Hee hee!

I just recently went high-tech and got a smart phone. How much do I want to carry it around in this cheeky little case??

(A lot.)

Jellybeans

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Little girl in Toy Story 3: "There's a secret ingredient. [whispers] It's jellybeans."

Can't say exactly why I love these little buggers so much, but I just love 'em. As a kid, they were sort of left to the bottom of the Easter basket, to be eaten only after all the flashy chocolates were consumed. Now, they always cheer me up with their colors. The name is hilarious. Plus, they're the perfect subway snack.

Once, Chris and I tried to win $10,000 by developing a jellybean flavor and a JellyBelly "recipe". Turns out our flavor (pomegranate) was already in development when we entered the idea (d'oh!). Our "mojito" recipe didn't win, either. Ah, well.

Recently, upon hearing the news about my grandmother's death, Chris and I went into the city to light candles at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Afterward, Chris brought me to Dylan's Candy Bar in search of a jellybean pick-me-up.

I had a terrible work day today, but some Mike & Ikes (another favorite, close cousins to jellybeans) kept me going. (Side note 1: They're hard to find in these parts, but boxes of these collect dust on the bottom shelves of our local Rite-Aid. I think I am the only New Yorker who seeks them out. Side note 2: Still no way of knowing which ones are Mikes and which ones are Ikes.)

[edit: Out of curiosity just looked up the "mojito" jellybean. That exists now, too! Bet that was also in development already. D'oh!]

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!

Vim and vinegar

I was laid up sick yesterday, but in a Sudafed-induced burst of energy, decided that I *had* to do something semi-productive, so I went on a kitchen-cleaning rampage. I decided today that I need to share with you all the beauty of vinegar, something I've slowly been discovering over the last year. It is cheap, easy to find, and a total multi-tasker.

Three Practical and Awesome Uses for Vinegar:

1) Unclogging drains. In New York, one is often worried about the condition of a building's old wiring or plumbing. Take it easy on your pipes next time your drains are clogged: Make a mini drain volcano with baking soda and vinegar. The bubbles jostle out the clog. Plus, it is wicked fun, like 3rd grade science fair. This has worked in our tub several times. Once the clog was so bad we had to resort to both chemicals and an auger. But in most normal situations, vinegar can probably take care of the problem.

2) Odor eater. I'm a pescetarian (ick, I really don't like that long word, but it's an accurate description of my diet). I tend not to make too much fish at home because I can't stand the smell that lingers in the kitchen. But leaving a bowl of plain white vinegar on your counter while you cook fish can help combat the smell! (And if any smell lingers afterwards, boiling some sugar, cinnamon, and cloves can tackle the rest.)

And my personal favorite...

3) Copper pot shiner. We are such lucky ducks and got 2 gorgeous copper pots as wedding gifts. They make me ridiculously happy, sitting there and casting their soft, warm gleam over the kitchen. Imagine my heartbreak as they began to tarnish! Alas, a quick Internet search revealed the solution: Salt and vinegar. Good on chips, great on copper. Shininess restored.

There you have it! I'm still sick today, but need to plow through my last orchestra concert of the season. Hoping the cold meds will see me through! Then back to my PJs and contemplating any number of the following matters: where to live, where to work, how Roger has not yet gone bald and whether there is a viable market for cat hair (if I had a dollar for every time I emptied the vacuum, I'd be a rich, rich lady).

The crash

Boy:

Cat:

Yep, that's the state of affairs here at our house right now. This is the crash. We're running on nothing but Red Bull and a dream. (Well, I can't drink that poisonous slime, so I'm running on its less-poisonous cousin, coffee. And we're running on at least four dreams at any given moment. But you get my point.) Crashing's no good, but sometimes quiet time is just the ticket. I think I'm gonna see if I can nudge myself in next to one of these guys and turn off the old brain for a bit!

(This was from yesterday, but no Blogger crashed when I tried to post. Apparently everything was crashing yesterday!)