Thank you, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce

So here I sit, with a hand up to no good, after an operation that went well, but was a bit more complicated than first assumed. No long explanations, but they had to cut quite a bit in my hand, resulting in an impressive embroidery of stitches and some healing time ahead of me, that I just have to patient about. I type this  v e r y   s l o w l y  with my left index finger and lots af tpyos typos.

You can imagine my delight, when I discovered that seasons 5 and 6 with my old pals from the struggling ad agency Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce were available on Netflix. Thank heaven. So while I wait for a bit more strength (right now I can't even squeeze a bit of toothpaste out, or put a rubber band in my hair) and mobility, and getting the stitches out, I while the afternoon away in their fabulous company.

Here is my hand, and it's hoping to get better

Tomorrow I'm going to the hospital to have a small procedure done in my right hand - I am having many years of carpal tunnel syndrome seen to, by a clever surgeon. Here is what he drew on my hand, when he explained the procedure to me! I hope he doesn't have to cut that much. No, seriously, it was just to explain something with nerves, tissue and ..... something? Well, I make a point of trusting people who seem to know their business, so I am going to let doctor Ove from Rigshospitalet do his thing. And I really, really hope it helps.

It is a bit unclear how long it will be, before I can type or use a mouse or a pen again, but I hope it won't be long. The bright side is, that I will be absolutely forbidden to do any housework or heavy lifting for several days, ha ha!

Meet James Gulliver Hancock; a guy with a plan

While slowly sorting out the many photos, memories and impressions from our US trip, I google this and that. That's how I came across James Gulliver Hancock, a Brooklyn based Australian illustrator, who does tons of very impressive, commercial work for a long list of clients. What he also does, which is what caught my eye, is a lovely blog of sort of architectural on-the-move-doodles, drawings and watercolors of All The Buildings in New York - yes, that is what he calls it! And he has gotten quite far in his attempt to draw every single one of them, as you can see. I love the way some of them are really fast and sketchy, and others are brimming with details and layered colors - you can just see how he loves the details.

(He also published a book of many of these drawings, you can find it on the blog. Also you should check out another one of his projects: Tom & James Draw - drawings he makes in collaboration with his younger brother, who has Downs Syndrome. They are just beautiful!)

Oh, I wish I could draw like that! I don't have the patience to stand till long enough to practice however, so I love my camera. And I am busy working on the piles of photos I brought home with me. And even though I love it here in my green, quiet garden, I long a little bit back to noisy New York, which was our last and longest stop. I wish I was sitting in the sun outside the Williamsburg Creamery in Brooklyn, having an ice cream with my son and my husband.

We stayed on Driggs Avenue, and the Creamery was just around the corner - and here is a neighbourhood building I actually recognize from James Gulliver Hancocks blog; it is on Wythe Avenue between 1st and 2nd Street, and right next to the playground we used to go to.

James Gulliver Hancock / from the blog 'All The Buildings in New York'

Back in Denmark again

My family returned from five weeks of intensive travel in the US, a few days ago.
We had a fantastic time!

We traveled the East coast from Key West - as you know, the southernmost town in the continental USA - up to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and even took a little trip further up North, to Ogunquit, Maine. That means that we drove about 2780 kilometres (or 1727 miles), and traveled through eleven states. I took 4379 pictures, to be very precise, that need to be sorted out. That is a monumental task, and god knows when I am done. But I will definitely turn some of them into stories here; just hang on. They will pop up over the summer, is my plan. 

In ten days time, I am having some surgery done in my right hand (I am one of the many sufferers of carpal tunnel syndrome) and hopefully it will fix many years of discomfort in my palms and fingertips. It also means that I will have to take yet another break from the keyboard and mouse, but I hope it won't be too long, because I have lots of stories and big and small travel tips for you...!

Here are a couple of Instagram favourites from the trip:

From top left: Early morning, South Beach, Miami / 'AMOR' by Robert Indiana, National Gallery of Art sculpture garden, Washington / Miami deco style marquee / Jumping on Ogunquit Beach on memorial day / Palmetto leaf grasshopper, Miami / Yummy snack style Cuban summer food, Key West

From top left: Jello. Such a very strange concept for a Scandinavian! / The Apollo Theatre, Harlem, NYC - where we went to see Pharrell Williams, and that was SO fantastic! / Strange and beautiful creature, Sea World, Orlando, Florida / Lincoln Memorial, Washington / My son on his fifth birthday in an almost empty Six Flags park, in Springfield, Massachusetts / Warrens Lobster House, Kittery, Maine. One of my favourite restaurants!