A Grand Hodgepodge

The Hodgepodge is back so grab your coffee and join the fun here on Wednesday mornings. If you've answered this week's questions add your link at the end of my post then go say hey to your neighbor there. Here we go-  

1. Do you think intuition is as valuable as rational thinking? Explain why or why not. 

Probably a silly question because of course the world needs both. I do think mothers especially have a sense about their children that might be described as 'intuition', and they should not ignore that. I wrote a whole post about this a while back, which you can read in the link here-I Had A Feeling. 

2. In the grand scheme of things____________________________. 

...small acts of kindness and forgiveness mean a lot. 

3. Last place you went that felt like 'Grand Central Station'? Have you ever actually been to Grand Central Station (and by Grand Central Station I mean Grand Central Terminal)?

Hmmm...getting two toddlers out of the house and into car seats and then out of car seats and back into car seats and then back into the house can feel a little chaotic lol. 

I have been to Grand Central Terminal. The saying generally uses the terminology Grand Central Station, but New Yorkers will tell you that's incorrect.  Besides the trains running to and fro there are restaurants, shops, and even a self-guided audio tour (or at least there was pre-Covid). If you're in the city it's a fun place to wander, eat, and people watch. 

4. October 6 is National Noodle Day. What's your favorite dish made with noodles and have you made/eaten this dish lately? 

It's tough to pick a favorite but I'm going to say beef stroganoff. I have a fancy recipe, but also a crock pot recipe that's delicious and less labor intensive. It's more of a winter dish in our house. I also love spaghetti and made that while my grandsons were here last week. 

5. A time recently you had to really 'use your noodle'? Elaborate. 

I try to 'use my noodle' regularly to keep it in good working order-ha! I enjoy puzzles and word games and hope the hype about those activities keeping you mentally young is true. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

We had a fun full week with our grandsons so a post about that will be forthcoming. In the meantime, feel free to hop over to the Garden and Gun Magazine link and vote for our pup who is currently (as I write this post) in 1st place in their good dog photo contest. I know many of you have been voting, and while it feels like the contest might never end, it will. Friday at 5 PM EST. 

You’ll find the voting link here-Garden and Gun

Thank you to the many who have gotten on board with the crazy way this has taken off and have made it so much unexpected fun. 

Hunley thanks you too.

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It was Grand

I spent yesterday with some friends in NYC.

We had plans to take the walking tour of Grand Central Terminal, plans which of course included a nice lunch out.

FYI- most of my plans include lunch out.

I'm thankful to have friends who don't mind driving into the city.

I could do it if pressed and I'd be fine I think up until we hit the squeeze play at the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel which, in a split second, requires the exact correct proportion of patience and aggression.

The weather cooperated as much as we could hope for in February and although it was a ridiculous 20 something degrees when we headed out the sun was shining brightly and that makes all the difference in a day.

If you're in NYC I recommend the tour.

It's a self guided audio tour and the cost is $5 for adults which has to be one of the most reasonable things to do in all of NYC. The building itself is beautiful and full of so many wonderful bits of history, architecture and of course, food.

Grand Central Terminal was built in 1913 by shipping and railroad hotshot Cornelius Vanderbilt (not by himself, of course). The Vanderbilt symbol was the acorn and the oak leaf and you see both of those incorporated into different pieces throughout the building.

The terminal was nearly demolished back in the late sixties when rail travel became less popular and hundreds of homeless folks began making their home inside this ginormous building. Thankfully the terminal was saved, primarily thru the efforts of The Landmark Preservation Commission with a little help along the way from Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Today it is positively hopping with over 700,000 people passing thru its doors every single day.

New York is just full of people, people.

The main terminal area with its massive ceiling and beautiful staircases is definitely worth a look. Windows dominate the room and are interesting...they're double sided and actually have walkways between the two panes of glass.

These chandeliers were almost tossed until someone had the bright idea to have them cleaned and it was discovered they were not brass but solid nickel topped with gold.

Ooops.

The staircases are marble and were designed to resemble the staircases in the Paris Opera House. Here we are standing on one trying to take a picture, and no of course we did not annoy any travelers who were trying to make their way in and out of the building.

Some of these ladies read my blog (hi girls!) and we're learning as much history and trivia as we can for the day we all end up together in Cash Cab.

Have you seen the show?

So fun!

Anyway, let's talk about something important.

Like food.

And celebrities.

Grand Central has five restaurants and lounges, a 'food court' and about fifty shops.

There is an absolutely fantastic food market in the station and we may have gotten slightly off track (Ha) when we walked by all the amazing cheeses and other goodies. The chandelier in the market is made to look like an olive tree but uses lights in place of olives.

A walk thru the food court is part of the tour and it's fun to see how they've incorporated pieces from old trains to give you the sense of sitting in a dining car while you're eating.

We didn't eat here but instead had a lovely lunch in one of the nicer restaurants that overlooks the main terminal -Charlie Palmers Metrazur.

What made this particular venue even better was the moment we discovered Larry David was sitting only about four tables from ours.

We spent much of the meal attempting to subtly take his picture.

I think you can probably imagine how subtle a table full of women can be when they spy someone famous but seriously, if those pesky people at the tables between us would have just taken the hint and scooched over I could have had a nice photo.

Instead I have this-

That's him, or rather part of his head and shoulder, in the back right. For those who don't know, Larry David is the co-creator of Seinfeld and also has his own show on HBO called Curb Your Enthusiasm.

As he got up to leave a few of us may have decided we needed to go to the restroom at that exact moment. We all came face to face as he exited the men's room but something about taking a picture in that moment just didn't feel right so I put the camera away.

Besides, we had other celebs to stalk see so we needed to move on.

An event happened to be taking place in the terminal that afternoon, an Oscar tribute of sorts. You could have your picture taken with this year's Best Actor Oscar statuette.

We weren't really interested in doing that but we'd learned earlier in the day that Whoopi Goldberg was going to be there so we hung around for a look.

At first we couldn't see much more than the top of her head but we arrived at a good time because before long she was escorted out...right in front of us-

Naturally I was fumbling with my camera and she stopped and said, 'Did you get it?' Unexpectedly gracious I thought.

Why is it so much fun to see someone famous?

I can't explain it...it just is.

After all the excitement it was time to head home... back to the 'burbs and the snow and the pulling dinner out of the freezer because you neglected to do so in the morning...back to your regularly scheduled programming.

A day in the city did make for an awfully nice and much needed commercial break though, for these very real (but way more fun) housewives of NJ.