I love carnations

I have been enjoying beautiful carnations in the kitchen for a couple of weeks now. On the weekends, I walk down to our corner store and buy a bunch in a single color. One bunch came with baby's breath, which looks corny in the bouquet, but terrific in my bud vase:

Anyway, carnations get a bad rap. They smell amazing, don't cost much, last forever, and are virtually indestructible. I just love them. When I was little, my dad used to get my mom a bouquet of red roses for Valentine's Day, and he'd bring me a bouquet of pink carnations.

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What's a girl to do?

Attention cat owners: Is there *any* way to train a cat?

My adorable, gentle, and sweet "bunny-rabbit" greets strangers excitedly, purrs on our laps all the time, infinitely improves my moods and stress levels, and is generally a perfect pet. EXCEPT I cannot stop him from jumping on the counter. This horrifies houseguests and creates work for us (eternal wiping down and/or washing our arsenal of cutting boards—guaranteed cat-free prep surfaces). And, as I was reminded today, when he jumped on the counter and jetted across the HOT STOVE, it is NOT safe for the cat! (He was fine. Phew.)

He jumps on the counter mainly because he loves the sink. We tried getting him a kitty fountain, but he still likes the sink. We tried squirting him with a bottle, but he just deals with the water. "No" is a word that cats understand—and laugh at and ignore. I hear double-sided tape can deter cats from certain surfaces, but our cat loves to chew on tape (what a weirdo!). This "blender defender" seems a little extreme...anyone have any practical advice??

Loving

1) Hot pink lipstick. A fair-skinned friend recently inspired me. She has a complexion like Alexis Bledel here, with the dark hair and ice-blue eyes. I opted for a more muted/less neon version than this. But still, LOVE.

2) Not paying the cable company one million dollars a month. My techie husband has set us up to get all of our media straight from the Interweb to our TV. There are a lot of remote controls right now. But so worth it.

3) Hiding your flatscreen TV. These people are geniuses and I wish I could have a custom cabinet build with one of these reversible bookshelf mechanisms. Maybe we will save enough now that we're not paying the cable company??

4) This video. This little girl turned my day around this morning. I, too, love my pajamas! And my stuff, and my mom and my dad and my whole house!