Some Mens Dream

Some men dream about women, some about cars, and some both... mine is the former, and of course, he only dreams about me...
Anyway, if your hubby is a car lover, and he has the HOT car already... and you want to get him a gift of driving accessories... check out this website, Car Guy Gear... they have great stuff, including these very stylish Piloti driving shoe...

... and some are on sale for about $60, down from $90

Neon sign... stylish, large and impressive...isn't that what they all want!

$469

Happy 'Gifting'!

Summer Plans

With Summer almost upon us, and my 12 year old son going to Sleep-away Camp for 7 weeks, my 14 year away for three of those weeks, I try to think beforehand about MY summer goals, something just for me... not an easy task when throughout the rest of the year I'm in kid mode, changing gears is not easy...  whether it be a big cleaning project, taking a course, traveling with my husband, just doing nothing...  for me it's usually means having time to make art, walking the beach at sunset everyday, putting a photo book together... whatever it is, now is the time to plan because Summer flies by... I like to get the project(s) going quickly because the last 10 days before they come home, when I miss them terribly, I'm unable to do much of anything and find it hard to focus.

Maybe you'll even design something like this Shopping List Bag...

Or not... if you're not that ambitious just give yourself a big break and recharge!

Just Sandwiches

Is it like the phrase 'Just Desserts'?...  meaning: That which is deserved, a reward for what has been done, good or bad.  Well if this is a reward, it's a good one because this website, Scanwiches, is a treat...  but be careful because viewing when hungry may drive you crazy!  All the sandwiches are not photographed and downloaded, but carefully scanned in,  I mean they're placed directly on the scanner, grease and all, that's why they look like one could just reach out and take a bite...

The guy lives in Brooklyn, so if you're not in the neighborhood, where you can frequent these places, and follow this gourmand of sorts, actually he's a graphic designer so he gets off on how they look mostly, then use this site as inspiration for the 'making of a sandwich'...  I believe there is an art to good sandwich making.  My father, a southerner, was good at it, slathering all kinds of things together and they were delicious.  I often make sandwiches for my family for dinner, especially in the heat of summer.

So here's to sandwiches...

Thick...

... and  Thin

and 'Just Desserts' too...

ENJOY!!!

A Special Gift

Last night I attended a special dinner party with six other friends from high school at one of the girls fabulously fabulous home overlooking Long Island Sound... it was a great evening as one might expect, with lots of catching up and good food paired with savory wines... what wasn't expected was an unexpected gift, the first being the sight of a friend I most wanted to see and didn't know was coming... the other was the lidded vessel, urn, jar (not sure what to call it), that upon arrival she held up and asked me if I knew what it was, while all waited for my reply...  as my life in terms of objects flashed before my eyes, it looked familiar like an old friend, but I wasn't sure so I replied with a question, "Was it mine, something from my family?"...

Yes, it was something my parents sold to her at a Tag Sale they had before retiring from the suburbs to NYC.  She bought it years ago with the idea of someday returning to me!!!... How wonderful is that?!

Now that's what I call a Special Gift... Luv ya girlfriend and thank you!

Driveway Tennis

"Driveway Tennis" is our name for hitting the ball back and forth to each other in the driveway when we can't get to a court and when my dog tells us to (which is daily)... what I mean by that is, he goes to the closet door where the racquets are kept, lays down beside it and cries to play... his role in all this, 'BALL DOG'!  It's great exercise for him and he's really good at 'BALL DOG'...

This is how it works... you need 2 or more tennis balls, preferably old ones, a driveway (ours is on a hill and curves so it's far from ideal), 2 people with racquets (patience too) and a ball-loving dog.  We hit the ball back and forth until we miss and then he pounces, leaps, jumps the bushes, and whatever it takes to retrieve this dirty yellow and now wet fuzzy rubber globe... in the mean time while he's doing his thing we're hitting the other ball back and forth to each other until we miss again, and so on...

At first he would steel our ball and run away.  It took us a while to get this down and him trained, but now he brings the ball back to this bush (in the photo) on the side of the driveway where he drops it there for us!

I wish I could show you with a FLIP-BOOK made from these...

It's a great workout for my dog and a great time for my 14 year old and I to catch up on things!

  

A Morning Like So Many Others

I used to pump-it-up everyday for 30 minutes on a 'Power Walk' through my neighborhood with ipod in tow... now I pump-it-up everyday with my 'CardioTrainer' app (free on the Droid) and my dog in tow.
The sights, sounds, and smells of suburbia is my music, noticing over the last 7 years or so sometimes subtle changes, like weeds growing at an abandoned house, and not so subtle changes in the landscape, like 70 foot oaks being cut down indiscriminately...

It talks to me in a sexy British voice

Garbage day stinks in summer when the juices are squeezed out onto the street

Is that an electrical symbol?

He sniffs another dog

Yeah, try 40mph

Old garbage on town property

The artist in me is driven crazy by the off center boarder

Just love this landscapers truck

 

Ran into my wonderful painter working next door, Conrad Painting

Back home, checking out my garden...

Oak leaf hydrangea, roses, spirea, geraniums

Just blooming hydrangeas

Annuals waiting to be planted

On the front porch... he wants to play 

Now that it's spring, my son, my dog and I play what we call 'driveway tennis'... I'll tell you about that tomorrow. 

Cool Whip Confusion

Confession of a Foodie - I LOVE COOL WHIP Lite!!!... in some circles (foodie circles) that would be a sacrilege!
Let's see, Elizabeth Barrett Browning said it in Sonnet 43, "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways."...
1.  In my coffee
2.  With fruit
3.  On pie
4.  With strawberry shortcake
5.  By itself
6.  On something chocolate
7.  Frozen mixed with yogurt

So you can imagine, when I was running low last week (usually 2 in the freezer and 2 in the frig), I went to 3 supermarkets looking for the 'Lite' one, and the shelves were stocked, but without 'Lite', so I was starting to panic... when I said to the 'dairy guy', "what's up that I can't find Cool Whip Lite any where?"
So he kindly says, "I'll take a look for you"... returning with a tub, "Here you go"... I took one look, and replied, "That's not the Lite one!", and he says, "Yes it is, THEY changed the label, see it says Lite, right here."  Squinting with egg on my face...  no wonder I couldn't find it anywhere, it was right there in front of me hiding behind a newly, (in my opinion) BADLY designed looking generic label... maybe that's intentional?  Or maybe it's a budgetary decision.

What do you think, or do you care?...

BEFORE...

Nicely designed!

NOW...

See the word 'Lite', it's hidden!

Is this too obsessed?... Calling Kraft to see why they ruined the look... it's still the same great stuff inside!

P.S. This Cool Whip Lite obsession started as a backup for coffee if we ran out of milk... now it helps me stick to my 1000 calorie a day regimen.

National Burger Day!

For my sons' 14th birthday last week we went to a new (new for us) burger joint, 'Cheeburger Cheeburger', and while he was eating his 1/2 pounder with just about another 1/2 pound of toppings, fries and onion rings, I asked my kids to rate three burger joints, including this one...

Our Top Pick...

Fresh, thin, and crispy, serving great fries and cole slaw

American Roadside Burgers

Our #2... If you order a pounder your photo is taken with a giant virtual burger and it goes on the wall!...

Thick and juicy on a kaiser bun, served with ok fries and good greasy onion rings

Cheeburger Cheeburger

Our #3 Pick...

OK, better fries than burgers... the best all you can eat free peanuts you can shell and eat while waiting

Five Guys

May 28th is National Burger Day, so visit a burger joint you've never tried, go to your favorite, or just grill a great one since it is Memorial Day Weekend!

And if you want to find the right burger for you, check out New York Magazines' The Burger Register with 82 Notable Burgers... and "if you can't find it there you won't find it anywhere"... oh sorry, am I being a NY snob, didn't mean to be, just sounded good.

The Toasted Marshmallow Shake!

I made this famous 'Marshmallow Shake' this week for my son's 14th birthday, and now I'm seriously hooked!   My mission (such a foodie) is to have the original at the Stand in NYC... along with their burger of course...
How does a  SHAKE alone do so much to stir the blogosphere for years now... well, once you experience the flavor of this chunky white concoction and the taste of barely-burnt sugar you'll know you've just had the greatest shake of your life!
I first heard about the shake in January from one of my favorite bloggers from LA, Cupcakes and Cashmere... Emily tried it during fashion week in NYC while visiting Stand's burger joint, and then she made it and photographed it,  posting Francis Lam's original recipe from Gourmet...

photos from Cupcakes and Cashmere

It's so easy to make, don't worry if you can't find the exact vanilla ice cream, just use a good vanilla... I made it with Hagen Daz's Vanilla Bean, and Greek yogurt...


With Summer like temperatures this weekend it's the perfect time to make it not just for the kids, but for the kid in all of us... and when I do go to the Stand in the very very near future I will tell you all about it...

So let me know how it turns out, because I'm sure if you make it on Saturday, you'll want another on Sunday, and another on Monday...