A sneaky little post...

Do you souvenir? I do. But not in a souvenir'ish kind of way - like snowglobes, key chains or tshirts that say I heart _________. We do Christmas ornaments for our tree - NYC, New Orleans, Virginia, etc. from everywhere we visit in the year. We have a pewter Empire State Building, a solid brass Fleur de lis, initial ornaments that i can't remember from where, ornaments from Virginia, you name it. The only rules are that they are tasteful, preferrably look expensive, should NOT be expensive, and remind us of our trip.

But see these? These fabulous watercolors? We purchased these on the steps of the Met. Museum of Art in October from the artist, who was painting while he sat in the shade of the trees in Central Park.These are hands down my favorite pieces I have in my house. Except for my children's albums and artwork. I know they're pretty, and yet, they probably do not scream MASTERPIECE to you. But let me tell you why they are so important.

When Vance and I started dating, I was cynical of relationships, and if you have followed me for very long you know i forgot about our first date, had to postpone because i didn't have a sitter, and generally kept him at arm's length for awhile.

We had not been dating very long - maybe a month? When he surprised me with a trip to NYC. I had been before, and it's a long story why involving my ex, but we never left Grand Central Station, so i never got to see much of the big apple.


We spent 4 days there and this is what i remember; I remember him putting his arm around me pulling me into him and it felt like home. I remember spending time sitting in cafes with coffee and walking through Central Park and talking about everything - EVERYTHING. Why my marriage failed, why his didn't work, what we both wanted and didn't want, about our kids, EVERYTHING. I remember having dinner with him near NYU outside at this italian cafe, with little twinkly lights strewn over our heads and just LAUGHING.

Our last day there, we went to the Museum and it was one of those wonderful fall days with enough chill in the air to warrant a sweater, but not much more. And I saw these paintings. One was a Greenwich apartment in the spring, and the other, a vibrant watercolor of the autumn leaves in Central Park. And i had to have them. They represented such a beautiful trip, such a sweet, perfect, moment in time, when everything felt like it was going to be ok. More than ok. It was going to be great.

He will tell you that I cried when we got home because i didn't want it to end. He promised me it wouldn't.

And so, in the not-so-distant future, we are going back again. I'm packing a little differently this go around, that's all i'm saying...