Thea Eschliman Designs: My Mom Makes NY Shiny

A little over a month ago my mom came to visit me in NY. It was short visit planned to coincide with my little sister's visit to the UN for the Commission on the Status of Women. Yes you read that right, my little sister was participating in an event at the UN!!

This weekend with my mom was a very welcome visit. NY has not been keeping me very happy lately and I'm not sure how much longer I will stay here. NY offers so much, but if you don't like your everyday routine, then no amount of exploring Chinatown or really, really good hot chocolate is going to make you feel much better. Since a change is still a long ways off, taking a break from that crappy routine and running around the city with my mom made NY feel all shiny again if only for a weekend... and maybe a few weeks after when I make a good dinner with stuff she got me from Zabars or use the cute tea towels she got me from Fish's Eddy.

The day she was flying was the most stressful travel day I have had since the year my flight home for Christmas was cancelled and my sister and I headed to my apartment with heavy hearts only to be greeted by a mouse. My mom's flight was cancelled, rebooked, rerouted, and delayed. I sat watching this on 3 different websites, since no airlines or airport I have encountered, so far, manages to have a completely informative and comprehensive website on it's own, while the minutes crawled by and the weather got progressively worse by the second.

Finally when I got the word that she was on her way, I picked up dumplings and made my way home in some really god awful slush. I got a call while I was on my elevated subway while I was halfway across the Williamsburg Bridge from my landlord telling me that the ceiling was leaking in my apartment so bad it was leaking in the floor below.

stupid ceiling

I managed to keep my cool on the subway, find out that the ceiling was leaking in not just the same old place but three places around the guest sofa bed, ruining several paper projects and soaking a embroidered quilt in progress, and clear off the stairs of snow/slush before my mom's cab pulled up. Oh, and I also fielded calls asking for directions because I am just going to say it, most yellow cab drivers SUCK when it comes to Brooklyn, not all but most and it make me really angry.

After clearing out everyone who showed up and could not do anything till it was dry outside, My mom and I hunkered down for a dumpling dinner and the Olympics. We were cheering on Rachel Flatt who is apparently a neighbor back home and goes to my high school.

The rest of the weekend we hiked all over the city. Sometimes in shin deep snow, sometimes through shin deep puddles, from the Upper West Side to Wall Street. We hit up Zabars, Gray Lines Linen, Veselka, Fishs Eddy, The Strand, Ikea, and City Bakery to name a few.

Macy's in the Snow

My snowy neighborhood

My mom joked that she brought the magic subway luck with her because we never waited more than a minute for the right subway, an anomaly in NY in this day and age of outrageous subway route cuts and fare hikes. That was not the only luck she brought, for some reason we were given complimentary cookies at Rice in Dumbo and City Bakery. If you've ever had a chocolate chip cookie from City Bakery, or an ice cream cookie sandwich from Rice, you know this is a real treat. I could not be more thankful to these two places for making my mom feel so welcome!

The weekend felt too short but it was really fun. Here are just a few more pictures to give you a feel for our very snowy weekend.