How I spent a hot muggy summer day & some fun 'vintage' photos

This (above) is how we spent the glorious day yesterday. (That's not me in the photos but it is my family.)

This (below) is how I expected to spend today.

That's the magnificent Saratoga Racetrack, in my hometown just 20 minutes away. I'm not a gambler, but once a summer I meet up here with an old union leadership friend. Our friendship began when we met in 1995 at a statewide training conference for new local teacher union presidents, and has continued ever since. But with expected severe thunderstorms (that never happened here) and hot humid muggy weather, we've postponed until later in the week.

I also expected to be surprising my childhood BFF (who lives in England but comes home to see family) with a visit for dinner, also in Saratoga, at the invitation of her kid sister.

In the photo above, that's Annie on the left and me on the right at maybe 5 & 6 years old (she's younger), and on the left below at maybe 17 and 16 (this time I'm the angry one on the left) and finally at 36 and 35 (I'm convex - 7 months pregnant with dyed hair; she's concave and beautiful).

And here's the kid sister at approximately age 10 when Annie and I were 19 & 20.
But sadly, kid sister is having serious back trouble and the visit is temporarily called off tonight. But Annie will be in the states for a bit and we'll catch up, just not by surprise.

And here's what I did today instead: (sorry for sideways photos)

I cleaned and froze blueberries that I picked a few days ago. Then I went out back to my hubby's wonderful garden and picked chives and basil. I chopped and froze chives, and I made the basil into pesto and froze it in these rectangular ice cube trays. Now I can have fresh herbs in the winter, and fresh berries too! After chopping and chopping and processing etc, my house smells like heaven - the aroma of basil/chives/garlic all together. Of course I saved some of the fresh pesto for dinner tonight! YUM.

And in between all the slicing and dicing and washing and processing, I took turns at my latest obsessions on my iPad:

If you like to play too, let me know! I'm seriously hooked on both. I'm also playing Scramble with Friends (kind of like Boggle) but so far only with my son and he's seriously KILLING me and I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

The fabulous Saratoga Springs

I was lucky enough to grow up in a special place, Saratoga Springs, NY. It's only a 1/2 hour from where I live now, so looking to take a nice walk in the sunshine, I spent some time there the other day and thought I'd share it with you.

Saratoga gained its fame for three things: the healthy mineral waters (the springs), the fabulous and glamorous thoroughbred race track, and it's gambling history. All three of these together brought an elegant and wealthy clientele to Saratoga. The building below is the Casino, in the lovely Congress Park. It was a genuine casino where famous gamblers like Diamond Jim Brady spent their time. Now it is both a museum and a lovely event venue, very very GRAND.

Today's photos are all from Congress Park, a peaceful and elegant park surrounding the Casino. As a child, my friend Annie and I walked through this park every Saturday morning, on our way to and from the synagogue, and many Saturday afternoons we returned their to play. So much of the park is still exactly as it was then, though nowadays there's a Ben & Jerry's across the street, so everyone in the park seemed to be eating gourmet ice cream!


The statues above, commonly referred to as "Spit and Spat", are Italian marble. There is absolutely nothing in this park that is not historic, lovely, and elegant. The statue on the right below is called "Winged Victory".

A few years ago, amid much local controversy, a carousel from the early 1900's was restored and now resides in the park. The building below houses the carousel.

When I was growing up, Saratoga was a sleepy place most of the year, coming alive for 4 weeks in the summer when the racetrack was in session, and the population exploded. In the late 1960's a lovely outdoor performing arts center (SPAC) was built, which annually houses the Philadelphia Orchestra and the NYC Ballet for a few weeks. Saratoga was always an artsy sort of place, but I think it became more of a cultural haven after SPAC was built.

Nowadays, Saratoga is a vibrant, lively place all year round, grand and elegant, but also a funky and artsy destination; not the quiet place of my childhood. The streets are wide and if you are into interesting architecture, you will not find a more exciting place to explore. The racetrack is still as exciting and beautiful as ever, the mineral waters still flow, there's music, ballet, theater, and art, there's a wealth of fabulous restaurants, and summers bring tourists with hats worthy of a British wedding. Come and visit!