Christy's New York City Favorites: New York Transit Museum

Last week I introduced a new series in which I gush about my love for New York City. I've decided to change the name from "New Things to Love in New York City" to "New York City Favorites" simply because not everything I intend to share will be exactly "new". In fact, today I am featuring a bit of NYC history for you, so yeah, definitely not new. Get used to this updated name until I decide to change it to "Christy Brags About Living in New York City" (wait, should I just actually call it that?).

Anyway, today I'm going to take you back to simpler times -- back to the days when men wore fancy hats, I guess.

This is an ad I found in an old train car at the New York Transit Museum. Daniel and I visited this Brooklyn establishment back in January when were trying to find something fun to do indoors. The Transit Museum did us one better by not only allowing us to be inside but also underground.

What looks like a typical subway stairwell is actually the entrance to one of the coolest museums in the city. The New York Transit Museum, located in Downtown Brooklyn, makes public transit fun again. Seriously. There are plenty of exhibits here, but the best is definitely the impressive display of old train cars that you can legitimately walk through while pretending you're on your way to some Great Gatsby party on Long Island.

What I learned most from this experience is that, aesthetically at least, public transit was way better back when the world was less populated. I mean, how pumped would you be if one of these precious trains greeted you Grand Central Station?

But even better than the paint job on these train cars are the advertisements inside them. To be fair, advertisements are still one of my favorite (actually probably least favorite) things about riding the subways of New York City, but these vintage ads honestly take the cake.

Get it? Cake?

They are all-at-once charming and terrifying as was, I'm sure, the entire first half of the twentieth century.

The ads of each train car correspond to the years in which the train was in operation. Fun game: What year do you think they ran this completely uninformative public service announcement about venereal disease?

"But how do I get venereal disease?"
"Uuuhh...."

Back then, the Metro Transit Authority didn't take any crap from ANYONE:

And they understood the importance of pageantry:

And cats were revered as HEROES:

But sometimes they were actually seen as well-spoken miscreants of society:

Anyway, if you want to step into history, I totally recommend the Transit Museum. It will make you long for a time when subway cars were as elegant as the Metropolitan Opera, but it will also make you thankful that as a culture we no longer feel the need to put ketchup on lemons.

Head to their website for more details, and while we're on the subject of weird advertisements, what's the weirdest one you've seen lately?

Here's What You're Doing This Weekend

If you're anything like me, the prospect of planning the perfect weekend can sometimes be a bit daunting. That sparkling sunshine, the colorful flowers in bloom, that one friend's Instagram feed -- they all seem to be daring you to make the most of your weekend. And if you don't, you're basically a failure. That's how it works, right?

Well, don't worry, you pretty little thing. I've got you covered. Here are some ideas for how to spend your time over the next few days.

1. Drink something bubbly

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Whether you refer to it as fizzy, sparkling, or carbonated, drink something that will make you giggle. If Diet Dr. Pepper is your go-to, go for it, but this weekend I'm recommending this watermelon cocktail from A Fabulous Fete.

2. Go to Anthropologie, try on expensive dresses that you can't afford, and then just buy a candle instead

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Or just beeline for the sale section. That's fine too.

3. Pet at least three different puppies*

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I mean, you should really be doing this every single day, but you're going to be pretty busy this weekend, so I'll go easy on you. Even better than simply petting, you can adopt a new friend at an adoption event near you! By the way, great names for a dog include (but are not limited to) -- Octavia Spencer, Little Man, Gravedigger, Bicentennial, and The Governess.

4. Reconnect with that one friend of yours that has a rooftop garden

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Rooftop gardens and backstage passes to Backstreet Boys concerts are the only times it is acceptable to pretend to be better friends with someone than you actually are. Bring that bubbly drink on up with you, if you can.

5. Find the place that serves the best donuts in your city and tell the cashier that you will be taking ALL OF THEM to-go...please

As far as I'm concerned, New York City's hands-down winner is Dough. Anyone care to challenge me on this?


Anyway, those are my suggestions for pretty much anyone, anywhere looking to have a killer weekend. Heed my advice, and tell me how it goes.

For my NYC dwellers, I've got just one more recommendation:

Our Saviour New York (OSNY), is launching its brand new parish in Midtown (417 West 57th St) this Sunday at 6 PM (evening church! That means you can spend your morning eating all of those donuts on a rooftop garden!).

The evening will feature fantastic local musicians, coffee provided by Rex, and there will be a few surprises in store as well (#cupcakes). OSNY seeks to be "New York's neighborhood church", and I can attest to the wonderful community I've experienced as a member. If it sounds interesting to you, come hang out! You can check out the website for more details, and RSVP on the Facebook event page. I'll be there, and for the record, I'd love to meet you, so don't you dare not introduce yourself. I'll be the one in the glasses.

But if you're not local, or that's not really your thing, then you should still enjoy your weekend of bubbly drinks, candles, puppies, rooftop gardens, and donuts.

No, but, seriously though, you're a grown ass woman (or man, maybe?). You can do whatever you want. Soooo what are you really up to this weekend?

*I wanted puppies to have their day in the sun on this post because I feel like Avoiding Atrophy is quite feline-heavy, but I feel it would be remiss of me not to mention that this weekend there is a CAT CAFE popping up in NYC! I will definitely be there.

Blooming Things + The Married Writer

There are a lot of things about living in New York City that are a far cry from magical -- the garbage water that sits in still pools on the subway tracks, the cash-only restaurants without conveniently-located ATMs, the guy on the corner who says your butt in those jeans looks like two Christmas hams. It's not exactly a fantasy world, I realize this.

Still, there are a few things in this town that just never cease to dazzle me. One of those is the impressive display of blossoms that show up around this time of year. These flowers are positively everywhere, even in the trees. Flowers in TREES?! I mean, whoever heard of such a thing?! Certainly not this little lady from Texas, that's for sure. When I first saw New York's flowers last spring, I was in absolute awe, and after that horrible winter we just had, I could not be happier to see them again this year. I've been taking pictures like a madwoman, and here are a few of my favorites:

By the way, thanks to Ditmas Park Corner for sharing my picture with the rest of the neighborhood!

Like all good things in this world, these blooms will be gone before you know it, so get out there and experience them for yourself. And if you're from, say, Texas and you don't live around these flowers, go eat a breakfast taco or something BECAUSE YOU CAN!

Today I'm excited to introduce you to Rebecca Chapman who writes over at the blog "The Married Writer"!

Blog//Twitter//Facebook//Bloglovin'

As you can see by her preferred accessory in the above photo, Rebecca is a musician and singer/songwriter, living a fabulous life in Nashville, TN. You can check out some of her tunes over on the music tab of her page or you can even watch her do her thing on her Youtube channel. 

As her blog's title implies, she's newly married and absolutely loving it (girl, get it!). She describes herself as "a rehabilitated break-up song junkie no longer finding writing inspiration from relationship drama". In her recent post titled "32 Things That Make Me Happy", she sights her husband as #1 and at #2 she listed her "furry children" and followed it with this AMAZING picture:

Her dog, Penguin...dressed as a penguin...It's a miracle.

For a quick glimpse into Rebecca's life, check out her post, "13 Numbers That Shaped My 2013". There you can see what our friend was up to in the midst of what seems like a pretty stinking eventful 365 days (a wedding and major surgery within the same year? Yeah, this girl was a bit busy.)

So do yourself a favor and head on over to rebeccachapman.com right now, read all of the funny things her hubs has to say, and say hi now before she gets super famous!

Christy's New Things To Love In NYC: The Sketchbook Project

Today marks the beginning of this series in which I share some of my new favorite finds in NYC. Enjoy!

While walking to Egg in Williamsburg, one of my favorite brunch spots in Brooklyn, I always pass this trendy storefront with the words "The Sketchbook Project" etched on the door. I have always been curious about what is happening inside this little brick-and-mortar shop, but usually by the time I stick a fork into my eggs rothko, I've somehow completely forgotten about my curiosity.

It kept happening over and over again (because let's face it, I love me some eggs rothko) until one day I decided to bypass brunch entirely and head straight over to the little shop with walls lined with colorful sketchbooks.

And, guys, I'm so glad I did.

It turns out that this little spot which I kept passing time-after-time in my lust for brunch is actually one of my new favorite places in the city. The Sketchbook Project is like the guy in every John Hughes movie who was there the whole time but just hadn't been given the time of day.

You can head on over to the website to see a more official description for how this place operates, but essentially, it's a library comprised of, you guessed it, sketchbooks. Over 30,000 of these precious books have been donated to the project from artists all over the world, and the result is a breathtaking room filled wall-to-wall with artistic genius.

When we walked in, I was ready to tear this place up. I imagined myself picking out all of the sketchbooks with the prettiest bindings and just hoarding them to myself for a few hours. As you can imagine, that would have been insanity.

No no, folks, there is a system, as well there should be. The first thing you do upon entering the Brooklyn Art Library (the flagship location for The Sketchbook Project) is get yourself a library card. You then head to a computer in the back, scan your card, and magic happens. You are presented with a list of categories by which you can request your sketchbooks. Within a drop of a hat, a helpful employee (or volunteer? I'm not sure) is at your side with two books -- one from the selection you have chosen and another entirely random one.

For example, the theme I selected was "In 5 minutes..." and I was brought two books, actually both from that same theme. At the start, I was entirely unsure of what to expect. I thought maybe I'd just skim through books of quick sketches from, yes, talented people, but I was fully unprepared for the level of artistry I was about to encounter.

Artist: Lady Orlando, Mexico, In 5 minutes...

Artist: Lady Orlando, Mexico, In 5 minutes...

Artist: Lady Orlando, Mexico, In 5 minutes...

Watercolor, pop-up pages, poetry, mixed media -- these books were so much more than I ever could have imagined. They were like small art galleries unto themselves.

Artist: Maria do ceu diel Oliveira, Brazil, In 5 minutes...

Artist: Maria do ceu diel Oliveira, Brazil, In 5 minutes...

We sat there for an hour, requesting more and more books, sitting at a long table in total amazement of what existed in these pages.

There was such an intimacy to opening them. Carefully, I'd turn each page, with full reverence for how precious their contents were. It was as though I had received the sweetest invitation to read the diary of someone I had always wanted to know better. Every picture, every poem, every pencil stroke was privileged information that I received joyfully.

Georgianna Kreiger, California, Superheroes in everyday clothes

I was particularly excited when I stumbled upon a short note written to me from a young artist named Clara at the start of her sketchbook.

Clara Herzog, Cambridge, United Kingdom, Uncharted waters

She was fifteen-years-old, and she was good.

Clara Herzog, Cambridge, United Kingdom, Uncharted waters

Clara Herzog, Cambridge, United Kingdom, Uncharted waters

Clara Herzog, Cambridge, United Kingdom, Uncharted waters

The Sketchbook Project is a reminder that true art isn't limited to ornate fixtures in world-renowned museums. Instead, art can be sandwiched tightly in a Moleskine notebook, maybe the very one sitting in your messenger bag at this exact moment. The true artistry comes in the invitation, in welcoming someone else to step into your private pages and know you through them.

Marta Vivanco, Madrid, Spain, Uncharted waters

Marta Vivanco, Madrid, Spain, Uncharted waters

If you want to visit The Brooklyn Art Library, head on over to Williamsburg (103A North 3rd St). For those of you who aren't in or around New York City, don't feel left out! The Sketchbook Project has a mobile library that tours nationwide. It may be making a stop in your town. You can also peruse their digital library RIGHT FREAKING NOW! And if you're reading this post and you're thinking, "Hey! I'm artist! I should have a sketchbook in this library!" then you should consider contributing your work to the project. I know I'd love to see it.

I was going to end this post with a page from my sketchbook, but unfortunately it's mostly just grocery lists and standup notes at this point, so I'm not sure it's much to look at. What would I find if I looked in your sketchbook?