Happy Halloween!

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!















Miss S. also Halloween'ed as Elvis....







Elvis has left the building...












It's the hunk of burning love!

Bluto!

I love it when Baby G raises one eyebrow just like John Belushi in Animal House.

Postal Hijinks...

I went to the post office today to mail birthday gifties for 5280 Mommy and the Boy among other things. My usual post office closes at 1pm on Saturdays and since today there was a torrential downpour at lunchtime I wasn't able to leave the house until after the P.O. closed. That meant going to the Princeton Junction Post Office which is "open late for your convenience". This "open late" however is caveated by the fact that final mail pick up is always two hours before they close. Not to mention that the post office is then staffed specifically with people who really don't want to be there. Case in point. I get to the Post Office, package my goodies and then get in line. I'm 6th in line. There's one cashier and she's working out of the postal gift shop, rather than the actual postal window. All five people ahead of me have *lots* of stuff to mail. People keep getting in line. I realize we're going to be here for a while. Then we all kind of notice the loud talking coming from behind the "Passport Office" door. It's clearly a one way conversation (i.e. a phone call) and by the sound of it, not one related to passports or the post office. At about ten after four (yes, ten minutes *after* the post office closed) the manager comes out from the back to finally lock the front door so no one else can get in line (now I'm about third from the front) and she says to everyone in line how sorry she is that we've had to wait and that they close at four and that as we can see they only have one person working. To this I say, "what about the person in the passport office who's been on a personal call for the past fifteen minutes?" The manager looks at me a bit dismayed and says, "oh, no, she's handling passports." and I respond, "it doesn't sound like it." So with that the manager knocks on the door, is told to "hang on a minute" and then she proceeds to open the door and see one employee. No passport people, nothing being taken care of, just Maureen on her cell phone. Surprisingly, both the manager and the lone postal cashier thanked me. I guess Maureen does this a lot.

Snow?

While the drought continues they're making snow at Stone Mountain....?

Halloween Mischief...

The first Halloween. It's important. There are pictures to be taken, costume contests to enter. We ordered a standard issue pumpkin baby bunting costume for Miss S. But, another costume idea came to me in a dream (yes, in a dream) and I knew I had to make that one too. (Hey, nobody ever said you couldn't have two Halloween costumes). The costume will reveal itself soon (in pictures no less) but for now all I can say is hot glue and rhinestones are involved. It was very nostalgic as the last time I used hot glue and rhinestones was in high school. Alas, Ana and I bedazzled a jean jacket for our english teacher/yearbook advisor who was part of a country and western singing duo, the "Dixie Diamonds". Good times.

Big Days Out

Yesterday we ventured into the city and had our first trip to Central Park. The Hechsler playground was a nice surprise and Miss S. had quite a good time looking at all the other babies and toddlers. Interestingly the nanny to mom/grandparent ratio was probably 5 to 1. Heck, I think I only saw two grandparents total and about 5 or 6 moms/dads. Strolling through the wilds of Central Park avec Bugaboo only showed me that while my bicep strength has benefited from toting around 15 pounds of baby, the ye old respiratory system could still use some work. Should one really get winded pushing a stroller up over park's hills and dales? Probably not.
After CP, we had a lovely lunch with Dave at Brasserie. We had the Cuisine Rapide all around-- the french onion soup was tres tasty! Then we wandered about (noting that during the day we made the trek back and forth from BMW on 57th and 11th to the East side twice). It was good exercise, though I have to say that my style was a bit cramped once the ped I was wearing on my left foot developed a hole at my big toe which just kept getting larger and larger (encompassing more and more of my toes) until finally I removed it (in the elevator of the BabyGap flagship) and went sockless on the left foot. Ironically, by days end I ended up with a blister on the back of the socked right foot, while the sockless left foot was fine. All in all though, a good day was had.

Then, today we hit up Woodbury Commons with Thisbe and the Wee Kraken. We scored a very cute little a-line wool dress at Off Fifth and even a baby Burberry "Happy" scarf! Rounding out the shopping experience, we got some basics for the Husband at Brooks Brothers and also found a new puffy coat for yours truly. (To be honest there was an Andrew Marc puffy coat with rabbit fur collar and fur-trimmed hood that I *really* liked, but when I tried it on I looked a bit too much like I was part of the cast of The Day After Tomorrow. Instead I opted for a slightly less puffy and sans fur-trimmed puffy coat. I justified this by noting both that (a) I won't be needing to exclaim "we've reached a critical desalinization point!" at any time in the near future and (b) for the most part this winter I'll just be in and out of the car, rather than, let's say standing on the train platform freezing my butt off as an Acela speeds by at 70 mph.

Now, what have we learned? First, try and find peds that your toe won't put a hole in, second, traveling with baby has opened up a whole new level of mental mapping. Take, for instance, our city trek. One now has to know where all the elevators and good changing areas are within your particular city neighborhood. As an FYI, for those wandering about with Baby in the Big Apple, I have complied a short list of useful stopping locations in midtown (I never really expected that knowing where good bathrooms are would be so important, who knew?)

Obviously, first and foremost, a girl's best friend is the 4th floor ladies lounge at Saks. There are giant handicapped bathroom stalls (easily accommodating both mom and stroller), tables that can be used for changing and a very long banquette useful for feeding breaks.

Another helpful location would be the top floor of Barney's. While the folks in the Children's department are generally unhelpful, the bathroom on this floor is clean and well kept and has a stainless steel changing table. Also on this floor, outside of Fred's at Barney's is seating useful for bottle time.

Rounding out the Department Store destinations would be Bloomingdale's. The bathroom on the 8th floor (another children's department floor) has a good surface for changing (though I prefer the granite table outfitted with our skip hop changing pad rather than the designated changing area), and a giant handicapped stall.

I've found that restaurants typically are a crap shoot as to whether a changing table will be available and when in doubt, you can always try something on at Banana or JCrew or the like and use your time in the fitting room wisely not only for trying things on but also for changing and/or bottles, depending on locale and busy-ness.

Milk's Favorite Cookie...

At our four month doctor's visit, Dr. Sean tolds us that we could start trying solid food at any point between four and six months. So far we've tried rice cereal, oatmeal, sweet peas, sweet potato and applesauce without success. So I was figuring we'd give it more time and maybe Sophie would warm up to it. I figured perhaps she just wasn't too keen on the whole texture thing. Then we gave her an Oreo to gum. Texture clearly isn't the problem. I'm not quite sure what they put in the magical chocolate cookie goodness of an Oreo but it was a big hit. Additionally, oreo dust and baby drool is very adhesive combination.

As the Gawker T-Shirt said, "George Clooney Stalked Me"

I know by now it's old news but only in New Jersey would 27 hospital workers be suspended for accessing George Clooney's personal information without authorization after his hospital stay in Bergen County last month.

Velib it or not...

Check out the latest Parisian bicycle craze.

To Boldly Go...

More casting updates on the J.J. Abrams helmed Star Trek pic. Okay, I have to say Zachary Quinto (aka Sylar) is a perfect choice for Spock, but Karl Urban as Bones!?! I mean I like Karl... he was great as the villian in The Bourne Supremacy, but as Bones? There is absolutely no resemblence whatsoever. He's a Kiwi for God's sake! He'd be a better villian... better than poor Eric Bana! I know, I know, Eric Bana made a failed attempt at the Hulk (which apparently is going to be remade with Ed Norton??) but he was great in Munich. You make one bad Drew Barrymore movie (hello "Lucky You") and you're relegated to being the Star Trek villian, a role less important than that of Karl Urban? Sure he'll be with the likes of Ricardo Montalban, but still. Then Sulu: John Cho. Harold and Kumar go to Azati Prime? But the question remains--- will James Cromwell reprise his role as Zefram Cochrane?

How to Stop an Exploding Man...

Here's my review of the latest fall tv season. Ah, there were so many hopes.

Heroes. Back again and just as many commercial interruptions as at the end of last season. So far the storylines have been fine but what's with having approximately 38 minutes of show for a one hour block of television? Just how many Nissan Rogue commercials does NBC think I will sit through before I'll just TiVo the damn thing and watch it later, commercial free?

Chuck. Like it. Close to loving it, will give it a bit more time. Given that this has a handful less commercials than Heroes I have been finding it actually *more* entertaining than Heroes. No matter how much time goes by Adam Baldwin will always just be that kid from "My Bodyguard".

Journeyman. Okay I know its lame and everyone says its just recycled Quantum Leap (but hell, I never watched Quantum Leap). Again, I know its cheesy and I'm kind of surprised it hasn't been cancelled yet but for some reason I'm totally mesmerized by the fact that Kevin McKidd looks just like Anthony Michael Hall. Perhaps in a future episode he'll go back to the past and meet AMH. One never knows, and speaking of name acronyms, whatever happened to PMT? Anyhoo, its semi-sci-fi and generally not crime based. I like it.

Cavemen. At least there aren't any Geico commercials while the show is on. I like that Joel works at a thinly veiled IKEA. This show could actually be funny but surprisingly there aren't enough "caveman" jokes. Instead its just like they're a bunch of hairy guys living in San Diego.

Carpoolers. Is it just me or is Jerry O'Connell kind of funny looking? It's like his face is a mask or something. Anyway, the show kind of has potential. As the Husband has noted it occasionally has some funny lines. I'll give it some time, perhaps it will hit its stride, god knows riding on the coattails of Cavemen isn't doing it any favors.

Bionic Woman. Sorry Dave, I couldn't sit through it. It lost me with Isaiah Washington and a trip to Paraguay.

Kitchen Nightmares. So much better than "Hell's Kitchen". I do prefer the BBC America version, but this isn't bad. All I can say is thank god I had never eaten at that Indian restaurant they showed in the second episode.

Reaper. What the hell has happened to Kevin Smith's career? Okay, I guess this means that Clerks and Dogma were just flukes and Jersey Girl really was about all he's worth? I will give it this much-- watching a typical episode of Heroes you've got a commercial by minute 6. Reaper? No commercials in the first 15 minutes. Then again it is on the CW.

Pushing Daisies. Yada, yada, yada. Everybody raves. Again, the Husband hit the nail on the head-- it's trying to be an HBO series. What kills it? That fricking narrator. I can't take the narrator anymore. The narration is only made worse when, at the commercial break, the same guy does the voice over for the latest quit-smoking scheme (you know, the one with the tortoise and the hare). Yeah, same guy. Make it stop. Please.

Kid Nation. Why did I TiVo this in the first place? Will somebody send that little girl with the annoying southern accent HOME?

30 Rock. It's getting funnier. But the Office? Two weeks in a row now they've done "full hours" of The Office. Ugh. Steve Carrell- you're not Ricky Gervais and let's face it, the British version wasn't that funny either. Let's just put on Seinfeld re-runs instead and be done.

Antiques Roadshow. There, that's good prime-time television I can stand behind. Now, let's keep our eye out for the episodes with the third Keno brother!

Take a Little Time to Enjoy the View...

This morning's daily View watching was irritatingly interrupted by a press conference from the President. (Why is it that he always calls these damn things at 11am?) Did anybody besides Miss S and I watch this? Are W's advisors telling him to beef up the Texas accent? And I loved his response to the reporter asking how he felt back in 1981 when Israel bombed the "power plant" in Iraq. To paraphrase: "I don't recall how I reacted, I was trying to make a living to take care of my family." Yes, but you're the president now, so from a historical point of view, surely, you have an opinion? I guess not. I also loved the line of questioning about Putin. Now perhaps I understand why these things are limited to being on at 11am.

Nobel Prize???

Okay, so Al Gore gets the Peace Prize?? Can one explain to me exactly how "An Inconvienent Truth" merits the *peace* prize? I mean hell, what about Leo DiCaprio, he drives a Prius and just narrated "The 11th Hour" and we already know he's "king of the world!" so why not give him the prize? Or what about Bono. I mean come on, Bono's not only best friends with Nelson Mandela but he's been wearing those goofy blue x-ray specs for years now, I think in the realm of celebrities "trying to make a difference" Bono has certainly more street cred vis-a-vis the Peace Prize than ol' Al. Next thing you know Sean Penn will be in the running.

It's an S-N-P Thing...

Got to love the Salt N Pepa Show on VH-1. But where's Spinderella?

Let Me Get This Straight....

If there's not a hurricane in the next few days Atlanta could run out of drinking water in 90-121 days? How exactly does one get itself into that spot? I guess when your governor is named "Sonny Purdue" just about anything can happen.

Discovery HD Theater

So we're watching some nature show on Base Jumping in Norway and can I just say, Discovery HD Theater is much cooler than watching Conan O'Brien in HD.

On the Road to Hopewell

Trees. We LOVE Trees!

Trend Breakers....

We're watching this lame show called "Trend Breakers" on NBC 4 this morning and I love that they're talking about time travel. "Is time travel possible, and if so, where would you go?" Yeah, this is real news!

Le Transporteur

We've seen The Transporter II 50 bazillion times, love Jason Statham, deplore Matthew Modine, the villians are good, the stunts are great, we'll forgive the use of an Audi rather than a BMW. I had started to watch The Transporter once before and now I'm remembering why I couldn't make it through. The love-interest girl is so *boring*. Ugh. Could the pace of this movie *be* any slower???

Okay, it picked up a little bit, Frank spent a few minutes driving a beat-up old SAAB.