Uh-Oh ~ Reached My Limit On Uploading Photos AGAIN!

I've had to abandon 'Umma's World' and now I'm forced to abandon this blog as well!  


I am having the same problem a few of my fellow-bloggers have complained about this past year.  A few of my blog friends opted to retire from blogging altogether because they have reached their limit on uploading photos in blogger, and in order to be able to upload more they have to pay a monthly fee.
I had gotten that same message a few months ago, I thought that by starting a new blog (this 'Our Family Circus' one) that would help solve the problem (it didn't!), so Ray helped me and he went through our albums and deleted some photos to give me more room, but now it's happened again! I didn't realize that because I was using the same blogger ID to start new blogs (I had one blog that I did mostly tablescapes on and that had lots of photos uploaded to it) anyway, all these blogs were all thrown together (I knew I could access all my blogs from the same profile, but I stupidly didn't think about them all being linked together as far as uploading pictures).


Now, the main reason that I want to blog is to keep a sort of picture journal about my family, sort of a 'short story' book/diary for myself about my family life.  So I figured I'd have to be retiring from blogging now too because if I can't upload pictures it defeats my main reason for blogging.  But then Ray told me to try starting a new blog under a whole new ID, so I have.  And I think as far as uploading pictures go I will be starting anew (at least I hope so!)


So, now I will be blogging on another whole new blog.  So sorry to anyone who has bothered to try and keep up with following me ~ I'm making you jump through hoops these past few months!
My family posts and photos will now be HERE.  'Hope to see you there!

Two Play Dates In Manhattan

Recently I was lucky enough to enjoy two beautiful days in the city. I love New York City but I don't get into the city that often anymore, except for our traditional trip to see the Christmas Show at Radio City Music Hall, and my traditional trip there with my best friend Barbara on St. Patrick's Day. Barbara and I usually see a show (we've seen Riverdance numerous times, and we've enjoyed the beautiful voices of Celtic Woman) and we do either lunch or dinner, but this year we did something a little different, and it was lots of fun!  We took the Express bus into Manhattan (it picks us up right around the corner from my house) and we were in the city within twenty minutes.  We were Blessed with perfect weather!  And the first thing Barbara did when we got off the bus was to look for a street vendor because she forgot to wear something green:


She chose a black scarf with green shamrocks.  I told her she should have gotten the green hat and green beard!

But I guess the scarf really was the wiser choice.

Then we enjoyed a long walk over to the west side and we took in the architecture that we both love so much:

And I love how these little churches are stuck in everywhere, sandwiched between buildings:

We both love all the rod iron, and the brownstones, and old wooden doors:

And while we both the love the mixture of the old and the new that the city has to offer, we both agree that we do not like when the old is torn down to make way for the new, or when the new is built on top of the old:


'LOVE the architecture of this building that says Balducci's  but...

...do NOT love at all this modern glass monstrosity that has been erected on top of it ~ 

And Barbara and I both do not like at all looking up and seeing this balancing over our heads ~ no, not at all! 

YIKES!

(Can you imagine being the crane operator at this height?!)

And while both Barbara and I love the hustle and bustle of the city, sometimes getting across the streets can be a hassle because the traffic lights change so fast (yikes again!).

But we finally reached our destination safe and sound!  Pier 95 ~

Oh, what a time we had!  We were in our glory as we got to see these sights:

Vintage Clothing

This wedding dress is so sweet.

And look at the detail on this cocktail gown!  And there was lots of beautiful lace tablecloths, napkins, and doilies to be had.

Such a pretty, girlie, little vignette!

Bed jackets and feather scuffs!

Barbara and I had fun at the hat rack!

Aren't these vintage baby hangers just the cutest things?

There were tons of vintage linens:

So much pretty vintage kitchenware and tinware ~

Vintage Toys and Tin Boxes

Vintage Lunchboxes

Vintage Mitts

And so many unique and odd pieces:

And the most unique were these cute little campers:

'Also loved seeing the vintage furnishings and we were both taken with these settees:

There was also tons of jewelry cases, both vintage and new.  And, of course there were lots of 'knick knacks'.  It took us hours and hours to browse up and down the aisles. 
We've gone to the Pier Antiques show once before a few years ago with another friend and my sister-in-law, but that one was in the Fall, and it had mostly furniture.  I enjoyed this one so much more!

"Okay, B, that was lots of fun, now let's go find something to eat!"

We passed many Irish Pubs, and as tempted as we were to embrace the Irish culture on St. Patrick's Day, they were all very crowded and they were all very noisy...

...so we opted to forego a traditional Irish fare, and we found this Italian restaurant...

...which was nice and quiet, and empty!

And we enjoyed a delicious and leisurely lunch before heading back to the east side.  Along the way to the bus stop we saw so many friendly people all decked out in green!

While crossing this street we heard a girl yelling, "Hello down there!  Happy St. Patrick's Day!"  We weren't sure where it was coming from...

...but then we spotted them!

The Times Square area was a sea of people having fun!  All smiles, and some of them even hugged us!

One of my favorite sights of the day was this girl with her green hair and she even had green eyebrows!

We finally made our way back to Sixth Avenue where there were still tons of people and...

... a bus unloading a marching band!

We were treated to a little music because we got to listen to them practice while we were waiting for our own bus to come ~

And we had time to do a little window shopping too!

(We both loved these lavender shoes, but we both agreed that we could never wear heels so high anymore, and we would never pay that price for them!)

It was a wonderful day!

But it's always nice to come home ~

(Who wouldn't be overjoyed to come home to this?!)

And another nice 'play date' spent in the city was just a few weeks ago in May (this time I went with my better half).  Our daughter Katie gave us tickets to the show 'Once' as a Christmas gift.  It was nice because the tickets were for a date that was right around our Anniversary (39 years!), and, again, the weather was outstanding!  Clear skies, plenty of sunshine, warm, but low humidity, it was perfect!

Ray drove in and we parked on the east side of town and walked about a mile to the theater district.  It was wonderful!

Ray took this picture of the building I used to work in:

I can't believe I worked there and never before noticed the intricate detail of the architecture of this building.

And look at that blue sky!  Not a cloud to be seen!

And, of course, there is always so much construction and constant renovations going on all over the city, so there are still all these scary cranes hanging up in the air all over the city!

Ray and I didn't take as many pictures on our 'play date' as Barbara and I did, but suffice it to say we had a very nice day!  We went into the city early as the tickets were for a matinee show.  And we had a delicious brunch at a Celtic Pub near the theater.  I wish I had thought to take pictures there, it was so quaint, with exposed brick walls, and wide-planked wooden floors, and exposed pipes against the ceiling that were painted a shiny copper color.  I loved it!  After eating we still had time before the show to walk around the city and do a little shopping.  We stopped at one of those cheesy souvenir shops and we picked up a few things for the grandkids, and then we stopped in Fossil and Ray brought me a wristwatch. I wanted something with BIG NUMBERS on the face and this one fit the bill!

And then it was on to the show!  We both enjoyed it very much, the music is very pretty and it's a sweet love story.  It was different from the movie and I can't decide yet which one I liked better.   The main female character seemed softer and sweeter in the movie (but I guess the fact that you have to project and be so much more vocal and demonstrative when you are on stage rather than on film could have something to do with that), and the play also seemed more like a comedy than the movie did (although the movie had some very humorous moments too, it was just different.) But there is something so exciting about seeing a live performance!  And it was fun to see the stage set for the show, and yet the audience was allowed to come up and order drinks from the bar on stage beforehand!  And before the show began the players came out and performed a few Irish folk songs with some of the audience standing around, then the audience was quietly shooed off the stage for the play to begin, but they were allowed back on at intermission:

After the show we strolled back to the east side garage and we were happily surprised to hear the parking attendant tell us that the fee was only $12.00!!  That is unheard of in Manhattan!  We were expecting to pay about $40.00!

We drove home, (and, again, we were so very lucky, we didn't hit much traffic at all) and we had dinner at our favorite restaurant (a Greek bistro ~ Exo) which is down the block from where we live.

And here's my better half now, not only is he a wonderful husband and father, but he is an amazing grandfather ("Paw") too!

(Long post, I know!  Now aren't you sorry you asked me to come back?!  What's that old saying about being careful what you wish for?!)