It's Labor Day and I decided to celebrate by looking through some pics from last week.
This water tower's for you, Kristine! My mom came to town to see some of the early rounds at The
US Open. She also accompanied me to a hair appointment at
Laicale Salon in Soho, where she got to meet my awesome stylist & all around great gal, Simone Saint Laurent :) We wandered in & out of shops like
FACE (dog sits in window below) bought a fab lipstick called
Seduction and
Paris Style at
Taschen Books.
7 Train to Flushing Meadows gave us the chance to enjoy these musicians each day. They are a lot of fun!
We went to the Open W, Th & Friday with our grounds passes, which allow you entry to every court except Arthur Ashe Stadium where the top of the top are showcased. Of course, you can upgrade to that or enjoy seeing the very best players in the world on the smaller, easy to view courts. It's really a blast to pick up a schedule and circle your must-sees for the day! I will be posting a full piece about the experience later. I knew little about it until 2006 when my parents decided to come up for it. Above is the iconic world sculpture and crowds exiting the 7 train at Willets Point, Flushing Meadows, Queens.
Roger Federer has a chance to win his 6th US Open & 16th Grand Slam! Whew... if you have the chance to see him play, do so. He is most certainly the best to ever play the game.
I happened to see
Murphy Jensen a great doubles player, who won the
French Open with his brother, Luke in 1993. He now hosts a couple of terrific shows on the
Tennis Channel --
Open Access (profiling players) and
Murphy's Guide (to various cities around the world on the tour). He told me he is also on
Wake Up with Al 6am each dayon the Weather Channel :)
He is quite funny, charming & seemingly indefatigable. Watch him sometime, particularly great with the players.
Above is my personal favorite, David Ferrer from Valencia, Spain. He is a superb player who is fun to watch for his athleticism, speed, agility and overall adorableness ;D He has been as high as #4 in the world and is currently ranked #19. Below is a newspaper from Barcelona /Spring '08 after losing in Final there to his friend, Rafa Nadal. Cava was flowing! It hangs in my studio :)
Below are Jill and her mom, Patty from West Va. We met them after Ferrer's Wed match. They are big fans of tennis and incredibly nice! They had been to the tournament in Cincinatti (series on road to Open) and had some wonderful photos (think she could put together a super calendar)
Apparently, heat there this year forced many to practice sans shirts-- nice!
Federer practices above... wish I were closer, oh well. Will share better pics from '06 later, as well as some terrific ones of Serena.Below is Tommy Robredo another fantastic Spaniard!! He's been as high as #5, currently ranked #14. Unbelievable how tough and great these top Spanish Palyers are, not just Rafa out there-- though he is a force of nature! Tommy plays Federer this afternoon (Monday/Labor Day) televised on CBS.
We saw him play on Court 10 Thursday afternoon :)
Kristine Lombardi Fine purveyor of Illustration, Hand Lettering & Design came along on Thursday and met her new love-- the Vanilla Oreo ;) Initially mistaking him for a jumbo tennis ball, had no effect on his confidence or pursuit of her. I'm happy for them both! 
Ride home on 7 Train cut short after a bad signal at 42nd Street forced us to turn back to Hunter's Point after 20 minutes hanging still on track. Kristine took advantage snapping numerous shots.
It was a beautiful sunset & night sky. Not as fun exiting in LI City, calling car service, then watching as a total ass took our car. 2nd call to service, MetroLine sent another right away at least :) 
Took mom to High Line on Sunday, only couple pics of area here, since I posted fairly extensive piece recently. Mom pretty thrilled to find
Ronny Brook Farm Dairy chocolate milk here :D YUM
Love the look and color of
Chelsea ModernBelow is Baco Cafe in Dumbo. It's a lovely, tasty (Mediterranean fare) cafe and vintage shop (in back) owned by a super nice couple, Motti & Miritika. They also own
Baco Living custom renovation & design, the showroom is also in Dumbo. Full post to come this fall...
En route from Dumbo to Vinegar Hill ... liked this festive car lot and clean, mod building below.
Love the small town feel of Vinegar Hill, Brooklyn. Glad we finally tried
Vinegar Hill House too! It was all delicious and the interior is so cozy and quaint!!
I highly recommend the cast iron chicken, plus the chocolate cake with cream cheese icing was perfect-O :)
I will be exhibiting paintings and prints at FAT CAT Wines the month of October. Work will be in Miki & Daniel's back gallery and on the store walls above their delicious selection of wines from around the world. Please join me for the Opening Party this Thursday October 1st, 7-9pm. 
538 Court Street between Huntington & 9th Street, Carroll Gardens Brooklyn. Take the F or G line to Smith & 9th Street :) 
Hope you can make it :)
