Friday, September 12, 2008

Indian Summer In the City


Fall has always been my favorite time of year, and not just because it happens to contain my birthday. As much as I love the warm summer sunshine, by the time we hit early August I begin to crave crisp fall breezes and the crunch of fallen leaves beneath my boot-clad feet. I stare longingly at the scarves in shop windows and begin eying the stack of cardigans in my closet. I'm already itching to bring home the slow-cooker given to me by my food editor so I can start planning slow simmered soups and stews. I can't wait to get home from work, windblown and rosy cheeked, serve myself a big bowl of chilli con carne and wrap myself in a blanket in front of the television.


But alas, the summer weather here in New York has held steadfast, rarely dipping below the low 70's even at night. So with a bit of wishful thinking, I took to the streets last weekend in my favorite maxidress, assuming it might be my last chance to wear it. On my way through the West Village after brunch I came upon the most most adorable homemade lemonade stand. Little Lily was serving "pinkalicious" pink lemonade at just 25 cents a glass on one of the priciest blocks on Bleecker Street. Decked out in an all pink outfit, even her father got in on the fun in his pink polo shirt. The tip jar said that all pinkalicious tips would go towards Lily's college fund. Never one to keep an industrious future college student down, I dropped my one dollar tip in the jar after buying a lemonade for myself and a friend.


Lily earned every cent, pouring each glass herself, counting every quarter and properly storing it in her pink cash register (which made the most adorable "cha-ching!" sound). A quick gander into her tip jar revealed several dollar bills, a few fives, and an astonishing number of twenties. I'd never actually seen a lemonade stand, and never expected to see one in the city. This one had a line around the block and gave some major competition to the sno-cone vendor down the street. Despite being a promotion for the store Madewell, the poor guy couldn't even get a line for his sno-cones, and they were FREE. I've never been known to turn down a free treat, so after tossing back a pink lemonade I made my way to the sno-cone stand and ordered up (appropriately enough) a lemon flavored cone. Here's me and my sno-cone catching some shade, and here's to Indian summer and the lovey fall weather we can all look forward to:



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