A Couple of Fun Things

A couple of fun things. The kindly Patricia of pve design just posted an interview with little ol' me — complete with darling sketch of my kids hanging out in my office. The office is fantastically accurate — if much cleaner than the real one. You can check out the interview here.



Also, John Segal, one of my favorite children's book illustrators will be the Children's Museum of Manhattan this Sunday. He'll be reading and signing copies of The Lonely Moose. Rumor has it that he may be doing a watercolor demonstration as well — sweet!! Sunday, April 6th, 1:30 pm, Children's Museum of Manhattan. If you're in New York, you won't want to miss it.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

It was a great weekend! Mostly because we were all together for the first time in awhile. And also because it was jam packed with fun stuff.

On Saturday we hit the matinee of Horton Hears a Who. The kids loved it. And it was especially fun because we know two of the animators that worked on the movie. (Blue Sky Studios, the company behind Horton and Robots and Ice Age, is based here in New York, very close to where we live.)

Saturday night was the Pinewood Derby. More on that later.

Sunday we wore green, ate green food at a church get together and then went to the Josh & Erin's for a traditional St. Patrick's Day feast. Corned beef, cabbage and lots of root vegetables (potatoes, beets, parsnips, carrots, and one other one I'm forgetting). Plus no less than 3 desserts. So yummy. I had seconds. And thirds. If you ever get the chance to live near Josh and Erin I highly recommend it.

We're all wearing green today and wishing good luck to all we meet. Including you.

Ben Blair turns 35

Today is Friday, March 14th. Which means that Ben Blair's birthday was one week ago on Friday, March 7th. Ben is 35 years old. And we still haven't celebrated this joyous occasion. Which is not good. Not good at all.

Here's the boring story: Ben was out of town last Thursday. Then I was out of town Friday through Sunday. Then he's been out of town again this week. It's kind of like playing tag — but at JFK, and with airplanes. He'll be back in the morning and I can't wait to see him.

To ease my guilt about leaving town on his birthday, Ben promised me we would pick a-date-sometime-in-March to celebrate. We want to make him breakfast in bed, and bake a cake, and wrap up some presents. I don't think he would mind skipping all of this, but our kids would be terribly offended if any of these traditions were taken lightly.

Just to be safe: March is slipping away fast — if for some reason the celebration doesn't happen, well then at least this blog post will mark his big day. Happy Birthday Ben Blair.

(I know we like to believe that God loves all his children equally, but I could make a strong argument that I'm his favorite because I get to be married to Ben Blair.)

Fashion Roundtable with Cate Adair of Desperate Housewives

Two weeks ago I spent a lovely afternoon at a Blogger's Roundtable with the stylist and costume designer for Desperate Housewives. Her name is Cate Adair and she has wonderful ideas and a gorgeous collection of handbags. Plus, she was super down-to-earth — especially for someone who dresses six of the most glamorous women on TV. I've been meaning and meaning to post about the event and today's the day.

This was my first Blogger's Roundtable and in case you're curious, this is what went down:

1) Yummy lunch — fresh fruit, salads and sandwiches — at Dream Hotel. (My first visit to Dream Hotel, by the way, and it is gorgeous and in fact dreamy.)



2) Chatting with the loveliest group of fashion & celebrity bloggers ever. I met mother-of-two Vera from I'm Not Obsessed, newlywed Lauren from Second City Style, Bryn from She Finds — recently upgraded from mere writer to full-fledged editor — she is adorable and friendly, and new-to-blogging Felissa from About This.

3) After the food, Cate told us about herself, answered our fashion questions and told us what to look for while we watched the Oscar's — and what to expect in stores this Spring (like stacked bracelets). A bit of Cate's wisdom: when shopping for a big event, try on the dress while wearing the "undies" you plan to wear — it makes a big difference to the fit.



4) As we talked, Cate had a model come into the room wearing some of her favorite lines. She introduced us to: Rare Vintage (a clothing store in Manhattan). John Hardy Jewelry. Jeanne Jarvaise Shoes. Rich & Skinny Jeans. Parajumpers Coats.

5) The whole thing was sponsored by Febreeze and Cate said her favorite time to use Febreeze is when she's working with vintage clothing — which invariably comes with a scent because a) it's old, b) it's used, and c) if it's been stored correctly, it probably smells like mothballs or cedar or both. She said Febreeze freshens her vintage collection in a snap. We were sent home with Febreeze samples — I've never tried it before and I'm pretty curious to see what kind of uses I find for it.

It really was a lovely afternoon. If you're dying for more details, you're in luck — we were videoed the entire time. Check it (2 minutes, 42 seconds):


photos from I'm Not Obsessed

Super Tuesday is Super

I'm back at my desk after a few errands: picked-up a birthday present, mailed a belated gift to my mom at the post office, and VOTED! I hope you get out there today too. It's good for you, good for the country and good for your kids to see.

Lots of super things today in addition to voting. I've got plans to stop by the NY Gift Show. There's a big parade for the Giants. And tonight there's a tech meet-up I'm hoping to attend. Every once in awhile, I crave a super busy day like this.

Report on the Red Dress Show

View The Heart Truth's map

Taken in (See more photos here)

So I have to give you a quick report on the show. I loved it, loved it, loved it. So much fun. I managed to snag myself a front row, center section seat and had one of the best views in the tent.

This is who walked the red runway:

Allison Janney, you know, CJ from The West Wing, wearing Donna Karan
Ana Ortiz, Ugly Betty's sister Hilda, wearing Badgley Mischka — adorable
Ashanti wearing Tracy Reese
Camryn Manheim, from The Practice, wearing Ali Rahimi
Cheryl Hines, Curb Your Enthusiasm, wearing Catherine Malandrino

Heidi Klum wearing Marc Jacobs. I am officially in love with Heidi Klum. She is stunning.
Jenna Fischer, Pam from The Office, wearing Carmen Marc Valvo
Joss Stone wearing Max Azria Atelier


Lisa Rinna wearing Michael Kors. Hers was probably my favorite dress — the fringe was amazing.

Liza Minnelli wearing a Halston Original
Maria Menounos for Marchesa
Mary Lynn Rajskub, from 24, wearing Monique Lhuillier
Molly Sims, from Las Vegas, wearing Daniel Swarovski. I also really, really loved this dress.
Rita Moreno wearing Lily Samii. She danced the entire length of the runway and was charming.
Sara Ramierez (Callie from Grey's Anatomy) wearing Angel Sanchez — and she was absolutely gorgeous.

The First Lady, Laura Bush, opened the show (and then sat right across from me, I'm not kidding about my really good seat) and she was lovely and gracious as well. To end the show, Liza Minnelli sang New York, New York and was just generally awesome while confetti fell from the top of the tent.

The show was great. The energy was fantastic — red outfits everywhere and the audience just delighted to be a part of it. The dresses were amazing. And it was especially fun because the models/actresses were waving and dancing and blowing kisses and interacting with the audience.



I had a great time and felt so lucky to be invited. I picked up The Heart Truth red dress pins for my daughters after the show. Hooray for National Wear Red Day!

100 Percent

So I'm back. Feeling good. Yesterday was maybe 80, 85%. Today I'm 100% healthy. And I love it. As soon as I was feeling better my appetite came back with a vengeance and happily, my friend Angela who is in tune with the entire Universe, sensed this increased hunger and brought an enormous pasta dinner for my whole family. Complete with homemade sauce from her Grandma's special recipe and a crusty loaf of bread. Yummy. And did I mention yummy? Thank you Angela!

(Side note: is there anything more wonderful than a good friend to bring you dinner when you're not feeling well? Seriously. You should probably move to New York so you can live near people like Angela.)



During the worst of the sickness, I comforted myself with sips of Glow Mama. Lucy Leahy developed a drink just for expectant/nursing Mamas (I'm not currently either, but anyway...) when she found herself a bit discouraged at her limited beverage options while she was pregnant. She sent me a couple of samples of her kiwi juice concoction and I found them light, not too sweet, subtle,and pretty darn lovely. Very gentle on my upset stomach.



And to cheer me up, Shannon from Rocks in My Dryer sent me an article her local Tulsa newspaper had written up about her great blog. It's a lovely article and was especially cheery to me because she mentioned my blog as one of her ten favorites. Thank you Shannon! You're a sweetheart.

And now here I am. Healthy, full of pasta and kiwi juice, and delighted by a newspaper mention. Life is good. I can't wait to read Michelle's guest post today. . .

Back In a Bit

Oh my. I have 3 more really good posts for today — one of them from our awesome Guest Mom, Michelle. Really. They are don't miss. But. I'm deathly ill with some sort of flue and am kidding myself if I think I can get them posted right now. This same sickness has cycled through my kids pretty quickly, so I'm crossing my fingers I'll be feeling healthy soon (oh please let it be soon). And then I'll be back at my computer.

Also. I'm feeling heart-heavy today. A great man and leader passed away yesterday. His name is Gordon B. Hinckley and he's been the leader of my church for the last 12 years. So I'm also spending time today with the rest of my peeps mourning his death and pondering and celebrating the good life he lived .

Oscar is Three

Oscar turned 3 years old last Wednesday. He is so charming it's all I can do not to eat him up. He says "bawindow" instead of window, as in "Let's look out the bawindow." He calls any body of water an "ocean of the sea," as in "Hey, there's the ocean of the sea!" when we come upon the Hudson River. Ben found this list of "Toddler Rules" and we think they fit Oscar perfectly. Especially these three:

If it does not open, it must be screamed at.
If Mommy's hands are full, I must be carried.
If it is pointed, it must be run with at top speed.

We are having a Round & Round party for him this Saturday. All about circles, polka dots, wheels, and balls. With music by JT and Dead or Alive and Ratt. I'll share details next week.

No Regrets

Halfmama just sent me a link to her amazing Chrismakkuh card. That she modeled on my own family's Christmas card. Which I modeled on the photography of Jon Von Holleben. Didn't it turn out wonderfully? I love it! Nice work, halfmama.

I confess, seeing it did give me a tiny pang of regret — after all the time we spent putting together our card, I never did get it mailed out. Not cool. And not that surprising actually — it's happened before. Clearly I love the creative part more than the practical part. Staging a photograph = fun. Addressing envelopes = not as fun.

But for realsies, no regrets. 2007 was a great year.* And now. On to 2008! Laurie (of Leap Design, Upside Up and sk*rt) captures my enthusiasm perfectly with her fabulous New Year's card:

*Although I stand by my claim that 2007 was a great year, it should be noted that at our house it will also be recorded as the Year of Infestation. Every childhood plague that relates to bugs came to our home. Lice. Lice-relapse. Pinworms. Boils. And some more I can't remember. It was ridiculous. I didn't even know what most of the ailments were until we were at the doctor's hearing the diagnosis. (What's the deal? Did we stop bathing in 2007?)

Also, as we worked to clean out our basement for the playroom conversion, at least two species of unrecognizable and slightly disturbing bugs — is it a spider? Is it an odd silent cricket? Does is have hair? — were discovered. Ben Blair said, "Our basement is the Galapagos Islands of bug evolution."

Logically, I know they are harmless, but that doesn't mean they don't completely creep me out. I owe a special thanks to Mr. Blair for being a fearless bug destroyer.

Donna Jean Pack

My sister Rachel recently posted a photo of my Mom as a young mother. Isn't she stylin? The necktie. The awesome lamp. And I totally remember the suede couch. It was gorgeous — super simple, with clean lines. Man. I have good genes.

Mom, which baby are you holding?

Happy New Year!

January rocks! I love an excuse to make goals and lists. To resolve to become a better person or live a better life. Last Sunday, we ceremoniously pulled out our trusty notebook and made our new resolutions — and several of the ones I'm looking forward to the most involved this very blog.

In fact, I better stop typing about them and get to work making them happen. In the meantime let me wish you a Happy New Year and ask you to meet me here tomorrow for an awesome beginning-of-the-year Giveaway.

photo by Annene von Durchgerockt

Baby FYI

So it's been pregnancy central for my brothers and sisters this year. My brother Salem and his wife Megan gave birth to baby number 2, last month. His name is Jared and he is beautiful. Look at that hair! Those cheeks! I can't wait to meet him.

Then. My sister Jordan and her husband Paul, plus my brother Jared and his wife Liz are each due with baby number 1 on January 1st, 2008.



Actually. I should say "were" due. Because Liz and Jared gave birth to a gorgeous little boy, Henry Wayne Stanley, on December 5th — after a crazy surprise emergency c-section. He is home and healthy and I can't wait to meet him too. Isn't that a great shot? Ben thinks he looks just like one of our babies.

And. Paul and Jordan are at the hospital as I type!

Three little boy cousins. All born within a short time. So wonderful. But labor is hard. Delivery is harder. I'll be sending up prayers for Jordan all day long.

A Few of Erin's Food Picks

When Ben and I had our weekend without kids a little while back, we asked my sister-in-law Erin for food recommendations. The New York food scene is extensive enough that no matter how many places we've tried and loved, we never come close to trying them all. Erin had wonderful ideas, keeping in mind places she knew we hadn't been to. Here they are with her notes:

For Lunch
Bouchon Bakery — Columbus Circle in the Time Warner Bldg. By Thomas Keller of French Laundry and per se fame.

Momofuku Noodle Bar — The chef was Bon Appetite's chef of the year this year. It's casual sit at a bar kind of place — think ramen noodles but totally homemade.

Rickshaw Dumplings — 61 W 23rd st. (23rd between 6th and Broadway) We love the pork and the chicken dumplings. Ben would like the chocolate dumpling.

Shake Shack — Madison Square Park, Broadway and 23rd



For Dinner
Gotham — 12 E. 12th st (between 5th and University) They have a $25 lunch prix fixe if you can't get in for dinner.

Craft — 43 E. 19th St. (bet. B-way and Park Ave. S.) Rebecca R. told me this was her favorite place they'd been, so we tried it last year. It's amazing. Same price point as Gotham.

Vong — 200 E. 54 th St (3rd Ave.) They call this French-Thai. Lots of Thai flavors but more French preparation. They have a pre-theater prix fixe that is a great price.

For Dessert
Pinkberry — This is the frozen yogurt place. There are lots of locations, all open until 11:00.
32nd street - 7W 32nd st.
Chelsea 170 8th Ave.
Columbia 2873 Broadway
Greenwich Village 177 Bleecker St.
Spring Street 41 Spring St.

Chickalicious — 203 E. 10th St. (between 1st and 2nd) One of my most favorite New York memories. You put your name in and wait in this tiny place (it seats 20) for like an hour, but then enjoy a three courses of dessert. And it's nothing like a buffet dessert, each course is simple and small and beautifully crafted. A husband/wife team runs it, the wife is Japanese and you see her influence in presentation and simplicity. It's a prix fixe menu — $21 a person. It's amazing!!

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What a list! Perfect for our weekend. We didn't get to every place on Erin's list, but we loved having options so we didn't have to think hard about it and could pick a restaurant close to where we were. We ended up at Gotham (classic New York) for dinner on Friday and Momofuku (super-hip, young New York) for dinner on Saturday and loved them both.

She might have different recommendations for a different weekend and a different couple. But I thought I would share this great list because I know how many people come into town for the Holidays and need food advice. Erin gives great food advice.

images from Momofuku, Bouchon and Gotham

Happy News.

My mind is spinning with so many things to report. Actually spinning. Well. Really more like pacing. I found myself pacing this morning making a mental list of things I wanted to blog about. Anyway. I'll start with 3 things.

Item number one:
Ben Blair is now Dr. Ben Blair! Thank you so much for all the comments of support on the last post. Ben was delighted and surprised when he happened to check my blog last Thursday and read all your kind words. He was really happy about it. So thank you. It's always so encouraging to imagine people out there rooting for you.

Item number two:
The weekend was fantastic. We are home and rested. We saw too many beautiful things. Ate too much wonderful food. I would repeat the exact weekend again — it was that good — with the exception of our viewing of Beowolf. Which I disliked very much.

I'll tell you more about the weekend as I post through the next few days, but I'll mention the hotel now (so that I have an excuse to add some pics to this post). We stayed at the Millenium Hilton downtown. It's directly across the street from Ground Zero. And it has amazing views across the river. Our room was beautiful. Our bed was comfortable. We were more than content.

Item number three:
We have a new Guest Mom today! More on that coming up. . .