peek

peek, originally uploaded by roxydynamite.

For those of you thinking that the Magpie has been lazily feathering her nest at home and not up to any shenanigans, you are wrong. I've taken wing to several locales in the last few weeks hunting for more baubles to tuck into the box of found treasures that I so willingly share with y'all.
In light of lifestyle maven, Martha Stewart's return to the Omnimedia offices recently, I offer you some of my own "good things" for consideration.

Cyndemouse and I were enthusiastic about seeing The Gates in Central Park ala Christo and Jean Claude. We picked a gorgeous day to make the trip and piled into the car along with Sweets. The park was jammed with spectators out for a look at the saffron swirling overhead and then happily lost in other pursuits, dog petting, pretzel eating, hand holding, photo taking, people watching. We took a nice turn around the park. As I pulled out my camera, I asked Sweets, "I wonder how many bad photos have been taken in the park in the last few weeks?" Then I proceeded to take some of dubious quality myself. When I uploaded to Flickr, I was amazed to see I was joining about six thousand other images of the art piece. I took some time to poke around and found some that were quite nice. I took the first official self portrait of Sweets and Me that day. We're quite the cute couple; if I do say so myself.

After the unusual event of getting some fresh air, we were all famished and proceeded over to Liberta Pizzeria for what I believe to be a Sicilian slice that is as close to perfect as it can get. This is not your ordinary ton of brick slice, my friend. This slice is a light fluffy affair with a satisfying crisp bottom so it crunches slightly when you dig in. Topped with carmelized onions, breadcrumbs and a modest amount of cheese, the flavors meld together perfectly. We happily munched away in silent appreciation with only the heater under the granite table sizzling for sound effect.

Then we meandered downtown, screeching to a halt in front of Buttercup Bake Shop to satisfy a deep seated desire for cupcakes. Cyndemouse was suffering from a cold and fading fast, so we piled back into the Roxymobile and headed for home to sample our stash of pint sized perfection. Between the three of us, we scored red velvet, Lady Baltimore and Devil Dog varieties. Sitting around the kitchen table, all we ceased talking and began murmuring mmmms. Buttercup offers franchise opportunities for $30K. Hmm, not too high of a price in my opinion for that Lady Baltimore recipe.

Next stop for the Magpie.... Princeton. Mr. and Mrs. Please Please came to stay with me for the weekend while the Mr. attended a Democracy for America conference at Monmouth University to learn organizing techniques. That left the Mrs in my hands for entertainment. She hit it off with Sweets, both being of the Midwestern persuasion. They chattered about butter burgers which is basically a burger served with a mandatory pat of butter. I decided to take them for a spin over to Princeton. It's been a while since I've been to Princeton Record Exchange and that is simply no good. I'm sort of a snake when it comes to music purchasing, I'll buy a pretty big chunk, digest it for a while and then bite off another piece. I always score something cool in the $1.99 department.
We also stopped in at Micawber Books a fine bookseller that mixes used and new books in a great space. I picked up a 1933 edition of a Dorothy Parker book, After Such Pleasures for a mere four sheckles. Score.
I've also been chilling in Vermont and swilling in Philly, but that has to be a new post because my biggest fan, Talulah is about to go insane if I don't post SOMETHING. So this one is for you girl!