A Lovely Day

January 1, 2025 /

Goodness you guys, I had the most wonderful birthday yesterday. It truly was A Lovely Day. Ready for a bunch of pictures? Here we go.

The day started when I awoke maybe an hour before anyone else. I came downstairs to a decorated table, with flowers and gifts. If you’re curious, the gifts are AWESOME. Wine, a wonderful cookbook (which I will share when I’ve tried a couple of recipes), a gift card for a massage (!!), and two memoirs, for Ina Garten and Kelly Bishop.

After I finished my final yoga session for 2024 (which was actually a meditation and really, JUST what I needed), I had breakfast and then Ted and Maya came downstairs. I opened gifts, and then we got dressed and went to San Francisco, because YAY, my cold has mellowed out enough that I can function in the real world again. We went to San Francisco, to the Legion of Honor, to see the Mary Cassatt exhibit. I love Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art, but wasn’t terribly familiar with her work. Enough to tell Elisabeth that I think the painting above her mantle reminds me of her work, enough to say, I like her work, I recognize some of it, but not more than that.

I expected to like it. I didn’t expect to love it. I didn’t expect to be so moved by her work. From the Legion of Honor website:

Too often dismissed as a sentimental painter of mothers and children, Mary Cassatt (1844–1926) was in fact a modernist pioneer. Her paintings, pastels, and prints are characterized by restless experimentation and change. Cassatt was the only American to join the French Impressionists, first exhibiting with the group at Degas’s invitation in 1879, and quickly emerged as a key member of the movement. Alongside scenes of women at the opera, visiting friends, and taking tea, Cassatt produced many images of “women’s work” — knitting and needlepoint, bathing children, and nursing infants. These images suggest parallels between the work of art making and the work of caregiving. The exhibition calls attention to the artist’s own processes of making — how she used her brush, etching needle, pastel stick, and even fingertips to create radical art under the cover of “feminine” subject matter.

You guys, this woman was a badass. Sure, she was born into a wealthy family in Pennsylvania, but she eschewed the expectations of her family and class, to marry and have children, and she became an artist. She moved to Paris at age 22, being fed up with the artistic training she was receiving. There, she eventually (after coming back to the US, then back to France) fell in with the Impressionist artists there. At every turn, her determination overcame the obstacles put in front of her by her sex. Women should be married and have kids, not work. Women artists should only work with particular mediums and subjects. She learned to work within these confines and painted subjects within her own gender and class. In her work, she employed the amazing techniques and perspectives of the other Impressionist artists, and so often, her subjects gave dignity and worth to women’s work. The work of caring for a home and for children, both the work of the upper class families and working class women who worked for them in these homes.

I also didn’t expect to be interested in the process of putting her art together. I’m lazy that way, not being artistically inclined myself. But it was fascinating. I loved seeing all of the iterations and sketches, the amazing process that went into her work.

This exhibit was in Philadelphia first, where it originated. The exhibit includes a short film about her work that you can watch, here. The exhibit is in San Francisco for a couple more weeks. I don’t know that it’s going anywhere else, which is unfortunate, because goodness, it’s worth a visit. I loved it.

After that wonderful morning, we went to lunch at a fancy restaurant that Ted had visited with a friend, but was new to Maya and me, Spruce. It’s an amuse bouche type place, if you know what I mean. Can I say, I love that kind of place? They had a two course pre-fix menu for lunch. I had what I thought was going to be a clam chowder, based on this description:

Littleneck Clam and Young Potato Chowder

OMG you guys (sorry, this is my third ‘you guys’ and I am officially obnoxious), it was so amazing. They brought out a bowl with Greek yogurt and potatoes, then poured over a bisque of clams, saffron, and I’m not sure what else. AMAZING.

Ted and Maya both had the grilled little gem Caesar salad, which was also delicious.

For our mains, Maya had Salad Nicoise, Ted had Duck, and I had Chicken with pears, bleu cheese, prosciutto, and walnuts. AMAZING.

After a beautiful day in our beautiful city, we came home. We went for a walk to help digest that wonderful food. Maya played her game, Ted and I watched one of my favorite (very problematic) movies, The Philadelphia Story. We didn’t get to the champagne and fruit tart that Ted had bought to celebrate, so those will make a nice start to the New Year.

It was a lovely day.

30 Comments

  • Lisa’s Yarns

    January 1, 2025 at 5:23 am Reply

    Happy belated birthday! I am glad that you had such an amazing day! That exhibit sounds amazing. I am not familiar with this artist but love impressionists so will have to seek out her work in the future. Her paintings of motherhood are so dear and convey so much emotion!

    Your fancy lunch looks awesome, too! How wonderful to spend the day with your 2 favorite people, Ted and Maya!

    I hope the year to come is a wonderful one!!

  • nance

    January 1, 2025 at 5:55 am Reply

    I’m so glad you had a lovely birthday, J. You deserved it.

    Your day sounds (and looks!) perfect. It would be the kind of birthday I’d enjoy as well. I wasn’t all that familiar with Cassatt’s work, despite there being several (7) of her paintings here in the Cleveland Museum of Art. I’m not big on the Impressionists, but I can appreciate them.

    The food looks wonderful. I’d have had a hard time deciding between the duck and your chicken! I love places like that with really flavourful offerings.

    Happy New Year, my friend. May 2025 be a good one for us all.

  • Maya

    January 1, 2025 at 6:46 am Reply

    What a perfect birthday! Happy Birthday again, Julie!

    Thank you for opening my eyes to Cassatt–women artists are so badass.

    (This is funny, but your first photo of the fancy restaurant looked a lot like a Hopper painting 🙂 )

    • J

      January 1, 2025 at 9:58 am Reply

      Oh, Hopper? Funny. She was a badass for sure. I updated my post to include a video that the museum had showing at the exhibit, but I had forgotten about yesterday when I wrote the post.

  • Alexandra

    January 1, 2025 at 8:48 am Reply

    Congrats on your birthday and wow, what a lovely way to start and finish the day with so much love and thought, and lovely food!

    And I remember seeing a Mary Cassatt exhibit here in Quebec City a few years back now, well, before covid for sure. I think they have one or two of her paintings here as well? And yes, I love her work, so pure an intimate.

  • Margaret

    January 1, 2025 at 11:10 am Reply

    Happy Belated Birthday! It sounds perfect. I love Mary Cassatt; as a French major/teacher, I became familiar with all the impressionists and she was one of my favorites. I too enjoy small plates and variety at meals. It’s fun to try a bunch of dishes!

  • Tobia | craftaliciousme

    January 1, 2025 at 11:24 am Reply

    Happy belated birthday to you.
    It sounds like you had such a lovely day.
    Going to a museum on a birthday is such a fun thing to do. I have done it before and I think I want to do it this year too. Thanks for the inspiration.
    Also your food looks so elevated.

  • Elisabeth

    January 1, 2025 at 11:24 am Reply

    Happy Birthday!
    This literally sounds like the perfect day. It’s so wonderful when a birthday ends up turning out so well. Good food! Art! Time with people you love! Special gifts that hit the mark.
    I had warm fuzzies the whole time I was reading this post <3

    I hope the year ahead is wonderful for you and your family.

  • Daria

    January 2, 2025 at 1:03 pm Reply

    How interesting it is to learn about Mary Cassatt! And what a wonderful way to spend your birthday! I think going to a museum or a play or a concert is a lovely way to spend a birthday. I went to Taikoproject, the drumming troupe, and it was fenomenal. The restaurant looks so yummy, too. Happy belated, many wishes of health and happiness.

    • J

      January 3, 2025 at 7:01 am Reply

      Thanks Daria! I remember when you went to see the drumming troupe, what an amazing experience! I agree, a museum is a wonderful way to spend a birthday. I’ve done it quite a few times in the past, pretty much any time there is an exhibit in town that I want to see, I will choose my birthday to do it.

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