Garden Bus!

Let's talk about plants!

I saw this post on the GOOD magazine website and immediately knew I had to share it.

http://www.urbangardensweb.com/2011/02/01/gardens-on-top-of-city-busses/

The organization is called Bus Roots - it was developed by an NYU student for a masters thesis. The gist is this: he is using the top of a public bus to plant a garden! Each bus top is 340 square feet. There are approximately 4,500 buses in the fleet. If each bus had a garden on top, that would add 1,530,000 square feet of rolling garden space to the city!!!

It made me think: what space could I use to create more greenery? What would that do for my environment, both on a small and large scale? What would it do for my neighbors? I can only imagine sitting in an office building at work, glancing out my second or third story window for a quick mental break, and a garden rolls by on the top of a bus. How would that change my outlook in the moment? How would it change my outlook over time?

I am so inspired by people who think outside the proverbial box, or in this case think on top of it.

El Centro

Let's talk about food!

I'm going to try something a little different this year... restaurant reviews!

We'll start with a place I visited last year, but it was phenomenal and has stuck with me, so I figured why not start there?!?!

In case you are ever traveling to NYC, have spent the entire day shifting from a cramped airplane seat on a full flight, to a cramped train seat, to rush-hour subway traffic with 50 pounds of luggage, a sinus infection and a broken toe... this is the place for you! It was the perfect find, after a harrowing day of travel; quick and kind service, delicious food, and tasty margaritas. The giant neon cactus above the entrance was a beacon, pulling us home!

Restaurant: El Centro
Address: 824 9th Avenue @ 54th Street, NYC, NY 10019
Phone: 646.763.6585
Web: www.elcentro-nyc.com

The Service: quick, friendly, efficient

The Ambience: eclectic, homey, comfortable; a tight fit at some of the tables, but the booths and chairs were comfy; lights were down, atmosphere was relaxed, post-work drinks and appetizers for some, full meals for many; I loved the Corona-bottle-chandeliers!

The Food: We both tucked into a large bowl of tasty chips, lightly salted and warm! In my opinion, the salsa was closer to spaghetti sauce; the tomatoes were coarsely chopped and I didn't taste much cilantro or jalapeno, but it went down smoothly with the super-tasty chips. And after 12 hours of traveling, who really cares?!?!
For the main course, we both chose the pozole soup with chicken - a white hominy soup with avocado, radish, and oregano. All I can say is YUM and I have to figure out how to recreate this dish! The soup was warm and roasty with just the right level of spiciness (my sinuses actually started to open!). The pozole melted in my mouth and the broth was perfectly complemented by a few thin slices of avocado and shredded chicken. The radish added a nice crunch to the soup and I happily finished the whole bowl.

The Drinks: margaritas on the rocks with salt - solid, zesty, not too sweet, not too much ice; they went well with the chips and salsa (and they went quickly)

The Money: $10-20/person for entree and one drink - seemed pretty reasonable to me for an NYC dinner

Cheers! (Or should I say Ole!)

Contemplate.

Sit. Breathe. Reflect.

Listen. Be. Still.

Grow. Bloom. Rise.

Huntington Gardens - Koi Pond

A few weeks ago we took a day trip to the Huntington Gardens (in South Pasadena).  For me it was a sprawling adventure in gardens, art, and peaceful surroundings. I love the fact that as soon as I entered the gardens I never once felt like I was in the middle of one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world.
Over the next few weeks I will be playing around with some of the pictures I took, then posting them on this site. The gardens were amazing and left me with so many ideas.... Happy viewing!

All-in-one Postcard!

I received a post card in the mail last week! It is always a treat to get something that is not a bill or an advertisement or a necessary piece of correspondence, but this was particularly exciting because it contained all three elements of my blog title: Food, Art, and Flora!

Below is the postcard:

Now, I will admit, this is an odd sort of picture, yet perfect for me! In case you are not certain about the elements I have labeled below... Food in the form of chiles. Art in the form of painted mailboxes. Flora in the form of the wreath and paintings of plants on the mailboxes.

Dear friend, thank you for thinking of me and sending the postcard!

Art and Resistance.

I am reading a book right now called "The War of Art", by Steven Pressfield. It is about overcoming the blocks that prevent us from doing the creative work we feel called to do. The following section significantly altered the way I look at resistance, so I thought I would share it with you.

In some ways I think this is like breaking through a big brick wall. 

Resistance and Love

Resistance is directly proportional to love. If you're feeling massive Resistance, the good news is, it means there's tremendous love there too. If you didn't love the project that is terrifying you, you wouldn't feel anything. The opposite of love isn't hate; it's indifference.
The more Resistance you experience, the more important your unmanifested art/project/enterprise is to you - and the more gratification you will feel when you finally do it.

Where does the time go???

What happens to a blog when you work way too many hours? What happens when you are training for a marathon and the mileage has suddenly ramped up significantly? What happens when you get home from work and all you want to do is crawl into bed and sleep? What happens when you have a gazillion-mizmillion ideas you want to write about, but cannot seem to make the time to put anything to paper?

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing happens.

You look back and there are no entries. The photos you took three weeks ago are still waiting to be formatted for the web. The fizzmillion ideas you have are still floating in your head, bumping up against the other thoughts about work and cleaning the toilets and doing laundry and paying the bills and checking on your family and getting your oil changed and... You get the idea.

My commitment to you, wonderful reader, is to post something at least once a week. It will continue to involve food or art or flora, but it may be less about my exploration in those areas and more about some of these thoughts bumping around in my head.

I would appreciate any feedback (positive or constructive) on what you have enjoyed about these postings, if you have learned anything, and what you would like to see more of on here. In the same vein, if something just doesn't work for you, please let me know about that as well.

I have enjoyed writing these posts and watching this space evolve. I look forward to further posting and exploration and appreciate any and all feedback from you!

Thanks!