On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Chick, my mom, and I took the train into New York City for a little trip to SoHo. The air was crisp and appropriately cold – not like the previous 70 degree days. And, oh! the light! Since the late autumn sun is so low in the sky, there were sharp rays of light beaming down onto the city streets creating beautiful, angular shadows.

We decided to go on a city adventure because this past summer our local fabric shop closed its doors (sad, yes?), and, since then, I’ve been itching to see some beautiful fabric in person. I love Purl‘s on-line fabric shop and idea blog, so I decided we should go there first, and then we popped into Kate’s Paperie to gaze at some beautiful printed paper. We meandered down Spring Street, stopping to look into store windows and to eat a faux fancy lunch where we drank our water with lemon slices out of wine goblets. I bought the above stack of fabric and sheets of paper, and my mom bought a few holiday art supply gifts for Chick and Mouse.

The train was empty for the ride home, and as I closed my eyes and listened to the clanking of the train I held Chick’s hand tightly in mine. When I squinted my eyes open, I saw that her other hand was gripping her brand new train ticket as she stared at the blurry window snap shots of houses and trees. I’m pretty sure she was wondering about the children who lived in those houses. What were their parents cooking for dinner? And, did they get their medicine at that exact drug store? Just as I did when I was almost five.

I made some more felt ornaments when I returned home. I recently bought some beautiful hand dyed felt squares that were deemed “seconds,” and I have fallen in love with the light, woolly gray and soft brown colors. I really do think the gray felt likes hanging around with that red stitching. They’ve become good friends.

xo e