Feathers, porcelain tea sets, and mannequins dressed in lace are an integral part of a white christmas in New York, as the Bergdorf Goodman window displays satisfy the yearly craving for holiday eye candy. Soak up all of the glittery details, but don’t linger too long in the 5th avenue rush and bitter cold. There will always be next year, of course.

More images of the christmas windows on my flikcr page.

Site to visit:

www.shorpy.com

I become pretty angry and frustrated when tourists walk slowly in busy areas due to their need to look up constantly while incessantly taking pictures of tall buildings and flashy signs. Therefore, I try to avoid walking through these places, as it only succeeds in elevating my level of anxiety and awareness of how much time is wasted just by dodging passersby. Frequent walks along city streets also dull my sense of seeing anything interesting in ubiquitous concrete structures. However, when I tried to photograph them as a way to make my walk from the MoMa to the upper west side not seem completely useless, I found many compositions that were worth capturing. Architecture from different angles was intriguing, especially when there are so many different styles grouped tightly together. Dogs and people are alike in the sense that both are absorbed in their own problems and thoughts (the word I wanted to put was ponderings, and I was disappointed to find out that it was not in the dictionary), which makes them unsuspecting and favorable as subjects. I took several more photos that were purely architectural, but, for now, please enjoy a taste of 5th avenue.

Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s photography fulfills every person’s dream to view the landscape from a helicopter, as the earth takes on an aesthetic of its own when viewed from above. His show will be coming to New York on May 1st, 2009 at the World Financial Center Plaza and the Battery Park City Esplanade.

The only time I will miss those sticky summer days in the city will be when I remember ripe tomatoes and vibrant greens. Surveying the stalls at the Union Square Farmer’s Market for the most twisted-looking heirloom tomatoes, sweetest and smallest strawberries, and the most colorful garden flowers, one returns to old favorites such as the Body & Soul* stand with their baked goods while at the stand next to it, finds types of lettuce and chili peppers that they’ve never heard of. Market days are almost overflowing with summer fruit and people wishing to quench their thirst with some cold mint cider. The organic salad leaves are works of art in themselves, and the strawberries and blueberries are gone within minutes, leaving those fleeting memories of summer all the more sweet.

* They sell a three berry loaf that is great when sliced with some cream cheese and cilantro.

There are few things more satisfying than driving down a California road eating fresh peaches and plums, and throwing the pits out the window. The thick, furry skin of the peaches is bursting with juice, while the plums’ dark ruby flesh releases its smooth flavor in your mouth. They are freshly picked from the sunny backyard of a woman who leaves them in trays by the roadside. Driving along a windy road through the hills of Ojai, you come upon a small sign that says “Peaches for Sale,” and most of the time, the woman will come out and say hello while you salivate over the fruit. This season, she said, was the first time in about five years that she could harvest the delicious plums, due to their fickle nature, and she showed us the trees that grow on a steep slope behind her house.

The town of Ojai feels like it’s lost in time, where the heat slows down the pace of the people, and they are just content sipping organic smoothies and playing guitar in the park. There is a general loss of agitation of what is going to happen next. Bart’s Books sits on a sleepy corner, its wooden shelves full of plays, poetry, and prose from the past century up to the present. There are sheets of music, magazines, cookbooks, and first-edition signed copies of fiction, as well as a cat who picks the perfect spots for napping.

Take one bite of Maison du Chocolat’s sorbet or ice cream, and you will no doubt realize that all the other frozen desserts you’ve tasted are simply inferior in taste and quality. They are known for their expensive chocolates, which are displayed like museum pieces, but many people don’t know that they sell ice cream in the summer as well. “Very good” ice cream, as the well-dressed lady who helped me said with a French accent. I highly recommend raspberry sorbet and chocolate ice cream as a combination, because the intense fruitiness of the raspberries perfectly complements the creamy chocolate (you can really taste the chocolate, not the sugar). I’m also eager to try the apricot sorbet. I even got to taste a truffle, and wish that someday I could indulge in their other confections. But for now, if you’re wondering if it’s worth it to spend $8 on two scoops of ice cream, let go of your usual New York stinginess, and you won’t be disappointed.