Caitlyn Duffy's Blog, page 5

My absolute favorite thing to do at this time of year is ...

My absolute favorite thing to do at this time of year is to walk around my neighborhood and appreciate all of the time and effort my neighbors put into their amazing holiday decorations. Sometimes Brooklyn is a place prone to displays of excess, and the Christmas displays never disappoint.

In case you didn’t know, it’s Christmas

When I was a little girl, for a while we lived on a block in Illinois on which our neighbors had an elaborate Snoopy & Peanuts Christmas display with life-sized wooden cut-outs of characters skating around an ice skating rink. It would take that family an entire Saturday afternoon in early December to set up the decorations, complete with colored lights scaling 15-foot trees and silver garland wrapped around their front doorway. I was in awe of that house, and liked to fantasize that the ice skating scenario on that lawn was real.

I’ll post some more pictures of the night displays from around my neighborhood. They really make this week a special time of year.

 

Operation Santa

 

I’ll be the first to admit it: I am a Christmas maniac. I listen to Christmas carols even during summer months when I need a pick-me-up. I have two winter coats: one green, one red. I have been known to wear pins in the shape of reindeer and snowmen.

But this year, my sense of Christmas spirit has really been delayed. I’ve been under lots of stress at my day job, my dog has had a few health scares that have served as painful reminders that he’s getting very old and he won’t be my little guy forever, and for a bunch of various reasons I haven’t been able to plan a trip home to go see Santa with my nephew.

Yesterday’s news of the tragedy in Connecticut really shook me to the core. I don’t even have any thoughts to share on the topic other than expressions of the same sentiments we are all feeling: rage, confusion, unbearable sadness.

Today when I woke up my first thought was to hightail it over to the JAF post office on Eighth Avenue to pick up a letter written by a child to Santa. Operation Santa is an initiative run by the post office in New York in which all of the letters addressed to the North Pole are collected and distributed to anyone wishing to send a kid in need their Christmas wishes. Getting over there and participating this year has been on my mind since Thanksgiving, but there’s always been an errand to run or a meeting to attend, and I’ve been putting off that trip to the post office. This morning, doing something kind for a child I’ll never meet was my top priority.

I ended up selecting two letters, one written by a 17-year-old boy whose father is out of work and whose Christmas wish is for gift cards to buy winter clothes, and the other written by a 13-year-old boy whose parents are having a tough year because of Hurricane Sandy. Answering letters written by teenagers is especially meaningful for me, because teens have such a raw deal in our society. Our reality TV shows send them misleading messages about how their lives are supposed to be, the financial hardships upon our country keep their parents busy at jobs instead of at home keeping an eye on them, and in general, they’re shoved into adulthood before they’re ready. I think it’s an important message for people at any age to believe that when you need help in life, and you have the courage to ask for it, someone will hear you. 17-year-olds aren’t grownups. Kids at that age, on the brink of making decisions that will shape the rest of their lives, need to know that there are people in the world who care about them. I can’t stand the thought of kids at that age throwing away opportunities because they think no one cares about their future, so why should they?

And so I spent my afternoon in line at the sporting goods store buying gift cards for cool kicks, wondering about the lives of these boys who wrote letters to Santa in the hope that someone would find their letter special enough to respond. It’s such a small act of charity in light of what the people of Newtown, Connecticut lost yesterday, but it made me feel like I am doing something to assure two kids out there in the world that they are special.

Please do something this holiday season to put a little more love back in the world. Even if it’s just sending a card to someone you normally wouldn’t, or leaving a candy cane on the desk of a coworker you don’t know so well. We’ve all only got a short amount of time on this planet. If there’s anyone in your life who doesn’t know how much you care about them, please make sure you tell them this year.

For these things I am thankful

In no particular order, these are just a few of the many blessings that have made 2012 the best year of my life:

my apartment — it’s taken many years of survival in New York City, but I finally have a supercute apartment in a neighborhood I love as a reward for my persistence
my dog, Max, who has made it through another year of canine life without any major health crises
all of my dear readers, who have given me assurance that I am not completely wasting my time by writing stories about themes in girls’ lives
my coworker who sends me funny memes of fat, dancing, angry, and snuggling cats to brighten my days, and my coworkers who venture with me to Starbucks for sanity breaks and inspire me with their work ethic, generosity, and ambition
my friend who reads all of my work to give me feedback before I finish manuscripts
the good health and support of my family — we are so fortunate to have each other
my baby niece and nephew, who are both beautiful and hilarious
keratin hair straightening — for real, this has changed my life
Mayor Bloomberg taking charge before and after the hurricane — the hurricane was bad, but things could have been so much worse if we didn’t have such a strong leader in New York

And I’m thankful for a million other things, big and small, some frivolous, and some important, including my young friend Eddie’s recovery from Hodgkin’s Lymphoma this year, the little squirrels who hang out on my fire escape and greet me each morning, sunny days,  piping hot soy lattes, long naps, Daniel Craig as James Bond (hubba hubba), this season of The Walking Dead, the outgoing neighborhood cat named Biscuit who lets me pet him, democracy in the U.S. and the right to vote, my functioning computer, journalists who risk their lives in dangerous places to bring us the news, and the friendliness of my local deli guys, who make Theraflu for me when I am sick and sneak miniature Ritter Sport chocolates into my bag. I have a beautiful life and I am thankful for a day off from work each year to reflect on how graced my existence is, especially because on this day it is 100% acceptable to eat unlimited quantities of pie. This is my very favorite time of year, guys, and I hope all of you are filling your hearts with love today in preparation for the next few weeks of holiday fun.

What have I been up to lately…

Hi everyone! It’s a very chilly Thursday in New York today. I’ve been really busy trying to get my next manuscripts done before Christmas, but wanted to post a few little fun things about the last few days.

1) My dad (not a rock star) came to visit this weekend and we went to Tea & Sympathy, a tea shop in Manhattan’s West Village, for an authentic English breakfast after checking out the Beatrix Potter illustration exhibit at the Morgan Library.

I had beans on toast. Don’t knock it ’til you try it! Then we went to go see Argo (my second viewing) and it was so good that my dad actually stayed awake for the whole movie. It’s a pretty rare event when my dad doesn’t doze off during the first ten minutes of a movie. Last winter when we saw Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, he slept from the opening title sequence until the credits were rolling. Anyway, Argo is fantastic and one of my favorite actresses, Clea Duvall, is in it.

2. I bought these killer boots at an insanely cheap price on Gilt.com. I truly cannot resist a bargain.

3. I was interviewed by the very sweet Hannah L. for her classroom assignment about authors. Her questions made me remember just how much I read when I was in middle school, and how much I loved The Babysitters’ Club series by Ann M. Martin.

4. I suffered through and survived a really, really nasty cold. I used this very gross time in my life to read most of World War Z and avoided opening the box containing the Insanity workout featuring Shaun T. that I ordered a few weeks ago in a moment of rare enthusiasm about fitness.

5. I donated a bunch of toothpaste, tooth brushes, bottled protein shakes, and baby wipes to a group in my neighborhood doing a collection for Hurricane Sandy relief efforts in awesome Red Hook, Brooklyn, not far from my neighborhood.

 

My very favorite sweaters with animals on them

Those of you who have read the blog for a long time may recall that it started as a preppy fashion blog, way before The Rock Star’s Daughter took off. Here are some super cute and super preppy sweaters featuring animals, which seem to be quite popular this fall!

I’m about to go take a walk around my neighborhood on Day #5 of Unexpected Sandy-cation from work. Please say a solemn prayer on my behalf that I don’t bankrupt myself at Urban Outfitters.

Polar bear flocked sweater by Pins & Needles at Urban Outfitters – $59 (also available in owl & tiger wearing bow-tie options)

Frenchie bulldog sweater from J. Crew – $98

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This sweater has little cat face in the top left corner… It’s $108 at Lord & Taylor

Cheetah Sweater by MINKPINK – $89 at Piperlime

Color-blocked owl by Madewell at ShopBop.com for $88

 

Shark sweater by Sparkle & Fade at Urban Outfitters – $69

Happy Halloween!

Two days after Hurricane Sandy, I feel so very lucky (almost shamefully so) that my neighborhood is almost back to normal. I’m so grateful to all of the people who work at the businesses around here who took cabs or biked to work, especially my Starbucks baristas, who are the greatest… ever. In this part of Brooklyn, there was minor flooding, but most of us didn’t lose power. Coffee shops and grocery stores are open again! But since the subway’s not running yet, there’s really no place for any of my neighbors to go, so we’re all kind of walking around aimlessly.  I just gave my apartment the most epic cleaning of my entire residency here.

It doesn’t feel like Halloween. Mayor Bloomberg (wisely) canceled the very famous parade (the one that Grace attends with her brother in The Believer’s Daughter) through the West Village because no one can get to the West Village right now, and it’s still a little unsafe to be out walking around when so many old trees were damaged.

And yet still, my neighbors are doing what they can to keep our beautiful neighborhood festive. Jack o’lanterns were returned to doorsteps as soon as the winds died down, and kids have been outside all morning putting their big cotton cobwebs back out on their fences. I’m sad that these kids won’t get to have a big party in Cobble Hill Park this year, which is the playground a few blocks from where I live, but so relieved and grateful that as a community, we were unharmed by the monster storm that caused so much damage to neighborhoods around us.

Clean-up efforts on Bergen Street yesterday included removing a lot of limbs from trees that fell into the street. City employees were up bright and early to begin the massive task of ridding the streets of debris.

And one of my favorite places on earth, Book Court on Court Street, was open the day after the hurricane. As much as I love  e-books, I genuinely love spending an hour in a book store and picking up a book I know I’m going to love in hardcover. Book Court is very much the heart of the neighborhood of Cobble Hill, offering story time for kids in the mornings and hosting very awesome authors like Junot Diaz for readings.

So many of my co-workers live in downtown Manhattan and are on their third day without power or water. That’s pretty terrifying, and not in a Halloween kind of way! But all kidding aside, my heart goes out to everyone whose home has suffered irreparable damage. Halloween feels a little more like Thanksgiving to me this year, because I am so thankful that all of my friends and family on the East Coast are safe.

 

 

 

Welcome to Brooklyn, Halloween edition!

I’ve been seriously neglecting my blog because I’ve been working around the clock on The Tycoon’s Daughter and the Taylor sequel. But I love Halloween (as you may have guessed by all of the detail I put into Betsey and Nicola’s trip to Boston in The Viscount’s Daughter), and I happen to live in a neighborhood where everyone is crazy for Halloween.

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Everywhere I look, there are giant spiderwebs, witches and ghosts dangling from tree branches, and jack o’lanterns resting on stoops. No one holds back when it comes to gore, either… there are plenty of gross skeleton bones peeking out of flower boxes and skulls lining the steps leading up to brownstones. While I love it during the day, I have to admit… at night it’s a little spooky. On Halloween night, there’s a big neighborhood party at the park near my apartment, and everyone dresses in costume, even dogs.

I’m still undecided on my costume for this year, but I am leaning toward some variety of zombie. Librarian zombie? Nurse zombie? Bride zombie? I’m not sure yet.  When I was a little girl, my mom was a champion costume-maker, and some of my early costumes like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and Princess Leia even included wigs so that my hair would be right!

What are you dressing as for Halloween? Are you roasting pumpkin seeds? Bobbing for apples? Will you go Trick or Treating?  Comment & let me know!

The Market of San Miguel

I LOVE Madrid

In The Viscount’s Daughter, Kristijan can’t wait to take Betsey Norfleet and Taylor Beauforte to the Mercado de San Miguel, a real market in Madrid that was renovated about 10 years ago and now is totally deluxe and impossible to resist.

Ola, gelato

The whole market is a buffet of indulgences, from little tapas counters where you can stuff your face with cheese, croquettes, potatoes, and calamari to wine bars where you can chit chat with handsome sommeliers. I could never figure out exactly what the operating hours were, because it seemed to simply be open around the clock.

 

the market

The whole place is kind of so huge and winding that it’s impossible to take a picture that really provides an accurate depiction of how the market is set up.  The only thing I can really compare it to in New York is the big food hall at Grand Central Station, but when it comes down to decor and style, Madrid wins in this case. No contest.

How much of a maniac would I look like in this outfit?

I am tempted, so tempted, to buy this cat print t-shirt and matching jeans by Irish knitwear superstar J. W. Anderson from his new collection at Topshop.com.

 

I know, I know. I’d look like a truly deranged psychopath. But maybe if I didn’t wear both items together at the same time? Sigh. I wish I could be a charming eccentric, like Vivienne Westwood. These are the kinds of things for which I browse online when suffering from totally uncool sinus infections during glorious September weather, when I’m feeling too sick to even write.

Also, this Everyday Bracelet shop on Gilt Group is going to be the expensive end of me. Check it out…

Who could resist???  It’s like a friendship bracelet from the fanciest friend you ever made.

 

The best things I’ve bought in 2012

Today there are two eight-year-old girls over on Clinton Street not too far from my apartment, selling origami creations that they made on the stoop of their brownstone. Had I not overslept (the second day in a row) and missed the train to the beach, I would never have passed by their little operation.

I am such a sucker for all sales of this nature: the curbside lemonade stand, the Girl Scout Cookie order form, the stoop sale to raise a few bucks for the much-desired expensive toy.

Each unique creation cost a quarter. I expressed concern to the girls about wiping out their entire inventory with my reserve of quarters, intended for laundry. The assured me they could make more origami to continue their sale, if needed. My purchases include a patterned heart, a crane, and that little piece on the right side in the picture is a chopstick holder.

Spending a couple bucks in quarters to make two little girls feel like successful artists is a million times more rewarding than doing a load of laundry.