Happy Birthday Molly
even though she’s an accomplished & gorgeous woman, she’ll always be my adorable little sister.
x ky
Our friend Lilly is a makeup artist. She needs photos for her portfolio, so today she had a photoshoot at Witkem. The grey morning turned into a gorgeous day! Late this afternoon Somo showed up with an early birthday cake for Molly, and now Mendel is grilling chicken and corn, and Mel and I are making ice cream. Sundays at Witkem are the bee’s knees.
-ky
Golf is a very complicated dart game that Austin and Mendel have created. It might be a part of the Witkem Olympics, but it lasts for a long time…
This past week we had a wonderful parade of guests! Austin’s twin sister came and the two of them got matching tattoos. Larry came for a night and brought gardening books and awesome retro t-shirts for everyone in the house! Then Molly’s high-school friend Jared came for the weekend, and his college buddy drove down for an evening. They played the pilot game of golf last night.
-ky
Mind the Gap in Crown Heights
Honorary Witkem gal Aja sent us a link to this Radio Rookies piece about our neighborhood. The four Caribbean teen-age girls who reported on the uncomfortable co-existence of the Caribbean and Lubavitch populations in Crown Heights was so honest. Most striking to me was the discussion that the four girls had with a group of Lubavitch girls - talk about raw.
While I hope that more interactions like that are arranged, what came across in this piece is that the Lubvatich community is primarily concerned with maintaining their religion and traditions by remaining insular; continuing to co-exist with the other cultures in the neighborhood rather than integrating. There is no tidy happy ending to this piece (unlike Oprah’s Crown Heights visit) - there is no black and white in this situation, just so many shades of grey. Our neighborhood is a complicated place.
-ky
sleepy Sunday at Witkem.
around the hood
Last weekend Molly & I decided to venture out and try out some of the bars in Prospect Heights. Vanderbilt Ave is an easy walk from Witkem. We started at Woodwork, a rugged, down-to-earth sports bar. We had a few drinks and a snack while rugby and hockey played on the three screens, and then one of Molly’s high school classmates walked in with some friends. Although running into people unexpectedly is quite common for us, I find it delightful every time.
They went off to have ramen at Chuko (I’ve never been, Molly & Mendel have been raving about it) and then we met up with them at Washington Commons. We saw this on our walk over:
We were enjoying the backyard when rain started pouring down. The three of us 802 kids opened up our umbrellas and continued to enjoy the backyard while the unprepared crowd was soaked as they rushed inside.
After a bit Molly and I decided to make our way towards Witkem, but first stopped into our favorite neighborhood spot Barboncino, where we ended our night with sazeracs & delicious pizza.
The next morning we met a friend back on Vanderbilt for brunch at The Vanderbilt. We unknowingly planned it perfectly - we arrived right as they were opening up at 11 and were immediately seated. The food was fantastic. Even the coffee was exemplary. And by the time we left there was a crowd of people waiting for tables.
Our walk home was perfect for digesting all of the food, and then it was naptime.
-ky
Two things.
Lately Austin has been making music - this is his first remix ever. The original song is “Myth” by Beach House (an awesome pal recently sent me the whole new album and it’s pretty great!)…you can also check out some original tracks by our Tin Mitch here
The second thing is just me bragging about Molly - she got all As this past semester!!! She makes me so proud!
-ky
Having a backyard is such a gift!
-ky
Last week Mendel painted the hatch.
