Gotham Gal: Memorial Day Weekend

This is a photo capture of life at the beach for a weekend (with 8 - 12 dinner guests). Weekends out here consist of food, beach, read, pool and the attempt to chill. Obviously chilling would be more available with less children but I'm thrilled they chose our home for hanging. I'm feeling relaxed and exhausted at the same time.

Friday night not everybody had arrived yet. I hit up the grocery stores first to fill up the refrigerator. Beer chicken on the BBQ.

Saturday we stopped in town for a case of white wine. They were giving tastes of a sipping tequila called Casa Dragones. At $250 a bottle, I was just interested in the taste. Delicious to have a small glass in the middle of the afternoon to get comfortably numb. They only make 100 bottles a year.

Dinner that night was paella. Not the best picture.

Sunday I got more into the idea of taking pictures to capture the weekend. We ate four watermelons over the course of the weekend.

I drove the boys to Montauk to play putt-putt and stopped by my friends new restaurant. It is in the old Crows Nest spot. Looking forward to trying out the menu.

I got a hat at the art fair in town. The man behind the booth was from Cameroon and made all the hats by hand.

I made 35 bottles of strawberry jam. The strawberries this year are unbelievable.

Ollie and I walked to the beach. There is a field of lavender in someone's yard before the boardwalk.

Ollie made friends.

I did the crossword and kept reading the last of the trilogy from Stieg Larson.

This is one of the things I hate about the beach. Massive laundry.

Dinner was ribs. I put them in the oven at 9AM and on the grill at 630PM.

We also had local asparagus with corn.

Tomatoes with mozzarella and basil ( not the best tomatoes yet )

Had a few vegetarians so I made the strawberry pasta recipe out of New York Magazine this week. Quite good and different.

Everyone seems a bit more relaxed than they were on Friday. It appears that summer is here.

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books of the moment

Peggy Riley: Amity & Sorrow: A Novel
A mother drives for days with her daughters and ends up in a random Oklahoma town after crashing the car. They come from a polygamous community where there were 50 wives. The mother had grown up knowing life outside that community. Over time, after leaving, she almost becomes deprogrammed. The realization of what she did to her daughters who no nothing outside the world they came from including how to read. Then there is the family that brought them in. It is a fascinating story. Well written. Worthy read.
Charles Graeber: The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder
An amazing true story of a male nurse who was arrested in 2002. I actually remember the story as I followed it in the papers. This nurse was a serial killer who had probably murdered over 400 patients that were under his care. A seriously well researched book. Great read.
Meg Wolitzer: The Interestings: A Novel
Wolitzer writes about a group of camp friends who all come from different walks of life (some on scholarship) as their friendships continue through their mid-50s. At the beginning the story seems trite but as you continue to read there is a lot of be said. The story is sticking with me. She makes the case that everything that happens to you from your childhood makes an impact on who you become or don't become. Worthy read.
Elizabeth Strout: The Burgess Boys: A Novel
Strouts last book won a Pulitzer. She focuses on family issues. I enjoyed this book much more than Olive Ketteredge which I found utterly depressing. This book follows two brothers and a sister who live in the shadow of their fathers accidental death. Like most siblings, all have turned out very different yet they are connected. I did not love any of the characters, like her last book, yet as The Burgess Boys moves forward and memories are revealed, it is an interesting perspective on human character.
Tamara Shopsin: Mumbai New York Scranton: A Memoir
Great book. A witty spare inventive personal diary of Tamara journey from Indian to New York to Scranton. Really really enjoyed the book.
Michael Lavigne: The Wanting: A Novel
An incredible book that tells the human side of the many layered issues in the Middle East. From immigrating to Israel from Moscow, to being a victim of a suicide bomber yet surviving, to being pulled into an Israeli radical group. Each character is connected. Very layered well written book. Powerful
Alessandro Piol: Tech and the City: The Making of New York's Startup Community
A history of the Internet that I lived through. Great job of recording what happened.
Amity Gaige: Schroder: A Novel
Not sure how much I loved this book. A father loses his child in divorce and decides to kidnap his own daughter. He is not a stable person but he obviously loves his daughter. His own childhood has made him a disconnected human being. An interesting journey but not sure I'd recommend.
Ernest Hemingway: The Old Man and the Sea
Classic.
Janice Steinberg: The Tin Horse: A Novel
a good novel that not only tells the tale of another dysfunctional jewish family in the early 30's but interweaves pieces of los angeles history throughout the book.

Gotham Gal

Memorial Day Weekend

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