Cultured Weekend (with a side of Mac & Cheese)

Eric and I had a really nice time this past weekend. We did some fun things that we've been meaning to cross off our "New York To-Do" list, and a had a really great time doing so.

On Thursday night Eric and I were discussing Van Gogh's "Starry Night" painting (because we regularly sit around discussing fine art, because we're clearly cultured and sophisticated, DUH). Eric was wondering where "Starry Night" is housed, so he looked it up. Answer: the Museum of Modern Art in NYC! I then looked up MoMA and discovered that they have free admission hours on Friday from 4pm til 8pm. Man, we're such a good team!

So, we made plans to meet up around 6pm on Friday to go the museum together. I got there first so I waited in line for our free tickets (there's really a line for EVERYTHING in NYC), and Eric met me there as soon as he could get out of work.

We had a wonderful time wandering through the museum. We saw some great works, including "Starry Night," Andy Warhol's "Campbell's Soup Cans," Dali's "The Persistence of Memory," and a Monet Water Lilies exhibit that I really enjoyed. We also saw a performance artist who was just sitting at a wooden table, and you were invited to become part of the art by sitting across the table from her for as long as you liked. We didn't do that, but we did watch for a bit.

Welcome to the Museum of Modern Art

"The Persistence of Memory" by Salvador Dali

"The Starry Night" by Vincent van Gogh

Eric and "Starry Night"

We loved this one, entitled "Flag" by Jasper Johns. Underneath the paint you could see scraps of newspaper, including comics! It was very interesting.

"Campbell's Soup Cans" by Andy Warhol

In front of the soup cans

"The Artist is Present," performance art by Marina Abramovic

Me admiring Monet's "Water Lilies"

Another "Water Lilies" painting

We saw lots of other great pieces (and of course, some that begged the question, "is this really considered art?"), so if you want to see more pictures, I'll put all the ones we took on the photo share site for you to check out at your leisure.

The art museum was a great way to spend a Friday afternoon, and it was especially nice to see it for free! One of these days we will take advantage of the Guggenheim's "pay as you wish" hours, too.

Saturday we didn't have any real plans, so we decided to go down to Union Square for some shopping and lunch. I always love going down to Union Square, if for no other reason, to see the musicians in the subway station. Union Square has the best street musicians. This time we saw an electric violinist playing pop songs, including Britney Spears (when we arrived) and Michael Jackson (as we left).

Violinist in the subway station (also, the advertisement behind him is for "Visit St. Pete/Clearwater!" Okay!)


VIDEO: Violinist playing some Britney Spears in the subway station

We had lunch at a place we've been meaning to try called S'Mac. This place is interesting because they only serve macaroni and cheese. It's fancy macaroni and cheese of course, and there are different variations and options, but it's just macaroni and cheese on the menu. To a girl who loves her some mac and cheese (that's me), this sounded delightful. And it was delightful indeed! Eric ordered the Cheeseburger (Cheddar and American cheeses combined with seasoned ground beef), and I got the Napoletana (fresh Mozzarella, roasted tomatoes, roasted garlic, and fresh basil). They were served in hot skillets and were delicious! We ordered the "Major Munch" size (which I assume is medium - the sizes are "Nosh," "Major Munch," "Mongo," and "Partay," so do with that what you will) and had plenty left over to take home.

S'Mac!

My Napoletana

Eric and his Cheeseburger

I don't have any pictures from our day on Sunday, but we had a nice time then, too. We went to Palm Sunday service at church in the morning, which was lovely. They started the service with the congregation outside the church, where they handed out palms. After a reading and prayer we all processed in to the church together. They then read through the whole Passion according to Luke and we sang "Were You There," which I always love. It was a beautiful service.

After church we walked north to the New York Historical Society. They have been hosting a "Lincoln and New York" exhibition that we wanted to see, and Sunday was the last day for it. So, we stopped by after church. The exhibit was very nice and very educational - it followed the relationship between Lincoln and New York City, from the launch of his 1860 Presidential campaign with a speech at Cooper Union, to his funeral procession in 1865. I've always had an interest in Lincoln so I enjoyed this.

After Lincoln we spent a little more time in a couple other exhibits, including one about abolitionist John Brown, 18th Century New York portraits, and paintings by artists of the Hudson River School. It was a nice, quiet, museum afternoon.

We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing at home, watching movies (we finally saw "Precious" and "The Blind Side"), and Eric had to work a little from home (poor thing!).

Speaking of Eric's work...we got some news yesterday. Eric will be going to India on business next week! No, that's not a typo. I don't mean Indiana. I mean INDIA. He will be gone for about a week (possibly longer). He'll of course be working most of the time, but he's hoping to take a day to visit the Taj Mahal and do some sightseeing. I'll miss him, of course, but I'm excited for him to have the opportunity to see a new place! Has anyone reading this been to India? If so, any travel/sightseeing suggestions for him?

Until then, we have more fun things planned, so stay tuned!