Photo

October 28, 2009

At interior designer Alessandra Branca’s book signing party at Bergdorf Goodman last night. Ms. Branca (pictured above) was so warm and engaging, and spoke passionately about her desire to help inner-city children in Chicago, NYC, Washington DC and LA through the sales of her book, New Classic Interiors (all proceeds benefit children’s programs).

It was raining (hence the braids, untouched since my Biscuits & Bath appointment earlier), but I was so excited to meet Ms. Branca and learn about her new book…and besides, anytime I can drink champagne before dinner, I am so there.

Photo

Mama, I’m Home!

October 27, 2009

Lucy arrived home from Biscuits & Bath and headed straight for her two favorite toys: the over-loved blue bunny and the rattiest bone in existence.

Lucy is pretty picky about what she’ll play with, so I’ve worked out a system that prevents me from wasting money on toys she doesn’t care for. I bring her with me to the store and hold up one toy at a time, gauging tail-wagging and general excitement level, and then choose the one that makes her the craziest. She almost always goes for small, blue toys, which I suppose makes sense given that dogs are dichromatic (they see only blue and yellow). Do all dogs prefer blue and yellow toys? Does the fact that they may only see certain colors impact what toys they like to play with? No idea.

All I know is that Lucy loves blue, so blue is what Lucy gets.

Photo

Biscuits & Bath

October 27, 2009

This afternoon, I dropped Lucy off at the First Avenue Biscuits & Bath for a grooming (this time, Donald did the honors). I think she looks just lovely (and, OK, maybe a little grumpy in this shot).

This is the second time that Lucy’s been groomed at Biscuits & Bath, and I have to say, I continue to be impressed by how incredibly nice everyone is there. The employees seem to greet every single dog that walks through the door by name, and while I waited they told me adorable stories about some of the boarders. Their affection for their charges is just so obvious that even I, who am a slightly overprotective owner, feel perfectly safe leaving Lucy in their hands.

Huh. Looking at the Biscuits & Bath post from September, I just realized that I am wearing almost exactly the same thing that I did on my first appointment, braids and all (except that I swapped out the Pro Italia hat for Kendrick’s beat-up Indians one, and am wearing a grey sweater instead of a grey t-shirt). Kind of unsurprising, though, given that yeah, this is pretty much what I look like 100% of the time that I’m laying around the house. I am a creature of habit.

Service generously provided gratis by management.

Photo

October 27, 2009

In response to the Great Pumpkin Soup Disaster of 2009, lots of you have written in with wonderful, helpful suggestions. The solution seems to be making a pumpkin soup in a more traditional fashion, and then serving it in a hollowed-out pumpkin if you want to heighten the drama factor.

Reader Sarah just sent me this recipe for pumpkin soup, which I think sounds fantastic:

1. Cut a hollowed-out pumpkin in half (reader Rachel suggests using a sugar pie pumpkin) and bake face down on a parchment-lined baking sheet at 350F for an hour (or until tender); let cool.

2. Scrape softened pumpkin from rind and process in blender until smooth, adding some milk if it gets too dry.

Photo

October 27, 2009

I’ve previously written about Martha Stewart’s Six Things to Do Every Day Checklist, but sometimes (OK, at least once a week) you need to put in just a little more effort.

Here’s my whittled-down (for practicality’s sake), ever-so-slightly altered version of Martha’s Weekly Cleaning Checklist:

Bathrooms:

- Change and launder bath mats, towels, and washcloths

« Previous 1 … 139 140 141 142 143 … 176 Next »