art in motion, and outdoor dining

a day of art, food and friends--not a bad day. i joined some friends in midtown, nyc to volunteer with the garden in transit project, (http://www.portraitsofhope.org/git/index.php ) part of a city-wide initiative to help beautify ny. both children and adults from around the nyc area are painting nyc cabs with flower murals…literally art in motion. check out the web site!

“as part of this groundbreaking motivational art, education, and creative therapy project, thousands of kids in schools, hospitals, and community institutions are painting vibrant flowers -- symbolizing joy, life, beauty, and inspiration -- on adhesive weatherproof panels that will be applied to the hoods, trunks and/or roofs of thousands of new york city taxis.”

we walked into a building covered with flowered canvases, paint splashes, and people getting inspired by art. we had a fantastic time, albeit, we struggled a bit staying in lines. but, hey, that’s art. and now we are part of new york history, at least till the end of the year.

we worked up an appetite painting, so we headed uptown to central park west, and found a great restaurant on 73rd, arte café (artecafenyc.com). the best part about it, where we sat… in the backyard! we walked through the restaurant to an open-aired terrace, shaded with over-sized white awnings overhead— great way to enjoy outdoor seating in the shade because it is hot in nyc these days. they also had a brunch drink special that is a great deal—huge drinks! i had a yummy gf breakfast, which consisted of a fruit salad with a citrus dressing. what was most notable about the salad was not actually the fruit itself, (which was fresh and sweet) but the way in which is presented. ( sorry, no pics this time). the fruit was served in a halved pineapple—pineapple leaves and all. i will have to try that next time i serve fruit salad and post it up for you all to see. and what’s brunch without some type of potato. i had a side of crispy, salty french fries that were thinly cut and perfectly seasoned. brunch was rounded off with some sweet and fruity strawberry sangria ( thanks to jax for letting me share hers). i’m telling you, these drinks were actually big. my friend just made some homemade strawberry sangria, so i will have to test taste that and let you all know about it. recipes are all soon to come. ☺

after we had our full of food, we walked through central park to the whitney museum (whitney.org) to see how some pros do it. we went to see the summer of love: art of the psychedelic era, which included print, visual and audio art from that era. a colorful exhibit on so many levels.


all and all, a great day and some wonderful food, art and friends. good weekend for this gluten-free girl.

photos taken from garden in transit web site