Booked at Stir!

After making repeat phone calls like a teenager calling Ticketmaster in the 80's for a lame concert, I finally got through and booked at Stir. This is Barbara Lynches new Cookbook Store, Demonstration Kitchen that offers classes and demos. I've been dying to get to another of her restaurants or stores, etc. Joe and I had a wonderful meal at No 9 Park in Boston and she just released a cookbook, Stir, that looks great.

The class we really wanted, Best of Stir, is a hands-on class of some of Lynches signature dishes. Plus you get the cookbook. Sold out in 1/2 a day today. Such a bummer. We are going, instead, to more of a dinner party type of set up which is demo but not hands-on. I'm still excited and hope to hit the Butcher Shop next door, also owned by her, and to peruse her cookbook store. Either way a fun night out with a friend for a Mothers Day gift to ourselves! Yay!

2010 Oscars: Follow Up

The tribute to John Hughes was phenomenal. Holy memories. I suppose it was the time, but I've seen all of his movies and have loved all the teen flicks through and through. Judd Nelson was looking a little leathery and Ally Sheedy was a little pale, but otherwise, it was awesome to see a collection of John Hughes actors and the clips just made my day. Does Anthony Michael Hall look like a completely different person, or is it just me??? I seriously cried. Not that it takes much...

I would comment on the rest of the broadcast, but TiVO hosed me and deleted it. I don't know what the hell is taking up all the space. I do have Star Wars II and III in HD saved. I have 8 HIMYM's and a handfull of other shows, but not that much really. Oh well. I didn't really care to watch much else anyway.

Yum

Starbucks Black Cherry Mocha - 1/2 caf, non-fat, no whip. Delicious. I usually lean towards the Cinnamon Dolce Latte, but have been getting a little bored of my regular drink. Alas, a new drink out and it was so yummy. Hit the spot today.

TV: The Office Baby Delivery Episode

I just have to say that Pam accidentally nursing the other womans baby in her hospital room in the middle of the night was hilarious. Also, the "I want you to have my baby for business purposes only. Let's meet in the usual spot and bang this out" storyline between Dwight and Angela and the associated contract conditions couldn't have been funnier. My fave from Angela..."No Star Trek names".

2010 Oscars: BOR-ing

First, I didn't watch the Oscars yet. I watched a few minutes when Supporting Actor was on, but that's it. They are taped and I will skim through them to see, mostly, how Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin did. I will say that all this "Oscar season" article writing, campaigning, and guessing who will win - along with the 10 million other award shows preceding the Oscars and "predicting" of how the Oscars will fall out - has made the Oscars themselves BORING. I didn't even care to watch b/c you already knew who would win...Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow, Sandra Bullock, Mo'nique, Jeff Bridges, Christoph Waltz, Avatar for all the tech awards, blah blah blah.

I will say these things about it though...

• I, obviously, did not see all the main movies in the nomination list although a bunch of them I'm dying to see and they are mostly coming up my Netflix list now (Up in the Air, Precious, etc)
• Hurt Locker was really good and intense. But, I have to say I did not finish watching it with a wave of "This has got to win awards it was so good". Don't get me wrong...I really liked it, but to me the war genre is exemplified by Saving Private Ryan, Platoon, Band of Brothers. This movie had a lot of great build up, but it didn't completely blow me away.
• Avatar was amazing to watch and deserves all the technological awards out there. The sheer magnitude of this project should be recognized. But, let's face it...the story was predictable and just ok. I'm glad it didn't win Best Picture.
• Sandra Bullock...I don't DISLIKE her, but she just seems to pull out kind of old hat, boring movies in my opinion. She would never draw me to a movie nor would I expect any mind-blowing acting performance from her. I realize that might not be fair, but I consider her an average actress who hasn't really had a role that seemed extremely challenging. I also have not even been a little inclined to see Blind Side. It looks corny to me and not the awe-inspiring sports movie (a la Hoosiers) you would want it to be. I felt unfair about judging her and then the clip of Blind Side just didn't change my mind. I guess I'll have to see it now to confirm/dispel my opinion. On the other hand, she does seem like a totally down to earth cool chick in real life and I've enjoyed interviews with her in the past.
• I liked Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds. I didn't see the other performances so I guess I'm ok with this right now.

A few other points...

• I saw Julie & Julia last week. I liked it, but come on people. Meryl Streep is a wonderful actress but do we have to nominate her for EVERYTHING????
• Up was pretty good, but Best Picture nomination? Really?
• Why even have an animation category? It always seems like every animated movie makes it in every year. Princess and the Frog for an Oscar? I don't think so. Maybe the music...that was pretty good; but certainly not Oscar-worthy.
• We also saw District 9 a couple of weeks ago. Really good, but NOT OSCAR WORTHY. Original, yes, and I give originality a lot of consideration b/c most movies are predictable and already done. I could see it's nomination for the Screenplay category, no problem. But Best Picture? No way.

It doesn't seem so special to win an Oscar these days b/c I don't think they accurately award people and films fairly. They give the win to someone who hasn't gotten one and deserves one even if they are giving it to them for the wrong movie (Ex 1: Denzel Washington - got it for Training Day, should have for Malcom X or Philadelphia; Ex 2: Jeff Bridges - is Crazy Heart really his best role?; I'm sure with some thought I could come up with a million more examples of this practice).

That's it for now. After I watch the show I will comment on Alec & Steve, any boring/notable Thank Yous, and the outfits of course. I don't watch Red Carpet anymore b/c honestly if it's not Joan Rivers or Kathy Griffen, why bother.

Catch up: Joe Skiing, Trip to NJ, Kids Puking

I've been slow on the blog front over the past week+. Just busy, busy, busy. Joe was on his annual guys ski trip out in Vail this past long weekend. I somehow managed to get the kids all dropped off on time and picked up on 2 work days (they are in 3 separate places, so this was a small miracle). We packed up and head down to NJ for a quick family visit on Friday morning while he was gone. I got to sit in on one of my Moms cooking classes in NYC on Friday night while my sister watched all the kids. It was really fun and nice to see her at work doing what she loves.

The kids had a blast with their cousins too. They are close in age, but my oldest nephew is 2+ years older than Shelagh and almost 4 years older than Rory. My younger nephew is in between my 2 big kids. They always got along, but usually they pair off in some combination at each different visit and usually have some varied interests. This time they were ALL STAR WARS, ALL THE TIME! The spent the entire day on Saturday pretending to be Star Wars guys fighting the bad guys with their light sabers and various other "weapons". While I'm not so crazy about the shift to violent "killing" and "chopping off" games, I am thrilled to see all the imaginative play going on. I don't think the TV went on until late afternoon. Star Wars, of course. It was so nice to see all 4 kids wanting to do the same thing at the same time and thoroughly enjoying each other - fight free for the most part - for the weekend. Rory followed Jacob (8 year old) around constantly. Sat down where he sat, copied him with play, etc. It was way cute. The boys loved snuggling Kelly too and she just sat right in the middle of them and played Yoda with no complaints. Shelagh, my sister and I snuck out for a bit in the afternoon and got mani/pedis and only the redheads got designs on their big toes (Sasha and Shelagh only)...it was pretty special and nice to see Shelagh uncling from me and attach to Sasha.

We drove back early on Sunday so Rory could make his best friends bday party. I made great time and the kids just chilled out listening to Laurie Berkner and watching weird and creepy Barbie movies (who came up with these totally corny movies????). Kelly slept most of the way back and I got to listen to the Best of Howard Stern from this past week including AMAZING interviews he did with Barbara Walters and Harry Shearer. If he leaves Sirius next year when his contract is up I will be devastated.

We got home before the party and the kids surprised Joe (who was sleeping off the Red eye flight from the night before). Rory then completely melted down that he didn't want to go to the party and he wanted his Dad, which was simultaneously adorable and sad at the same time. I convinced him to go, knowing he'd regret not going, while Joe took the girls to the park to enjoy the gorgeous high 50's, sunny weather. He started off great and then melted down twice there - I just figured he was cranky and overheating from running around. He inhaled ice cream and cupcakes and then gummy dinosaurs and then proceeded to puke everything up in 2 separate aisles of the grocery store afterwards. "I need a clean-up in aisle 7 please!!! Some kid puked all over the place!!" I took off his shirt and let him walk around stylin' in my black wool cardigan (All I had left was milk and eggs - did it really make sense to ditch my cart full of groceries and bolt??? I think not). He had a slight fever and made it through the night fine.

Flash forward to this morning when Kelly woke up screaming. Turns out she puked too and then proceeded to wipe it all over her hair and face and into her eyes. It managed to go between the crib slots, into all the crevices in the crib and rails and down onto the crib skirt even. Fun, fun, fun. It took 3 hair washes to get the smell out. So, I'm home today and not able to dial into work because of a technical problem. Back to Sesame Street for me...

Random Pics from the Last Few Months

I just downloaded a bunch of pics from my iPhone from the last 6 mos or so...