Since I was a child my parents took me to Stony Brook State Park every summer. I remember getting excited for the trip almost as if we were going to an amusement park or Disney World for that matter.
Stony Brook is one of upstate New Yorks best kept secrets. It is a gorge that you can literally hike and walk through. There are waterfalls, natural whirlpools.. AND at the very end of the gorge,( where you actually start your hike at and can picnic at) they dam off the creek and created 2 giant natural water swimming pools. The water is always flowing and it is like a natural infinity pool. You can hike up and swim under waterfalls and it is breath taking. I can't understand why this park hasn't been featured in Vogue or something, or by Valerie Delia on NY1! There is something about the fresh water that totally regenerates you, it makes you feel like you have been at a million dollar spa all day.  Maybe because the gorge is ancient. It is one of the post - glacial streams,,,, research has said that the gorge is actually older than the dinosaurs.

All you need is a car and a hotel for one night,,,because it's totally worth it.
Route 36, Dansville, New York
Park Office 585 335-8111
Jim Zimpfer, Park Manager 585 335-6598
http://nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/info.asp?parkID=102

I never know who to use for sending flowers. The last time when in a crunch I had to go for broke with no time to ask anyone and use 1-800-flowers. They should change that phone number to 1-800-sendsomeoneweeds!

So with that in mind, I found a florist in Brooklyn who rules ! They are super nice and helpful and are simply beautiful, nothing that Tammy Faye Baker would ask for, we're talking less is more.

They deliver in the city and around Brooklyn. Call and ask for owner Pheobe.
http://www.opaliaflowers.com/

BUILD IT GREEN

I CAN'T believe I never heard of this place before. What is it? Its a GIANT old warehouse filled with treasures. No clothing, it's not a "Salvation Army". Essentially you feel as if you are in a giant movie studio back lot. Everything there has been donated from Construction, Movie sets, Productions...  And its super cheap!! Rows and rows of doors, screen doors, mirrors, fixtures, lights, shelves, kitchen cabinets, furniture, wood , carpet, electronics, stuffed animals,  .... The day I was there I scored a brand new stuffed elephant and tons of cool old science beakers that had just been donated by NYU.  
Also, there is a room filled with gallons of unused paint, for $5.00. They have sections of blue's , green's , pinks,,,,,, and they provide mixing sticks so you can open up the paint to see if you like the color.

You can check out their website at www.bignyc.com
They are in Long Island City
3-17 26th Ave
Astoria, NY 11102

It helps if you have a car ,but if you don't find a friend that does and buy them an ice cream cone to take you.

ALSO, if you have stuff to get rid of ,, they take donations daily. Forget Home Depot for Misc. items, go to Build It Green with all of your measurements and recycle .

Yo!

Astrologyzone.com has the excellent monthly horrorscopes, I think they are pretty right on. Since it's the beginning of June , the new monthlys are up, so check them out peeps!

www.astrologyzone.com

 

xx

bw