The Last Day

I’ve been having trouble getting started on these last few blog posts partly because I’m mourning the close of my “Summer of Freedom,” and partly because I’m finding it difficult to find the words to effectively wrap-up this whole experience.  Above all, I’m feeling very grateful—grateful for my parents who enabled me to have this experience, grateful for wonderful friends who made sure I never felt like home was too far away, grateful for the time and energy that each SVA faculty member invested into critiquing my work and making me a better photographer, and grateful to the Lord for providing me with this gift of a summer.

Now I’m off to Ft. Worth to celebrate my grandparents’ 60^th wedding anniversary and then finally home to San Diego because the ’09-’10 school year is already beginning and it’s time to go back to reality.

Going home. Eastman's travel light, yes we do.

I LOVE YOU!!

To all my loyal followers, thanks for reading this blog and sharing in all the fun!  I want to go back very soon and think you should all come with me, ok?

XOXO, Lindsey

The Thirty-seventh Day

My last full day in the city was an eventful one, allowing me to cross at least a few more things off my “New York To-Do List.”  The day went something like this…

• Last stop at SVA—Packing up my prints to take home, I felt a mixture of sadness (the program is over) and happiness (the last month was time well spent) as I walked out the door.
• Onion Tour—Prior to leaving for New York, I was encouraged by friends to go on a Big Onion Tour.  It’s an easy and cheap way to get to know the city; all the tours are led by graduate students and each one focuses on a different neighborhood in Manhattan.  Mom, Dad, Natalie, and I joined the “Immigrant Tour,” which trailed through the East Village, Chinatown, and Little Italy.  We all left feeling like we got our money’s worth of New York culture and history.

Touring through Chinatown.

• Gramercy Tavern—We thoroughly enjoyed our lunch at this well-known East Side lunch/dinner spot, partly because of the amazing service and well-prepared food, but mostly because Jess filled the 5^th seat at our table.

At Gramercy Tavern.

• LeVain Bakery—Ray added this bakery to my “Must Eat List” before leaving New York so my mom and I, self-professed baking connoisseurs, made the trek up to the Upper West Side to make it happen.  Not only were their cinnamon buns (only available on weekends) featured on Oprah, but the cookies that come out of this hole-in-the-wall bake shop were voted “Best in New York.”  No wonder.  The oven-ready balls of dough were the size of baseballs and each cookie was served slightly warm so that the outside was nicely browned and the inside was moist and melty.  Mmmmm…

That was our first cookie: chocolate chip. After that we had to try the chocolate chocolate chip.

• Cuts and Color—Haircuts at Oscar Blandi and manicures and pedicures at New York Nails and Spa left all the Eastman women feeling groomed and pampered.

Such a fun salon; they serve you cappuccinos while they cut.

• The Last Supper—We continued our Italian streak and headed to Il Buco for dinner, enjoying our last meal in the city and loving the cozy, charming, rustic ambiance.

Another classic family dinner pic.

• Rice to Riches—I passed by this creative dessert establishment on my first night in the city and had been hoping to go ever since.  We stopped in on the way home, succumbing to their persuasively bold advertising (“Go ahead and eat it.  You’re already fat.”), and each ordering our own flavor of rice pudding.  It’s the only thing on the menu but it comes in about 20 different flavors.  I ordered “French Toast” and loved it, but one thing is for certain, no one makes rice pudding like my grandma.

Notice the "Dieting is Optional" in the background. We took it to heart.

• Pack it up—It always takes more time than I think it will but I finally managed to get every last thing into those suitcases.  Departure time:  9:45 a.m. tomorrow.
• Tying up loose ends—Knowing that things will be busy when I get home, I made sure to have all pictures edited and DVDs distributed to the families who modeled for me during my time here.  Shopping at Kate’s Paperie and Paper Presentation, two fabulous stationery stores with extensive selections, I found some fun packaging materials.

The outside of a DVD package. I LOVE this ribbon!

The inside.

• Joshua—Speaking of loose ends, I’m just remembering that I never posted pictures from one of the shoots I did of a little boy from my building.  The whole shoot happened inside the family’s apartment since it was pouring that afternoon.  Here are a few of my favorites:

He looks calm here, but he definitely wasn't.

His true personality was starting to show.

This was his "relaxing" pose.

The Thirty-sixth Day

Tackling the job of hanging my prints in the SVA gallery was my morning objective.  Each one of the residency students was allotted eight feet to hang their work, and given access to a ladder, a level, and hanging tape.  After practicing my layout on the floor, I stared at my prints for a good 20 minutes before finally coming up with my game plan.  Thank God for levels—less than 30 minutes later, all 5 prints were on the wall and straight, too.

All done.

After my final critique I met up with Mom, Dad, and Natalie for a walk to Battery Park, which meant we walked south instead of north along the Hudson.  What have I been doing running north this entire last month!?  I guess I turned into a creature of habit.  Anyway, there are beautiful gardens and parks the whole way down and lots of community activities like tennis and basketball courts, pool tables, chess tables, and an adorable children’s garden.  It’s a gorgeous area!

Our walking destination was Gigino Trattoria, a Mediterranean Italian place with a patio that opens up onto a great view of the water.  I wouldn’t recommend going if you’re in any kind of hurry, but the food was fresh and good.

Walking back to the apartment, we all got around for the SVA show, meeting Robb there right at 6:00 so he could make it to his final work event immediately after.  Not only was it really rewarding to see everyone’s best work displayed together in one place, but I was lucky to have an enthusiastic group of supporters.  Of course, all five Eastman’s were in attendance, and my amazing Aunt Ginny, who took the train from her home in Connecticut to surprise me, soon joined us.  Aunt Ginny is another one of my relatives whom I have not had the chance to see since my last time at the Lake in Pennsylvania over ten years ago; it was especially good to see her!

Total surprise!

The whole fam + my wonderful Aunt Ginny.

The lovely Jessica Wheeler was also kind enough to drop in for a little tour of the gallery.  The Wheeler sisters are both in NYC for a long weekend, and Jess was able to rearrange her schedule a bit to be able to come.

Oh, how I love her!

Adrienne Sherman, and Haley and Ramsey March (Charlotte’s parents) were my final supporters, coming first to the show and then joining us for dinner at Via Della Pace.  The vibe, food, and décor at this Italian restaurant was very fun (exposed brick, lots of candles, staffed by real Italians), but the company was even better!  It was the perfect way to celebrate the completion of my program.

My name tag was misspelled so Haley took it upon herself to fix things...

Thank you, Haley! It's Lindsey with an E Y.

I highly recommend the pasta, homemade and delicious.

Haley and Adrienne...they're so much fun!

All of us.