A Picture....

of the Kitchen. Blogger's not letting me upload any others...

Better Late Than Never...

Here's a picture of the Tree!

Mamma Mia!

Well. It was better than "Be Kind Rewind".

The Women

Tonight we Redbox'd "The Women" (what can I say, out of the twelve or so local RedBoxes, none have Burn After Reading. We've been trying to get it since it came out and so far, no luck)... it was cute. There were some funny moments.

Next? Mamma Mia! We'll see just how bad Pierce Brosnan's singing voice is.

Also, you know it's the holidays when you find yourself really regreting your meal choices at the end of the day. Today I had two (yes, that's right *two*) hot dogs, some home made mac n' cheese and chips and dip. The hot dogs were on two separate occasions (one being a 50 cent wiener from IKEA of all places, the other a chili dog from Stewarts). I was half-way through the chili dog when I realized, "you already had one hot dog today!" The Nitrates! The nitrates! What was I thinking?

Oh, let's also not forget that I shared a frozen yogurt with Miss B.

After this week I think I'll have to be on an all vegetable diet for a month!

Valkyrie

Tonight I went to see Valkyrie with the Dad. I actually have to say it was more enjoyable than Benjamin Button.

Though, it was only a matter of time. Tom Cruise could only keep the eye patch on for so long, before Count von Stauffenberg would put in his "glass" eye.

QuickUpdate...

Sorry for the long time no blogging, but the folks are in town and we've been busy. Last night the Husband and I got to see Quantum of Solace! It was really good. I don't care what any of the critics say-- it is great, and I'll take a more Bourne-like-Bond any day of the week, rather than the Pierce Brosnan/Timothy Dalton cheese fests that the franchise had become.

Not to mention it was cool to see that the "Quantum" lapel pin logo for the supervillian group really looked like the same "Q" that is used by the QuickBurger chain.

Also--we saw a preview for Star Trek.

Sylar as Spock. It could work. We're totally going to see it.

Tonight's adventure was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with the Husband and the Dad. Okay this flick is like 2 hours and 45minutes long. It was good, and the acting was good but it was a bit depressing and though I know they made it critical to the story arc, I could have done without the whole story-within-a-story diary-reading framework. Brad Pitt could have just narrated the whole thing. And we really didn't need him to age backwards completely, couldn't he have just disappeared while still in his prime? Just a thought.

Next on the list? Valkyrie.

Updates.

Posts may be a little slow now that we're in the holiday home stretch. The folks are in town so we're pretty busy around these parts! Today we had a lovely lunch at Panera with Miss B. (but sadly, the chocolate chip cookie man did not come around with his free samples like usual... bummer) and then it was off to Wegman's for final Christmas food shopping. Quel Nightmare, as usual! But we had a good time despite the massive hordes of rabid grocery shoppers.

Tonight, after Baby hit the sack we redbox'd "The Mummy Tomb of the.... (whatever, whatever, the movie was so bad who cares what the title was)" Clearly Rachel Weisz reads her scripts before doing a movie, thus explaining why she didn't touch this one with a ten foot pole. And such a shame, Brendan Fraser can be so entertaining (though, he really should do an SJP and get that mole thing removed from his nose. It's distracting in HD).

Tomorrow? Toy shopping at Jazams! Cookie baking!

Happy Holidays, everybody!

The Gold Coast

So I'm always looking for tips on good books to read (not that I actually have time to read books, I'm still six months behind on magazines and other periodicals, but I like to aspire to read...) so I was checking in on one of the bloggers that I read and she noted that she's reading "The Gold Coast" by Nelson DeMille. Forgive me if Mr. DeMille (if that even is his real name) is the next Nicholas Sparks or John Grisham and I've just been living in a cave, but I'd never heard either of the author or the book, so I happily clicked on the link thinking perhaps I've got a nice non-fiction book that I could assess as being potentially read-worthy. You see, blogger struck me as the type to be somewhat hoity-toity (but in a good and fashionable way) and potentially a good recommender of books. When I saw the phrase "Gold Coast" I'm immediately thinking it is some kind of non-fiction tome about the history of British Colonialism in West Africa, or the like. Sadly, The Gold Coast was a former BOMC main selection and is a trashy paperback fiction tome about a "WASP-y priggish Wall Street lawyer" that somehow gets involved with a Mafia boss on Long Island's Gold Coast.

I guess there's just no judging a book by its title.

What the??

We're finally done with the kitchen (just about... pictures to follow) and with the impending arrival of the Mom and Dad we did a massive house cleaning and straightening last night. Up until last night we had our old kitchen table sitting in a corner in our dining room since July. During the bulk of the renovation it was our pantry table (i.e. where all of our dry/canned food goodies and paper plates and other acoutrement lived) and since we've started actually using the kitchen it was housing a bunch of plates and other sundry items that don't fit in the new kitchen but are going to be stored in the utility room once it is finished.

Last night, after Miss B. went to sleep, we cleared off the table and then the Husband took the table and chairs out to the barn.

This morning, after Miss B. had breakfast she walked into the dining room. I was still tidying up in the kitchen from Breakfast and I look into the dining room and I see her turn to where the table used to be and she was just shaking her head, sort of in disbelief. She turned to me with a look as if to say: "Mom, where did all that s**t go??" Then she waived goodbye to where the table used to be.

I guess I should have expected as much, when something has been around for a third of your life, you're a bit surprised when you wake up one day and its been relegated to the barn!

Ladies Day Out...

Today I was in the city for Mel's baby shower! It was a lovely affair hosted by Mel's sister Tiffany and our friend Gretchen. It was a lovely afternoon and great to see everybody, including Leda and Thisbe!

I Don't Want to be an Artisnal Cheesemaker!

Okay, so with my latest issue of Bon Appetite they had a recipe for making homemade ricotta. Today I come home and browse through the newest issue of Gourmet-- they have a recipe for homemade mozzarella! I'm going to be forced to try and make these because who doesn't love the challenge of cheesemaking without a home-dairy? Drat!

Some Scenes from New York

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

As I told the Husband, I want to like this movie. Mainly because it is visually interesting in that same way that all Wes Anderson movies are. Unfortunately, I just can't get past the cast and the acting. Maybe I'm getting closer. I actually almost watched it the whole way through tonight (of course, I was making candy the whole time so the level of distraction made it easier to deal with/ignore Bill Murray and Owen Wilson's goofy Kentucky accent.

Storm Watch!

We just watched Bloomberg's storm press conference. Note to Mike: Don't try to speak Spanish.

As always, the news is making more out of this storm system...but on our end, I had been planning to be out today and we really don't have too many lunch options. So, with no delivery options to pursue I scoured the fridge and we're having real comfort food: mini tatertots and pigs in blankets! Yay!!

The Wrestler, et. al.

Okay, has anybody else seen the commercials they've been running for "The Wrestler" with Mickey Rourke? I've heard the hype I know this is supposed to be a great movie and a terrific come-back role for Mickey, but really-- have you seen what's being put out there? The commercial focuses on Mickey Rourke (scary face-lift and all... but no chihuahua!), poor Marissa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood. The big drama shown in the clip? Marissa Tomei sitting in a car telling Mickey Rourke that he should "call" his daughter. In the background? A warbling Bruce Springsteen tune. UGH! This is not how you sell it!

Other assessments:

There seem to be a lot more movies opening on Christmas Day than usual this year. There's Valkyrie, The Spirit, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Marley & Me and Bedtime Stories. Revolutionary Road is mixing it up by hitting theaters on Boxing Day. What is this? Are we trying to make Christmas be like Memorial Day weekend? But really, no complaints, the more movies the better.

Valkyrie. Okay, I'll have to go see this because it is about Von Stauffenberg and at least the real story is interesting... but Tom Cruise? You can't take Tom Cruise seriously with an eye patch! He's Tom Cruise. He's not acting, he's being himself. Suddenly Jerry Maguire is a Nazi with a conscience? You have to figure this can't actually be a realistic historical drama (no matter how many British people they have playing the rest of the Nazi gang... let's not even discuss the whole accent versus accent and how come nobody is speaking German issue...) Given that Tom is in it surely the producers are going to want a Hollywood ending and in this version of the story the plot to assassinate Hitler will succeed! Von Stauffenberg might not have been able to do it right, but Tom Cruise sure will!

I'm looking forward to Benjamin Button and hope that it pans out as a good movie. I think it has potential.

Marley & Me? Haven't read the book, am generally disinterested in all attempts at a film career by Jennifer Anniston. I do like Owen Wilson, but this may have to be a Redbox flick.

Bedtime Stories? Again, this has potential-- it could be like Night at the Museum and let's face it after "Don't Mess with the Zohan" Adam Sandler could be exhibiting his belly button lint for 90 minutes and it would be more entertaining.

The Spirit. Hmpf. Who the hell is Gabriel Macht?

Movies I wanted to see but haven't had the chance yet:

A Christmas Tale
Man on a Wire
I've Loved You So Long
(I figure all of these will end up as renters)

(obviously...) Quantum of Solace (PLEASE STAY IN A THEATER SOMEWHERE WITHIN DRIVING DISTANCE THROUGH NEXT WEEK!)

Movies I want to see that aren't out yet?

The Reader (okay the relationship between Kate Winslet and a 15 year old is creepy, but it's got Ralph Fiennes in it!)

Revolutionary Road (looks like it could be a bore fest with the same period feel as
The Good Shepard but I'm taken in by the whole 'let's revisit Titanic' thing with Kate and Leo...)

Redboxers:

Mamma Mia! (Come on, it's a crowd pleaser)
Burn After Reading
The Women


Thoughts?

Updates...

So, still madly crafting and candy-ing.

The bulk of today, however, was spent out and about with the little lady. We visited The Mall at Short Hills (where I have to say, it is usually a breeze to find parking, thankfully! Today we got a spot right by the land bridge from the parking deck into Neiman Marcus, which is great because it spits you out on the second floor relatively close to a nice baby changing area and large ladies lounge.... not to mention the shoe department which was having a big sale!) After cruising through the racks at NM, we headed down to Tiffany and then on to Johnny Rockets for lunch courtesy of the Dad. Johnny Rockets was tasty and fun but it is sad that they have discontinued the boneless wings. I'm sure it is because they finally ran out of all of the frozen boneless wings that somebody ordered 6 years ago, but still they were always so good! Anyway, Miss B. had a kid's size cheeseburger and fries and I had a chili dog. For the past few days I've been dealing with some tummy issues and for whatever reason if I attempt to counteract such issues by ingesting really bad food it usually works! Now? Feeling much better! Nothing says a cure for indigestion like a chili dog! (Scary, I know).

We also visited the Gap Kids, Saks, Bloomingdale's and Janie and Jack. Overall the mall was in pretty decent shape-- not too crowded or crazy. A good day was had!

Sorry no new posts!

It's that crazy time before the holidays that's been filled with even more crafting than usual. I've got three knitting projects going, I've been making a bunch of candy and just generally trying to get things organized and set up for next week! Will post more when I can!

Love & Kisses-
Wonder!

Hmpf.

Miss B. may be watching a little too much of Kung Fu Panda (or KFP, for short) as today when we were in the kitchen she changed the channel from Top Chef to the Blackbelt Channel.

I don't really understand why it is that we have "The Blackbelt Channel" but we do. That and about 6,000 other strange and useless cable channels.

Someone, please stop me!

Much of today was spent reorganizing my closet. Which, in an odd twist of Gibb-related fate, the Mom was also doing. I do this every so often because I am truly OCD. That coupled with the fact that my closet is literally that-- a closet (not much bigger than about six square feet (if that)). But I have used my space wisely and have all of my non-hanging clothes packed into 10 plastic storage bins and a laundry basket (the bins being stacked in three rows). I started this endeavor in order to make room in my dresser for some pajamas and jeans that always seemed to just be lying on one of the chairs in our bedroom, for lack of any place else to put them. I figured if I cleared out enough room in the closet bins, dresser items could be moved to the bins and the clothes on the chair could go into the dresser! All perfectly logical.

I basically touched every piece of clothing I own today (other than that which is in the separate hanging closet... that will be a challenge for another day). May I just say, to all of my friends and family? If you ever see me attempting to purchase another t-shirt again STOP ME. The only exception to this rule? White t-shirts. They're allowed, so long as I vow to throw out whatever other white t-shirt I have that has become totally dingy. White t-shirts are on a strict buy-to-replace system. Otherwise, I don't think I'll need another T-shirt until the next millennia. I have t-shirts in every color of the rainbow (and more black t-shirts than you can shake a stick at). My usual weakness is that said t-shirt is "soft" (god help me if I'm exposed to modal!) Yeah, okay. I don't need any more.

Sweaters? Sweaters come in a close second to the t-shirts, but for the fact that apparently in my not too distant past I must have had some sort of body dismorphic disorder because 50% of my sweaters are waaay too large for me. (I then, apparently, had some sort of body-dismorphic shift where I believed I was the size of a 12 year old because I also have an inordinate number of Petite Bateau t-shirts in sizes which would appear to barely fit Sophie). Is it the washing machine that has shrunk all of these items or did I really think I could squeeze into them? I even found a hat that was too small.... what was I thinking??

Pants? I have more black capri pants than Audrey Hepburn had. Unfortunately, many of them seem to have sprung from the loins of the Gap and when washed take on a crumpled look and tend to attract lint like nobody's business.

I have now reorganized my tubs so that much of the items are packed away by season and one tub specifically has my ever growing collection of items from Theory. Leave it to me to have one top in four different colors. The inherent problem here is that I can't see all of the stuff that I have at any one time so I am left to try and maintain a mental catalogue of my wardrobe in my head. I either have to remember what I have and where it is located at all times (thus leaving little room in my brain for important things like my address and today's date) or I have to dress like Einstein and just keep wearing the same pair of jeans and one of three sweaters that is on top of the pile in the laundry basket.

Thankfully, I have restocked the sweaters on top of the pile so the locals in these parts have probably seen my pink wrap sweater for the last time this season.

I don't even want to think about taking on the shoe closet!

MegaMillions!

The MegaMillions Jackpot is over $200,000,000. The other day I bought a ticket at Wegman's against my better judgment. Everytime I get a lotto ticket from Wegman's it is always a lame number, one you can tell, just by looking at it will never come out, like "5, 19, 36, 37, 54 and Mega Ball 55!" Or as the Husband noted, the ticket will include symbols and things like Pi. You can't win the lottery with 5, 7, *, 3.14, the symbol for infiniti and MegaBall 12.

Wish me luck.

Photos!

Bread!

Yesterday we made the New York Times No-Knead Bread



Thanks to the Mom who directed us to the recipe (and who provided the Le Creuset Dutch Oven!) As the Husband noted, it could have used "more salt", it was tasty with butter and had a great crust and internal consistency. Next step? Trying to make it sourdough!

Ring Composition in Indo-European Poetics.

So, today is the Husband's birthday. Yay! Birthday shout-out. The Husband also asked for a tip of the hat for his unique and enduring ability to seek out odd and entertaining films at strange hours of the evening (see prior posts re: "Sin Noticias de Dios", btw, has anyone figured out yet that I just like saying/typing that title?) of course, this talent is bolstered by the fact that we appear to have 2,000 cable channels (but usually only five of which are actually showing films at any given time).

In a related matter, 410e9 has asked for an explanation of the Husband's current "status" update on Facebook. The floor is open for a guest post.

Update on Sin Noticias de Dios...

So when the Husband was giving me the summary of the end of Sin Noticias de Dios the other day, he said that at the end there are epilogues about the various characters. In the movie, Penelope Cruz plays Carmen Ramos who is an agent of the devil that has been sent back to earth as a woman, after having been a male gangster in a prior life. The Husband tells me at the end of the movie they have a picture of what Carmen looks like now, after being promoted to Circle 10 of Hell and getting to be a man again. The Husband specified only that "they showed a picture of some Spanish guy". Miss B. and I watched the movie again tonight-- "some Spanish guy?" Hello Javier Bardem! Not to mention-- what an interesting twist since now Javier and Penelope Cruz are a romantic item!

More Curtains!

Yes, that's a giant-sized wooden hand from Indonesia on my windowsill. It's for mail!

Always Be Closing.

A list of Alec Baldwin's five best lines. I don't know that I agree with this compilation, but it's fun to read.

Gone in Sixty Seconds

Three Oscar Winners. Scary.

Do You Speak Bocce?

Kudos to Lide Just Keeps Getting Weirder for her blogging lexicon! I love TBBGIIMC and ECIZ!!

And the stockings were hung by the chimney with care!

It's 10pm, do you know where your crafter is?

Why she's in the kitchen making some curtains! Yup, tonight's project was curtains for the dining room.

We have three windows in the dining room, two of which are kind of half-size and the room doesn't get that much light as it is (despite having windows on two sides...). The Mom had graciously made us curtains shortly after we moved in, but recently I've changed the chair covers on our dining room chairs and the chandelier shades on our lighting fixtures and needed new curtains to match. For whatever reason, when we first moved in I thought using cranberry for my color scheme would be a good idea. Looking back now, clearly cranberry chair covers and light shades was not helping to make the room any lighter (in fact, the damn chandelier shades kind of gave it really weird tavern feel, which while period appropriate just wasn't working anymore). Now we've got a beige and blue scheme going on.

I had been looking for some sort of sheer thing to just drape on the windows but I hadn't had any luck (with my lame attempt at crusing through Linens N' Things, Target and Country Curtains on-line.) The other day though, I noticed a fabric remnant that I bought ages ago at Pierre Deux. It's a toile (what else is new?) and it's cream and navy with a wacky ballooning scene on it. I figured I'd give it a go!

Luckily I had some plain white cotton fabric that I was able to use as a lining and I already had the tension rods! Not bad! I still have one more to make, but it's all cut out and ironed and ready to go, I'll just have to sew it up tomorrow. After this? More little curtains-- for our foyer and the library.

Ladies' Day Out!

I'm back from quite a day out! I got up this morning, made two quiches and headed on my way. Picked up Mel in Westchester and then it was on to Stamford for lunch with Leda and Gretchen! We had a lovely ladies' lunch at Leda's (love the alliteration!) with Leda's famous feta cheese triangles and all sorts of goodies. Conversation was fun and festive, and then it was off to the Ridgefield Theater Barn to see Thisbe in The Secret Garden!

The show was great and there were lots of Thisbe's friends and family in the audience so it was a nice chance to get to see everybody! Ridgefield is really a lovely town and it was fun too to get to drive through Wilton on the way and see a bit of snow covered New England (quite a nice change from the refineries on 95 that started out the early part of the day's travelling!) (Thanks for driving, Leda!) And, thanks to Mel and Gretchen we had tasty desserts to snack on at the Theater Barn at intermission-- Thisbe had said we should bring food and bring food we did! I didn't see anybody else there with Italian cookies, gourmet chocolate and a ricotta cheesecake ;)

On the way home I stopped in at Chipotle for dinner and when I got home I had a smiling Miss B. and Husband waiting for me! Yay! The Husband and I promptly fell asleep for an extended "nap" after Miss B. went to sleep. Awaking four hours later to "Wake up and go to bed" (but not before having a few Hostess Donettes, because nothing says post-midnight snack like a mini powdered donut).

Sin Noticias de Dios

or, "No News from God" (also released in the US as "Don't Tempt Me"). A wacky Spanish movie that the Husband and I started watching late, late last night. It had a very early-Almodovar feel to it (helped by Victoria Abril). I liked it! Though I couldn't stay awake to the end, so thanks to the Husband for this morning's plot recap!

Wall-E

Okay. We Redbox'd "Wall-E" this evening. Have to say--- not loving it. It was more an exercise for animators than entertainment... it clearly didn't seem to be designed for kids, at least not young ones. You've got to have colors, music, excitement. A modified R2D2 hanging out on a bleak looking earth with a cockroach just isn't doing it. Two high points? (i) When Wall-E left Earth's orbit he hit Sputnik and (ii) Signourney Weaver as the voice of the Axiom Spaceship (a great nod to her role in Galaxy Quest where her "one job" on the Galaxy Quest spaceship was to repeat everything that the ship's computer said). Otherwise? Not a big hit with Miss B. or me... kind of like the time I went to see Heavy Metal with the Dad and thought it would be a kid's movie. Lesson to take away? Just because its a cartoon doesn't mean its for kids. Other lesson to learn? If it is a cartoon it *should* be geared to kids (take a lesson from that whoever directed "Renaissance").

Proof...

That even a toddler knows who People's "Sexiest Man Alive" is

and



proof that, to said toddler, "Kung Fu Panda" is more interesting. ;)

Regardless, we do love Hugh Jackman!

ps. check out that handmade Poncho!

More Fake Food!

Check these out...

Make Mine a Dagwood!



















Is that real Swiss cheese??














Breakfast! Thats eggs, bacon and pancakes (we're working on some syrup...)













And, ravioli and a nice salad for dinner!

Hmmmpf...

Did someone say "Let's Make Candy?"

Tonight's Dinner!

Tonight's Dinner was Chicken with Goat Cheese and Basil from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook, served with couscous and a vegetable medley I crafted myself!

The veggies were pretty tasty-- I sliced up zucchini and diced two large shallots. I sauteed the zucchini and shallots in olive oil with garlic. I then added a hand full of cherry tomatoes, a bit of red wine vinegar and some balsamic vinegar. I sauteed the veggies on medium heat, covered. Once the zucchini started to get soft I added a little bit of the goat cheese that was left over from the chicken dish, together with some salt, pepper and italian seasoning.

I served the vegetables over the couscous, with the chicken on the side. It was a great dish and very quick to make! Strangest part of dinner? Sophie actually had couscous in her hair by meal's end....

Redbox!

The Mom and Dad had been highly recommending the Red Box and I tried it last week (Hancock) and rented Step Brothers from it today. Can't beat movies for $1.00! And you can reserve your movie on-line in advance and then just pick it up at your local dispenser!

I would not, however, recommend watching Step Brothers with commentary. The movie was okay (god knows it was better than Don't Mess with the Zohan) but the commentary is *really*, *really* lame.