It’s not a trip to NYC without a visit to my beloved Hearst Tower

The stone base was completed in 1928 as the foundation for a matching tower that got put on hold during the Depression and never got built. The magnificent new diagrid tower was added in 2016 and rises in a muscular, majestic dialogue with its citadel-like base. It’s all but a literal diamond shimmering among the grand old and shiny new architecture just south of Columbus Circle, and I make a point to stop by and say hi every time I’m here.

Flashback Friday: Dad 'n' Lad 'n' Plaid Edition

Fun fact: I found that plaid coat at Sears and insisted that my mother buy it because my dad had a similar one -- and they ended up LOOKING EXACTLY THE SAME. Plus they doubled as grill cozies and never melted or wrinkled. 

Other fun fact: Those never-waste-a-scrap-of-material-EVER patchwork dresses are probably now serving time as quilts somewhere in the house as we speak.