An Abundant Life - Songs In The Night

A few months ago I was introduced on Instagram to the beautiful Ava McCoy. Her Mother, Dena, who I've written about in these pages before, had started posting some of Ava's music and performances and videos,  and what I found myself watching and seeing was not only enjoyable, but also so deeply moving and well constructed musically in so many different levels, from lyrics to cadence, to the harmonies and melodies and interplay between instruments, the singer's guitars, and her voice.

Ava had a record launch at Baby's All Right last weekend for her new album "Dragonfly", and because I knew the evening would be a special one, I decided to take the time to travel out to Williamsburg and see her. I arrived early and was given the gift of a quite early evening seat at the bar, and then when the doors opened I was able to find a seat inside with a center view. I've had so much going on in my schedule that it sometimes feels difficult to even think of adding something else, especially if it's something just for the pure enjoyment of it, but because I felt so strongly that I wanted to show support and give encouragement to this beautiful young singer and songwriter and musician I made the choice to go and really be present in that room for that evening.

The performance was a spectacular one, and even the opening acts were wonderful. Ava sang on another band's song towards the end of the openers, and when she arrived on stage herself, it seemed as if she was right at home and could live there. 

Each song was memorable, and some I'd known before sounded completely new in this space. New compositions and older, remembered ones, brought such joy to me that I was reminded of years past and people and places I'd known and my own teenage times of singing in a garage band in High School. Those were the days, the saying goes, but I think there's something to be said for the days we have being the days to remember. Seeing Ava McCoy perform was a gift that makes me smile every time I think of that evening and her music on that beautiful night.

Ava McCoy

At Baby's All Right

146 Broadway

Brooklyn, New York

https://babysallright.com/  

https://avamccoy.bandcamp.com/

A Quiet Moment Before The Show

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Theatre In The Round

A little over a week ago I received an email newsletter from the New York Public Library describing an event that would be happening at the main Library branch in Bryant Park in collaboration with the Public Theater. The usual venue for the Public Theater's Shakespeare In The Park, the Delacorte Theater, is being renovated, and before its reopening there will be several performances throughout the city in different places with a group of Actors and Theater Professionals called The Mobile Unit. 

There's been so much going on in my schedule and I thought I vaguely remembered reading something about the renovation of the Delacorte and the Mobile Unit a while ago, but because of everything that I'm juggling at first when I read about this performance I thought I might not have time to go. Similarly to the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park, there are no tickets that can be bought or reserved. The usual Shakespeare in the park is a free performance and people wait in line to reserve a space, and some tickets are made available beginning at noon of the day of I think, but it's always a long wait and very difficult to reserve a seat because the performances themselves are excellent and the venue is a very special experience.

In years past I've gone to two or three performances at the Delacorte Theater, the first time was when I first moved to New York and I went with a friend of an Actor I knew who I'd met for lunch one day after we'd worked on a show together and his friend either was having lunch with us or just appeared where we were and invited me to join him. He was an understudy for the play and had tickets so we didn't have to wait in line and our seats were excellent. That's the way that things sometimes happen and back then when they were happening I knew I was being blessed but didn't have the words or understanding to thank God the way I do now. The other times I was able to go it was something different but similar in that I didn't have to wait in line. One time in more recent years I was invited to go with friends from St. Ann's Church For The Deaf and our seats were excellent then too, and so much fun and exciting to see the signing along with the acting and language of the play. I think another time or maybe it was that time, a friend was in the cast, and that is always a wonderful added joy.

The way the newsletter from the New York Public Library described it, you could sign up for notifications about the play and put in a request for a date, but there was no reserved seating and you'd just get notifications about upcoming performances, and then you'd go and wait in line to see if you would be able to get a seat. They did say they had standing room and you could bring a blanket to sit on, but I wasn't sure if I really wanted to go and take my chances, especially with everything else I have going on, but somehow I felt like God was saying just sign up so I did. 

When the week of the day I was thinking I might go arrived, I was feeling even more busy in my schedule than ever and thought that maybe I wouldn't end up actually going. But the day before as I was thinking I didn't have the time or energy, I felt like God was saying to go and enjoy myself and what the heck I could always leave if I couldn't get a seat and was standing and feeling exhausted.

I was at YES Gallery before going into the city for the play, and I was planning on leaving at a particular time, but then I felt again like God was telling me to leave a bit earlier so I did. When I arrived and saw that the line wasn't very long yet I realized that I might actually be able to get a seat, but they had said the seating was limited so I wasn't a hundred percent sure. When they began to let people in I saw there was a fairly good amount of seating, and because there were seats set up for theater in a three quarter round, there were still seats in the front row of one of the sections so I walked over and sat down. I was so excited that I said to the couple sitting next to me, "This is a treat!" and they agreed. Although it was a very full audience, we were delighted that we were able to find seats and that we hadn't had to wait all day or even for a long time at all.

As I looked at the program, I saw that I knew one of the Actors from many years ago, Robert Jimenez. We belong to the same theater company and we've been in plays together, he's acted in my plays, and I've cast him in plays that I wrote, that I produced and that I assisted in casting and producing over the years. He's a wonderful Actor, and was always such a wonderful person to me, and I'd missed seeing him and wondered from time to time how he was and where he was, and now here he was in this play that I'd be watching on a beautiful June evening, outdoors in front of the Public Library in Bryant Park in New York City.

As the cast and crew prepared for the performance, Robert came out and checked his marks and there were a few things he did as he walked right by me that made it difficult not to jump out of my seat grinning from ear to ear and say hello. But I know as an Actor myself that the time before a performance is sacred time, a time to focus and prepare for the play. Acting is strenuous in every way, physically, emotionally and mentally, and that time of focus is necessary for an Actor's well being.

The play itself was tremendous. "Much Ado About Nothing" has always been one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, ever since I saw it and read it many years ago when I was still a teenager. Seeing it in this place with this cast and crew was such a special experience and blessing, and seeing Robert perform in it was a double blessing. The entire production was one of the best things I've seen in years and ever, truly a highlight in every way. The cast and crew and everything about it brought laughter and tears and smiles and joy and pathos, all of the emotions following one upon another as they told the story of the play.

There is something that happens with wonderful theater, that it can help us to understand our own life and to have an understanding of the continuum of time, to be able to have hope when we need it and to feel like we are not alone in this journey we're walking on called life. Experiencing this play at this time in this place with a long time dear friend and colleague appearing like a ray of light from the past was a joy filled blessing that I'll carry with me as I continue walking on and into wherever it is that God is leading me.

The Beginning Of A Beautiful Evening

At The Main Branch

Of The New York Public Library

At Bryant Park

For The Public Theater

Mobile Unit

Shakespeare In The Park

"Much Ado About Nothing"

By William Shakespeare

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Lovely To See You Again!

During NYCxDesign Week, I attended a showroom opening in the design building at 200 Lexington Avenue for Astek, a company that makes designer wall coverings. I had met the company at one of the design fairs, and they are from California. This new showroom is the first one they've opened in New York City, and I was excited to have been invited to join in the celebration.

On the night of the event I had two other parties that were scheduled out in DUMBO, one for another showroom opening and the other the closing party of NYCxDesign Week, and so I thought that I'd go to Astek early and then go to the other parties afterward. When I arrived at Astek, they were just getting ready for the evening's event, and they were so cordial and kind that I was glad to be there and have time to really see their designs and to meet with the staff that had come from California and also the staff who would now be in the New York showroom.

At one point when I was walking around and looking at a few different things, someone who looked familiar said hello to me. In the same instant when he asked me, "Did you used to go to Antique?" I thought immediately that I thought I knew him from that restaurant where a favorite Chef had been the Executive Chef. I saw him in that instant in the kitchen at Antique Bar & Bakery when he was working with the marvelous Chef Paul Gerard who I have written about in these pages before. I have photographs of Brandon, the young man who said hello to me in the showroom, with him too in one of my posts from a few years ago.

Brandon had gone to California, and I didn't know at first why or how he had arrived in that showroom until he explained that he was the Chef for the night and that he'd flown out from California just for this event. It was all I could do not to hug him all night I was so happy to see him, and as it was I hugged him a number of times until I thought it was important to let him go and get the food ready for the evening.

Moments like that are times when it feels like God is just smiling over me, when I see someone I didn't know if I'd ever see again when I am somewhere that I never imagined I see them. The project that I've been in the process of developing in Massachusetts need a Chef with his specific experience and knowledge base, and I told him a bit about it as we talked. He told me he'd go to Massachusetts for me and that made me so happy, to think of him there in this very special place, helping me to create the kitchen and farm to table restaurant of my dreams.

It was so lovely to see Brandon again, and such a wonderful way to start the evening that I didn't want to leave at all. When I finally did, after staying much longer that I had originally planned because the food an company were so wonderful, I found my way to DUMBO and what were wonderful parities of their own with wonderful food and wonderfully designed environments, but the start of my evening was the star because of the loveliness of seeing Brandon again, enjoying the wonderful food he created for the event, and having the opportunity to speak with him about this project.

Brandon

With His Culinary Creations

Including Caviar And Blinis

At Astek

New York Design Center

200 Lexington Avenue

New York City

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

 

An Abundant Life - Designing Inspiration

This past week was the International Contemporary Furniture Fair at the Javits Center in New York City. It's always such a wonderful and inspiring time when I visit, and for some reason this year I found myself meeting even more wonderful people than I have before. Perhaps it's because I am in the process of developing a new project and so I am seeing through the eyes of that excitement, but whatever the reason the people I met and the products that were on display were all things that gave me so much renewed energy and helped me to see new possibilities for this new project than I had ever thought of.

At one point in the day I found myself speaking with a furniture designer, and when I sat on his beautifully crafted rocking chair, we began a conversation that I think lasted nearly an hour. We talked about all kinds of things, fruit trees, historic sites, making beer and wine, and of course his beautiful furniture, and it seemed as if every thought I had he had an answer to, with more information or an idea that led me to another idea and another.

Throughout the day I had conversations like this, people who seemed to know what I was thinking and how I felt about the project that I'm developing, people who could see my vision right along with me and add their own to make it even greater. This is why events like this are so beautiful, because so many people are able to come together and meet in ways we might not be able to over the phone or by email or even on a one off in person visit.

I had such a beautiful day at ICFF as it is known, and I was so inspired by so many wonderful people. As I went into my week I kept thinking about the time we had shared and the conversations we had, and the beautiful and inspiring things I had seen and experienced. It is with so much gratitude that I write this, to everyone who organized the event and all the wonderful people I met, giving thanks to you all for the invitation to attend and for opening so many opportunities for conversation, inspiration and collaboration. Design is so inspiring when people share in this way, learning and growing and helping each other to reach even greater heights of imagination and ideas.

At ICFF

At The Javits Center

New York City

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

 

An Abundant Life - Designing Life

This week began NYCxDesign and also the International Contemporary Furniture Fair of ICFF as it is known. It's always a wonderful time of the year when it begins to be spring in full force and all the art and design community in New York City celebrates together along with people coming from all over the world.

I'll be writing more about individual showrooms and design houses and Designers and Artists and Artisans, but for now I wanted to share something that was such a very special personal moment that connected the dots of my life and made me take a moment to thank God once again for showing up and showing off, and for giving me the knowledge that though I may not understand anything that is happening sometimes, there is a plan that is much bigger than I am and if I can just keep walking in faith I'll see the picture come together in ways that are miraculous and beautiful and filled with joyful fun.

While at the SoHo design showroom celebrations on Saturday, I saw a woman who I've known for a few years now. I had met her in 2019 or so, and we see each other on occasion but it had been a while since we'd had a chance to talk. While we were sharing information about what we'd both been up to, she saw some friends of hers who I recognized also, and when she introduced us we all thought we must know each other but weren't quite sure how or when we'd met before.

We all left the showroom where we were at different times and met up again at another showroom in the same area. While we talked, one of the people the woman I knew had introduced me to asked me if I'd ever lived in a particular area of Manhattan which I had, and when I said yes and specified where, he said said with excitement and fun in his voice that it was when I was living there that we met. Right before that we had been talking about sailing, and it was the combination of the fact that we both loved sailing and that when he had arrived at the showroom where we now were and had given the names of the reservations for himself and his partner, it turned out that his partner's last name is the same as mine which is something that is really quite rare. There are people who have similar names, but they are usually spelled differently, and so that in itself was extraordinary. The combination of that and sailing helped him put the pieces of the puzzle together and remember when and where we met nearly 20 years ago.

It's at times like that when I just have to take a moment and say wow, God, and without understanding what the meaning or rhyme or reason is, to just have fun with the knowledge that something or someone I'd known before has reappeared now. I've written before about the fact that I love Charles Dickens novels and that God has a way of showing up by doing things that remind me of the way a Charles Dickens novel unfolds, and this moment was one of the moments that a person showed up again who I'd know many years ago, and though I don't know what the purpose is in the greater plot line, I can enjoy the fact of it in the here and now and be grateful for the goodness of God who always shows me that, even though I may not understand it, there is a design to my life that goes above and beyond my understanding and that will bring everything together beautifully.

A Beautiful Design For Life

NYCxDesign and ICFF

New York City

At Thuma

Where My New Old Friend

Remembered Our Meeting

Nearly 20 Years Ago

99 Wooster Street

New York City

https://www.thuma.co/soho-flagship

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Inspiring Conversations

I had the opportunity to attend Baruch College for a very special course a few years ago, a collaboration with the Partnership For After School Education which is also known as PASE that was a very intensive and educational, inspiring leadership training. Since that time I've had the blessing to be invited to a variety of wonderful events at Baruch, sometimes through PASE and sometimes through Baruch because in a wonderful way, because of the nature of the course I'm considered an Alum and part of the Baruch community now. 

The Lillie and Nathan Ackerman Lecture Series had a guest speaker this past week, Deborah N. Archer, the Author of Dividing Lines, and not only were the conversation that was hosted around her book and the lecture that she gave enlightening, but the conversations before and after with the people I met there were wonderful too. At the very beginning, when I first arrived, I met a young woman who had assisted in organizing the event, a graduate student whose focus was on the topic of discussion. Other guests who I met at my table during the lovely lunch before, and afterward as the event was finishing up, were so interesting to speak with as well because of their background and interests and professional as well as lived experience.  

Bringing people together around topics that are important to all of our well being brings out the best in all of us as we listen and learn and share about our experiences together. It was such a rainy day on the day of the lecture, but I was happy to travel in what could be considered inclement weather because of the experience I had there.

I'm so grateful for the time that I had at Baruch those years ago with PASE, and so grateful for my ongoing relationship with Baruch as a member of the community because of all of the wonderful and inspiring people I have met and events I attend there. Having the opportunity to gather together and have conversations like these reminds me of the goodness of people, and the ability we have, when we share and learn from each other, to bring renewal and a better future to our shared landscapes.

At Baruch College

For The Lillie And Nathan Ackerman Lecture Series

Marxe School Of Public And International Affairs

CUNY

151 East 25th Street

New York City

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Garden Walk

This past week I was invited to an event at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, and on a break I took a walk through the lilacs. The event I was attending was on the topic of coffee culture and I love coffee, and I am also interested in its cultural significance on a large scale and also personal level, so I was very excited when I received the information about the event and saw that I had time in my schedule for the trip there.

The Botanical Garden often has wonderful events and conferences and conversations like this, times where people can come together and share information. The fact that they are in such a beautiful place makes it a double blessing, and for me the trip itself is like an adventure. Arriving there and attending the event is a seemingly wondrous thing to me, and when I have time to be able to take a walk in the garden itself, it's truly miraculous.

When I thought about the timing of the event, I remembered that last year just around this time I had been able to attend another event of a different kind but one that was equally interesting and beautiful, and on my way from one place to another during the day I had seen that the lilacs were in bloom. On this trip I decided to see if the timing had worked out again and it had, and so I found myself taking a walk through the fragrant lilac filled walk and enjoying an absolutely gorgeous day there.

On my way to and from the Botanical Garden, I took a train ride from Grand Central Station which is something I've loved since childhood. The entire day was filled with beauty and beautiful memories, of long ago times in the garden I loved as a child up through all the years I've traveled to the Botanical Garden to visit for so many wonderful events. Taking a garden walk is always a joy to me, and this beautiful day in the Botanical Garden is one that I was so blessed by and so grateful for, filled as it was with moments to cherish that bring so much joy. 

A Garden Walk

Through The Lilacs

At The New York Botanical Garden

Bronx, New York

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Art Celebration

This weekend was the celebration of Garden State Art Weekend, an annual event that began last year. When I first was told about it a year ago, an Artist who has work in YES Gallery had sent me information about how to sign up to be listed, but it arrived after the time for signing up and I wasn't able to officially be a part of it. This year, a few people kept in touch with me to make sure that I was included, and even though my schedule has been so busy, because of all the well wishing people who kept helping me be a part of it, I found myself setting up events for the celebration. 

A few weeks before the Garden State Art Weekend was to begin, Kevin Kemper who had performed with his trio Plunk at YES Gallery last fall during the Hoboken Artists' Studio Tour stopped by, and when I told him about Garden State Art Weekend and invited him to perform again with Plunk, he agreed and also asked if he could perform a solo set. I was more than delighted to have him perform solo and with Plunk, and even more delighted when I heard him perform solo on Saturday. This weekend is such a full one, and I won't write much now, but here's a little listen to the gorgeousness we were treated to with Kevin playing solo as we celebrated art of all kinds at YES Gallery.

 

The Marvelous Kevin Kemper

Performs A Solo Set

At YES Gallery

408 6th Street

Hoboken, New Jersey

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Lovely Meetings

When I was on my way to meet with the marvelous Artist Jason Brian Fox when he had his booth at the New York Art Expo, a gorgeous experience and blessing that I wrote about last week, I saw someone I hadn't seen in quite a while on one of the days when I was walking through my old neighborhood in SoHo. The marvelous Artist and Photographer Benjamin Oliver lives right around the corner from where I lived for a number of years, but I didn't meet him when I was living there. I met him after I'd moved away, one evening when I attended an opening launch of a design space in SoHo during an evening celebration that was filled with all kinds of glamorous and exciting creative people, and Benjamin was one of the most captivating in the room. We got to talking in a room that was overflowing with people and music and design and art of all kinds, and he invited me to join him at a party he was planning as the beginning of a series called "Love Will Save The Day". 

Benjamin is one of those wonderful New York Artists who knows everyone and who has photographed some of the most iconic people and places and events, and he himself looks like a rock star. He's a great deal of fun, too, and I've written about him and the parties I attended when I first me him because they were experiences so full of inspiration and good cheer that they made me feel like the New York I had always loved was back again in full swing.

On the day that I saw him in SoHo while I was walking through on my way to Art Expo New York, he was talking with a friend of his and I interrupted because it had been so long since I'd seen him and it was so wonderful to see him there. He invited me to a party he was having that coming Sunday week as he would say in his English way, and he sent me an invitation right then and there. When I opened his message I saw that it was his birthday party, and I was so excited to be invited to be a part of it that I fairly skipped all my way over to the Pier where the Art Expo is held.

The day of Benjamin's party was Palm Sunday, always a favorite day for me that holds a special feeling of joy and celebration, and when I arrived the streets of SoHo were filled with so many people enjoying the beautiful weather that we've begun to have after what has seemed like a very long winter. Making my way up the stairs to his loft, I remembered the excitement of the first times I'd been there, and when I walked in the door the fun began immediately because that's the kind of person Benjamin is. He and all of his friends are so wonderful and fun, joyful and creative, and they love to laugh and also to talk about really important things, so the conversation and ideas and jokes kept flowing along with good food and cheer and a lovely cup of very British tea that I was offered when I arrived and that started the afternoon tea party in a truly lovely way.

There were so many memorable moments and people I met there, and so many wonderful and inspiring conversations along with many wonderful joyful laughs. It felt so good to be there and as if I'd been given a gift myself to be invited to this wonderful birthday celebration and to meet so many lovely people who all know the wonderful Benjamin Oliver who I was blessed to meet a few years ago and to meet again on a wonderful recent afternoon walk through SoHo. From the beginning of the time when I first met him and attended his "Love Will Save The Day" series of parties, to meeting him again as I walked through SoHo on my way to Art Expo, I find myself so full of gratitude for the times he's invited me into his wonderful world. The joy filled honor and blessing of being invited to the celebration of his birthday on Palm Sunday, a time of new beginnings, joy, hope and love, took me through this week filled with all the wonderful feelings of infinite possibilities, leading up to the beautiful celebration of Easter. 

A Beautiful Afternoon

And A Beautiful Blessing

Celebrating Benjamin Oliver's Birthday

At His Loft In SoHo

With So Much Gratitude

To Benjamin For The Invitation

And To All Of His Wonderful Friends

For Such A Lovely And Inspiring Experience!

Photograph With So Much Gratitude

To The Marvelous Chris Horsfield

With The Marvelous Benjamin Oliver

And The Marvelous Chris Horsfield

Photograph With So Much Gratitude

To The Gorgeous Stacy Benjamin

Wishing The Marvelous Benjamin Oliver

A Very Happy Birthday!

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - A World Of Art

A few weeks ago the Artist Jason Brian Fox, one of the Artists who has work at YES Gallery who I have written about in these pages before, sent me a message that he had been accepted by Art Expo New York to show his work in a solo booth. He invited me to join him there, and because I always love to celebrate the Artists I know I was happy to be there with him during the Expo as much as possible. My schedule has been so busy with several projects, but I told him I'd try my best to make the time to be there for at least a part of each day.

I always enjoy the Art festivals and Expos in New York City, but usually I go for the VIP openings when I'm invited, or to one of the regular days if my schedule is too full for the opening. It's always so wonderful to be at these inspiring events, with so many old and new friends and so many different types of  art to explore and discover.

This time around, being at Art Expo New York with Jason was a different experience for me because I was there for so many days and so much time that I had a chance to really get to see so many people I know who attended and to meet so many new people who stopped by the booth or who were in the VIP Lounge when I was there. The VIP opening night was of course an adventure all of its own because of the glitter that surrounds nights like that, but each day brought its own surprises and wonderful experiences.

When I was first at Jason's booth for the opening night, I saw someone in the booth across the aisle who I was thinking I might have met before. I was pretty sure it was Eddy Bogaert who I've written about in these pages before, and though I'd seen him at different events in the past that I'd written about, including one very memorable one in Chelsea that was an art party he had curated that was absolutely packed with wonderful art and wonderful people and remains one of the highlights of art parties I've experienced, I hadn't seen him in some time. I have a very strong memory for people I've met and had memorable experiences with, but as it had been some time I wasn't a hundred percent sure, and so I kept looking at him and wondering if he might recognize me but he was so busy with friends and art collectors and exciting people who were stopping by that it took some time until we finally had the chance to say hello.

As the evening continued, and friends stopped by to say hello to me, I heard a few people say hello to him and say the name Eddy, and one of them who knew us both said to me, "You know Eddy, right?" and I knew then that he was the Eddy I had been thinking he was. When we were finally introduced, I said that we had met before, and he said he'd kept looking across the aisle and thinking he knew me too. I reminded him about the art party I'd attended and the blog post I'd written about him after we'd met, and about one of the gallery openings where I'd seen him afterward and photographed him for another post. It was so wonderful to be reconnected, and he introduced me to Maryam Zadeh who he was sharing a booth with as part of a group of Artists who had different booths from Mazlish Gallery along the aisle we were on. Each day Eddy made its own adventure, and having him and Maryam across the aisle was like having the best neighbors, bringing their joy and life to make every moment a glittering party.

Art Art Expo New York

With So Much Gratitude To Jason Brian Fox

For The VIP Invitation To Join Him

And To Eddy Bogaert And Maryam Zadeh

For Making Every Moment A Joyful Glittering Party

Jason Brian Fox

Shares About His Work

With A Collector, Artist And Visitor

To His Booth 

John Mazlish

Adding His Art Of Music

To The Art From His Gallery

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - A Beautiful Surprise And Blessing

A few years ago I was introduced to one of the Founders of SoHo Muse, and he invited me to join. It was an honor at the time, and being a part of that wonderful group of Creative people continues to be an honor whenever I meet or hear about a member and the wonderful things they are doing.

One of the lovely things that SoHo Muse does is that the concierge will choose different Creatives to celebrate in the newsletter and online in social media, and I always enjoy seeing the really beautiful Art and Design and hearing about the incredibly talented people who are being highlighted.

This past week, when I opened up my newsletter, I saw a photograph of me. It was one of those moments that I can't really describe, when you feel like Cinderella who has been invited to the ball and then been given all of the beautiful things to wear that her heart has ever desired.

The photograph they chose was one that was taken by a photographer, Erika Kuciw, who was working on a project titled "Beautiful, Confident, Vulnerable Women" and she was part of a group I belonged to at the time that was started by a wonderful creative woman I know. She had sent out a description of her project and invited women to contact her, and I did, and one day she came to the apartment where I was living in Inwood and took a series of photographs that she shared with me.

The apartment where I was living at the time was fairly new to me, and if I remember rightly I had just moved in not long before. I had started attending a church, and it was a few months after I had gone through a dark night of the soul and been born again, a story that I've shared in these pages and in others before in different ways and at different times over the years. At the time the photograph was taken, I had been reading a book given to me by the Pastor of the church I had begun to attend, a book of testimonials he had compiled that he thought I'd enjoy after he and I met and I'd shared my story with him. In the photograph the book is in my hand, and it is such a beautiful thing to me that for this feature in SoHo Muse that they chose that photograph.

God has a way of reminding us of the love and grace that is poured out on us, of encouraging us in every way that we need, and in ways that mean so much to us personally. As I've been walking through this current time in my life, there have been some experiences that have been growing my faith in ways that I could have never imagined, and at times it has seemed as if I was on a path that I had no idea where it was leading. Seeing this photograph again and having this beautiful surprise and beautiful blessing of this feature and post brought to mind so many things that have happened over the years and how God has continued to guide and help and hold and bless me through it all. I may not know where the path is leading sometimes, or even what the step is after the next one I take, but if I hold on fast and keep my focus on God, I will find myself walking into something beautiful and blessed.

A Surprise and Blessing

Appearing As A Featured Artist

Selected By The Marvelous Concierge

In The Marvelous SoHo Muse

Photograph With So Much Gratitude

To The Gorgeous Erika Kuciw

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - A Boston View

I've been traveling back and forth to Massachusetts for meetings over this past almost year and a half or more, since October of 2023 and on occasion before that, and as I've written in these pages before, I decided on one of my visits in October 2023 that I"d stay at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel because I have a long history of loving that hotel and going there with my Mother for tea because of the wonderful book, "The Trumpet Of The Swan" by E.B. White and the swan in that book who stays at the Ritz and sleeps in the bathtub. 

The old Ritz-Carlton is now a different hotel, and the new one that I've been staying at is very different in many ways, but the feeling of care and well being that the staff provide in every moment are the same. As I've traveled back and forth over these now many months, I've come to look forward to certain things when I go there, and each time I go there is something new to enjoy and be delighted by.

On this most recent trip just this past week I was given a corner room, with a lovely view of the old John Hancock Building. The view was wonderful during the day, but at night it became even more special when I noticed that the blue light on the old John Hancock Building was blinking in a very beautiful way. I took a video of it, not knowing at the time that it has a very special meaning, and when I returned home and looked up the building to make sure I knew which one I'd been viewing, I found out that it is the old John Hancock building and that it is officially known as the Berkeley Building, and that what I'd been seeing is the weather beacon on top that changes colors and flashes according to the forecast. I also found this sweet rhyme:

"Steady Blue, Clear View. Flashing Blue, Clouds Due. Steady Red, Rain Ahead. Flashing Red, Snow Instead"

After all the years I'd lived in Massachusetts and all the history I have in Boston, I'd never known about this wonderful light and its story. It seems that the more I visit and stay at the Ritz-Carlton, my memories are becoming clearer as new ones are made. The view this past week was cloudy, and so the blue light was flashing and it caught my eye, giving me a new perspective and a new way to look at the skyline in a city I am learning to love even more as I return to it again.

The Old John Hancock Building

Shining Its Weather Beacon

Viewed From The Ritz-Carlton Hotel

10 Avery Street

Boston, Massachusetts

https://www.ritzcarlton.com/the-ritz-carlton-boston

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

 

An Abundant Life - New York Art

This past week the gorgeous Artist Alberte Bernier gave me the treat of a visit to the Museum of Modern Art. MoMA as it's known to those of us who have been going there or hearing about it for years is one of those New York places that is always a joy to experience. After our visit to this gorgeous museum, we had lunch at Gallagher's Steakhouse, another wonderful New York place that I've written about in these pages before and that I will again in a future post, but for now I want to focus on MoMA and the beautiful experience there that day.

As we began our visit, I told Alberte that on my way to meet her I had been remembering that my Mother had always loved MoMA. She loved New York, and had lived there for so many years before I was born, and we would take trips there as a family and sometimes just the two of us to do special things and see special friends, and when I moved there after college she often visited me and we'd make plans to do some of the things she loved to do that I loved also.

MoMA was one of the things that I grew up knowing about, and visiting there feels in many ways like being home. Although I grew up in a New England farmhouse built in 1720, the art and design that filled that house were an eclectic mix that included antiques as well as refurbished and reupholstered vintage pieces and inspiration from places like MoMA. When I spoke about this with Alberte while we were visiting there together, she said that was just like YES Gallery, and I laughed and said it was and it is, and that it was so much of what I learned from and experienced with my Mother that is reflected in the way I design and create installations in spaces today.

As I begin to move into the next chapter of developing a very wonderful and special project, visiting MoMA and being reminded of my Mother and our shared history together was so wonderfully right and special. Bringing the best of modern art and design and the feeling of both old New York and the Manhattan of present day into this new project will make it a very special one, capturing the experiences of my own history as well as the history of the places and spaces where my family and my deepest memories rest and can come to life as they are renewed.

A Visit To MoMA

With So Much Gratitude

To The Gorgeous Artist

Alberte Bernier

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Building Joy

I've written about New York Build, the expo in New York City for all things to do with building, and it's always such a blessing to be there and be a part of it. I've been attending for many years, ever since someone I met invited me when I was speaking with him about a project I was developing at the time, and for a number of years now I've been invited to be a Women In Construction Ambassador which is something that is really such a wonderful honor.

Every year when I go I meet so many interesting and exciting people, all doing great things in the industry, and all who inspire me either in current projects or for new ideas for the future. This year because of a current project I'm developing there were several people who I met whose products and businesses were exciting to hear about as the work that they are doing in so much in line with my own work and vision.

This current project of mine is the culmination of things I was thinking about when I first was invited to New York Build years ago, and as one woman I recently spoke with about it described it, it is my life's work. Having the opportunity to visit with so many wonderful and talented experts in their respective parts of the industry over the years has helped my ideas to take shape in ways that continue to grow and bless me, and as I plan and develop this current project with so many wonderful people to inspire me and who I can reach out to for excellent help and expertise in so many important aspects, the project will be a blessing that brings joy for many.

New York Build

At The Javits Center

New York City

Blessings,

Jannie Sussan

An Abundant Life - There's No Place Like Home

This past week I took a trip to Boston and Wilmington, Massachusetts, something that I've been doing quite a bit in the past year and a half, nearly every month or so I've been traveling for a quick turnaround overnight for some necessary meetings and other appointments that have to do with the home where I grew up. 

On other trips I've stayed in Boston and traveled by train to Wilmington or other towns nearby on the same route, but this time I decided to stay in Woburn, the town next door, and to spend more time at the house and property than I've been able to before.

A few weeks before I was planning this trip, someone I know reconnected me with a friend from my childhood, someone I've known my whole life. It was lovely to speak with her on the telephone, and we wanted to meet in person the next time I was in the area and had extra time at the house. This time was the right time, and when I told her about my trip and timing, she invited me for dinner and also said that her husband had offered to drive me to and from the station and my hotel and anywhere else I needed. It was an amazing gesture of generosity and kindness, and I accepted with gratitude, feeling so humbled that here I was after all these years receiving such goodness and blessing. The person who had reconnected me to that friend also offered to meet with me and drive me wherever I needed, and we planned a breakfast together on the morning after I had stayed overnight, and she treated me to a gorgeous feast at The Real McCoy, a place with a rich and deep local history and one of the best restaurants I have ever been to anywhere. I also reached out to another friend I hadn't seen in many years, and she also offered her help and to meet me on the afternoon of the second day I was there. Seeing her again brought back so many memories of beautiful times and beautiful days, and how beautiful life can be. It was truly a beautiful experience to have all of the beautiful people rallying around and bringing their sweet light and love and blessings to share with me as I found myself finally, after what seems like a very long time, being able to open the door of the house where I grew up and to begin again to feel I was home.

I have lived in New York City for a long time, and also in Jersey City, and have spent so many years in places other than Boston or Wilmington that I had begun to feel like these other places had become home. In a way they have, but home is where the heart is as the saying goes, and a part of my heart will always be in Massachusetts, rooted in the fields around the house where I grew up and in the house itself. Over these past years, before I was able to take this trip in the way that I did, every time I"d travel to Boston or take the train to the town of Wilmington or nearby I'd have this feeling that there were so many people who I remembered who I wanted to connect with and so much time I wanted to spend there, reconnecting with the land and home I've loved for so long. On this visit I had a chance to feel what it is like to really come home again, and I have to say that after all these years in other places I've loved, there is no place anywhere else like home.

A Gorgeous Breakfast

At The Real McCoy

110 Lowell Street

Wilmington, MA

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Art Inside

A few weeks ago I went to an event at the New York Federal Reserve titled "Investing In The Creative Workforce For A Strong Economy." It was a wonderful afternoon with so many wonderful speakers and panels, and a roomed filled with Artists and Art Administrators, Curators and Creative Art Small Business owners among many other people who make, support, and champion art of all kinds. 

As I was leaving I met a lovely young woman in the elevator who it turns out had a show currently at a ChaShaMa art space in Manhattan. As I've written in these pages before I've had many wonderful experiences with ChaShaMa over the years, as a performer and Artist myself as well as with other friends who are Artists, small business owners and founders of not for profits. The Artist I met in the elevator and I exchanged cards and I reached out to her, noticing as I did that her name was Kelly Olshan, a reminder of another woman withe the same last name who I worked with many years ago who had a boutique public relations company and who I learned so much from that I still remember and treasure in my life and work today.

Kelly Olshan's show is in one of the ChaShaMa spaces in the lobby of an office building, and she invited me to one of her private VIP viewing evenings. There was one that weekend coming up, and though my schedule has been really very busy and the weather forecast was not the best, I decided to make the time to go because my schedule may be getting even busier, and I wanted to take the time to see her work in a space where it could be seen at its best.

The show is a beautiful one, and the evening inspiring. I took a short video to share here as the work itself is so multifaceted and layered that it seemed best to allow the viewer to see it in the way that I saw it, walking through an open space on a February evening in a building that was brought to new life with the art that is being shown inside it.

Kelly Olshan

"Endless Ascent"

At A ChaShaMa Art Space

733 Third Avenue

New York City

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Living Love

I wrote last week about the decorations at YES Gallery and how the Christmas cheer theme lasted a bit longer than usual and Valentine's Day is keeping its glow through this cold month of February. As I take time to enjoy the beautiful views, I'm adding little touches here and there with things that enhance the decorative holiday scenes.

Last week on my way to the gallery I saw a box on the sidewalk in front of a beautiful neighbor's building that said, "Free", and was filled with all kinds of interesting children's toys, building blocks and tools and gadgets. People leave things often on the sidewalk in this way in the neighborhoods near where I live and where the gallery is,  and I usually take a peek and find something fun or beautiful or useful or all three. This box had a box in it with the name "weaving kit" on it, and when I looked a bit closer I saw that it was a potholder making kit which was something that I had when I was a very young child. I picked it up and brought it to YES Gallery, and when I opened it I saw that the metal base that is used for the weaving was intact and as red as I remembered from my childhood. The rest of the kit was gone, most likely used and finished up, but it didn't matter to me because just the memory began to bring back other memories, and now the kit is sitting under the Valentine's Day tree at the gallery where it can remind me of all of the love and joy from many years ago.

When I was very little my family was very poor. I never really thought of it that way then, but now that I am older I know that we were. I was always dressed in handmedowns, sometimes from my brothers and sometimes things that had been worn so many times by so many different people or given to us by other people that they didn't really fit right. Buying something new was a big expense that rarely happened unless I bought it myself. I started working in real jobs when I was nine to buy the things that I wanted and to have spending money when I went somewhere with friends. I never had an allowance, and the work I did around the house was expected and unpaid. Before I was nine I looked for every opportunity to try to make money, and when I was three and I had my little potholder kit, I made potholders and sold them door to door in the neighborhood for I think 25 cents or maybe two for 25 cents. It's hard to think of that now and to remember what prices were like then, but whatever it was that I sold them for, I always found people who were willing to buy them and I gathered my change together to save up for things I could buy for myself.

One day very near Easter, I was at a store that I think was Zayre's with my Mother and I saw that they had special racks with children's cotton Easter dresses on them. I fell in love with the green and white patterns with images of flowers, and told my mother to that the girls in the family needed Easter dresses. They weren't very expensive if I recall, maybe $1.99 or $3.99, but even at that price they were too expensive for my Mother to think of because they were an extra expense, so I told her that I would pay for them with my own money. It's a hazy memory, but when we got to the cash register somehow I either had enough or the woman behind the register gave them to me for whatever I had, or maybe my Mother decided to chip in after all. Whatever the math was, the dresses were bought because of the money I was making selling potholders door to door, and seeing that potholder maker reminded me of that.

God is always our provider, whether it's when we are small and selling potholders and want new Easter dress, or when we are older and there are other bigger and more pressing needs and wants. I always tell people that God provides for our wants, too, and for more than we need, and sometimes in ways we would never have thought of or thought were possible. As I go through my memories of the times and ways that God has provided, I realize that there was never a time that God didn't. Though sometimes I've worried and felt heartache, there really wasn't ever any need to. Just at the right moment, just when it can truly be seen as a miracle, God shows up and the blessing arrives. It's hard to wait sometimes when we don't understand or see where we're going, but when we can take a deep breath and take in the love that God is always pouring over us, we can find the peace to know that what we need and what we want will arrive on time and be even better than we'd hoped or planned.

A Beautiful Reminder

Of Childhood

And God's Provision And Love

A Potholder Weaving Kit

Arrives Right On Time

At YES Gallery

408 6th Street

Hoboken, New Jersey

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Lovely Days

I had left the Christmas decorations up at YES Gallery this year much longer than I usually do, and it was the beginning of February when I began to take them down and change into Valentine's Day mode. Usually I have some kind of Birthday celebration in the space itself, but this year I had the beautiful birthday celebrations at Halifax Hoboken and Little Bar that I wrote about over the past few weeks, and somehow the Christmas decorations seemed to be bringing so much joy not only to me but to visitors that I decided to leave them up until after my birthday. When February blew in, I began to take them down and to slowly put up the hearts and pinks and reds for Valentine's Day. I finished a few days before the day itself, and now that they are up I think I may leave them in all their sweetness through most of this often gray month of February. 

Valentine's Day for me is a reminder of all things lovely and sweet and joyful, of the loves of youth and the love of long time family, friends, and life. Hanging hearts and making decorations for the holiday have always brought me so much happiness, and many of the decorations I have are things that I created or found or put together or discovered in some way or another. The red foil hearts and heart shapes that adorn the gallery now were made from beautiful red foil wrapping paper I found last year. They bring such a beauty and glow to the vintage recycled wood tree and the tree branches in the windows, and the holiday lights that I've left up make them shine all the brighter, bringing more loveliness to every day. 

Celebrating Valentine's Day

At YES Gallery

408 6th Street

Hoboken, New Jersey

With Beethoven's Emperor Concerto

Sweetly Playing On My Vintage Stereo

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Jewelbox Gem

 I've written about Little Bar in Hoboken in these pages before, and the beautiful experiences that are curated there by the marvelous Chef Seadon Shouse, Executive Chef of Halifax Hoboken, and the marvelous owners and staff. On the week of my birthday, two days after I'd had the beautiful blessing of enjoying the new delightful Happy Hour menu and wonderful mixology at Halifax Hoboken on the day of of my birthday, I had the double blessing of being at Little Bar for their new Pizza and Cocktails evening. 

The beautiful Dena McCoy, who I've also written about in these pages before, took a trip across and under two Rivers, the East River and the Hudson River, to visit me from Long Island City in Queens, and she met me at YES Gallery first. We walked over to Little Bar, enjoying the loveliness of a Hoboken winter evening, and found ourselves at Little Bar where it's always so welcoming and precious and the most wonderful place to be. In warmer months it's a cool and inviting space and in winter so cozy, and I had been wanting pizza for a while so hearing that they had a pizza and cocktails evening they were starting as a regular weekly event was just what I had been wishing for and even more because of the place where it was.

Little Bar is one of those places where I could go every afternoon or evening, because everything on their menu is a treat. The wine list, as always with Chef Shouse, is wonderfully curated, and the cocktails have such fun and inventive names that add to the delicious experience of their carefully crafted flavors. Pizza night was such a beautiful experience, and the pizza was outstanding. We tried a mushroom pizza and one with prosciutto and were tempted to try even more, but we decided to leave that for next time as we know we'll want to go back for a visit to the sweet gem of a jewelbox place.

An Evening At Little Bar

For Pizza And Cocktails

With The Gorgeous Dena McCoy

The Marvelous Hector

Crafting A Smoky Chocolate Delight

With Palo Santo

A Very Happy Birthday Celebration

Photograph With So Much Gratitude

To The Gorgeous Dena McCoy 

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - The Happiest Hours

This past week I celebrated my birthday, and I was blessed to have two wonderful places to visit on two different nights, Halifax and Little Bar, both favorites that are connected together in Hoboken through the marvelous Executive Chef Seadon Shouse and the marvelous owners and staff.

I've written about both wonderful places before, so I'll just write a little here about the special evenings I enjoyed during my birthday celebrations. This week I'll share about Halifax and the new Happy Hour menu and I'll share about Little Bar and the wonderful Wednesday pizza and cocktails night that I had the absolute pleasure of enjoying there in a future post.

Halifax as I've written before is one of those places I could go to any time and have the most wonderful experience because of the beauty of the design and the wonderful creations of Executive Chef Season Shouse along with the wonderful cocktails and wine selections, and the wonderful staff, with a combination of talents and gifts and expertise that makes every moment so beautiful and so special.

On the day of my birthday I had been thinking that I wanted to go to Halifax and when I heard they had started a new happy hour with a special menu it was the perfect place to go on my own special day. I started the afternoon at YES Gallery and walked over to Halifax while the light was still in the late afternoon sky, so I was able to watch the view of the Manhattan Skyline from the restaurant as I enjoyed the menu tastes and treats.

Oysters are always my first choice, especially when they are as fresh and wonderful as they are at Halifax. Chef Shouse is such a wonderful Chef that even the sauces with the oysters are special. I usually use very little cocktail sauce with oysters, especially when they are this fresh and excellent, but the cocktail sauce that arrived with these wonders was so delicious I could have eaten it by the spoonful. Afterward I tried the Lamb Meatball Sliders with Smoked Gorgonzola Fondue and Parsley the Mini Fish & Chips, both presented so beautifully and so delicious with such layered flavors and textures that they brought a smile to my already celebrating face. I decided to try the Squash Flatbread with Squash Ricotta, Mozzarella, Pancetta, Arugula and Pickled Squash, a delightful and lovely way to end my evening's choices. For cocktails I tried the Boulevardeiro, the Kingfisher Manhattan and a Once In A Dream, all beautifully presented and layered with flavors of smooth goodness. For the sparkling part of my birthday as anyone who knows me knows is always a first choice, I tried the happy hour special of Veuve du Vernay which was wonderful, along with my regular favorite at Halifax, Benjamin Bridge.

Being able to celebrate this special day in this special place was truly a gift and blessing, and one that reminded me again of how beautiful life can be when there are such wonderfully talented and gifted Chefs like the marvelous Executive Chef Seadon Shouse and such wonderful owners and staff as those at Halifax Hoboken. Such happy hours as these are make every day more beautiful.

A Happy Hour

Birthday Celebration

At Halifax Hoboken

With So Much Gratitude

To The Marvelous

Executive Chef Seadon Shouse

And The Marvelous Owners And Staff

Blessings,

Jannie Susan