Last Friday, BlogHer
This Friday, humidity
Next Friday ... August?!
Still haven't posted
My pix or thoughts from BlogHer...
Hard to dive back in
To sitting, typing,
especially in this hot room
Help, I'm melting, ahhhhh!
Friday, July 31, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Blue Bear Goes to BlogHer
Having a little trouble readjusting to life after BlogHer -- and from the sounds of the tweets I'm getting, so are most of the people I met!I've got photos to put on Flickr, a fabulous bullet-point-filled post planned with all the highlights and lowlights of the conference, plus Blue Bear wants my help posting his own set of photos. But DuckyBoy's 4-hour camp day doesn't get me very far when I've spent most mornings so far going back to bed to recover from the sleep deprivation! So until I can stay awake at the keyboard for a few hours, here's a peek at Blue Bear's first day at BlogHer. It shows him all set at a panel called "Owning My Expertise" that was led by Catherine from The OpEd Project.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
The Waiting Game
Waiting at La Guardia's lonely Marine Air terminal to board my now-2-hours-delayed flight to Chicago. Note to self: when the announcement is made that "the bar is closing in 2 minutes," they don't just mean The Bar, they mean THE ENTIRE SNACK BAR. Too bad for you if you wanted something to munch on.
Anyway so Blue Bear and I are passing the time surfing the web, watching everyone else announce their BlogHer arrive via the #blogher09 hashtag, playing FreeCell, and updating Blue Bear's blog with the Hot Dog recipes from Saturday.
I called home and spoke to DuckyBoy, who is so sweet on the phone these days. He wanted to know what Blue Bear and I were doing, so I was sure glad Blue Bear had been active so I had something to say!
Blue Bear is making more friends than I am, I think he's a natural-born networker. A great icebreaker anyway.
Oh, oh, an announcement about our flight -- in broken English -- I think the plane is about to arrive from Chicago. They've been telling us about this plane since it left Chicago to come here -- like that makes me feel better, to know that the plane I'm supposed to get on is still in Chicago at the time I'm supposed to be getting on it? It idn't cheer me. But at least I knew something.
Going back to FreeCell now. Maybe plain Solitaire. What an exciting life I lead
Anyway so Blue Bear and I are passing the time surfing the web, watching everyone else announce their BlogHer arrive via the #blogher09 hashtag, playing FreeCell, and updating Blue Bear's blog with the Hot Dog recipes from Saturday.
I called home and spoke to DuckyBoy, who is so sweet on the phone these days. He wanted to know what Blue Bear and I were doing, so I was sure glad Blue Bear had been active so I had something to say!
Blue Bear is making more friends than I am, I think he's a natural-born networker. A great icebreaker anyway.
Oh, oh, an announcement about our flight -- in broken English -- I think the plane is about to arrive from Chicago. They've been telling us about this plane since it left Chicago to come here -- like that makes me feel better, to know that the plane I'm supposed to get on is still in Chicago at the time I'm supposed to be getting on it? It idn't cheer me. But at least I knew something.
Going back to FreeCell now. Maybe plain Solitaire. What an exciting life I lead
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Kitchen Lesson
Making lunch for Husband, DB and myself today, I learned the following important electrical fact about my kitchen:
Having the kitchen light on while simultaneously heating up the Foreman grill and the oven, running the microwave, and making toast ... overloads the circuit breaker.
Okay! Let's move on!
I leave for BlogHer tomorrow night, and haven't even gotten.the.suitcase.out.yet.
In fact, I'm taking Db with me this afternoon to shop more! I thought I'd be all set but alas, it finally got hot and summery and I discovered that no bottoms fit me except ripped jeans. So, although I am taking dresses to BlogHer, I am not a dresses-all-the-time kind of gal, so I need capris or SOMETHING.
Wish me luck at Coldwater Creek...
Having the kitchen light on while simultaneously heating up the Foreman grill and the oven, running the microwave, and making toast ... overloads the circuit breaker.
Okay! Let's move on!
I leave for BlogHer tomorrow night, and haven't even gotten.the.suitcase.out.yet.
In fact, I'm taking Db with me this afternoon to shop more! I thought I'd be all set but alas, it finally got hot and summery and I discovered that no bottoms fit me except ripped jeans. So, although I am taking dresses to BlogHer, I am not a dresses-all-the-time kind of gal, so I need capris or SOMETHING.
Wish me luck at Coldwater Creek...
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Hot Dog Winners
We won a hot dog cooking contest this weekend! Scott's combination of recipes was dynamite.
The toppings on the Displaced Wall Street Executive Dog are:
* High-on-the-Hog Bacon (2 slices)
* Prime Rib Chili
* Ski-Weekend-in-Vermont Cheddar
* Mexican-Riviera Cream Sauce
* In-the-Red Onion Relish
These are the 2 we made for my friend Maritza; for the record, she not only raved about them but also knew we would win even before tasting them.
I'll get the recipes, which are on the web, plus our modifications, up on our food blog asap, I promise. UPDATE: Recipes (thanks, Blue Bear!) But right now, while DuckyBoy is still at camp this morning, I have to go buy some new clothes for BlogHer this weekend!
BTW, DB did great with a sitter all day Saturday while we were at the contest. He had a better Saturday than he would have had with us, probably, since he got to get a Transformers sticker book at the bookstore (and I understand he was helping a littler kid read an Amelia Bedelia book!), plus pizza, plus the playground, plus a ride on the little duck ride-on outside the stationery store.
It was fun to be able to concentrate on the contest with Husband. I'm not sure when I've worked that hard! 5 toppings on 100 dogs in 45 minutes. Whew!
The toppings on the Displaced Wall Street Executive Dog are:
* High-on-the-Hog Bacon (2 slices)
* Prime Rib Chili
* Ski-Weekend-in-Vermont Cheddar
* Mexican-Riviera Cream Sauce
* In-the-Red Onion Relish
These are the 2 we made for my friend Maritza; for the record, she not only raved about them but also knew we would win even before tasting them.
I'll get the recipes, which are on the web, plus our modifications, up on our food blog asap, I promise. UPDATE: Recipes (thanks, Blue Bear!) But right now, while DuckyBoy is still at camp this morning, I have to go buy some new clothes for BlogHer this weekend!
BTW, DB did great with a sitter all day Saturday while we were at the contest. He had a better Saturday than he would have had with us, probably, since he got to get a Transformers sticker book at the bookstore (and I understand he was helping a littler kid read an Amelia Bedelia book!), plus pizza, plus the playground, plus a ride on the little duck ride-on outside the stationery store.
It was fun to be able to concentrate on the contest with Husband. I'm not sure when I've worked that hard! 5 toppings on 100 dogs in 45 minutes. Whew!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Tweezer-pallooza
Life's too short to use bad tweezers.At least that's what I told myself when I bought the black pair shown in front here -- the Revlon Stainless, which was something outrageous like $6 or $10 when an ordinary pair costs like $2.
These are 5 of the 7 (!) pair of tweezers I currently own. As I mentioned, I love the black pair the most. Because it can grab hold and pull even a just-starting hair out of my unforgiving chin. Eww! I think I bought that pair on my way somewhere, whereupon I realized en route hat I needed to do some additional grooming to feel at my best. Duane Reade offered a limited variety, so I splurged and haven't regretted it one cent.
My next favorite is the one with the magnifier; its very pointy ends work well. I think that pair may be from a street fair. As an extremely nearsighted person, I found the magnifier intriguing. Turns out I don't use that feature all that much, but it's nice to have on there.
After that they devolve fairly rapidly -- from the pair I throw in my handbag sometimes (really should choose one with less pointy ends for that purpose... ouch!), to the standard-issue Revlon style that I kept in my desk at work, to the pair that's Just Like Mom Used To Have -- in other words, not really good for anything.
Believe it or not, the little tweezers in the Swiss Army set actually works better than you'd expect. I have no idea why I even own that -- I think I may have found it and sterilized the heck out of it before I put it near my face.
And here are the additional pairs that are simply stuffed in my desk drawer; the blue pair works fine, the silver pair is another standard-issue Revlon variety that, again, I probably bought in an emergency.I always find myself needing a pair at my mother-in-law's. That and a nail file. What is it about being away from home for a few hours that always causes a hair to sprout or a fingernail to snag or break a nail? Guess I need an mini travel kit that fits in my small handbag.
Anyone want to guess what other 3 items I have in every one of my bags at all times? Besides the phone and the wallet/money. Come on, take a guess!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Who Am I Again?
Our workshop on Internet marketing for Saturday has been postponed, cancelled, what-have-you. We're a little sad because we were looking forward to having a success in our 'business" column. But since the expected throngs of participants did not materialize, I think we're doing the right thing to not continue to invest time and energy in something that clearly was not that interesting to the people it was marketed to.
Instead, we're going to offer it as a series of video training. THAT should be interesting.
And, yesterday I bought a copy of the classic, What Color Is Your Parachute, and am looking forward to reading through it again, meaning for the first time in 20+ years.
When we had to decide yesterday whether or not to cancel the workshop, I asked Husband what he felt God was saying to him about it. "I feel like God is telling me to get moving," he immediately blurted out. In the sense of get the business moving, he explained.
I found that interesting as a deciding factor -- would having the workshop for the limited participants move this business forward? It seemed like the answer was, Probably not.
We watched a cute movie, Miss Pettigrew, last night. I hadn't been interested because I thought it was going to be a Mary-Poppins-meets-Mrs-Doubtfire type of thing, but it was actually about one out-of-luck woman's day that turns her life, and how she views herself, entirely around. Perfect!
We also ate the collard greens last night; apparently not just cooking them for hours but also letting them steep in the fridge for several days does soften them to the extent they are edible. That tidbit will be helpful to all home cooks when the next Depression hits, I'm sure. That and having a bottle of Soy Vey teriyaki sauce on hand.
Instead, we're going to offer it as a series of video training. THAT should be interesting.
And, yesterday I bought a copy of the classic, What Color Is Your Parachute, and am looking forward to reading through it again, meaning for the first time in 20+ years.
When we had to decide yesterday whether or not to cancel the workshop, I asked Husband what he felt God was saying to him about it. "I feel like God is telling me to get moving," he immediately blurted out. In the sense of get the business moving, he explained.
I found that interesting as a deciding factor -- would having the workshop for the limited participants move this business forward? It seemed like the answer was, Probably not.
We watched a cute movie, Miss Pettigrew, last night. I hadn't been interested because I thought it was going to be a Mary-Poppins-meets-Mrs-Doubtfire type of thing, but it was actually about one out-of-luck woman's day that turns her life, and how she views herself, entirely around. Perfect!
We also ate the collard greens last night; apparently not just cooking them for hours but also letting them steep in the fridge for several days does soften them to the extent they are edible. That tidbit will be helpful to all home cooks when the next Depression hits, I'm sure. That and having a bottle of Soy Vey teriyaki sauce on hand.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
'Cause Nothing Says Summer Like Collard Greens
Can anyone 'splain to me why we are getting collard greens in our CSA box? I thought they were a cold-weather vegetable. These leaves are GIGANTIC! Of course I thought to take a pic of them after I cut them up.
Anyway right now they are simmering in the slow cooker thanks to several internet recipes I cobbled together. Lots of slow-cooker collard recipes, but all called for salt pork or ham hocks -- and I'm not going out for that when I've got perfectly good bacon at home. It should be fine.
I just hope the heat and humidity back off a little by nightfall so I'm in the mood to eat them!
Anyway right now they are simmering in the slow cooker thanks to several internet recipes I cobbled together. Lots of slow-cooker collard recipes, but all called for salt pork or ham hocks -- and I'm not going out for that when I've got perfectly good bacon at home. It should be fine.
I just hope the heat and humidity back off a little by nightfall so I'm in the mood to eat them!
