WW: Michael Arenella's 13th Annual Jazz Age Lawn Party

Here comes Michael Arabella's 13th Annual Jazz Age Lawn Party

This is the second time my friends and I joined this lovely summer gathering with back-to-20s theme.

Always enjoyable!

This time, the Frakarsas are there :)

It was a lovely picnic with some of our friends and family as well

Enjoy some more photos I took during this party.

My Obi enjoys the day under the sun!

One of the talents! 

Fancy driving a Roll Royce? :)

Such a pretty table arrangement!

Peter Mintun, one of the pianists 

Join us on (almost) Wordless Wednesday and have fun with the linky party :)

Happy Happy Birthday Abang Bo

Look who's turning 11!

To our dearest Abang Bo...

May Allah SWT always grant what's best for you in your live, sayang.

Here's to all those smiles, hugs, and love you have shared and will share again in the nearest future.

keep that smile always, love :

Barakallah selalu ya Abang Bo

Happy Happy BIrthday, Dearest Nadine

Here's to my brightest, bubbliest daughter, Nadine Frakarsa!

Happy 7th Birthday, love.

Those stoic faces! Posing with dearest Abang Bo :)

 7 is indeed the lucky number!

And we just had a little celebration at home in the morning, right before she left for school :) 

 

May Allah SWT grant you continued blessings and graceful life, filled with love, laughter and joy.

Always.

Doa terbaik Mama, Bapak dan Abang Bo untuk Obi selalu ya.

Alhamdulillahirabbil aalamiin

 

 

WW: Fall is here to stay

Fall is here to stay!

Turtle Pond in one great day..

Having visited Central Park again and again to enjoy the breathtaking Fall scenery at this lung of the Big Apple.

The city I' in love with..

Let's jog...

We walked for about 4 miles that afternoon.

Such a beautiful Saturday with balmy weather.

No wonder so many people were out and enjoyed the day.

Took so many photos with my phone, even my kids were in good mood to pose for me.

Obi under the bridge near the reservoir

Bo posing for me..

This time, we started walking from the 86th St, at the Jacqueline Onassis Reservoir, down to Belvedere Castle and Bethesda fountain, my favorite.

And the beauty of Fall is so captivating indeed.

Cheers for purple and Fall lovers :)

Fall is here to stay!
Join us on (almost) Wordless Wednesday and have fun with the Linky Party.

The Amazing world of Dr. Seuss, Springfield, Connecticut

Oh the places you’ll go!
The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss, Springfield, Connecticut is indeed amazing.

***

"So, I'm going to pick-up the bike at Worcester." My hubby said that night, while we were having dinner.
"Where is it exactly? Still in New York?" I concentrated on my sashimi plate which was so good. I was thinking of getting more.
"No, it's almost three hours drive from here. It's in Massachusetts."
"What? That far?." I stopped dipping that piece of  salmon and paid more attention to my hubby.
"Yuuup...we'll stay overnight in one of the surrounding cities. Either Hartford in Connecticut or  Springfield in Massachusetts. They have Dr. Seuss museum in Springfield." He checked on the map at his phone. "Bo and Obi will love it", he added.
"I 'd love that, too! So, let's go. Get everybody ready! It will be our early Thanksgiving trip."  
Springfield, here we come!

***

It was one cold weekend when we decided to drive to Worcester, stayed overnight in Hartford,CT and visited Dr. Seuss museum in Springfield, MA.
We booked the car and the hotel (thank God I have extra points to use in Starwood Group hotel) and packed our bags and some food for the trip. It would only be one night stay and already we planned so much including some swimming and trips to the museums.
I still have my mom here so it was a great opportunity to take her out and see more of the country as well. 

When I head Springfield, my mind directly goes to the Simpsons place.
You know, the cartoon :).
But this city of Springfield is the one in Massachusetts, which happens to be the hometown of one of the most beloved kids-book authors, Dr. Seuss.

The Amazing world of Dr. Seuss.
That's the name of the place.
Familiar with Dr. Seuss and his books?
I do love him!
And so do my kids.
I have to admit I read those books as an adult.
Well, foreign books are expensive so I kind of getting to know his works a bit late.
But I love his books. I really do.
I have been teaching Obi, my daughter, how to read using One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish from Dr. Seuss.
Bo was enjoying the Cat in the Hat, Horton Hears a Who, Happy Birthday to You, ABCD, Oh the Places you'll Go, and more.
So, when we found out that Dr. Seuss' hometown is not too far, only approximately 3 hours drive from New York City, off we went!

We stayed the night at Hartford, Connecticut after visiting Yale, New Haven on Saturday and continued driving to Springfield, Massachusetts for about 20 minutes.
The museum opened at 11 AM on Sunday and we went directly here.
The ticket is USD 25 for adults, USD 16 for seniors, and USD 13 for kids.
And we can visit 5 museums with one ticket.
Amazing, right!

say hi to the Lorax :)

As we didn't really have much time, we first visited the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss.
Perfect choices indeed, as the place is very interesting.
It's like pages from the books.
Colorful and entertaining as well, with all those characters and quotes from the books.

Obi literally grew up with this :)

The amazing world of Dr. Seuss is uber awesome! 
My kids, love it so much and so does mama Bo et Obi 😇😇😇
We got soooo excited when we met our fave, the Cat in the Hat :).

We are exploring the colorful world of the Cat in the Hat, the Lorax, Horton the elephant, Thing 1 and 2, Thidwick the big hearted moose, the Grinch who stole Christmas, Yertle the turtle and more  at Dr. Seuss’ hometown Springfield, Connecticut.

On the first floor, we have drawings and excerpts from the books, while the second floor has the exhibition about Dr. Seuss' stories and life.

Then we got out to Dr. Seuss’ National Memorial Sculpture Garden 💜

Say hi to all these famous characters from Dr. Seuss’ great books! 

Dr. Seuss

Again, here we met the Cat in the Hat, the Lorax, Horton the elephant, Thing 1 and 2, Thidwick the big hearted moose, the Grinch, Yertle the turtle and more!
Those bronze sculptures are incredible.

The Grinch is here :)

Looking at the details, it feels like those characters just spring out of the books.
Well, for us, Dr. Seuss was not only telling us the children stories with his unique imagination, but there are so many important messages about love, life, friendship, respect, harmony, and more on each and every story.
And we are so blessed to have the opportunity to know that :).
  

So, what's your favorite Dr. Seuss' favorite character?
Do you like them as well?

Clear Blue Sky at Lovely Town of Hartford, Connecticut

How about clear blue sky at lovely town of Hartford, Connecticut?

Another wandering around with my family this Fall.

We briefly visited Hartford, Connecticut and had a nice walk near the Bushnell Park.
I took it as our pre-Thanksgiving trip.
You know how busy and crazy Thanksgiving break is, with many people are traveling at the same time or shopping at the same time at those shopping malls and factory outlets :).
So we learnt our lessons and decided to explore more cities in the surrounding before those hectic week.
And there we were... driving approximately 3 hours from NYC and arrived at this wonderful city of Hartford.

 

Fall is still here and it is beautiful although cold :).
As we arrived in the afternoon, we didn't really have much time before the sun set.
So we strolled around the Bushnell Park. 

 

The Memorial Park at the Trinity Street near the Bushnell Park is beautiful.

The gate is standing tall elegantly, erected in honoring those who have fallen for the country.

Really love this gate!

Its famous carousel is also lovely.
Although my kids didn't manage to try it as they were sleeping after spending the whole morning at the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss in Springfield, Massachusetts.

I have always been a great fan of carousel.
So I was really enjoying the ride here :)

Will get back for more stories on our trip for sure :)

Join us on Skywatch Friday and have fun with the linky party :)

Happy Thanksgiving

"Keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracle of your life"

Khalil Gibran 

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Aren't we all blessed?

With every tiny sparks of joy and content fulfilling our heart.

With every drop of sweat and tears marking our illustrious lives.

With every breath freely taken and every smiles of your loved ones.

Those miracles of life keep our heart beating and our soul revived

We have a small celebration at home.
Enjoying precious time with our loved ones over wonderful meals and tons of laughter. Plus a bit shopping in the evening.
Obi and I, with the help of my hubby and Bo, finished decorating this cute Turkey Kit we got from Trader Joe's.
With less than 10 dollars and 
How's  your Thanksgiving? 
I hope it was as colorful as ours.

Happy Thanksgiving and stay blessed, people!

Halloween Night 2017

Boo!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is way back couple weeks ago but I feel like I have to write it here in My Purple World :). 

This Halloween, NYC was celebrating it in a somber mood.
On the very same day, the city has another terror attack in Lower Manhattan, causing casualities and another wave of anger towards this cowardly act of terror.

But the spirit was soaring high!
#NYCStrong and the annual NYC Halloween Parade continued.
We didn't joined it this year as it was school night and with the kids, I preferred staying near our safe neighborhood.  Besides, it would be our last Halloween here in NYC. Next year we will be back to Indonesia. I know, I know...we don't really celebrate Halloween back home because it is not part of our culture nor religion values, but we just enjoy the moment for fun. Nothing more :).

So there I was, running from the office at 6 PM and went straight home to meet my kids and my cousins who happened to be staying in our house. We all were so excited to see the Halloween and I have seen some houses were going all out for the ghostly decoration, including ours!

the scary doll I bring back home for Halloween :)

I took sometimes to dress my self up and got some make-up done.
I really wanted to do those cute mermaid make-up but I guess I was not that skilfull hahaha.

So I ended up having those teal and purplish eye shadow painted on my face and got the burgundy lipstick, my favorite as  always. Put on my purple wig and purple cape, like the one I have for the New York Comic Con and voile, I'm all set.

Obi just wanted to be the cat, just like last year, although I have got her a popcorn dress and a unicorn! While Bo was pretty much too 'cool' to dress up (Mom, I'm in IS already!)  and he just put that giant blue squid hat on his head and bundled up with his matching fleece jacket. Well, that would do :).

We got ourselves ready, walking around the neighborhood   

Some of the decorations were indeed super serious!

I bet they have spent so much money on those giant jack-o-lantern,  flying dragons, skeleton bands, laughing witches, cemetery setup, the smoke and lighting, and more.
See some of the snaps I took during that night!
Creepily cool. 
The kids love them for sure.

We ended up feeling hungry after walking around 10 blocks (so ambitious) and get ur pumpkin buckets filled. So we had our Halloween dinner at our favorite Greek Taverna. Perfect Halloween night indeed.
 

How was your Halloween?
What's your costumes?
Do you like spending money for the decorations and costumes as well?