Crappy Addictions I Am Addicted To

Thankfully I don't have addictions to crack or gambling. Let's all give a little nod of thanks for that.

I do, however, have crappy obsessions that won't kill me or make me lose my house but they are worth sharing with my friends (and anyone else who might be reading this):

Crappy Addictions:

1. IPod games - I have worked my way through a number of IPod games. These games have the power to consume me sometimes to the point where I don't speak to my husband, miss huge plot points in Lost or wake up in the middle of the night to get the baby her pacifier and then happily jump back into bed to play my game since I am up. Specifically, these are some of the super nerdy games I have been playing (although I rarely play more than one game at a time - instead I play and play one game until I bore with it and get a new one) in order: Build A Lot, Ranch Rush, Myst, Hangman, Sally's Spa, Cooking Dash, Where's Waldo and, currently, Bejeweled. I have my eye on Monopoly next.

2. Auction sites like Gilt Groupe.

3. Buying greatly discounted baby clothes on said sites.

4. Finding a table the sale size as a useless nook on my deck.

There are probably more but I have lost steam and, frankly, I want to play Bejeweled.

Crappy Stories I Can't Stop Reading

I don’t know how we pinned the term on it exactly, but around our house we call them “sad sack stories.” These are stories with headlines like “Man Falls Off Stone Mountain” or, more hopefully, “Dog Risks Life to Save Other Dog.”

I read these stories a lot. I actively search them out. On average, depending on workload, I probably check CNN’s Justice tab at least once a day. A cold case? I’m on it. Specific regional stories from local news affiliates? I am reading those, too.

Jon doesn’t get it. Maybe it’s because an integral part of reading sad sack stories is sharing them. When talking to Jon, I now have to preface them with “Um, can I tell you another sad sack story?” He usually says, “Yes,” because he is nice. But several times he has asked, politely of course, “Um, what’s the point of these stories?” Like I am supposed to come up with a moral or something.

The thing is I don’t have an answer for him. I could probably make one up—like, “I am just confirming that my life isn’t so bad,” or, “it’s a crazy mixed up world we live in,” or, “I work from home, so what?” The real reason is that I gravitate to these stories because I learned that’s what you should do.

Growing up in a small town, as I did, you know everyone’s business. And the business that people are sharing the most is the sad sack stuff—“He just dropped dead of a heart attack," or, ”they just had to shut the doors and walk away,” or, “she broke her wrist AND her sister has cancer.” The next step, of course, is to either join a prayer chain or take over some soup to the afflicted party.

While a celebratory high-school graduation banner might elicit a public smile and nod and a privately whispered, “A little showy, don’t you think?,” a sad sack story pulls people together every time.

So, maybe since writing that last paragraph I have come up with a reason I love these stories. Because sitting here in Brooklyn, listening to a woman talking loudly about healthcare outside my window, I am still a small town girl at heart. I want to be viscerally connected to the individuals that stream past me. And while I might not get on the prayer chain or FedEx some soup to that dog that risked its life, I can share the story, and keep us all a little more connected.

You’ll have to excuse me, now, the story outside my window is really getting good.

Random Cute thing

I'm on an email list called VSL. According their website, "Very Short List (VSL) points to excellent new (and sometimes vintage) entertainment and media that haven't been hyped to within an inch of their lives."

Anyway, today they sent out a link to a list of fun venn diagrams. And the first one was so darn cute, I had to share it. The middle part says "awesome". I love it.

My Review of Yookidoo Kaleidodisk Crib Toy

Originally submitted at Toys R Us

Two amazing toys in one powered by colorful, musical disks! As each disk spins around, the surrounding mirrors and lights create a magical, musical kaleidoscope!

Yookidoo Kaleidodisk Crib Toy

Cannot imagine bedtime without it!

By laid back mom from Media, PA on 3/30/2010

5out of 5

Pros: Engaging, Fun

Best Uses: Sleeping

Describe Yourself: First Time Parent

We love this product! My infant daughter starts smiling as soon as we put her in her crib in anticipation of this toy turning on. At bedtime we turn it on once or twice and she is off to sleep happy and smiling.
I wish it had a lower volume setting because I thought it was too loud when she was a newborn but we just turned it on without the music.

(legalese)

Everyone Loves a Box of Slippers

Leah visited me this weekend and was quite taken with our visitor slipper box. She told me I had to blog about this, so here it goes.

When we bought our house, we didn't want everyone tracking their cruddy city-grime shoes everywhere - but, I'm not too found of walking around in socks in someone's house. I will do it, but my feet get cold and I feel oddly undone. So, from the minute we signed the papers I started dreaming about having a box or basket with slippers so that visitors could have something comfy to wear around that was crud- and embarrassment-free.

I did some googling for awhile and had a hard time finding what I needed. Either it was going to be way too expensive to buy multiple pairs or way too cheap and inappropriate (think disposable pedicure thong slippers).

Then I found these. They are "comfort pedic" (a temper pedic-esque slipper) and apparently "as seen on tv". I bought them from a guy on ebay for less than $5 a pair. At the time he offered a lot of 8 new slippers and you could mix and match the sizes. I got 4 medium and 4 large. They are very cushy and nicely gender neutral.

They are also a huge hit. Initially people are taken aback by the slipper offer, but most people jump right in.

We store them in one of these boxes (the biggest one) from The Container Store.

Every once and awhile I spritz the slippers with an anti-bacterial spray to keep everything germ free. For what's it's worth - I use Clean Green spray because it's environmentally friendly and kid friendly.

Let the slipper revolution begin!

Home Improvement

The color of my kitchen is white on beige on beige. I am not a white on beige kind of person but I haven't quite known how to introduce any punch.

Well, last night on the sofa with a cold, I made a leap and purchased these from Anthropologie.

I needed 41 of them and at $6 a pop it was a BIG purchase. I am excited and nervous!!

I also got these because people can never find our house. I am hoping to put them on the mailbox.

Bunny Day

File this under:

Offensive Jay-isms That I Cannot Help But Laugh At (see also: If You Can't Beat 'Em, Join 'Em)

Leah's comment about the first day of spring made me think of this. Jay and his friends call the first nice day of Spring, Bunny Day. It is a reference to the girls who don their cutest, tiniest outfits and spend the day walking and walking around "enjoying" the nice weather.

Of course I thought this was disgusting the first time I heard it years ago, but now I thoroughly enjoy Bunny Day and appreciate everyone's outfits.

How To Fake a Virtual Pedicure

Yikes. I am a bad friend. I am just now reading about the virtual pedicures we are supposed to be getting. It is sad that I cannot even get a virtual pedicure. Except that mostly I cannot get a virtual pedicure, because I spend all of my free time watching Battlestar Galactica. Now THAT is pretty sad.

Anyway, here are some thoughts:

1. I do not like those housewives or the people from Jersey. I have been watching Taking the Stage on MTV which is a real-life Fame. It is more my speed.

2. For my fake virtual pedicure I would choose a color that I got at my friend Amelia's bachelorette party called Bachelorette Bash. It is a garish pink and I love it.

3. I am wearing a neutral color on my toes right now so Jon can suck it. Tee hee.

4. Karley, I am sad that you didn't like the name of your nail polish because I, of course, love it. It's a pun! It's a nail polish!

5. I had to buy a product called the Woombie because little girl keeps busting out of her swaddle and waking up at night. I HATE that it is called the Woombie but it won't keep me from trying it.

6. If I was married to Brad Pitt I would try harder not to fight with him. Just saying.

7. Now that our secret blog isn't a secret I SHOULD feel pressure to think through my posts a bit more but I don't.

8. I still hate Nickleback and recently I realize that I also hate the use of DH, DS and DD.

9. Miss you guys.

New Recipe: Butternut Squash Flat Bread with Cheddar and Pine Nuts, or, “We have to share this with everyone!”

I have been getting Real Simple for about a year now. Sign of the times, my mom also gets Real Simple and LOVES it.

One feature I like is “Weeknight Meals.” It’s stuff you can make in under 30 minutes or so and is relatively easy, if you have the ingredients.

The recipe we made last night was so delicious that Jon took a bite and literally said, “We have to share this with everyone!” You’re welcome.

Click here for the recipe.

Inconvenient truth: They do not print the calories in the magazine. They do on the website. Hmmm….

Pedicure Only

Karley, as soon as I read your post I walked out the door and down to the local nail emporium (not its real name). They just opened up recently and they are fancier than some nail places but not so fancy that you feel like a jerk getting your nails done there. Because this was a fancier place, I decided to only get a pedicure, for cost savings.

As soon as I sat down, it became clear where the extra money was going--THE FANCIEST PEDICURE CHAIRS I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE! Not only did they have the ubiquitous massage feature, but they also had a footrest on the other side of the bowl that could be raised and lowered at the touch of a button. And you could move the chair forward and backward using the remote. Yes, the technology was on par with those rocket ships kids ride for a dollar outside Walmart, but it was still cool.

The Color

I chose the Essie color Jam ‘n’ Jelly. It was the first real day of spring and I wanted to shout it.

Spring Aside

In addition to it being in the 50s, how else did I know it was spring? I witnessed the following things all taking place simultaneously in Fort Greene Park:

People walking with dogs

People walking with kids

Picnics

Full tennis courts

A bike clinic

A tightrope clinic (seriously)

A guitar circle

A drum circle

A weed circle (yes, surprisingly, this was separate from the aforementioned circles)

SPRING!

Back to Color

Another reason I chose a bright color is that Jon doesn’t like neutrals on toes. There is no clear explanation for this, but when he sees neutrals he goes “Ummmm….” I think he thinks that there’s no point, because your nails are already a neutral.

The Tabloid

March 2010 Vogue, with Tina Fey on the cover—listen, if it’s in a nail salon, it’s a tabloid.

I read the Tina Fey article. And, get ready for it, I am kind of getting bored of Tina Fey articles. She’s a real woman! She can’t believe she makes as much money as she does! She works really hard! She's changed the face of comedy! She lost 30 pounds and kept it off! Why does this all continue to flabbergast the world so much that we have to keep writing articles about it?

The Price

$26, pedicure only. I think with a manicure it would have been $40.

Price Aside

The most expensive pedicure I have ever seen listed is for $55. Ooh, New York prices, you might say. Actually NYC is probably the cheapest place in the country to get a mani/pedi. You can get a mani/pedi for $20-$25 most places in NYC. The most expensive place is in none other than Honeoye Falls, NY. The small town in western NY where I went to high school!

Oh Mani/Pedi I Love You

Hey -- have you guys gone to get your nails done recently? Matt took nap duty and I was able to go to favorite nail salon in Brookline yesterday. It made me want to create a virtual - we all go to get our nalons done experience.

So. . . . The Colors

I think I discovered by new favorite OPI color - Tickle My France-y. The name is so stupid I almost couldn't get it, but the color is great. It's probably been around forever and I'm behind the times, so maybe you all have been wearing it forever. It's neutral but in an edgy way. Who knew?

This is it:
Cute, right? It seems more of a risk in the bottle than it does actually on your fingers. You could wear it to a wedding or going out. And I don't think chips will be that noticeable. You should try it.

I did my toes with an Essie color -- Chinchilly. In my opinion, a very cute name. Basically it's just a medium grey. I like but I don't think I love it. It's cool, but maybe I was looking for cooler?

I don't know. I will keep you posted.





A Nail Polish Aside
I was telling Matt about the dumb nail polish name and then we started making up names (ours we not very good - Violet Femmes, Ring Around the Rose-y) and then I thought it would be funny to post a bunch of really bad, real nail polish names. Of course, there is already a blog for that. Stupid Nail Polish Names. One of the funniest ones I saw was OPI: Friar Friar Pants on Fire. Ha!

MOVING ON!

The Tabloid

I chose to peruse the March 8 issue of Star Magazine. Here are the only things I can remember from the issue:
1. Brangelina are making up by taking the family to Venice, rekindling a relationship with Jon Voight, and living in a ridiculous mansion. The article mentions how they went to Angelina's favorite gelateria and Brad bought her a lemon ice and got one of the kids "caramello" - but all of the kids are clearly enjoying gelato in the photo. What gives with only disclosing one flavor? And the source was the owner of said gelateria. I think she is pushing that caramello flavor.

2. Two Real Housewives are in the news - one I knew about and one I was shocked about. We all know that Orange County Vicki went to Mexico and made out with some 25 year old guy who must think he just won the lottery. But did you know that Top Chef Sam is now with NYC Kelly?! He got married not too long ago, but is apparently separated from that wife and now is hooking up with a Housewife! It sounds like a bad Bravo cross-promotion. Click here to see it in print! NYPost

3. Giada is now making spaghetti sauce for Target. I will buy it because I love her.

4. There is a photo of Jessica Simpson wearing a creepy facial mask from La Mer to promote her new TV show - The Price of Beauty. I can watch alot of crap, but I think I will pass on this show.

The Price
$30. Pretty average I think.

In conclusion - if we can't all get our nails done together we can at least let each other know what happens when we go separately.

Snowicane

Hello from the Philly edition. We are in the middle of our 4th snowstorm/blizzard. I did not think that of the three of us it would be me in Snomageddon! It was a great winter to pick for maternity leave though! I just snuggle with a cute baby, lazily drink hot chocolate out of my Keurig, watch Buffy reruns for the 3rd time, Battlestar Gallactica for the first time and watch the snow come down.

Side Note: Hot Chocolate, it is not even that tasty when it is from the Keurig, although don't get me wrong the Keurig has changed my life drastically in terms of coffee supply and I will never go without one for as long as I live.

Anyway, tonight we are supposed to be having a "snowicane." Jay is totally knocked out with a nasty flu virus and I let Honey Bea fall asleep in my lap as a treat and because I was exhausted. The snowicane doesn't seem to be happening which is great because my roof crapped his pants when he heard the weather report this morning.

Etsy Sellers I Love . . . Baby Edition

MOBILES!

I really love Etsy. When I was looking for a mobile for my daughter, I was trapped in waves of indecision. I couldn't find anything that I really liked until I stumbled upon thewonderlandstudio on Etsy. She makes lovely, floaty, mobiles out of wire and foam circles and can personalize them with a child's name. And she's from Newburyport, MA - so I have to support a local crafter!

I got this one for my daughter's nursery and chose colors to match her safari themed room.



BABY LEGWARMERS!

My daughter was a winter baby so I quickly became obsessed with baby legwarmers. Babylegs are cute, but kind of pricey for what they are. Etsy came to the rescue! Apparently, these things must be pretty easy to make, because everyone is making them and they are making them for cheap.

Check out these (2 for $15) from mamarunswithscissors:

Or these preppy ones (2 for $10.50!) from forevermybaby:



What a freaking good deal! I might have to order more!

Never a Good Idea. . . Jeggings!

I think that jeggings are one of the worst fashion statements to come out in quite awhile. I don't even like saying the word -- it's gross. Topshop was one of the first fashion outlets to sport them and just look at this picture:

Does this look like something you'd want to wear?

Maybe this means I'm getting old and am no longer a cool kid. Maybe it's because I still have a full length photo of myself wearing pegged skinny acid washed jeans circa 1990. One photo in ridiculous jeans is enough for me.

To see a real woman wearing jeggings out and about - check out this NY Daily News article from early January. The woman is cute enough - but the jeggings are not doing her any favors.

Cute Fashions Made Simple

I am already prepping myself for Jenni to write another "I knew about this three years ago" comment. Especially because my hot style source for this post is the New York Times Business section. We'll see after this whether I should just stick to writing about crap I find on the street.

The new hot tip is: Celebstyle. From the folks at PopSugar, a must for anyone still playing Faffarazzi, Celebstyle takes photos of celebs out and about and tells you where to buy what they're wearing at a price point that you can (usually) afford.



Living in Brooklyn, where

1) I feel like everyone woman on the street has a cuter outfit than I do, and

2) I don't have lots of time to go to the store and the boutiques in my neighborhood scare me so I exclusively still shop at Marshalls

I think this might come in handy.

Ikea does it again

Recently I installed the Hemnes Shoe Cabinet from Ikea in my foyer. It has two front legs and the back gets installed on the wall. I LOVE it! I got it in this black-brown color but it also comes in white. Everyone will have a drawer for their mittens and hats (except Piper the golden retriever - she will keep her leashes in there.). It also nicely frames the artwork above.

Buy it here.

British fashion is at least 3 years ahead of American fashion, no matter what you say

For Christmas my mother-in-law gave me this bag:



She carried a similar one at my wedding and I thought it was pretty fab. The label said Boden so I googled it and found a pretty awesome clothing and accessories website. The stuff is a little spendy, but it's got that cute "where did you get that" feel that comes from clothing that's made in (or at least originally sold in) England.

When I was younger, we lived in England. Then I came back to America and everyone looked like they did in England 3 years previous (apparently, writing "previous" at the end of a sentence is also something I got from living in England). I thought that with the advent of the internet, fashion would catch up. Wrong. I haven't done a lot of research, but I can tell you that the British dancers I worked with on a cruise ship 3 years ago were all wearing those "maxi dresses" which, at the time, I thought looked insane. Then for the next two summers everyone in the US was wearing them.

So, I don't think you can go wrong with Boden. Check out this coat on sale. Look at me, I'm hip and fashionable but also carefree. And is that an old Englishy looking building in the background? That's right I am worldly, too. SOLD!



And for those with CHILDREN, there is miniBoden. Any company that uses "mini" as a descriptor is all right in my book.

Quit it:

Crappy Stuff I Keep Picking Up Off of the Street

I read somewhere that elephants, when they come upon the bones of another elephant, may investigate the bones and even carry them with them, some times for miles.

I know how they feel, because I do the same thing with crap I find on the street.

Fancy interior design sites talk about apartments, houses, furniture, etc. having “good bones.” I guess this means they are sturdy or well made, or perhaps it’s just a way to justify that expensive interior design project or reupholstery job. As in: “This has ‘good bones’ so I am going to spend more than it would cost to get a new vintagehip chair to reupholster this old vintagehip chair in HOUNDSTOOTH!”

I am not a woman of much means, so instead of paying a professional to recover my bones, I prefer to go out and find new ones, preferably within a three-block radius of my apartment.

Whenever I see a piece of furniture or other houseware sitting on the street I am drawn to it. Like the elephants, I might even carry it with me for a while before deciding to jettison it in some new location, or (gasp) bring it inside. When circumstances prevent me from picking it up—I’ve got a business meeting, I am going to a play in a very small black box theater, I am already carrying something else I found—I mourn its loss. I worry that someone else won’t find it, that it will just become trash. That its life will end. I once carried a beat-up kitchen stool with me for nine blocks before realizing that I already had enough beat-up kitchen stools.

This is the clever conundrum of living in New York—the amount of usable stuff on the curb is inversely proportional to the amount of room you currently have in your apartment. But things do make their way in. In no particular order, here are some things I found on the street that are in my apartment right now:

Dish drainer
Wall mounted file holder
Vintage blue glass Ball jars
Folding table
50s compression pole lamp

Don’t worry, there’s been much more in the past but the fancy interior design websites have told me that I have to “edit.”

Last night, I came home and there was a bedside table lamp sitting in the middle of the living room. My husband, let’s call him Babar, had been looking for one like this for his side of the bed—bendable neck, focused light—and there it was. It wasn’t in a bag or anything, so I asked where he got it. Babar: “It was in the lobby of our building. I almost didn’t take it, but then I went back.” Me: “Why didn’t you take it immediately?” Babar: “I was worried you’d think I was just bringing more junk into the house.”

Clearly Babar needs to read this post.