site at Fifth Avenue and Fifty-third Street, suffered a devastating fire in 1905. The first worship service in the current church was on October 4, 1913. We mark the centennial with events planned throughout the 2013-14 choral season.

Designed by the distinguished architectural firm of Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson and completed in 1913, Saint Thomas Church is built in the French High Gothic style, with stone ornamentation of the later Flamboyant period in the windows, small arches of the triforium, and stonework surrounding the statuary in the reredos. The flat wall behind the altar is characteristic of English cathedrals, and the magnificent reredos, one of the largest in the world, is strongly suggestive of the single, massive windows that terminate the naves of many English churches designed in the Perpendicular style.

Except for its length, Saint Thomas is of cathedral proportions, with the nave vault rising 95 feet above the floor. The church is built completely of stone, according to medieval construction principles, using load-bearing rib vaulting without the space-spanning benefits of steel. The size, spacing, and number of columns and arches are precisely what is necessary to support the structure - and give it the unique acoustical properties associated with churches built of the same materials and in the same way during the Middle Ages.

When you walk in New York City, you always should look around you because this type of architecture is everywhere! I feel bad I never really took a good look at this church when walking by a zillion times! My next step is to go inside, and see the beauty that it holds. The church doors are open every day of the year, and give tours on Sundays after 11am service or by appointment. 

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Cab Views to The Metropolitan Museum of Art

They say one of the best places to shoot photos of New York City is in a cab. You are usually stopped quite a bit, and have the time to shoot something on the way to a great place. I was headed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art from Port Authority Bus Terminal. Carlos Bake Shop is right next to Port Authority. Buddy is a good guy, but I don't find his products better than others. It's always very busy, and if you go later in the day, expect things to be sold out.  

I loved this sign for the women's soccer team! Right above my fave drugstore in NYC, Duane Reade. Have you ever been in a DR? Oh you must, they are the BEST drugstores, wish we would get them in Pennsylvania. The closest we come is Walgreens which is owed by the same company.  

The New York Inn looked interesting but I don't think I would ever stay there. I probably wouldn't even have my pet stay there, to be honest! When I looked it up, it said a budget friendly hotel for rooms about $117.00 per night.  I really don't think so!  

I think I was hanging out of the cab window for this shot, probably not a good idea but it worked pretty well.  

I didn't get the name of this place, so sorry, we must have been speeding by, but had to shoot these lovely statues for you!  

There are so many gorgeous buildings in NYC, you really get lost when you look up and see them at every street! It is a good problem to have!  

I don't know if I would want to live that high up, but it makes for a great photograph, for sure!  

Another gorgeous building, those doors, those lights, those carvings! I just can't take it already! I just ♥ New York City!  

It is like walking around in a postcard. What a lovely thought!  

We are in the Met now, and what a great shoe this is! So many details, I love the stones and different colors as well. I may even be able to walk in it since the heel is kind of stacked. Lovely!  

This view in the Met never gets old. If you find you get tired of seeing it, you have a problem. It is such a glorious view!!  

The Met has 4 amazing exhibits which I would highly recommend if the subject interests you:

Van Gogh: Irises and Roses Through August 16, 2015

China: Through the Looking Glass Through September 7, 2015

Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends Through October 4, 2015

The Roof Garden Commission: Pierre Huyghe Through November 1, 2015

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