Tim's Day

Hey, so I think Tim really liked his birthday adventure yesterday. I'll tell you a little bit about it. First, we totally slept in and watched a cheesy Bruce Willis flick. Then we got spruced up and went into the city to the Frick Museum, a museum we've been wanting to visit for a long time. It was amazing. After that, we walked about Central Park and rode the carousel. Then I took Tim to a crazy restaurant called Ninja NY. That was the short version. And now, the long version...

I suppose I should have made my hubby breakfast in bed or something but I was feeling pretty lazy. So, I'm sorry Tim. Maybe next year. I did prepare the dough for these insane Martha Stewart shortbread cookies, though. And THAT, my friends, is love. I hate shortbread (Tim loves it) and I hate to cook. And Martha's recipes are seriously not cool. She basically expects you to churn your own butter and pound your own flour. (Somebody needs a hobby.) The cookies are kind of like pecan sandies, which to me are a waste of some good calories because they are kind of bland. Well, I made them anyways. Then we watched some good Bruce Willis and then headed off to the city.

Our first stop was the Frick Collection, located in the former mansion of Mr. Henry Clay Frick, whose private art collection was made into a museum after his death in the early twentieth century. The museum is designed to feel more like a private (filthy rich) home than a public place. The mansion itself is an incredible work of art; the low stone building and courtyard take up almost an entire city block on "Millionaire's Row." Some of the rooms of the house have painted walls like the frescoes of a Renaissance church or castle, and the furniture that adorns all the rooms of the house is almost entirely from the sixteenth century. All the other rooms have rich wood walls and floors, marble fireplaces and decorative columns, giving the sense of being in an old, musty castle or cathedral. It is incredible.

Frick knew what he was doing when he started collecting, too. The man owned an unbelievable array of famous works. Our favorites were the Whistler paintings, the famous Thomas Moore painting paired with the Cromwell counterpart (!), the Vermeer paintings, and there was one that I really liked - (pictured) it's Lady Hamilton as "Nature" by George Romney. There is something about it that really inspires me. Anyway, we had a great time. And we've seen (and studied) enough art now to be able to walk through a museum and say "Oh look at that Goya!" and "Check out that Renoir!" We're just that good. (Let's hear it for Humanities Majors - who basically have LOTS of appreciation for things, but no real degree in anything! Ahh yeah.)

After the Frick, we walked through Central Park and visited the Dairy and the Carousel. I've always wanted to ride the Carousel - it's been on the "NY List" ever since we first moved up here. Can't you see the excitement on Tim's face?!? Yeah, I think I enjoyed the Carousel a whole lot more than he did, but he was a sport about it. He says my crazy touristy ideas help keep him young. (Good thing - he is now a whopping 31! I call him "my old man" or "my sugar-daddy" - that makes him so mad. Heh.) The weather was gorgeous, so we just had a nice time walking around Central Park.

Speaking of crazy touristy ideas, after Central Park, we had reservations for Ninja NY. I wanted to take Tim somewhere special and out of the ordinary. This was the place. All the wait staff were ninjas and the restaurant itself was underground in these dark tunnels - it looked like feudal Japan. It was AWESOME. Here is an advertisement from YouTube about the place:

Wacky, no? We had a lot of fun. Tim got this flaming bonfire dish and I was seeing spots for a couple of minutes after he got it. And when I got up to go to the ladies room, every time I passed a ninja, they gave me a cool bow and yelled something in Japanese. It was expensive, but it was seriously fun.

So, that was Tim's day. I hope he liked it. At least he said he did.