Back from New York--where do I begin?

I "heart" NY, for real. I could hang out there for weeks, since there are seriously about ten awesome things going on in Manhattan at any given moment. I could hardly decide what I wanted to do with my two free days there! NY Fashion Week, 9/11 memorial, San Genarro Little Italy Festival were all going on while I was there.

Rick couldn't miss school (plus he hates New York--freak!) so Ruby and I flew out on our own. My mom flew up the next morning and I led us all from our hotel near JFK, in Queens, onto the A train to explore Brooklyn's Park Slope. For some reason, my 72 year old arthritic mother and my 5 year old daughter were not prepared to walk for 6 hours straight, as all New Yorkers are accustomed to. So I dragged them through Prospect Park and into Park Slope like it was a death march until finally I gave up and got them to the lucious Italian bistro I found for us to eat dinner. Ruby fell asleep on my lap on the A train home, while my mom slept beside us. It was a like I had two little kids.

The next day we took the subway to Manhattan but I toned it down a bit. First we had an amazing Chinatown brunch (jook, my favorite comfort food) at Big Wong, then we strolled San Genarro eating gelato and we caught the Cannoli Eating Contest (simultaneously fascinating and repulsive). A few more blocks and we were at the Museum of Children and the Arts which was kid heaven. This is how I ditched my two "kids;" frankly, this plan was genius. My mom watched Ruby run around at the kid art place so I could run around SoHo without anyone needing bathroom breaks every ten minutes. I went to the MoMA store, Pylones, Kate's Paperie, Purl Soho and lots more in the two hours of rain before going back to play at the Childrens' Museum. Ruby chose famous soup dumplings in Chinatown for dinner before returning to the hotel to wait for my sister to fly in from Maine. It was so great to see her, and for the next few nights we had four of us girls sharing one hotel room, like a long sleepover according to Ruby.

We had to go to Queens to experience the California "sour yogurt" phenomenon which was just right on the 87degree (HOT) day. Karen said it was a highlight of the day, and she's quite a foodie.

I felt so lucky to have this wonderful family trip and get to share it with my little Ruby girl. I was feeling the separation of her starting kindergarten, but the trip was a bonding experience reminding me she's still always going to be my daughter.

Cake Ladies Cupcakes rock

We had a good crowd in the shop yesterday for Cake Ladies cupcake tasting! Celeste Cooper brought her A-game, with nearly 20 different flavors for us to try including vegan, gluten-free, and of course, classic varieties. Vegan Cookies and Cream was the clear crowd favorite, although I love the lemon-lemon-lemon best (lemon cake/lemon curd/ lemon frosting). The orders are rolling in, so contact Celeste right away to get on her schedule (book a week ahead minimum): celeste@cakeladies.com. Check out her Yelp page to see what others are saying about her goodies.

Stay tuned for the next fun Ruby's Garden event in the house!

Still waiting...

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon and Ruby was angelically working alone on an art project. I was just about to fall asleep on the couch when Ruby decided she needed an envelope for mailing her art to a friend. I foolishly tried to stay in the sleepy zone, and mumbled to her she needed to wait. She proceeded to melt into a puddle wailing, "I HATE WAITING!"

I know how she feels. This summer has been a difficult time of waiting. Since we were robbed on June 14th, Mary and I have decided and undecided all possibilities:

• First: Shut down, this work is too dangerous, we're not making any money anyway, especially if someone keeps breaking in or robbing us every few months. But still....I think I like this work.


• Then: Move the shop, we must be on the wrong street. But...the crime is ridiculous all over the city.


• Then: Move to the burbs. Ick, what are we thinking? We love living in Temescal and this is where our people are.


• Now: Keep the shop open, get onto Telegraph, hope for more money to come in to cover more costs.

So we waited to know how we really feel about this work, and since re-opening I can only think of tasks that have to wait until we know where we'll be located next month. Until we hear from the property owner on whether we'll get the space on Telegraph, I'm in limbo. I'm ready to go big or don't go at all.

But I can't. I have to wait. I have to do more planning, I have to entertain worst-case-scenarios (which I'm finding difficult!) and then raise more money to cover startup and initial operating losses. In my head I know this is good for me like medicine. It would be nice if in some future blog I can say, "Ah, now I see what all the waiting was for." But is that how it really works? I hope so.