An Abundant Life - Beautiful Launch

I've written about the restaurant Halifax in Hoboken in these pages before, and also the wonderful Chef Seadon Shouse who is the Executive Chef. Every time I visit is such a beautiful experience, and everything and everyone there is always so excellent, kind, warm, friendly and all of the things that make a true hospitality experience a special one.

When there are special events at Halifax, I always like to try to go, and when I heard about the launch of Kingfisher Vol. II, I knew it would be a wonderful evening. I had gone to the launch of the first Kingfisher, a collaboration with Maker's Mark, and the evening was truly memorable. The first Kingfisher launch was later in the year and it was a bit cooler than it is now, and so this time in a way seemed like a wonderful way to celebrate the beginning of autumn with the promise of the cooler weather to come while still having warmer weather to enjoy.

As always, the event was truly beautiful and everything was a delight. They had a special bottle engraver and also hand made cigar rolling along with the wonderful food and specialty cocktails. Each hors d'oeuvres was so special and they all wove together to make such a flavor filled extravagant experience that I am still dreaming about it. The promotional team from Maker's Mark had some very fun and really special gift giveaways, and I was lucky enough to have one of the team members take my photograph so I could post the memory of that really beautiful blessing of an evening.

It's with so much gratitude that I write this blog post, for the team from Maker's Mark and the team at Halifax and all the staff there who always make me feel so welcome. The Artist I had invited to join me that evening said that it was exquisite and I agree with him completely. There is an art to hospitality as there is to culinary art, and Chef Shouse and all the staff at Halifax are truly wonderful Artists in all they do to make every moment so beautiful and so special.

Kingfisher Vol. II Private Selection Event

A Collaboration With Maker's Mark

At Halifax

  225 River Street

Hoboken, New Jersey

https://www.halifaxhoboken.com

Photograph With So Much Gratitude

To The Gorgeous Leona

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Better Days

Someone visited YES Gallery the other day who told me when he walked in that he had walked by and gotten to the corner and then he felt like he had to turn around and walk in the door because he wanted to know what that place was. We talked for a while and he said that he couldn't put it into words but being in the gallery made him feel really good, and then he said, "Like being on a mountaintop with the sunrise, like better days are coming." 

Words like that mean so much to me, because I want people to feel good when they are in YES Gallery. The mission of the gallery is to provide an opportunity for people of all ages and backgrounds to be welcomed and have the experience of a gallery, and when I hear how much people enjoy their time there it makes me feel really happy. 

I say "thanks to God for anything good that I do" all the time when people compliment me on something, and YES Gallery was created and keeps evolving and growing with God's divine help. Visitors always say they feel something special inside and even walking by, and they tell me how beautiful it is and that they like it and feel comfortable. During the time since I first opened the doors I've had so many memorable guests and events, and it's really so beautiful to have all these beautiful memories of people who have shared their lives and words and art and time with me there. 

When this recent visitor described how he felt, I took in his words as the words of a prophet. Mountaintops and sunrises speak volumes about coming out of the valley and out of darkness, and his words "like better days are coming" is something that I think we all need to hear from time to time, even when things are ok. When there is uncertainty in our world as there is now and challenges for every day life, hearing that better days are coming is a reminder that though we may not know exactly how or when or where we're actually headed, it will be a change for the better from where we are now, wherever it is and however we get there.

When I woke up this morning early, I saw the sunrise reflecting in a mirror I have on my windowsill. It's a special mirror that an Artisan made, and I put it in the window because I wanted the sun to reflect on it when it rose. The room where it has a window that faces east, and at different times of the year because of the angle of the window the sun changes slightly in the way it shines through. Seeing the reflection this morning reminded me of the beautiful day when I found the mirror and met the Artisans who created it, and it reminded me that with just a little change in the weather and time a beautiful mirror can take on a special glow, and if I wait and trust and keep on doing the things I feel I must, the things I am hoping for and working towards will begin to glow with a new light as well.

Morning Light

In An Artisans' Mirror

Evening Glow

At YES Gallery

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - YES Blessings

A few weeks ago someone I know stopped by YES Gallery and said that he'd been wanting one of the paintings by Danilo Peguero that he had seen when I first opened in August 2022. He has been telling me for a while that he thinks I have some really wonderful work in the gallery, and when he stopped by he told me that the painting by Danilo had a very special meaning for him.

I love the stories that people share with me that I can share with the Artists about what their work means to someone else. It's really a beautiful thing to be able to share how their work has touched someone else in a powerful way, and it's lovely to be a part of sharing that story when it's someone they have never met and who has never seen their work before walking into YES Gallery. Art has a way of connecting people and bringing people together, in conversation, in emotion, in feeling and experiences of times and places. Each time someone walks into YES Gallery the stories that the Artists tell and the story that I tell through the gallery installation reach new people and begin to create more branches of the stories as they move and grow through new eyes, new experiences, and new responses.

Danilo Peguero is one of the Artists who I've written about in these pages before, and his work was the first focus when I opened the gallery. He painted a portrait of me live at the gallery, an experience that was truly a wonderful blessing, and I've regularly kept two more of his paintings in the gallery since that first grand opening show. People always respond so well to his work because it is so beautiful and so well done. His technique is of the highest excellence, and his intention is to make every painting one that will have lasting impact as work of museum quality. The piece that the Collector of his work chose is one that always has many admirers, and right around the same time that we began discussions about it, someone else arrived in the gallery who was looking for pieces for another Collector and she pointed out that same piece. As the timing worked out, it was the first person who was able to secure it, and the way it happened was such a beautiful experience for me that made it even more of a meaningful and lovely story to share with the Artist.

The painting is a beautiful one and I will miss seeing it, but knowing that it is going to a very happy new home where it will be cherished and loved and admired by even more new eyes who visit and see it is a blessing. This experience was a truly beautiful one, that brought people together in a very deeply meaningful way. It's a blessing that brought so many blessings to me, and also to so many, and helped remind me of how beautiful the world and people can be.

"Hair Coloring Beauty Parlor"

By Danilo Peguero

At YES Gallery

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Another Time

I had been thinking of writing about something else for this week, but then when I was on my way home on Friday night, I saw the Tribute Of Light in the night sky over Manhattan and I realized that with everything else that had been going on in my life, not only were we in September but we were coming up to September 11 and though I had definitely thought about it along with everything else, I hadn't really taken the time to reflect on that time and what had happened in 2001.

Tribute In Light is something that is so important as a reminder. It's been more than twenty years since the view of the skyline was forever changed and along with that view so many people were lost or deeply affected by what had happened. I was living in a neighborhood near the site at that time, and experienced the events of that day on the rooftop of my building, living through the days afterward in a city that was in shock and mourning. They key word that I thought about on Friday night when I walked up the hill and saw the Tribute In Light was life. I was living through the days afterward and I am living now, and even when life seems difficult or even frighteningly filled with worries and cares, I am alive and have my health, and that is a blessing that I need to always be thankful for.

In the twenty-three years that have passed, so many things have changed in the world and in my own life. There have been wonderful times and difficult times, celebrations, loss, renewal, uncertainty, joy, pain and growth, but the reminder of September 11 for me is that though I was nearby I was safe, and to remember that day in all its horror is to remember that being alive is a gift.

Tribute In Light

Viewed From

The Top Of One Hundred Steps

Jersey City Heights, New Jersey

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

     

An Abundant Life - Storehouse Blessings

Last week two people I know, Aima and Jean Pierre, set a time to come by YES Gallery and bring me dinner. It wasn't just any dinner, it was a homemade Ecuardorian specialty called Seco de Pollo that was made by a Chef who grew up in Ecuador. When they arrived at the gallery with the dinner, I saw them walking down the sidewalk with a suitcase and several bags, and I couldn't figure out what they were bringing or where they were going afterward with all those things until they arrived and said that everything they had carried with them was for me. The suitcase and bags were filled with food, pounds of rice and flour, potatoes, apples, bananas, pasta, a loaf of rye bread and cans of tomato paste, and there was more food too, chicken and kielbasa and ground Italian sausage that they kept in their apartment refrigerator and dropped off the next day when I could bring it home more quickly. 

It was such a beautiful surprise and blessing to have all this food arrive, and the dinner the Chef made and that we shared together was so wonderful. I'd never had that dish before, and he shared about the history of it and also the secret ingredient, something called naranjilla that I hadn't known about or heard of. It took me a few days to bring all the food home, and I had leftovers of the wonderful meal he made too. It's times like that when I am so grateful for the wonderful people who walk into my life and for the care and support and love they share.

As I've written before, there has been so much going on that sometimes it's difficult to schedule my regular events, and this past week was so filled with some very challenging logistical things that having this wonderful dinner brought to me and being surprised by all of this wonderful food and beautiful blessings made me feel like there was a space being made for me to just enjoy and relax and take in the goodness in life. It's wonderful when people surprise us with kindness, and to be blessed in this way is a miracle all of its own. As I look around my own kitchen now and see the jars and shelves filled with provision and my refrigerator and freezer filled to nearly overflowing, with the meals I am making nourishing my body, mind and spirit I feel like I am surrounded with caring love. When our storehouse is blessed we feel taken care of, and I am so grateful for that feeling and blessing that was shared by these beautiful friends.

A Wonderful Seco de Pollo

Made By The Marvelous Jean Pierre

And Served With Love

At YES Gallery

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Two Years And Growing!

This past Friday was the two year anniversary of YES Gallery. August 23 is also the day when I moved to New York City a number of years ago, and I chose that date for the Grand Opening of YES Gallery when I opened the gallery in 2022.

As I wrote recently, there has been so much going on that it's been difficult to schedule events or even to know when I'm going to be able to have a celebration at the gallery, but I saw a window of time around the opening date and I decided that I had to celebrate it because it's a beautiful blessing in my life to have the gallery, and it's in many ways a miracle that it opened at all and that it's still open. There have been so many wonderful things that have happened since the Grand Opening day, and wonderful things that began even before that day, and having a celebration was not only something that would bring some fun and joy, but it also is a reminder of how much I have to be grateful for.

I was able to set the date and make the invitation, and I had wonderful plans to do something special that night, but I wasn't quite sure what would actually happen until the day before when I sent the invitation to Jack who performs at the gallery sometimes with one of his bands and sometimes solo under the name of Visionary Module. He and I had spoken about some ideas he had for the date, but nothing had been decided, and I wasn't sure if he was available or not because I hadn't had a chance to follow up with him and make a plan. When he received the invitation he asked if I'd like him to play solo that evening, and I enthusiastically said YES! It's always such a pleasure to have him perform and the friends who join him to watch and listen and be a part of the celebration are always wonderful people.   

A few days before the anniversary, a rainbow appeared in the sky outside the gallery. When I first opened in 2022, something similar happened, and it felt so much like a beautiful reminder of the promises of God that encouraged me when I opened and encouraged me now. The day of the event was so beautiful, with temperatures and sunshine and light summer breezes that made me remember how lovely August days can be. As I created a video while Jack played, Jeremy Roche who has work in the gallery appeared to say hello. It's always such a blessing to see him and to have him arrive as I was creating the video of Jack and the gallery felt like perfect timing. One of the visitors had parked their turquoise bicycle right near the YES Gallery sign, and that seemed a perfectly lovely and fun touch too. There is so much joy at YES Gallery, and these wonderful people bring so many blessings that make the joy overflow.

A Beautiful Two Year Anniversary

At YES Gallery

408 6th Street

Hoboken, New Jersey

With Live Music By The Marvelous

Visionary Module

And Wonderful Guests

Including Jeremy Roche

And A Wonderful Turquoise Bike

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

  

An Abundant Life - A Walk In The Park

As I've written about in these pages before, I've been traveling back and forth to Massachusetts for a while now because of some business that is very important and part of my own life in a very deep and meaningful way. A few times I've written about the wonderful place I've been staying while there, The Ritz Carlton Boston which is a newer hotel, and also my own history with the first Ritz Carlton that was there that is now under new management as another hotel. My life history has so many parts of it that are part of Boston and Massachusetts, and I've written about that too, but today I want to share a little bit about the last trip I took and how a walk in the Public Gardens brought back so many memories all at once that I found myself feeling like I was walking back in time.

The times that I've been traveling to Boston before over this past year since last fall have been in weather that is either wintry or rainy or not the best weather for wandering, The other difficulty I've found in taking my usual walks is the timing of how I am traveling and staying and where I need to be when. I usually arrive in the afternoon by train, and the first time I traveled I needed to get my bearings, but after that trip I did find that I had a little bit of time. But the weather wasn't encouraging for walking, and it was so lovely to just stay indoors in such a wonderful environment that the Ritz Carlton and the staff provide that I didn't venture out except when I needed to leave the next morning and head to another train and get to another place, and then at the end of that day I headed straight back to New York. On my way from North Station to South Station, and sometimes if I had a little bit of time on my way from the Ritz Carlton to North Station, I'd look around and try to remember my times in years past in the places I once knew so well, but it's hard to take the time to reminisce when you're trying to figure out the best route to catch a train and you're on a schedule. 

When I traveled in late May, the weather was really beginning to be beautiful, and I needed to meet with someone in the afternoon for part of the business I've been traveling for, but then after that I decided that I'd try to take a walk in the Boston Commons nearby. It's right near the hotel, and I walk through it or around it often to get somewhere else when I'm on these trips, but I decided that afternoon to enjoy the sunset time of golden hour before going inside for dinner and the rest of the evening. That short walk made me want to take another longer one the next time, and so when I was traveling more recently, even though I had less time this time around, I decided to take a longer walk during the longer days of sunlight we have now. 

I began in the Commons, and then walked through from one end to the other, allowing my feet to follow the leading of where I felt I needed to go to rather than letting my head try to figure it out, and I found myself crossing a street and walking into the Public Garden where the Swan Boats are. As I've written in these pages before, I love the E.B. White story "The Trumpet Of The Swan" and have loved it since I was a very young child, and though I knew the Swan Boats were near to the Ritz Carlton, I hadn't realized exactly where they were in relation to the Hotel until I walked in the Public Garden and saw them. Memory is such a strange thing, because all at once when I walked through the gate of the park so many feelings came rushing back, all very beautiful and special. I remembered having a picnic with my first love one afternoon and some of the beautiful walks we'd taken together there, and I remembered being a little girl and asking if I could have my birthday have part of it be taking a ride on a Swan Boat and how excited and happy I was, and other times after that when I'd had so much fun and joy on one of those wonderful boats.

As I walked through the Public Garden I saw the willow trees and the beautiful plantings, the bridge and foot path, and all of the people out enjoying the beautiful afternoon. I remembered things in the way that memory can be, that brought back my own life to me in a way that only deep memories can. Being in that Garden and seeing the Swan Boats and knowing that though all this time has gone by I can still walk there and even take a ride on a Swan Boat if I want to is something so precious and meaningful. There are places that we have in our hearts that we sometimes wish we could go back to, and knowing that sometimes we can visit and see and feel the person we once were is a way to bring us in a fuller circle to who we are now.

The Swan Boats

In The Boston Public Garden

Blessings,

Jannie Susan