Lots of Excitement!

We've had quite the exciting weekend!

First off, yesterday we had a family lunch at Ruby Foo's in Times Square...




















Then Miss B. took a stroll down Broadway....



Check out that hat! Made by moi from a pattern in Itsy Bitsy Hats... Miss B.'s fans liked the hat.
















to get to The Lion King!


















Here's Miss B. at Intermission-- she had a great time!












Then, today, we went to Terhune Orchards for Apple Picking!!!

A Whirlwind Day!

Today, Miss B. and I had quite the afternoon! Thanks to Laura at the Shorehouse we found out about the Maureen O'Brien Cats and Dogs Thrift Store at the Monmouth County ASPCA. There were some great finds at the shop, including, ties for fifty cents a piece (great for crafts! and we did find three Hugo Boss ties!), some neat costume jewelry and some other goodies (to be named later!)

After hitting up the thrift store we checked out the ASPCA animal facility and it was really lovely. Laura's description of a "park like setting" is totally true! There is a pond, a large covered area for dogs to run around in when making visits with potential adoptive families and really nice accomodations for each animal. This was the nicest animal shelter I've ever seen. If you're in the Monmouth county area and looking to adopt a pet, I would definitely recommend making a visit! Luckily for the Husband, the only dog I would have considered bringing home was a tiny Chihuahua, but he didn't seem interested in Miss B. or myself (maybe we should have had Taco Bell for lunch!)

After our visit to the ASPCA, it was time for a snack, and what better snack than:

fries and a milk shake at Bobby's Burger Palace?

After filling up with sugar and salt, we drove over to the beach near Long Branch.
Miss B. had a great time running around on the sand and chasing the waves.

Afterwards, we drove home through Monmouth county and at one point even encoutered two deer (with antlers!) how random is that?

Anyhoo, a great day was had by all!

Here's a

really cool post about Photography Tips found at Fly Through Our Window.

Another Mom Rite of Passage...

Today I had to sit with Miss B. trying to comb out her first ever giant ball o'hair-tangle. And with a head of hair like Miss B. I was afraid I'd either have to a) cut the tangle out or b) turn her whole head into dreadlocks. Thankfully, I improvised with a little Frederic Fekkai conditioner (which became my own psuedo "No More Tangles" product) and a giant comb, we worked it all out.

The Disney Vault

Okay, what's up with that? We've got tickets to see The Lion King with Miss B. So I thought I'd pick up the DVD for us to watch beforehand so that she would be familiar with the story. We go to Barnes and Noble, they don't have it. We go to the Disney Store... we ask for it and are told in hushed, whispered tones that it's in "The Vault" and thus, completely unavailable. I'm told that it might be available again, in a few years. And, more importantly, that for $24.95 I can order Snow White, who is temporarily out of the Vault (like a Mormon during their mission year) but will be going back in soon.

Now I had heard of this phenomenon years ago when Ana worked at the Disney Store in high school. I clearly recall when an old person asked her when "Song of the South" would be released from the Vault.

Okay, Disney big-wigs can you explain to me the point here? I'm sure you're hoping to capture some great market with lucrative releases from the Vault, but my kid will have out grown this stuff by then and for now you've just lost a $24.95 sale. Hmpf.

Check This Out!

Early color photos of Russia taken before the revolution. Pretty cool!

Okay So,

how lame is it that none of my local Barnes & Noble's will be open at Midnight for The Lost Symbol!?! Come on, it's Dan Brown! I've been waiting for months for escapist-crappy-psuedo-historical-fiction-brain-candy! Lame!

You Know You Are the Parent of a Toddler When...

It takes you three days to notice that the "little orange light" on the side of your computer next to the CD-ROM isn't actually a light, but is a stray piece of day-glo Play-Doh.

Hats!

So recently, I've been making a lot of hats. This all started, of course, a while ago with the "Itty Bitty Hats" book. I make tons of Hats for Miss B. and now I've been expanding my hat repertoire. After my trip to The Whole Nine Yarns (check out their blog!) in Kennesaw, while I was at the ancestral homestead earlier this summer, I started two exciting hat projects in earnest. The first is the "Hartsfield" hat, a free pattern from TWNY, worked in Louisa Harding's Kimono Angora a beautiful angora blend. It didn't take too terribly long to make and it is wonderfully soft. I'm looking forward to wearing this in the fall/winter!

The next project was a really neat cable knit hat from a pattern that I got at TWNY's Christmas in July event. It's called an "Unoriginal Hat" and it is worked in Malabrigo Chunky a hand dyed merino wool.

Unfortunately the pattern and the gauge were not necessarily true to each other. This hat was supposed to be a "ladies medium" and it basically is an infant hat (!) Go figure. But I've ordered another skein of Malabrigo and am going to try it again, larger and on bigger needles. This time it will probably come out big enough to fit on a pumpkin!

I'm also working on the "Loopy" hat pattern from Itty Bitty Hats for Miss B.... pictures to follow!

Imitation...

is the sincerest form of flattery, right?

I liked this picture....

















So I elected to paint one of my own...

Wow

Today has been exciting. We went to Sears and bought two-years worth of compactor bags.

How Cool is This?

Check Out Cathe Holden's latest project: Crafting with People at Just Something I Made.

Chop-Sticks, The Wa and Chocolate Pie.

Today we went to Six Flags in Jackson, New Jersey. It's kind of shabby. Granted, I felt less like I was taking my life in my hands then when we visited Rye Playland, but I got more of a nostalgic theme-park feel from Playland, just because of the age of it.

Anyway, Miss B. had a good time on the rides, right up until the kid running the Wiggles "Big Red Plane" ride kept trying to confirm that she is indeed 36" tall and kept grazing her noggin with the measuring stick. This happened twice, twice she cried, twice the Husband and I had to restrain ourselves from beaning the park employee.

On our way out of the park, Miss B. again proved she can read by spotting the Dippin' Dots Ice Cream shack and shouting: "Ice Cream!" (Mind you, she's never eaten Dippin' Dots before and actually seemed rather perplexed by them when they were presented to her). Thus, the only way she knew it was an ice cream stand was by reading the words: "Ice Cream" painted on the side of the building.

All told we spent about three and a half hours at the park going on all the kiddie rides and left the park just as a giant swarm of gnats invaded the area. (The gnat invasion was actually so large that when leaving the park the Husband had to get in the car by himself, gun it in the parking lot to try and dislodge some of the gnats and then Miss B. and I had to jump in).

On the way home, at the Husband's suggestion, we picked up a sack full of Chinese food from the Sunny Garden. Before getting home I had asked to go to the Wawa (or as Princeton locals refer to it: The Wa) to get ice. When Miss B. heard that we were going to the Wa she instantly asked for a Pie. (You see, Grandpa takes her to get TastyKake Pies at the Wawa). Okay, we said: What kind of Pie would you like? (She's had apple and blueberry before). She responds: Chocolate!

Chocolate TastyKake Pie? Do they even make such a thing? Sho' 'Nuff. My Dad had been going on and on about the Tasty Kake display at the Wa. He was even so enamored of it that he made my Mom go into the store and take a picture of it. I really didn't understand myself until I saw it. I've never seen such a variety of Tasty Kake products in one place EVER. There were things I had never even heard of. Some kind of orange cake, every kind of pie you could think of (including a Tasty-Klair chocolate pie, just as Miss B. had requested), kandykakes, all sorts of cupcakes and krimpets. It was just Tasty-KRAZY! So, I got the pie and the ice and headed back to the car.

Next incredible? Miss B. using chop sticks (left-handed, by the way.... I always think saying that someone has done anything left-handed makes it seem even more impressive, even if the person is a lefty naturally). Yup, I made her up a plate of goodies which included rice, sesame noodles and some chicken satay. I gave Miss B. her wooden fork. A few moments later she's saying to the Husband: "I want THIS" and we do the guessing game of: do you want rice? No, THIS. Do you want Noodles? No, THIS and finally we figured out that she wanted his chop sticks. We give her a pair and BOOM! She grabs a ball of rice and starts chomping away using the sticks like a pro. Me? I couldn't master chop sticks until well after law school. I still pretty much suck at it. Miss B.? She's a Reading-Chocolate-Tasty-Kake-Pie-Eating-Chop-Stick-Using-Pro.

She Did It Again!

This morning, as part of the opening segment of a Kipper DVD, the word: "Barney" appeared on screen (note-- there was no picture of Barney, just a purple background and the word "Barney") and guess who says nice as can be: "BARNEY!"

When we asked Miss B. this evening how it is that she came to be able to read she told us: "Cold Milk."

Milk. Whole Milk. Nice.

Love Love!

Okay, not that there was any doubt, but we officially *LOVE* the Housing Works Thrift Shop's online site! Our Asian Brocade Jacket arrived today (see photo).

Can I tell you, it's even better than I expected? I've been looking for one of these since 1998 when I saw Julia Roberts wear a turquoise one in Notting Hill. (Obviously, it will take a lot more than a jacket to make me look like Julia Roberts, but the jacket is a start). And in a frightening mother-daughter dress alike moment, this should go nicely with the Asian Brocade Jacket that I scored for Miss B. the last time I visited the Second Chance Thrift Shop in Gladstone/Peapack!! Woo-hoo!

(ps. Photo is courtesy of the Housing Works website!)

Grounds for Sculpture!

We visited the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton again today. This time we also had lunch at Rat's with the Husband. Yes, "Rat's" isn't necessarily an appealing name for a restaurant, but it was very neat on the inside and the food was good.

And we kept getting visited by this duck while we ate.

OMG!

I can't believe it's September already!

Also, an FYI: Looking for something fun and thrifty? Check out Housing Works Thrift Shop's online auctions and store! They have the same great things from their NYC stores available online.

Longwood Gardens

So, over the weekend the fam hit up Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.




















And who knew, on the way there we would see both the infamous Franklin Mint and the "Wawa Corporate University"...

Dinner and Stuff...

Kind of a reversion to soup week. Last night was Ina Garten's Rosemary White Bean Soup, tonight was Minestrone. Tomorrow? Perhaps Chili. I'm going for an all spoon-food week.

All Those Merchant-Ivory Films Look Alike to Me

Last night I was up crafting in the kitchen and had on Encore. It's 11pm and Howards End is coming on. I think to myself, "Oh, I'll go ahead and keep it on". So, it starts and I see Vanessa Redgrave wandering about the country house of the title and I think, "oh, this must be back story, since it's not in the right time period." Then I see Anthony Hopkins and he appears to be the head of the family at the country manor. It was then that I thought, in passing, "gee, when is he going to be the butler? I guess there was a reversal of fortune!" Yeah. That would be "Remains of the Day", not "Howards End", thank you, very much.

Do You Ever Have

one of those days where your entire life seems like a neverending loop of laundry and grocery shopping?

Here's What

Andy Cohen seems drunk on "watch what happens". Am I wrong?

FYI Lifetime re: Project Runway

Okay, kudos to the folks at Lifetime who have scored Project Runway after the whole hullabaloo with The Weinstein Company and NBC, etc., etc. Kudos further for keeping on board Heidi, Tim and of course our favorite judge Michael Kors (and yes, Nina Garcia, too). Boo for moving the series to L.A. (I have to say, it seems less exciting, since it's not likely that I'll be driving by Mood LA anytime soon, whereas, passing by Parsons has been a regular occurrence throughout the prior seasons). But, most importantly, here are a few pieces of advice, dear Lifetime programmers: Nobody wants to watch re-runs of Reba. I turned on Lifetime at dinner time today hoping to catch a replay of the PR All-Stars and instead I found a two-hour block of Rebas. Then at 8pm... "Drop Dead Diva". Now for all I know Drop Dead Diva could be a great show, but guess what, if it's Thursday night I have no interest in watching it. Take a page from the Bravo Book: Replay, replay, replay. Now that you've got the Runway-- play it constantly on Thursdays. People want to tune in and watch all of the previous episodes and get to know the designers and catch all of the classic Michael-Kors-isms over and over again. Look at Bravo-- all they do is play their series into the ground on the nights that they're scheduled for and guess what-- they Make it Work.

You Are Still in the Running to be America's Next Top Model

Is it just me, or does 90% of what Tyra Banks says sound like its from a fortune cookie?

Food Stuffs!

Over the past few days we've had some fun food adventures. First, for dinner the other night I made Ina Garten's Fresh Pea Soup. It was very easy to make-- I substitutes vegetable stock for some of the chicken stock (but also used some chicken stock) and I used cream instead of creme fraiche. I also didn't serve it with garlic croutons, instead I made goat cheese toasts. It was very easy to make and it was tasty-- the Husband and even Miss B. liked it. Personally, I prefer Ina's Split Pea Soup. I find the Split Pea more favorable, to me the Fresh Pea Soup was a bit like mashed peas.

Then, the next day, Ina's recipes were continued-- I chose to make her Curried Chicken Salad. For the chicken salad you're supposed to bake 6 chicken breasts. Instead, I boiled three breasts and then cut them into cubes once they were cooked. Then I added salt and pepper to the chicken and proceeded to make the curry dressing. The curry dressing includes mayonnaise, chutney (I chose to use apricot chardonnay chutney, rather than Major Grey's, since Major Grey's Chutney contains Mango), curry powder and white wine. You blend these ingredients in a food processor until smooth and then pour that mixture over the chicken. I also tossed in with the chicken diced celery, golden raisins and chopped cashews. I served the chicken salad on croissants and the Husband had picked up salt and pepper potato chips for us. The salt and pepper potato chips were a perfect complement to the sweet chicken salad.

Finally, tonight's dinner was all German.

I had picked up some veal bratwurst at Whole Foods and got some great onion/poppy seed ciabatta rolls to have the bratwurst on. I also made hot German Potato Salad. I used the recipe from Gourmet magazine but also added a bit of beef broth to the potato salad dressing and I also included parsley. I also substituted a red onion for a regular white onion. The potato salad was really authentic tasting, but can I just tell you, nothing says unhealthy meal like German food! Bacon, vinegar, mustard, onions-- do we really need all of these ingredients together? Sure they're tasty, but geesh!

Adventureland

was rented from Redbox. Ugh. I thought this was supposed to be a comedy. Sure, they were out of Duplicity and I just had to rent something.

I'm Kind of Torn

I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a scary one, but there's apparently a blog out there called Corporette for high achiveing women who need to look professional but want to remain stylish. Kudos for the effort, but I don't think I've ever seen so many black suits. ;)

More 'Page!

Stew Leonard's

The other day we met up with Mel and Andrew and made our first visit to Stew Leonard's!




Miss B. loved the animatronic farm animals, the petting zoo, the barbeque (but mostly, she liked the home made ice cream)...



And, both Mel and I were impressed when Miss B. shouted that she wanted Chocolate Milk! While we were walking past the dairy case. Now mind you, she's never had chocolate milk and we're still not sure how it is that she knew it was there. It would seem that, at least when it comes to chocolate, Miss B. just might be able to read!

Decoupage House!

Here are some images of the little house ornament that I've been decoupaging. I still have to finish off some of the corners and the windows and laquer it, but I'm pretty happy so far...

Crazy Storm!

Here is a link to an article from the NY Times from Tuesday. There was a crazy thunderstorm that came through this area on Tuesday night (around 9:15) and by the time it got to New York it felled more trees in Central Park than have come down at once in the past thirty years! Wacky weather!

Dinner Time!

Tonight we had a fun dinner. I did pulled pork in the crock pot, french fries, home made cole slaw and Ina Garten's Jalepeno Cheddar Corn Bread. Can I just say, the spicy corn bread was a great pairing with the cole slaw-- the perfect mix of hot and sweet!

As usual, I should have remembered to cut Ina's recipe in half because I have enough cornbread now to feed an army. For the corn bread you take three cups of flour, one cup of yellow corn meal, salt, sugar and baking powder together in one bowl. In a second bowl mix two cups of milk, three eggs (lightly beaten) and two sticks of butter, melted. Then you mix together the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon. Ina tells you not to over mix! Just get the lumps out. Then you add 2-3 jalepenos, diced up (I kept in the seeds for extra spice), three scallions (white and light green parts) and 2 cups of extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated.

Let the batter rest for 20 minutes and pre-heat the oven at 350. Pour into a greased pan (there was enough for one pan of cornbread and then a slew of mini-muffins. Add some extra grated cheese to the tops before baking and then bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.

For the pulled pork, I used a pork shoulder and put it in the crock pot this morning with barbeque sauce, a bit of orange juice, olive oil and some sweet onion slices. I let it cook initially on high for a while and then after an hour or two I moved it to a lower setting. All in all the pork cooked in the crock pot for about 8 hours.

For the cole slaw, I used bagged red cabbage and bagged shredded cole slaw (with carrots). Then I mixed together a half a cup of mayo, 1/4 of a cup of sour cream, salt, pepper, white wine vinegar, 3/4 teaspoon of sugar. Once you mix together the sauce ingredients, pour it over the cabbage and shredded slaw and mix thoroughly. The Epicurious recipe has you setting it out, uncovered, at room temperature for 30 minutes to wilt. You can do this-- it comes out good, but tonight I just put it right in the fridge and then served it cold.

All in all, everything was tasty and it was a great summer meal!

He Said it Himself...

Santino is back!

Craft-tastic!

After Miss B. hit the hay this evening I got productive. First off I made cheesecake swirl brownies. What can I say, the mix was on sale at Wegman's for 99 cents. Surprisingly, it wasn't bad at all. Usually I prefer Duncan Hines brownies to Pillsbury but these were tasty.

Then it was on to project #2: Make a scarf! I bought what was supposedly "vintage" kimono fabric from Japan months and months ago. Indeed it did come in a very small envelope from Japan, whether or not it is truly vintage kimono fabric is anyone's guess. But it is a pretty neat pattern. Downside? It smelled to high heaven of mothballs. So I kept it in a ziploc bag in one of my various craft bags in the back of a closet for the longest time. Until yesterday. I became determined to do "something" with it. I started out by thoroughly washing it-- and for all intents and purposes, the mothball smell seems to have disappeared. Either that or I've gotten used to it. Let's hope its the former. Anyway, the length of the fabric wasn't quite long enough for a scarf, so I cut it in half lengthwise, attached each half and then had quite a long, skinny piece of fabric. I folded it in half (fabric face to fabric face, creating a tube) and sewed up the side seam. Turned it inside out, ironed it (with the main seam down the middle, kind of like I was making a tie) and then darned in the ends. Pictures to follow! All in all though, a pretty nifty looking skinny scarf!

Then it was on to projects #3 and #4-- more Decoupage! This time I deco'd a little cottage christmas ornament and a letter "H". My Deco technique is improving, so John Derian eat your heart out. The other upside to this much decoupage in one sitting is that I've actually gone through quite a bit of my endless stack o' periodicals. While whittling them down looking for pictures I've actually read a couple of articles while I've been at it. Who knew?

Opera!

Yesterday was the first day that tickets for the new season at the Met went on sale! We managed to score tickets for both The Barber of Seville and Carmen! How cool is that?

Moving Up!

This evening Miss B. and I headed over to the Marshalls/Home Goods in North Brunswick. We were going to Chipotle to pick up dinner and had a bit of a wait ahead of us, so we figured we'd pop in. I found a neat hurricane lamp style vase for use at an upcoming party and as I'm in line to purchase it who was standing two people behind me? Doug Wilson! from TLC. If I had had my wits about me I should have asked Doug something to the effect of: "What the hell are you doing here at this god-awful Marshalls in the armpit of Central New Jersey we affectionately know as North Brunswick?" But instead, I just said: "I LOVE your show! I was so excited when I saw it was coming back for a new season!" He was very cordial and thanked me. Sadly, I was dressed most unglamourously and Miss B. hadn't napped so she kept yelling "Jelly BEANS!" while we were attempting to check out (see previous post re: What Not To Do at a Saks Fifth Avenue) . But, regardless, it's always fun to see a TLC star (unless, of course, it's a Gosselin, I don't think we'd be that excited to see either Jon or Kate)...

Cheapy-Cheapy

Paul Frank has designed a line of goodies for Target, including kids clothes and accessories adorned with with Miss B.'s favorite: Julius the Monkey.

Also, frighteningly enough, Walmart.com has a great line of Norma Kamali basics at terrific prices. You might want to check it out!

What Size Penguin Are You?

It's now 2:21am

and I've just submitted my headshot for consideration as an extra for Sex and the City 2. I love the internet!

It's 11:47pm

the Husband is at a bachelor party and I'm at home, watching Steel Magnolias and doing decopauge.

Neuschwanstein

About a month ago I was at the Dollar Spot at my local Target browsing the racks. I was making gift bags for my neice and nephew who we were going to be seeing on our trip to South Carolina. While picking out goodies for the kids I saw a pack of "World Landmark" Flashcards. Miss B. loves decks of cards so I picked them up for her. They've got nice color photos of all sorts of fun places around the globe and information on the back about the locations and cultural significance. Kind of like a UNESCO World Heritage deck of trading cards. Today we were sitting around watching one of the Shrek movies and Miss B. pulled out the deck from her toy bag. I started going through it, telling her the name of the landmark and location as I handed her a card. It goes to show that she really is at that "repeat everything" stage. Not only did she master "Taj Mahal" and "Easter Island Heads" but most impressively was "Neuschwanstein" (only mildly garbled). Perhaps we have a natural born German speaker on our hands. Ach du lieber!

Check This Out!

I found this picture from the Chris Isaak show at the Beacon-- it was on
MSNBC.com's celebrity sightings page!

Another View on Healthcare

I don't know that I agree with the suggestions posited by John Mackey, CEO of Wholefoods in his WSJ article, but I do agree with opening up the debate and opposing the current healthcare reform proposal!

I Was Just Informed That

Kipper and Tiger are taking the Bus to the Park.

(Actually, they're not-- on the episode we're watching they are taking a walk, but Miss B. thinks they should take the bus to the park.)

Never

hand a toddler an open bag of Jellybeans while shopping at Saks. Even if it is only the Off Fifth Outlet store.

Some things Shouldn't be Sold on Ebay

So, during the playdate from hell one of the Mom's started telling me how she's planning on selling some used bras on Ebay.

She only wore them a few times.

Is there really a market for used undergarments?

I hope not.

Grimace!

Yesterday on the way home from the City, Miss B. demanded French Fries. Starting about mid way through the Lincoln Tunnel I kept hearing "French Fries! French Fries!" from the back seat. So, as soon as possible we hit up a McDonald's. I was debating between a large fry and a happy meal. I pull up to the drive through and I was reminded that the current Happy Meal toy is beanie babies. I had previously noticed that one of the beanie baby possibilities is Grimace. I love Grimace, but you never see him anymore at McDonald's. So I asked the drive-thru person what prize was available. She tells me: "a panda" and (after the sound of paper rumpling) "a purple thing." (A Purple thing? You work at McDonald's and you don't know that the purple thing is GRIMACE? Come on people! Educate!) So, I pick the Happy Meal. Luckily I did remember to check the bag before pulling away-- as of course what was our prize? (A skunk-- FYI, just because it's black and white and fuzzy doesn't mean its a Panda!) So I asked to trade it in for "the purple thing". Miss B. approved.

What on Earth??

So, I just heard that Crazy Mom's Thing #1 has "Chemical Magic" camp this week. Last week he was in Aquarium Camp. Earlier in the summer it was Farm Camp. I have to say Kudos to the people who put these things together. I've never heard of so many random concepts designed to fill a child's week. What's next? Sudoku Camp? Hot Dog Vendor camp? Ice Sculpting? Mastering the Art of the Short Story for Publication? Tagalog for Toddlers?

50/50

Today Miss B. and I headed into the city for a day of fun with Melanie and Andrew! Given that it was really, really hot today, Melanie had suggested that we visit MoMA. It was a perfect place to spend the day! The "Roman" themed Cafe on 2 is super kid friendly and has a fantastic menu. Miss B. got a nutella, peanut butter and banana panini (very Elvis meets La Dolce Vita) with apple slices on the side. I got a great baked pennetti (aka mac n' cheese). Miss B. also got a glass of her signature "cold milk" which unfortunately, ended up partly on my lap. This is why I was glad that I was wearing pants from H&M. (I have found that as a Mom, the older Miss B. gets the more daring I can be with my outfits, and by daring I mean the greater the percentage of dry-clean only or designer items I can wear on any given occasion). Today I had on a Marc Jacobs top and paired with the H&M pants, thus leaving a 50/50 chance that something would get stained or otherwise require dry cleaning. Luckily it was just the cheap-o pants! Woo-hoo!

Later on, after a visit to the scuplture garden we went back to the cafe for gelato and tiramisu. Then we hit up the MoMA gift shop and design shop. As I mentioned to Mel, for some reason the MoMA stores always whip me into a retail frenzy. They just have such neat stuff! But I got out pretty cheap-- a book for Miss B., a couple of post cards, a birthday gift for the Mom and a Muji purse-sized notepad. (Love the Muji-- it was $1!)

Finally, it was on to a quick sweep through Saks. A great day was had by all!

Organizing an Angry Mob, Part Two

On Friday we hosted a play date. Actually, I'm not really sure that "play date" is the right phrase. Can you still call it a "play date" when there are fourteen people? I think that is nearing Mongolian Horde standards personally, especially when such a number is at my house. Birthday parties, pool parties... the more the merrier. Play dates? Not so much. You see, if it's a birthday party or some other shindig we're throwing then it would be on a weekend and thus, the Husband would be my entertainment wingman and not to mention, certain events even come with Grandparents, so that's even more hands to lighten the load. But a playdate on a Friday morning? I should have my head examined.

I had made this mistake once before, in February, when I had Crazy Mom and two of her brood and a whole slew of other folks over. I was rather exasperated when I found Thing #2 climbing on one of my chairs attempting to molest my taxidermy. I was even more exasperated when, after three hours, instead of the gang hitting the pavement, napping children were stowed in a playtent on the family room floor and it seemed like the house invaders would never leave.

Well, six months had passed and I felt like I had to host one of these things again. Especially since some of the Gymboree moms had begun organizing a "knitting group/playdate" weekly get-together. I had missed the first one of these and then one of the other moms volunteered my house for the second meeting (which, thankfully, happened to coincide with a crisis at The Job, so I had the pleasure of cancelling), finally, I attended the third meeting. I had offered to bring the bagels and was then upbraided by the host-mom who insisted that, since I offered to bring bagels, I would have to arrive ON TIME at 10am since Crazy Mom could only stay for a short bit (and was obviously, entitled to bagels). I arrived at a condo village 15 minutes from my house and had to park in timbuktu and then found Crazy Mom, host mom and no one else. Nobody else showed for more than an hour. But, god forbid I had gotten there 10 or 15 minutes late!

But, enough back story. The same mom who acted as Bagel Nazi then begins sending me e-mail messages about who I should invite. I didn't mind when the first suggestion was another mom we know. I did mind when Bagel Mom asked if she could bring her neighbor (whom I've never met) and her neighbor's three children, the oldest of whom is nine. The addition of all of these folks would have brought the head count up to 20! Like I'm hosting a summer camp or something. Then Bagel Mom suggests that we do everything pot-luck. No complaints from me, right up until she tells us all that she'll be bringing cream cheese left over from last week. I'm sorry, but I have a thing about leftovers. I'm not bringing leftovers to your house, so please don't bring them to mine. Especially not week-old dairy products.

I shopped for this event. Some of the food included: Lunchmeat: One pound of ham, one pound of turkey, 3/4 pound white american cheese (which, sadly, was sliced too thin for some of the moms), 16 yo-kids yogurts, 24 juice boxes (white grape juice and apple juice only), I made 24 mini lemon poppyseed muffins (I had learned from last time NOT to make blueberry muffins), 16 blueberry muffins (very good, made by another mom, unfortunately not stain proof-- so these were relegated to kitchen consumption only), two bags of string cheese, a bunch of bananas, two loaves of bread, one package of pita, grapes, apples, a pear, Cereal bars, lemonade and water. Bagel Mom brought 14 bagels and the aforementioned dubious cream cheese. Another guest brought macaroons. Crazy Mom (who this time brought all three of her darling children, including her 6 year old son) brought nothing (and then seemed disappointed when there was no coffee served).

I had previously done a toy sweep in order to remove from the play area toys of Miss B.'s which either couldn't easily be decontaminated with a clorox wipe or were of the kind which would cause a toddler meltdown (or an adult meltdown) if other kids were playing with them. This included much of Miss B.'s handmade soft play food, her $150 German block set from Grandpa, her Melissa & Doug Pizza Party Set and all art supplies (this turned out to be a wise move as at one point during the event Thing #1and Thing #2 made a beeline for the kitchen screaming for art supplies).

The horde descended upon us quickly. I should have also removed from play the styrofoam Sword, Cutlass and Mace. Thing #1 (aka Crazy Mom's eldest) loved to swing the various foam weapons all around the house and at the other children as if he were a samurai. At one point he attacked Miss B.'s mini Dyson vacuum knocking it over on her. Kids were jumping on and collapsing the play tent, the Thomas train table? Was demolished as if it were the old Penn Station. Small fights would occasionally break out between kids for toys and/or juice boxes and/or food in general. We had lunch. Twice. (Let me not forget the package of hot dogs and buns-- where one mom complained that there weren't turkey dogs and that the 97% fat free hot dogs tasted like sawdust, but she still ate two of them.)

They were here for four hours.

Casualties? The train table still appears to be missing a piece of track.
I'm sure I'll be finding leftover juice boxes hidden in strange places all around the house from now until the holidays.

The cat has just barely come out of hiding. There was a blueberry handprint streaked across the bulk of my island cabinets. Once they were gone I felt like the only way to actually get the house clean was to just hit it with a flame thrower ala Kurt Russell in John Carpenter's The Thing.

Remind me, never do this again. Thanks in advance.

Crafting Update!

So as many of you know, every year so far we've done a theme calendar starring none other than Miss B. Well, preparations are underway for the 2010 calendar. This evening I started sewing up one of the costumes. I also started work on a baby quilt! It is that time again, Baby Shower season. Let the furious knitting and/or quilting begin!

The Women

"No One Hates Saks."

I just watched "The Women" on Cinemax. I've seen it before, and I have to say-- I like it.

Organizing an Angry Mob?

You have to love this new ad sponsored by the DNC. Yes, they're saying that the Republican party is organizing "angry mobs" of citizens to disrupt town hall meetings and otherwise try and stop the "change" that "the American people"
voted for "overwhelmingly" in November.

This type of advertising, together with the request on the White House website to forward emails which seem "fishy" regarding Health Care reform to the White House seems to me to be a bit of a throwback to the Nixon administration.

Perhaps the people who are "angry mobs" at the townhall meeting are simply seeking to exercise their first amendment right of free speech in order to express political discontent.

Perhaps a better way of addressing all of the so-called "misinformation" which "travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation" (i.e. through speech of private citizens) would be to have a clear and concise website which explains EXACTLY what the health care reform plan is, how it will work and what its benefits are.

Hey, maybe we could also do this too: maybe instead of spending billions of dollars in the Cash For Clunkers program (just to take cars off of the road and destroy them-- rather than repurpose or recycle them) maybe we could use some of that money to create jobs. For instance, folks who are on unemployment could work in 311-style phone banks with scripts that describe and explain health care reform and the White House's website could direct citizens with questions to call a 1-800 number to get answers.

But that's just a suggestion. I wonder if this sort of suggestion would put me in that whole "angry mob" category?

Chris Isaak!

Tonight was that time again, time for another Chris Isaak concert! This is the third Chris Isaak concert I've been to in four years and as usual it was a great show! Tonight's concert was back at the Beacon Theater on the Upper West Side-- which is a great venue. As the Husband noted there's not a bad seat in the house. The opening act was Dorian Spencer, followed by Michelle Branch. Chris and the band did a fantastic job as usual and the crowd really got into it (even if I, and the nine year old girl sitting behind us) were the youngest people in the crowd.

Explain to me...

how it is that the government thinks it can take over the country's health care system when it can't even run the Post Office? I love that they site e-mail as a leading factor in the decline of people using the postal service. Okay, that and the fact that they keep raising postage every thirty seconds and at this point sending a package can be done faster, cheaper and more efficiently through FedEx!

"I Feel Great!"

We have a Pottery Barn storage cube in our bedroom. In it are a bunch of toys that Miss B. hasn't played with in a while. One of those toys is bedtime Ernie. Bedtime Ernie is a talking Ernie doll dressed in striped pjs with bunny slippers and a sleep mask. Unfortunately, Bedtime Ernie's batteries must be going because every once in a while (like, for instance, a few moments ago) we'll hear Ernie say, muffled, from inside the storage cube: "I Feel Great!" (This is his post-nap phrase... but oddly, its the only thing we ever hear him say).

Public Enemies

was better than expected. I was rather surprised though that it was no longer playing at Marketfair and had instead been relegated to the Indian movie theater in North Brunswick. And, alas, the "Indian" movie theater has gotten even more Indian since our last visit. Not only did they have giant billboards in the lobby for no less than three Bollywood hits, but the concession stand is now serving Samosas!

Fudge!

Yesterday we visited Long Beach Island, New Jersey. The weather was nice and as we were sitting on the beach, the Mom said that before we left she wanted to go back to one of the shopping areas and pick up a sweatshirt. Then the Dad asked, why not get some fudge at the same time (as we always get fudge)...

A little while later we noticed some dark clouds and one of the other beach goers mentioned that a storm was on its way so it might be time to leave the beach. We headed back to the car and dropped Mom off at the sweatshirt place just as it started to drizzle.

The plan was to circle the parking lot and pick Mom up after she'd gotten her sweatshirt and gone to the fudge shop.

In the ensuing few minutes all hell broke loose weather wise. It was no longer just a drizzle it was a deluge. It was like hurricane weather. The sky was literally black and the rain was coming down so hard it was ridiculous. We found a parking space opposite where we dropped off the Mom and right in front of the fudge shop.

I checked my email. Just as I was working on my BB, it rang. It was a 201 number. It was the Mom. She was stranded standing next to the novelty schooner in the shopping area and had borrowed someone's cell phone to figure out where we were. I told her we were right in front of the fudge shop. The next thing see is Mom gingerly ascending the steps by the schooner and heading towards the car. The Dad's impression: "that's as fast as she can run right now". Dad then starts pointing his fingers towards the fudge store (as if Mom can see us inside the car, which wasn't particularly likely given the downpour) and he also starts yelling: "Go get the fudge! Get the fudge!".... (ironically, Dad doesn't even eat fudge).

Mom comes to the car window and is *SOAKED*-- I mean, to-the-bone-soaked. I roll down my window and the Dad and I both say: "Go get the fudge!" Mom, bewildered as to why we haven't let her in the car, shoves her shopping bag in the window, as the window is being rolled up...

So. She went in and got some fudge. And some salt-water taffy for the Husband. Mom ran back to the car, I had unlocked it (but the Dad didn't see me do that so he locked it again, which meant Mom spent more needless time getting drenched). Our thought process was, well, you're already wet, so go ahead and get that candy! I don't know if the Mom quite agreed but we did get a good laugh out of it once she got back in the car.

Grandma-Mode

Yesterday we went to a local Chili's with Miss B., the Mom and Dad and the Grandpa (or Great-Grandpa, to Miss B., that is).

We're sitting there eating our lunch and the Mom shouts out:

"Cut that, that piece is too big!"

"Don't eat that, cut that!"

Was she talking to Miss B.? Nope.

She was talking to Great-Grandpa! Luckily, he laughed it off. Yep. She's in Grandma Mode.

Dating in the Dark

Okay, did anybody else watch this show tonight? As the Mom put it: "it should be called "six losers"". I know that's harsh, but still... what has reality tv come to? This was like watching "I want to marry a millionaire" all over again!

Return of the King

a Dungeon Seige Tale... all I can think of is Ray Liotta in that Jerry Seinfeld "Bee Movie".