Clear the Mantel: It's time for Shutterfly Holiday Cards

(Disclosure: I don't normally write posts in the spirit of advertising, but since this is a product I actually use and love, I'm making an exception. :)

A few years ago, JC made me a card on Shutterfly.com from the pumpkin for father's day. I was so impressed by the quality of it, that I... well, that years later, I remember it was from Shutterfly!

(Actual card featured in a dramatic re-enactment)

Good looking card, good lookin' kid.

Having been a Kodak gallery household in the past, we now only purchase products from Shutterfly because they just look better. Also, the prices are amazing -- the Folded Greeting Cards cost under a buck fifty, and look way better than anything from your local card shop. And everyone at work knows I cherish my annually-updated coffee mugs:

Year three is at the office, waiting to greet me on Monday morning

Really, this place has good quality, good service and good prices. You can't beat it. We've bought ceramic mugs, thermal mugs, cards, magnets and for the past two years, we made our holiday cards there. And as soon as the stork leaves us with baby #2, this year's card is off to Shutterfly as well. Less than 4 weeks left to go!

If you're interested in getting some photo cards or gifts this holiday season, check them out. Need some links? Kabam! Invitations, holiday cards, Desk calendars, Hanukkah cards, Christmas ornaments and more.

One more incentive? JC, my deal-finder-extraordinaire, says that all cards are currently 20%-30% off (as of 11/19/10). Free shipping with $30 purchase, code SHIP30.

Shutterfly Folded card from 2008... has it really been that long?

Tax Lot Photographs

If you're a fan of "old new york," you might get a kick out of the City's "tax lot photographs," which are now are now available for sale. For $80 total, you can have a black and white 8x10 of your building of choice taken around 1940 ($35) and a color 8x10 taken in the mid-80s ($45). There is also mention of being able to view low-res images of the Manhattan collection for free if you make a visit to the archives.

From the site:

Between 1939 and 1941, and again in the mid-1980s, the city photographed every house and building in the five boroughs. Photographic prints of these unique images are now available for purchase.

Link: Tax Lot Photographs

The Municipal Archives is located at:
31 Chambers Street, Room 103 · New York, NY 10007
Open to the public Monday through Thursday 9 AM to 4:30 PM, Friday 9 AM to 1 PM

Warbler Photos

JC's first encounter with the Black-Throated Blue Warbler on Tuesday, shots taken via camera phone... unfortunately, there was no surprise in what you'd expect from a 2+ year old camera phone!


Yesterday morning, JC got another chance! She grabbed the camera and Pumpkin and darted outside to grab these shots. Success!




As I was coming home yesterday, JC told me to "see if our friend was still outside." I really expected to find a half-dressed homeless man. But instead I saw this gorgeous warbler! I grabbed the "big camera" out of hibernation and snapped off a few.

Vintage photos from the American Museum of Natural History

The American Museum of Natural History is a great place to see history come to life (well, not "Night at the Museum" alive, the more abstract sense of the expression). We've been taking pumpkin there since she was just about 3 months old. She now loves watching the kids as much as anything else. JC and I love going there and just spending a few hours strolling around.

I'm also a sucker for anything that includes historical New York as a supporting character. From Catcher in the Rye to Coming to America, I'm in love with reading/seeing the changes this great city goes through. Every few years major changes happen -- construction, gentrification of neighborhoods, etc -- that will disorient you if you've been away for a while.

When I saw this link of Historical AMNH, I went all weak in the knees. The shots are beautiful and it's great to see another side of an old favorite. It's like looking at your parents' wedding pictures. That right there was one handsome musuem.

The picture above of the bathysphere is from the "exhibitions" set of photos. A bi-plane and whale skeletons pave the way for the whale that currently dominates the space in the Hall of Ocean Life. This picture is from June of 1935, long before even my pop roamed these halls as a kid.

Picturing the Museum [via Curious Expedition]