My seed, in the BIG APPLE!

This is Max practicing his scowl on the New Yorkers. Don't even think about touching my penguin mittens sucka! The others are of Max chillin at Aunt Jamie & Uncle Grant's pad. The second picture is kind of blurry but I thought it was hilarious how he was sitting, legs crossed completely contented; however, the feet are still in motion if you look closely. I know I have been M.IA. on the blog thing lately but we just got back from a stint in NYC. Some highlights of our trip: our own little Oscar party, Grant & Max's slobber contest....winner Max, Max waking up 5am (okay so that was more of a low light), lunch at Financier, searching for designer finds at Century 21, dinner at Patsy's (with awesome eaves dropping), a three level Forever 21, and lunch with the sisters at Kitchenette. We had a great time seeing Jamie & Grant and Lane & Britton this weekend. Thanks for having us.

Patsy's puts the P in pizza!

This is my favorite pizza of all time. The Margherita pizza at Patsy's. Every time I go to New York it's a must. I first discovered Patsy's in the summer of 2001 when I was interning in the big apple. I was at orchestra in the park with my good friends Matt & Celeste and we wanted to get take out pizza to enjoy during the orchestra. We found Patsy's by chance and since then she is an old favorite we keep coming back to. Patsy I love you and your Margherita pizza. I hope you never change.

A Double Whammy!!!

This photo, named Runaway Shopping Cart, accurately portrays the story of our bad luck. Our poor Audi. I was hit a couple months ago and we got the car back two weeks ago with a brand new hood, and grill. It looked and felt great. Three days ago there was a really strong wind in Boston. Corey dropped me off at the grocery store and waited in the car with little Max. When I came out I found a Corey with a sour expression, multiple equally spaced scratches on the hood & bumper of our car and a shopping cart turned upside down in an adjacent snow bank. The subject of Corey's frustration, and understandably so.

During my brief shopping trip, the high speed winds caught hold of an arrant shopping cart and sent it charging into our newly refinished bumper. Sadly, Corey saw the cart coming (as he was sitting, car running, in the front seat) and sped out of the car only to be restrained by his seat belt. Upon freeing himself from the said belt he raced towards the menacing cart and slipped on ice as the shopping cart rammed our car. After which the cart was sent sailing into a nearby snowbank (I wish I could have seen that).

The good news, if you are in the car with the car running in a parking lot it isn't considered a parked car and the grocer is liable! As I pulled into the body shop with the bumper and hood damaged for a second time they looked at me like "lady, you gotta be kiddin' me." The damage estimate for a runaway shopping cart- $700!

MetroNaps

Corey and I found this on CNN and thought it was pretty amazing. These are nap pods made by a company called MetroNaps promoting happy napping environments in the work place, airports, spa's and more. How sweet would it be if your employer invested in one of these so you could nap at work? Their mantra is "The benefits of a mid day nap include improved memory, mood and ability to learn." You betcha! It would be pretty great if you could go take a nap in one of these on long layover at the airport. Good news, New York has 2 locations where you can go and try out a pod for yourself. One in Midtown and the other in the Financial District. Jamie & Lane, how about you go try out a pod for us and let us know if you have improved memory, mood and ability to learn. I think I'll go take a nap now. Yawwwnn.

Mixed Up Love

I love Valentine's Day. Its a day to celebrate all things sweet and Love-ly. This is where I need all your suggestions. For our Valentine's Day plans this year we have decided to forgo the overpriced dinner at a fancy restaurant and stay in. We clear the coffee table to be used as a more intimate dining table, throw the pillow cushions on the floor and enjoy our meal snuggled up zen style. We both looove cheese so we make a meal of it- coupled with a little fruit and chocolate of course!

So to make our night complete we need some background music. I am compiling a Valentine's Day mix and need all of your fav love songs. To reward you for your fabulous suggestions I will in turn post cupid's collection of 'Mixed Up Love' for you and your heart throb to enjoy on the big day.

'Mixed Up Love'
1. I Melt with You: Nouvelle Vague (a fresh take on Modern English's hit love song)
2. Such Great Height: Postal Service (the freckles in our eyes are mirror images & when we kiss they're perfeclty aligned...)
3. I Will Follow You Into the Dark: Death Cab (Ali)
4. Soul Meets Body: Death Cab (Ali & Ashley- your the only song that I want to hear, a melody softly soaring though my atmosphere...)
5. These Words: Natasha Bedingfield (Jamie Ann)
6. This Modern Love: Bloc Party (Jamie Ann)
7. Somewhere Only We Know: Keane (Jamie Ann)
8. Forever Young : Youth Group (Jamie Ann)
9. Feels Like Home : Chantal Kreviazuk (Jamie Ann)
10. Soldier of Love: Donny Osmond (Grant......way to bring in the sappy luv tunes)
11. I Can't Live Without Your Love and Affection: Nelson (Grant)
12. Escape: Enrique Iglesias (Grant)
13. When You Love Somebody: Fruit Bats (Ali)
14. I've Just Seen a Face: The Beatles (Ali)
15. Else: Built to Spill (Ali)
16. Lovesong: The Cure (Ali)...although I almost listed this myself as well. It's an 80's love classic!
17. I Believe: Stevie Wonder (Ali)
18. The Start of Somthing: Voxtrot (Ali)
19. Only You: Joshua Radin (Ali)
20. Magic in the Air: Badly Drawn Boy (Ali)
21. Temptation by New Order (Lane...BEST SONG sounds like it could be some new indie band but was cool before there was cool).
22. Hardcore Days & Softcore Nights: Aqueduct (Lane)
23. You're so Hot: OK Go (Lane)
24. Yours To Keep: the Teddybears (Lane.."I listen to this pretty much every single day.")
25. In & Out of Love :the Trainwreck Riders (Lane)
26. Gotta Have You: the Weepies (Lane)
27. Love Will [Bring Us Down]: Suburban Kids. (Lane)
28. The Book of Love: the Magntic Fields (Lane)
29. Love Bytes: Def Leppard (Corey)
30. Open Arms: Journey (Corey)
31. Every Rose has it's thorn: Poison (Corey)...although what are you trying to say with this selection?
32. Silent Lucidity: Queensryche (Corey)
33. I don't wanna live w/out your love: Chicago (Corey)
34. Feel Like Makin' Love: Bad Company (Steph)
35. Rock with You: Michael Jackson (Steph)
36. Sweet Thing: Mary J. Blige (Steph)
37. Be Without You: Mary J. Blige (Steph)
38. Funny Valentine: Ella Fitzgerald (Steph)
39. Lady, You Bring Me Up: the Commodores (Steph)
40. Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours; Peter Frampton (Steph) Stevie Wonder's classic also recommendable.
41. Baby I Love Your Way: Peter Frampton (Steph)
42. I think; I'm Glad: J. Lo (Steph)
43. Our House: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (b. knickerbocker)
44. We Will Become Silhouettes: The Shins (b. knickerbocker)
45. I Will: The Beatles (b. knickerbocker)
46. Making Days Longer - RJD2 (b. knickerbocker)
47. Girl You Know its True:Milli Vanilli (Marta)
48. More Than Words: Extreme (Marta)
49. Elephant Love Medley: Moulin Rouge Sound Track (Ewan & Nicole) many greats combined in one!
50. Your Song: Moulin Rouge Sound Track (Pam) How could we have missed this one?! Kudos to Pam for suggesting perhaps the greatest love song of all time!

Top Design, Top Model, Topless!

One of the judges for Bravo's 'Top Design' this season is pretty face and design diva Kelly Wearstler. I heard of Kelly years ago when Interior Design magazine did a spread on her work at the Viceroy Palm Springs Hotel (I think the cover of this book is taken there). It' s a fanciful boutique hotel and the pool alone makes you want to book a night.

Well, to make matters more interesting apparently this isn't the only 'spread' she has done. The buzz in the design world years ago was that she is a model turned designer. Not any model.....we're talking Playboy model. She is a really pretty face but I wondered if it was just hype so I did a little research. Sure enough Kelly was the playmate of the month Sept. 1994. Not just a booby shot either, or so says Wikipedia. She is also known as Kelly Gallagher, perhaps that was her play mate name and she is trying to get away from it with her professional life. Who can blame her?

Aside from her colorful past, from what I have seen she is a talented designer. Obviously this isn't a gal who's afraid to put it out there and she does the same in her design using tons of intricate pattern, bold color and contrast, placed with tasteful artifacts and antique/retro furniture. She pulls it all off surprisingly well and has created a unique, signature look. I think her boutique hotels display her talents best. See for yourself. Kelly's design instincts don't come out of left field, her parents were in the architecture/design fields and she acquired some of her taste as she was dragged along to many an estate sale or antique show as a child. What I want to know is how she ended up at Playboy? I can tell you that a designer's salary doesn't always cut the mustard, maybe she took a side job that lead to some wealthy clients...renovating more than their living rooms. Ha ha ha. Anywho, just a little tid-bit of info on the multi-talented judges.

I'm dog gone serious!

It is hard to take you seriously Max with those cute puppy dog ears. I don't know why he decided to give me his most serious look in this picture. When I put this hat on he saw his reflection in the mirror (his best friend) and got all excited about it.

Aye, got your wee mits matey?

These are the cutest mittens known to mankind! Last week on a shopping trip to H&M I found these gems in the infants' section. For about $4 Max now sports these little pirate mittens with bandanna ties and all. We put them on Max on the way home and he was mesmerized by them and couldn't stop looking at his hands. Whoooa!

Mrs. Clean

Some of you may have heard how I have waged war on the nastiness that is my bathroom. On-campus housing has its perks- the bathroom isn't one of them. I now have a new weapon in my battle. I guess when I say new, what I really should say is new to me.

I'm a little embarrassed to admit this but, I found an abandoned Mr. Clean Magic Reach sitting by the garbage in the entry to our parking garage. It hardly looked used at all so I took it home and cloroxed it. I didn't have the cleaning pads that you are supposed to purchase to use with it so I just used it with a clorox wipe (lemon scented) wrapped around it. Verdict: Awesome! I love the shape of it because I can get behind the toilet and in the corners. Our bathroom is tiny so the size and shape made it easy to use in the cramped, awkward areas.

I was so pleased I bought a package of the tub cleaners and the floor pads. I used them for the first time today. I really liked them both too. In my opinion these type of floor cleaners shouldn't replace a good mop or deep cleaning but are great for a surface touch up or to prolong the need for a deep clean. The tub pads have a small netting around them that I thought really helped break-up the scum and they got our tile walls nice and sudsy.

I hate cleaning the bathroom, especially my dingy little bathroom. I am happy with my new bathroom allies and thought you might benefit from my findings (literally).