Pink Saturday Gets a Visit from Saint Nicholas

St. Peter's Church in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan

I started to write this post with the words, "I've spent the better part of an hour trying to load pictures..." But in the interest of accuracy I will say I've spent the most frustrating part of an hour trying to load pictures of the New York Botanical Garden's Holiday Train Show and not one would load. I promise to spend as much time as it takes to load the pictures for another post, because the Train Show may be one of my new most favorite sights in New York City at this time of year.

Luckily, there are pictures freshly taken this afternoon and easily transferred from my phone. I happened to be in the Chelsea neighborhood this afternoon and I walked over to the Christmas Church, St. Peter's.   It was founded in 1831 on land given by Clement Clarke Moore, taken from his estate "Chelsea." It is still very much a functioning congregation and it was beautifully decorated for the season.

After days of gray skies and snow I enjoyed today's bright weather.

This isn't the best photograph, but I took it from a flyer for an event on the church outside bulletin board and it's the Buttercupland tribute to perhaps the most beloved American Christmas poem, by none other than the founder of St. Peter's, Clement Clarke Moore. Unfortunately the reading was last week, but I'm going to make a note to be on the lookout for this event in 2018.

This isn't the post I intended, but like so many things in our lives, it turned out to be just the right post for  Pink Saturday and the nights before Christmas, with a happy pink-cheeked Santa. I hope you think so, too.

As ever, thanks for visiting. Take good care and good wishes for week ahead.
 

Cafe Grumpy Pink Saturday

By popular demand, CoffeeGirl, aka Buttercup, is back to writing about coffee. It's been a long hiatus in Buttercupland, though I've kept up in InstagramLand @buttercupnyc. But I wanted to do a little more than one photograph and fifty words, so I've returned with a visit to Cafe Grumpy in Chelsea. I picked a rainy Tuesday for my coffee excursion and it was a great place to while away a dreary late morning in January.

For my reentry to coffee reviews I chose the neighborhood -- Chelsea -- because I hadn't been there in awhile and I knew there were fun coffee places to visit. I googled "best coffee in Chelsea" and the name, Café Grumpy, caught my eye. It was in close proximity to my subway -- important on a rainy and cold day -- and it turned out to be anything but grumpy. It was cheerful enough for  Pink Saturday.

 

Café Grumpy is actually four independently owned cafes/bakeries and a roaster in Brooklyn and they serve a great cup of coffee. My choice, iced coffee from Colombian beans, is not listed here, but it was excellent. I plan a return visit to try the Kenyan coffee, with its tasting notes of Big Cherry, Black Currant, Clove and Grapefruit. The pastries looked delicious, but as I am still Pastry Abstinent, I only looked and drooled.

Café Grumpy has some of the best packaging of any store I've seen lately and I was captivated -- lots of photographs -- by the coffee bags and the mugs. Since I recently sorted through my vast mug collection, I abstained here, too, but it was a challenge.
 

 

As long I was literally just a few blocks away I paid a visit to St. Peter's Church Chelsea. It stands on land donated by Clement Clarke Moore in the 1830s. Clement Moore gave us one of the most notable Christmas poems, "Twas the Night Before Christmas." Hence St. Peter's is also known as the Christmas Church.

As an update to my journey of 1,000 miles I am happy to report I am right on track for January. I've walked 67.1 miles and I'm hoping to complete 85 miles by the end of the month. So far the weather has been very cooperative for walking out of doors and I am most grateful.

As ever, thanks for visiting. Friends in Georgia, prayers for safety from the tornados in the area. Dear friends, keep safe and take care!