This year's pool

After yesterday's failed bailout, the financial world is ever grimmer. Someone with a morbid (and yet very funny) sense of humor created this bracket. Here's an idea: everyone should start a pool, and whoever wins it can donate it (tax deductible, of course) to the governemnt to help with the next bailout package.

The Golden Rule

A good friend forwarded me a very moving story today. Please take the time to read it--it is so sweet. (Warning, you may tear up so perhaps read it at home, not at work and then have to deal with a tear drop running down your cheek at work.)

My parents always, always taught us to be kind to everyone. It doesn't matter who they are, what they can do for you, what they look like, it simply doesn't matter--you are kind to those around you. As this story so movingly demonstrates, you never know where a person is going to or coming from. We all want to be treated with kindness. Lead by example and be kind to those around you.

Live the Golden rule: do unto others as you would have others do to you.

I'm proud to be an American

Today, I was a good American and filled out my voter registration to receive an absentee ballot.

Where will you be on November 4th?

New York, New York, It's a wonderful town

As most of you know, I am a recently transplanted New Yorker. My heart still yearns for the Big Apple. I have a friend who is taking a trip to the city for The New Yorker Festival (very cool) and she asked me to put together some ideas of things to do. It made me so homesick and nostalgic! I wanted to share with everyone, in no particular order, some of my favorite pieces of New York.

To Do

Pearl River (Chinese everything store...like an Asian Target?)

Frick collection

The Met (I prefer the Met over MOMA, but up to you)

New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre or Met Opera

Go through the Ralph Lauren mansion. Walk up and down Madison, window shopping.

Explore the flea market on 6th and 24th (weekend only).

Lion King (amaaaazing), Jersey boys, Wicked, or anything really on Broadway. If you're going to do tkts for the shows, go to the south street seaport location. it's so much less crowded

A photo in front of the Flatiron Building at 23rd Street & 5th Ave is fun, especially when standing in Madison Park on 23rd Street!

One of my favorite views of Central Park is standing on the 2nd floor of the Time Warner Building at Columbus Circle. Take the escalators to the 2nd floor and look out and see the southwest corner of Central Park and along the east corridor of Central Park South toward the Plaza Hotel.

Bethesda Fountain in Central Park

Riding the carousel in Central Park

Bergdorf Goodman—the window displays are always amazing

Browse through Tiffany's—especially the diamond engagement rings

Grand Central Terminal, a gorgeous main hall and just down the block from Bryant Park and The New York Public Library

ABC Carpet and Home—a great home store with an amazing chocolate store (see below). Go here at least for the hot chocolate.

To Eat
A toasted everything bagel with cream cheese and tomato (made at any deli with fresh bagels)

Jane Restaurant—brunch (French toast to DIE for!!)

Campy but superfun Ellen’s Stardust Diner where the waiters sing AND serve yummy comfort food

If you like Middle Eastern food, Mamoun's Falafel Restaurant in Greenwich Village is amazing. It kind of looks like a little hole in the wall but BEST falafels

Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge if you have the time. When you get to the other side, go to Grimaldi's Pizza (19 Old Fulton St - just under the bridge).

The hidden Burger Joint inside the fancy le Parker Meridian Hotel (their burgers are a bit spicy and deliciously affordable, order fries as well and a chocolate shake; a hole in the wall nyc version of in & out)

For Indian food, go to Baluchi’s (it’s a chain, but the best Indian in the city, there are several locations). Order the samosas to start, chicken tikka masala with nan bread and a mango lassi to drink.

Cupcakes—Magnolia Bakery. If you go to Magnolia, go on a weekday, NOT Saturday, because the tourists gets crazy there (it’s on the Sex and the City tour). Order vanilla cupcakes with pink icing. Walking around the West Village is really fun, so order your cupcakes and then wander around the neighborhood. (Although, I must say will all the polite modesty in the world, that my homemade cupcakes are even better.)

Sea Thai in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. (Delicious pad thai)

Michel Cluizel, chocolate shop in ABC - the Hot Chocolate is to die for!!

Pizza. My favorite little New York pizza place is on 14th Street and Irving Place (between 3rd and 4th Ave). So delicious. But really, all the New York pizza joints are really good.

For the love of all that is good and Bass

Last night's episode (which airs here at 7PM!!!!) was great. Little J tries to stand on her own two spindly legs, Rufus is in full-on Dad concern mode, Serena is putting her blond locks to great swishy use, poor Blair has more ups and downs than the Dow Jones, and Lily(!) is back. Collecting art for her new apartment and feeling all vixenish when her new hubby Bart gets home from his business trip.

And Chuck. Oh, Chuckles, how I love thee. Let me count the ways. Your scarves are ridiculous but it's great that you have the gumption to stick with your trademark. You are who you are, no apologies. You notice when people stick out their necks for you (even if it is somewhat grudging acknowledgement). You learn from your mistakes. You clearly love Blair (although you have some work to do in your courtship skills. Seriously, just be nice to her. Novel idea, but it will probably work better than all this nonsense.) Anyways, as we were watching last night, I said to Jessica, "I want to get a puppy and name it Charlie Trout." Love him.

Here is this week's awesome Daily Intel Reality Roundup for your giggling pleasure. But I reserve the right to disagree with them and say that the Project Runway reference was completely awesome.

City Kids vs. Country Kids

Here is a great op-ed by Tom Wolfe, author of the famed Bonfire of the Vanities. He talks about the changes in the landscape of the financial world, and the boys (and girls, let's be fair) who abandoned investment banking for the land of the hedge funds. An interesting read. I clearly need to get started so I can end up in this house.

Lifetime may get auf'd

Project Runway may not be moving to Lifetime after all! Judge Richard B. Lowe III ruled on Friday that Project Runway's move to Lifetime cannot go ahead as planned because NBC Universal should have had a right to match the terms of the deal made with the Weinstein Co. This means Lifetime cannot air Project Runway, market or promote the program, or offer any spinoffs it had planned. The Weinstein Co. plans to appeal the ruling. A trial date will be set on October 15, though it's possible NBC and the Weinsteins could settle out of court.

While I would have followed Heidi, Michael, Nina and Tim anywhere, I really hope the show stays on Bravo. NBC, the ball is in your court!

You say potato, I say po-tahto

What are your plans for tonight? I'm staying in to watch the debate. Should be very interesting. This debate was meant to be focused on foreign policy and national security, but clearly, given the events of the last few weeks, the emphasis of the debate will be (should be) squarely on the economy. I can't wait to see how tonight goes down.

It's always important to vacuum before guests come over.

On their way!

A fun tidbit--during our recent hurrication in Oxford, MS we drove around Ole Miss campus and saw all the preparations for tonight. Including a massive chainlink fence that has become something of a local celebrity. The press tent was amazing and huge. Oh, to be one of the lucky few invited tonight!

A beauty mark on the drab face of uninspired television

A poetic title if ever I've heard one. Those in the know know that I love Bravo's reality tv shows (Project Runway, Flipping Out and especially Top Chef). A tasty new morsel of a show, The Rachel Zoe Project, has just started to air and I am hooked. I've been mildly (meaning totally and uncontrollably) obsessed with Rachel Zoe since 2004, when she dressed Jennifer Garner in an orange, vintage Valentino goddess gown. I just thought it was the most fabulous thing ever and Rachel appeared on E! News after-Oscar Fashion Police and discussed the look. I've loved her ever since.

The Rachel Zoe Project show is fun, frothy, full of beautiful clothes and pretty people who say and do funny things. What's not to like? Apparently, plenty. (At least by others. I love it.) The New York Times gave the show--and essentially Rachel herself--a harsh, scathing review. So harsh in fact, that Matt Donnelly of the Huffington Post wrote a very fair rebuttal in protest of the NYT treatment of her.

The thing is, not many people have the money to collect Hermes Birkin bags and go buy 3 leopard coats in one fell swoop. Most people don't have a personal hair and makeup guy on their personal staff. (Most of us don't have personal staffs! Although if I did, I would totally wear eyelashes every day like Rachel does. So pretty!) Most people don't have a Mercedes and a BMW and a gorgeous house in the Hollywood Hills. It's fun to see all that. It's fun to see beautiful dresses and high heels. It's fun to live vicariously with Rachel as she runs around in her white bathrobe and hands out the perfect gown, jean, accessory. She's like a sartorial fairy godmother. And especially right now, when the world looks pretty bleak, it's great to enjoy someone else's "happy place" and feel welcomed into her life and world, known as Camp Zoe.

She is happy to share her sense of fashion with the world, and let's face it, she is genius at it. I would happily enlist into her army of "Zoebots" any day.


And seriously, what girl wouldn't kill for this closet??

My 12-1 Regimen

Lunch hour is spent in the following manner.

Running on this
while watching this infused with this when I need a running pick-me-up.

And then I go back to work and eat a salad with lemon oil dressing.

News you can use

I have been following the financial news very closely over the last month and still find myself occasionally confused by what's going on. There is so much going on and so many news sources reporting.

Here is a great summary of recent news I found to be very helpful, especially of the smaller news bits that get buried under the avalanche of Merrill/Goldman/WaMu/AIG/Lehman stories.

In addition, I came across these great pieces. Written by Chris DesBarres, a Google employee. Chris has put these little nuggets together to explain in a very easy, connect the dots, 1-2-3 method what exactly happened at Lehman and AIG. It was very helpful for me to start to figure out how to understand what is going on.

And as a commentor on the Lehman post says, "I just got 30-seconds smarter. This is the dude whose notes you want to borrow before the big exam. Get this guy a show on MSNBC."

You'll feel the same way too.

What happened at Lehman, in 30 Seconds or Less
AIG in 30, or More Like 45, Seconds

Grey's Moment

Now I begin what I hope to make a weekly installment: Grey's Moment.

Dedicated to one of my true loves, Grey's Anatomy.

Who enjoyed last night's two hour season premiere? I did, although I should have let the DVR do it's job (yay for the cable installation!!!) and gone to bed, I stayed up to see all the pretty drama.

I know many of you haven't seen the episode yet, don't worry there are no spoilers but here are my

Favorite moments: Meredith and Christina with the chicken, the staplegunning major, the Chief and Meredith and the fact that Grey's FINALLY seems to have un-jumped the shark and gotten back to basics: Mereidth and Derek, Christina and her mojo, and Izzy seems to be more a real character and less a characticure of....whatever she's been impersonating the last few seasons. And the fact that Bernadette Peters, whom I love, had a guest starring role in the episode.

Lease favorite moments: Alex/Izzy drama (too predictable), Lexie/George drama (ditto--but very much enjoyed the Lexie/Mark Sloan (man he is hot) resultant interaction), and the fact that those women were in their fancy ball gowns the whole episode. Give those poor women some scrubs to change into!!

And go read this. Love it.

Perspective

And another one bites the dust. After the past month, such news is startlingly not startling anymore. I know I'm not alone in hoping the beginnings of a resolution will be put into play soon.

And to think that last year at this time, the biggest concern in New York was about the Broadway strike and whether or not we'd all get to see our shows. What a difference a year makes.

The story of a boy and his horse(s)

Ben Brantley, king of The New York Times theater reviews, has this to say about Equus, the play newly transplanted from London mostly famous for the fact that Harry Potter, I mean, Daniel Radcliffe, gets naked onstage. With a horse. Ahem.

While Brantley treats the production as a whole with a genial, grandfatherly wave of his hand of "it's a bit dated", he nearly swoons over Radcliffe's performance. Which is great. I'm always happy for great acting in the theater by great actors. And especially for a young movie star like Harry. In an age when even Julianne Moore (a phenomenal actress) gets universal bad reviews for her theater chops, I am so happy for a young actor who can be a wizard on both stage and screen. I hope he continues to work in the theater as well as finishing up his run as Harry Potter, the boy who lived and was totally awesome.

And to Jessica and Kevin, who have tickets to see this amazing display of male/horse bonding, I'm so jealous! Enjoy the show and let me know what you think!!

Women

Here is a great article about Erin Callan, the former CFO of Lehman Brothers. She stepped down from her position in July, following Lehman's dismal second quarter earnings report.

Erin is now head of Credit Suisse's global hedge fund business. In the article she discusses the magnitude of current financial crises, the particulars surrounding her departure, and muses on how this situation was brought about. She also discusses her experience being a woman on Wall Street, something that, as she says, was a "phenomenom." She does not come off as bitter, instead she appears to be very calm and persistent about resolving the crises and the future of the markets.

I hope more women can burst through the ranks and rise to the top of organizations. I'm not saying it would make the world a perfect place, but maybe as things change on Wall Street and the landscape shifts, more women can be included at the table.

A 180 in 8 hours

While one of my favorite parts of work mornings is making the fresh coffee because it smells so delicious, one of the worst parts is at the end of the day when I dump out the dank, old coffee grounds. Seriously, not many things in this world smell worse. And just think if it smells that bad what it does to your insides. I'll stick to clean pure water, thanks.

Because money doesn't grow on trees, only apples do

I found this great site, The Simple Dollar, on a friend's blog. It is so helpful and clearly written and laid out to teach you and empower you to take control and responsibility of your finances. Which is always, but especially now, a crucial skill set we all need to have.

Don't pass go, DO NOT spend the $200 you may or may not collect from passing go, and get thee to the site to learn why.

The Simple Dollar

Never noticed...until now

Maybe I'm an unobservant person. (I don't think so.) Maybe I never watched tv before. (Not really true.) Maybe I've just always lived in the Eastern Time Zone and never really thought about it. (This is the correct answer.)

What I am talking about is, when you're watching a tv promo for some upcoming tv show, the announcer annouces the fabulous show in his deep and booming voice, detailing all the exciting events sure to be packed into said upcoming show, and then states the time the show will be on. "Next week, on Grey's Anatomy, Meredith and Derek solve another medical mystery while still having amazing hair! ABC, 9/8 Central."

Did you catch it? The time? Are you sure? Because for my entire life, Grey's Anatomy has been on at NINE O'CLOCK PM.

Not here. It's on at EIGHT. So bizarre to me that east coast and west coast show it at 9, Central shows it at 8. It's like we are in some funny little special place. (Oh wait, we are.)


But seriously. Seriously??!! I get to watch tonight's 2 hour premiere episode a whole hour earlier than I've ever been able to in the past??!!


Life just keeps getting better.

Wednesday Daily Roundup

Today during lunch I made a beeline for the gym (am LOVING the fact that 1) my office is a short 10 minute away from my gym and 2) that said gym is partially subsidized by my employer!!! This makes me v.v. happy. I had a nice lucious little run and returned to work. I had a delicious lunch of salad dressed with lemon oil, including two hardboiled eggs from the farmer's market.

I have worn a different pair of shoes each of the three days of my employment (two new, one not new but hasn't been worn very often in the past) and I have very charming blisters....in three distinct areas on my feet. Errr. I wear flip flops during my walks to and from home/work but need to get this situation under control. Or my feet need to cowboy up a little more.

I got a flu shot this morning, so I am feeling slightly fizzybumples.

My co-worker had an extra diet coke today and she gave it to me. I must be making friends….

Fun times 9

Am making flashcards to help me study for an upcoming test. Am in love with the 9 times table. I always was. It was fun to remember that in 3rd grade my favorite equation was 9x7=63.

Bests

I always joke with Jessica that everything I eat down here is the best version of that food that I've ever had.

A rundown of recent bests I've experienced:
Homemade butter from the Farmer's Market
Tomato and green pepper omelette, Dante's
Spicy spaghetti, Maximo's
Salad with lemon oil (the reimaged version of this has become something of a staple at our house), Maximo's
Quattro Formaggio pasta (incredibly sinful but soooo amazing), Semolina
Chocolate croissant, O Delice
Banana gelato, Sucre
Mango sorbet--a tie between Sucre and our very own homemade version!
Queso, Superior Grille
Mexican, especially chicken fajitas (especially exciting as there is NO GOOD MEXICAN in the entire city of New York and it's my FAVORITE!!!!), Coretta's

And while not techinically bests (since they don't exist anywhere else), the following must get shout-outs because they are so wonderful:
Vegetarian muffaleta sandwich, Central Grocery
Beignets and hot chocolate, Cafe du Monde

I also have experienced some culinary greatness here. Our kitchen must be magical because I've managed to produce my personal bests as well:
Cupcakes with pink frosting and sprinkles
Pasta fagioli--have finally managed to figure out the proper timing and consistency of everything
Lasagna sandwiches
Greek chicken--Jessica taught me the magic trick on the potatoes and they were amazing!

Mmmm, it's all so very delicious. Such a shame it isn't closer to lunchtime. Bon appetit!

9-5 (but really 8-5)

Here we are, on my third day of work. So far, so good. It is always hard to start a new job, especially since it is human nature to compare the new to our previous, very delightful job. And to make matters worse, we compare the uncomfortable first few days of the new with the glorious shining moments with the old. You know, that time when you're in your groove and skipping along with your own space and your own responsibilities and you know what's going on without having to ask 834958793245 questions about everything. Sigh. This time always passes, I know that. I'm really enjoying meeting all the new people and learning about the new company. I'm so lucky to have a job--my goodness. There is much to be grateful for these days.

Love is spoken here

After weekends like the one we've just had, it's so soothing and wonderful to remember the people who help you get through it all.  The moms, dads, sisters, grandmothers, aunts and uncles who are amazing and loving.  I love you all so much.  

In our family, when we take long car trips, which ends up happening surprisingly often, we like to sing.  The most favorite of these sing-a-long songs goes like this:

I see my mother kneeling, with her family each day.

I hear the words she whispers, as she bows her head to pray.

Her plea to the Father, quiets all my fears.

And I am thankful love is spoken here.

Mine is a home, where every hour, 

Is blessed by the strength of priesthood power.

With Father and Mother leading the way, 

Teaching me how to trust and obey.

And the things they teach are crystal clear

For love is spoken here.

I love you all so so much.  Hugs, kisses and love love love.

Nirvana. In a bowl.

Sometimes, here in the South, it gets hot.  And sometimes, a girl wants to feel lovely and domestic and accomplished.  To address both these issues, on Saturday we made homemade sorbet.  

Strawberry-Studded Mango Sorbet, to be precise.  Oh my.  Seriously?  It was better than anything I've ever tasted.  

Which is not the say the experience wasn't full of mishaps and hilarity--oh, it was.  Let's just say that we do not own an ice-cream maker, and had to resort to ziploc bags filled with ice and salt, wrapped in dish towels, that required much shaking and kneading and resulted in several giggle breakdowns.  But it was worth it.  

This

topped with this

equals the most amazing dish of sorbet.  Ever.  Hence the name: Nirvana in a bowl.

Strawberry-Studded Mango Sorbet

1. Combine 2 tablespoons sugar with 1 pint chopped strawberries in a bowl.  Toss well and refrigerate until ready to use.
   
2. In small saucepan, combine 1 cup water with 1/2 cup sugar.  Bring to a boil, and cook 1 minute.  Remove from heat and cool 30 minutes.  Transfer to a bowl and chill in refrigerator for 2 hours.
3. Place 2 chopped peeled mangoes in a food processor and puree.  Add in sugar water mixture (above) and 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice.
4. Transfer mix to freezer can of ice cream maker and freeze according to directions.  OR be like us (and without an ice cream maker): place 1-2 cups of mango puree mix into a sandwich sized ziploc baggie.  Place inside a second ziploc baggie.  Fill a larger ziploc with ice and salt and place the mango baggie inside.  Wrap in a towel (so your hands don't freeze).  Shake, knead, jiggle, whatever, for approx. 15-20 minutes, until you can tell the mix is starting to freeze.  You can either eat the sorbet now in it's deliciously soft-textured state or place in a tupperware to continue to harden.  Either way, don't forget to spoon your cut strawberries and sugar syrup on the top!

I know it seems like a lot of work and very lengthy, but I am telling you: NIRVANA.  Who wants to pass that up?  

Friends

The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.

-Elisabeth Foley

To everyone in places I no longer live:  I miss you and love you so, so much!  My favorite time of the day is when we can giggle on the phone together, exchange emails or simply connect in some way.  Seeing something you've given me, or a photo of us grinning together.  

I miss your hugs, smiles, advice and laughter.  And I know, I still get the advice and laughter part via the phone calls and emails, but it's not the same.  I miss you more and more each day.  XOXOXOXO!

Chocolate, banana, blueberry, oh my!

In need of a pick-me-up today, we did what any lovely and intelligent girls would do: we went to the spa and then out for delicious treats!

And what yumminess we found!  A most magical fantasy-land of sugar and chocolate and divine colors, a grown-up girl's paradise.  Sucre.  The two most delicious syllables I've come across in the last little while.  

First we had nibbles of macaroons, my favorite cookie.  We tasted the lemon and strawberry, both delicious.

Then we literally dove into the gelato bar.  So many flavors, what to choose?  I tasted several, and settled on banana with chocolate melted on it.  Jessica had mango and blueberry/peach.  Everything was so yummy!  They make different flavors all the time and so we will be revisiting soon.  We need to find out what else they have!

A day of remembering

Today is one of those days.  Those days that keep coming back, year after year, that haunt you year after year.  Today is September 11.  

So many things need to be remembered today.  We need to remember the people that were lost on that horrible day 7 years ago.  We need to remember how the city of New York rallied together.  We need to remember the kindnesses of strangers who all helped one another in the days that followed.  We need to remember the strength of President Bush and Rudy Giuliani.  We need to remember the phone calls and emails we sent one another, making sure the other was ok.  We need to remember the fierce hugs when we finally found one another.  

We need to remember we are proud to be Americans.

It is strange today.  Today I am not in New York.  For the very first time, I am not there on this day of days.  I am not there to go down to Ground Zero and listen to the name reading ceremony.  I am not there to listen to the bagpipes play.  I am not there to take flowers to the my neighborhood fire station.  

But whether I am here, there or anywhere, I will always remember.  This day will always be a part of my heart.  I will never forget.  

I love you, New York.

A wife, mother, governor and oh yeah--GOP Vice President nominee!

Raise your hand if you are completely and totally excited and obsessed with Sarah Palin.

Me too!  I think she is so great--a stick-to-her guns kinda gal who is going to make history come November.  Read this great article about her in Vogue.  And go register to vote!!!

The power of love and prayers

The story of Stephanie and Christian Nielson has been passed on to me from my mom, friends, an un-countable number of other bloggers and even the New York Times (click here).  Stephanie and her husband were in a terrible private plane crash a few weeks ago.  The pilot has since died from his injuries and the two Nielson's, who suffered severe burns, are in an Arizona burn unit, and are expected to be there for several months.  Their four children are being cared for by members of Stephanie's family.

Reading Stephanie's blog, The NieNie Dialogues, you can see what a wonderful, loving, fun and full-of-life woman, wife and mother she is.  Please offer prayers for her and her family.  

Fun in the sun isn't just for people, it's for veggies too

Today has been absolutely lovely.  Started the day dropping Jess off at her morning class and then I continued on to the local farmer's market.  A beautiful day, sun shining, wearing a super cute dress (borrowed from J!) and with some cash to spend on fresh fruits and veggies.  The market is small but so cute and friendly.  Everyone was out today, comparing hurricane stories and just happy to be back in action.  Purchased today were creole tomatoes, green peppers and scallions.  Funniest quote:  Me, "Do you have any lettuce?"  Seller, "No, it's too hot for them."  (Funny because we were standing there dripping in sweat, while apparently, the lettuces got to recline back at home, in some sort of farmery air conditioning system! Can I be a lettuce please?)

After lettuce hopping, I took the car for a little drive.  Yes, me driving, alone, and actually figuring out which way I was going--so momentous!  I even found a parking spot and managed to parallel park our beast of a car.  To celebrate, I decided to duck into the cutest little pastry shop ever, O Delice for a treat.  On an occasion such as this, no regular croissant will do.  I went for the gold, the chocolate croissant.  Ahhhh!  That is the sound of golden angels singing as I took my first bite.  Seriously, it was insane.  Best croissant ever.  You gotta come visit and try it for yourself!!
After dying a small, happy chocolate death, I walked around for an hour or so and just had a great time.  Walking streets and exploring is truly one of my favorite activities, and something New York is perfectly suited for.  However, I have found that in other places and different cities, walking around is somewhat of an oddity.  My boss tells a great story of being in Atlanta, hitching her tote bag up on her shoulder and powering a mile or so to her destination.  As she tells it, cars slowed and people gave her funny looks.  Guess they weren't used to seeing that!  Down here, not all the areas are made for walking, but there is a great stretch of shops and galleries I just love.  The best part?  I only made it about halfway down, so there is tons more to see!

After an hour, glistening and glowing with sweat (wishing I was a lettuce) and parched beyond words, I made it back to the car and headed home.  Drank some water (lots of water) and watched last night's episode of Gossip Girl.  So fun!  After you watch, the thing to do is read this.  You'll laugh out loud.  I promise!!!!!!  
Then I made a salad of all my wonderful veggies (and some lettuce from the grocery)!

Happy 100th Post!

Hooray for blogging!  Hooray for fun!  Hip Hip Hooray!!!!!!

Lords and Ladies

I don't know anyone who doesn't enjoy some old fashioned shenanigans of English lords and ladies.  And I especially don't know any girl who hasn't, at some point, oooohd and ahhhhhd over Jane Austen's wonderfully fabulous heroines.  Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, Emma, Elizabeth Bennett.  Whether in book or film form, they are all marvelous.  Take this quiz and find out which lady you are!!!!

The girls are back in town

So we have returned to our lovely Crescent City, only to engage in a staredown with Ike.  We are so happy to be back, except that we refuse to unpack until we know what our weekend activities will be.  (Possibilities include listening to jazz music and brunch or....evacuating.  Thrilling, no?)  Last night I made delicious cupcakes and we ate them for dinner.  And breakfast.  And then we took them and spread cheer amongst our friends.  

The first thing we did when we arrived, before the cupcakes, was RAID the heck out of the apartment.  Here in the south, the neighbors are friendly and the cockroaches are friendlier.  Interestingly, while we were in Mississippi we spent plenty of time at the local Wal-Mart (it's the thing to do!) and found that they had a wonderfully thorough "pest control" section and we stocked up.  Raid, traps, you name it, we got it.  So.  We return home, swim through the hot and humid air, and get to work.  We sprayed the heck out of the apartment.  We trapped the crap out of the cockroach hiding places.  And then realized our apartment was toxic from the amount of chemical pesticide power we had unleashed.  Once that simmered down, we were much happier.  And now, for two whole days, we are CR free!  (CR...cockroach....the name makes me nauseous.) 

I need to go now.  I just realized I've written about cupcakes and CRs in the same post.  Ick!

What Gustav looks like right this minute

Turns out Gustav came to play after all.

I'm posting from Mississippi, where we have been for the last few days. We evacuated quite early, and are so glad we did. Today at church, a woman told us about her family's efforts to evacuate, and they sounded grim. She said it took them 3 hours to go about 20 miles on the highway (with contraflow). Yikes.

So, here we are, two little evacu-istas. That's a term we coined as we were leaving. There is a fancy pre-school across the street from our apartment, and as we were loading up to go Friday morning, from one chic mommy to another, we overheard, "Oh, I've got to go get ready to evacuate. I've got to get some water and a pedicure." Truly, we about fell over laughing.

Well, the rain will fall, it will drain, and the levees will hold strong. Here's hoping.