If you follow me on Instagram, you probably know I started a new account called @pinkinnyc. It’s an account for Mazzy since everyone thought it was unfair Harlow had @insta2yearold and her big sister was left out to dry.
I hate to play favorites, especially so publicly(!), so I tried to think of something that might be meaningful for my five-year-old daughter.
I came up with PINK.
In New York City, since that’s where we happen to live.
Pink has been Mazzy’s favorite color for as long as I can remember. Whether she is in a superhero phase or a princess phase (or both at once), she has always been unwavering in her love of all things PINK.
Most mornings, on our way to school, Mazzy will suggest we play “I Spy”. I can almost guarantee the next thing she will say is, “I spy something PINK!” I’m scanning the backpacks, coats, buildings and store awnings for any small sliver of pink I can find before we even begin.
When the roles are reversed, she seems to spot the pink immediately. She also thinks whatever it is— a pink neon sign in a storefront window or graffiti on the side of a building— is beautiful just by virtue of being pink.
After I drop Mazzy off, I walk about twenty minutes to my office. I usually walk the same route, as fast as possible, maybe stopping for a cup of coffee on the way.
A few weeks ago, on my walk, I noticed a flower shop with a pink arrangement in the window. I took a picture to show Mazzy at the end of the day.
A few blocks later, I saw a vintage shop with an array of pink items in their window display. I took a picture of that as well.
A block later, I saw a girl hailing a cab with a pink bag dangling from her arm.
Then I started going through all my old photos and pulling out the pink pictures I’ve taken in the past. A pink Christmas tree in an East Village hair salon window, Mazzy in a pink dress outside the Plaza, macarons from Maison de Laduree in Soho and a pink dog walking down Broadway outside my old office.
I realized this is how Mazzy looks at NYC every day. She sees the pink everywhere she goes.
That evening, @pinkinnyc was born.
I posted photos for a week or so before I showed Mazzy.
“Oooooooooooh…. so pretty….. all the pictures are pink!”
I told her I was going to take pictures of pink things every day and show them to her when I got home from work.
We did this for about a week and then the following week, our nanny texted me a picture while I was at work. “Mazzy told me to take this photo and send it to you.”
Suddenly, my little experiment was not just something I was doing for my daughter, it was something we were doing together.
This past weekend, as we walked around the city together, Mazzy pointed out every pink thing she could find, just like usual. Only this time she told me snap a picture.
We found a window at Tiffany’s on Fifth Avenue.
A brownstone in the West Village.
A pair of shoes at Kate Spade.
When I spotted a window with a pink(ish) dress in it, Mazzy vetoed. “Don’t put that with my pictures,” she said. “It’s not pink enough.”
So there you go. @pinkinnyc is really one big game of pink-centric “I Spy” played between my five-year-old daughter and me in New York City. Things I find, things she finds and a few photos of Mazzy wearing pink mixed in there too.
After all, the girl has worn nothing but pink for the last four years.
Since I’ve started the account, I’ve switched up my walk to work, I’ve traveled to new parts of the city and wandered down random streets I never would have had reason to turn down before. I suddenly notice pink in places I’ve passed for years.
Although I’m pretty sure Mazzy never missed them.
If you see something pink in NYC, please tag @pinkinnyc and hashtag #pinkinnyc. For example, someone tagged me on this beautiful photo of Bryant Park covered in snow just this morning. She said, “I think Mazzy would like this.”
You bet she did.
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To see @mommyshorts (my regular account), click here to follow.
Love it 🙂 it’s so sweet that she is involved and that is become a daily game. <3
When I was a little girl I was just like mazzy. I loved everything pink. I didn’t even let my little sister say that it was her favorite color as well since pink was exclusively mine! As I grew older, I would buy pink clothes without thinking. Elle woods was my hero. At university they even called me pinky. Now I have a baby boy but I really want a baby girl next so the house would become an explosion of pink 🙂
I loved reading the story behind Mazzy’s intagram account!
You are such an amazing mother, coming up with fun ideas that turn into little “things” only you 2 share…
You always find ways to involve each one of your daughters individually, and now you,re introducing Mazzy to one of your passions: picture-taking!
I bet pink in santo Domingo doesn’t count? I live in the capital of the Dominican Republic and since it’s island living somehow there is a lot of pink everywhere (and other colors too, everything is just really colorful)
This made me feel teary because it is so sweet 🙂
So darn adorable. You really are a genius. Now I a) want to do the same thing with my kids and b) think that this needs to go nationwide or even worldwide. If I see pink in LA, you bet I’m gonna send it to my fav pinkinnyc girl! Imagine her little mind being blown by seeing a world covered in pink!
While my 4 year old daughter’s favorite color is not pink, this was her favorite word to say for the first 2 years of her life. Pink was the answer to any question posed to her. “What color is daddy’s (green) tractor?–“PINK”, thus a pink tractor birthday party that year. “What is her name (my sister in law)?”–“PINK”, henseforth she is known as Aunt Pink 🙂 I’m with Mazzy–Team Pink!
This makes my heart happy. I have a 6-month-old girl. I look forward to the day that we may play “I Spy Pink.”
You’re such a good photographer!!!
It is slightly weird that I follow two kids, but I absolutely adore “their” accounts. My son is the same way Mazzy is with pink except with red. He spots EVERYTHING red. Red lights. Red apples. Red boo boos. You name it.
Not that it’s needed but I’ll add my voice to the “keep the parking alongside the beach” contingent. Seems like if that is the overwhelming sentiment in town in should prevail, and it has been an historic characteristic of Compo that I’ve enjoyed as well.I always preferred Burying Hill Beach to Compo. I can remember walking along the shoreline under the high-tide mark past Peter Straub’s house and the other mansions along the beach to the seawall.
As an example, the term “BOGO” implies acquire 1, get one.