Daily Cookie

Hello handsome.  Where have you been and why aren’t you on my foot? Meet my latest crush.  This particular one is in black, but I covet his younger brother in  gold.  

He caught my eye last week as I was killing time in NYC and decided to peruse the shoe department at Barneys.  Mike was with me and he actually fell in love with this shoe too.  Or at least he acknowledged that this 5.5 inches of pure bliss was fierce and understood my obsession. . . well almost.  But it was a good start. 

There was a young woman trying them on next to the bench seat where my not-so-overly enthusiastic, but obliging husband had parked himself while I dashed around.   She did not buy the shoe, which I am actually glad because personally, I don’t think she could have done this filly justice.  

For me, it was love at first sight.  However I used restraint and left my latest lover safely on display.  I am simply going to wait until everything that is anything  goes on sale in just a few short weeks.  Then I will move in for the kill.

Each spring, two of my BFFs and I spend some quality time in NYC celebrating birthdays, shopping, gossiping and having fun.  Most recently, we have established a fun shoe tradition.  We all buy the exact same pair of shoe and sport it around all season.  And we tend to purchase ones that are not super trendy so we can wear them again and again too.  And every time we wear them, we think of each other. Now that is a bonus on our ROI.   Prada has been our pick for the past few years, but this season I think a new candidate is in town.

So girls, what do you think of my Pierre Hardy fishnet sandals? Do you have a new crush too?

In general, I am not a baseball fan.  I am not a crazy, obsessed member of Red Sox nation. And I am by no means a jersey chaser.   I can however appreciate those who are, and can almost understand why they get so wrapped up in it all at times. 

And I admit I enjoy going to baseball games.  Not to sit there for nine long innings, but rather to do what I do best.  I like to hop around the clubs or luxury suites socializing with people.  To me it is an event.  If we are winning, and this puts everyone I am socializing with in an even better mood, well than that is a bonus.   

Last week, I went to the Red Sox’s first night game and got the chance to go on the field.  Now this is worth bragging about.  Baseball fan or not, once standing on the field, you feel pretty damn special.   Morgan Dorr, the lead singer of Endway, the incredible band my husband is now managing, sang the National Anthem.  He was great.  We the groupies got to tag along on field for his moment.    

My friend Traci took this photo with her phone.  You have to admit, I did okay sporting those pigtails under that cute little basball cap adorned with a mini pink “B.” No one would have ever guessed I was only there for the music and the EMC Club.  She then immediately uploaded it to FB (got to love Facebook).  The responses came fast and furious – wondering why she, a tried and true Yankees fan, was standing with a girl wearing a Red Sox hat and how amazing it was that we got down so close to the field.

We were on the field.

That feeling, Morgan’s stirring rendition of the anthem, the apres field cocktail and the group gathering at La Verdad all made for a super night.  Hey wait a minute, I think I could be a fan after all.

Happy 2009! New Years always force people to think about and make changes in their lives.  The resolutions are listed on some task list and many are recycled from year to year.  This year I decided instead of the regular resolutions (get in shape, lose the extra holiday lbs, learn something new and so on. . .) I would make a list of intentions.  

I think Mike did too and one of his intentions was to spend more time with his family.  All of a sudden I was thinking about what I intended to do with our 12 year old nephew who he had invited to spend 24 hours with us this weekend.

12 year old girl, not a problem. I could think of a bunch of places to take her, Mia’s for a manicure, the Copley  for an early introduction to Barney’s,  J Crew for the after Christmas sale (she would fit into an XS) and lunch with the girls.  A boy presents a different story. 

Cameron arrived Friday at 4PM.  Mike was not at home. . .of course he ran into traffic after leaving the recording studio.  So there I was at home still in my sweaty work out gear with my nephew.  The first task at hand was getting Grover to tolerate another “kid” in the house.  He is quite territorial and I have to say a bit spoiled.   By the time the two had bonded, Mike walked in the door and I was able to shower and get ready for dinner.  

My one good idea was to take Cameron to one of our favorite restaurants Shabu Zen.  It is Japanese crock pot cooking and you make/cook everything yourself at the table.  It is fun and healthy.  Cameron loves to cook and to eat, so he was very excited.   On the table was a number of dishes with mix ins for the sauce.  Everything you cook is flavored by the sauce you create – mild to extra spicy.  Mike instructed Cam to taste each to see what he liked.  He forgot to tell him the little green seed things were chilis.   Four glasses of ice water and a banana smoothie later and he was fine.  He actually loved the dining experience and ate all the shrimp and scallops. On the way hme we stopped at the Bleacher Bar to show him one of Mike’s projects and an inside view of Fenway Park. 

We got home around 8ish and decide to watch a movie.  I had been dying to see WALL*E and thought having a real live kid in the house was the perfect occasion. Okay 12 year olds talk and I mean – a lot,  any subject and they know it all and have all the answers.  I was on the couch in the middle of Mike (now snoring to beat the band), Grover who had wedged himself  between me and Cam and Cam who was providing play-by-play commentary punctuated by the non-stop “. . . but Aunt Christine, robots can’t fall in love, they are not programmed that way.  They do not have any feelings.”  I am a still a sucker for a good romantic comedy and finally made everyone go to bed only so we could wake up the next morning to watch the end.  

I woke up to the sound and smell of breakfast.   Mike and Cam were in the kitchen making us buttermilk pancakes. We ate and then watched the end of the movie.  We had to explain to Cam that the Japanese had made a robot that does have human emotions.  Logic is the only way to reason with a 12 year old.  He listened and I enjoyed the rest of the movie in peace.

Next on our agenda was bowling.  We walked to Kings and were the first ones there. Cam threw a strike on his first ball! The rest did not go so great but he tried.  Mike and I were a bit rusty but we managed to have a blast.  I bowled a 103 my second string and was the winner so I really had a blast.

We walked back home after bowling and ate lunch at another one of our local and highly frequented spots Sonsie .  12 year olds are not impressed by the number of people you know or by the fact that a drink is named after their almost famous Aunt.  Mike and Cam spent the rest of the afternoon on his computer playing Mike’s favorite new game Spore. I tried to create a creature but was told my Greckazoid although very cute, would never survive in early life.  I replied he could charm his way out of situations and it was better to be a lover than a fighter and then seized the opportunity to take a nap.  

We really had a great time with Cam but the 24 hours passed very quickly and it was time to take him home.   I think he was the most sad about leaving Spore.  If he wasn’t playing it, he was talking about the game.  Continuously.  Again, we had to use logic and tell him that it was always better to listen than to be a talker.  You could almost see the wheels turning in his brain as he tried to figure that one out. 

Finally we explained to our 12 year old guest, the more he listened, the more he would learn.

Acting your age certainly does not run in my family.

Happy Birthday Mom!

xo

NYC or bust.  I have now traveled to New York just about every way possible.  This week, I added to my list of modes of transportation , not preferred mode mind you, another way to get from my home to what seems like my home away from home.  On Tuesday morning at 7:30AM I boarded the Megabus. More on why and seriously why below.

First, let me tell you about the preferred modes.  By air, and this may come as no surprise to you all but my favorite way to travel is private.  I have been fortunate enough to hop a ride from time to time on a friend’s jet or a corporate jet.  It doesn’t suck.  I am also a fan of the shuttle although in the summer this can be tough with all the “isolated t-storms.”  Getting stuck at LaGuardia is a major pain, if you get stuck on a Friday afternoon, it is sheer torture.  This happened to me about a month ago and like just about everyone else who was stranded, I hit the airport bar.  That particular night I made some new friends.  And we even managed to get the bartender to pour our remaining wine into “to go” cups to take with us for our trip home. Private or roadies aren’t so bad. Another benefit, this new friend and I are having lunch after Labor Day to talk about ways to work together.  Got to love shuttle networking.

And by land, a preferred method is by train.  This one I like to take when traveling with someone.  It is a long trip.  People argue that time spent door to door, train versus plane, is just about the same.  I am not so sure about that one.  The first two and a half hours go by pretty quickly.  But bonus there is a cafe car and they serve wine.  With or without an adult beverage, that last hour or so for me is not so good.  I become very antsy and just want out.  This basically applies to any trip that stretches beyond 3 hours.  Ask Mike, he has been dealing with me and this little quirk for quite a while now.  But it has definitely become worse in the past 3 – 4 years for sure. Part claustrophobic, part ADD, part fear of flying, part I can’t really sit still.

I also don’t mind driving, however have not done this in years.  But with a companion, lots of snacks and great tunes, it can be kind of fun.  I think roadtrip automatically means you can stock up on junk food (Sun Chips are my favorite here – oh, and stopping at McD’s for fries) and stuff you would normally never eat during the day, and especially in front of a companion. One time I drove back very late at night and managed to seize the engine of the car.  My saving a few bucks by driving turned into getting a tow all the way from somewhere in CT to Boston and then a new Lexus engine.  Should have just chartered a jet at that point.  Come to think of it, that was the last time I drove to NYC.

And as I mentioned a few paragraphs back, this week I boarded a “luxury bus.”  The three hour plus thing, the motion sickness tendencies, the fact I can’t sit still  – all pushed to the side.  A one way trip on this bus costs anywhere from $1 – $15 depending on when you book.  It is run by Gray Line/CoachUSA a new partner of one of my upcoming events.    In a few hours I am off to meet with the Director of Marketing.  And I can now proudly state that yes I have been on one of your buses. That is the why.

The ride honestly was not that bad.  The buses are clean, I did not get motion sickness and the other passengers were pretty normal.  My client and I did not exactly blend, but it was nothing like I imagined.  It is however very long.  And even with one rest and stretch stop, I was losing my mind by the fourth hour. So that was probably my first and last bus ride.

If you have megabucks, go private.  If you want a leisurely (that is for the Director of Marekting) ride and would rather spend your cash once in NYC on something fierce to put on your back, you can always take the Megabus.