December 31, 2013

In 2014, Read More, Surf Less

Last night I got caught up in the google whirlwind. There's a mistake on my google apps, searched for hours on how to resolve it, caught up with incoming email, and then went on cyber-trails that lead me to research such disparate things as the banking situation in China, red lipstick, Queen Elizabeth II,  ink cartridges for my printer... on and on. Before I knew it, the night was early morning (1 a.m.).

These were hours and hours I could have spent with my beloved husband.  Finishing a section of the NYT or diving into the wonderful collection of short stories by John Updike, which I just got at the library.

One of my vows in 2014 is to get off line and get in line with less time surfing and more time with husband and reading.

I swear herein.

Triskaidekaphobics Happily Bid Adieu to 2013


Triskaidekaphobics (people who think "13" is an unlucky number) agree ... put the year to bed and
get ready to party like it's 1999!

Click --->  Happy, Wonderful, Joyous New Year 2014!!!

December 25, 2013

A Near-Perfect Christmas Morning

On this Christmas Day, we awoke to a beautiful light snow covering the fields. Our new home in Connecticut is truly a scene from Currier & Ives.

(This is not what our house looks like. I'm just saying ...)
Other events of the day:

. Husband has long been planning a Christmas morning breakfast. Since darling daughter visiting from Hawaii is sensitive to wheat, the pancakes had to be gluten-free.
    Husband carefully measured the batter from scratch. (Did not want to make from a box.)
    PS: The pancakes turned out horrible. Tasted like plastic. Something went wrong with the recipe. Or was it something my dearly beloved sprayed on the grill?
     Not wanting to insult the chef, daughter and I took bites.  Tried pouring maple syrup over the pancakes to smother the taste, but there was something wrong with the maple syrup, too. It had a faint whiff of ammonia. (I thought maple syrup NEVER goes bad. Where did I learn that Egyptian mummies were wrapped in maple syrup-soaked strips of linen?)
     So now breakfast was tasting like plastic pancakes and acrid maple syrup.
     "This tastes like something you shouldn't be eating," one of us said as politely as possible.
     Everyone's forks went down.
     "Is it my pancakes?" asked husband.  Being his culinary efforts are brand new, I just couldn't say, "YES, it's your pancakes. They suck."
     "But the maple syrup is strange, too," said daughter. "Maybe it's my tastebuds, but everything tastes weird."
     Note: when I poured out the maple syrup later, it was watery. What does this mean? (Are my historical facts wrong that this elixir from trees stays pure forever and ever?)

     Anyway, the bacon was delicious. So was the blueberry jam spread on English muffins. And the Kona coffee from Oahu was great.

. Love getting messages from friends around the world.  The season of love and joy has no boundaries.

. To the cat, this is like any other day. If we threw a mouse into the mix, he would be enthralled and it would be a real stand-out day.

. If your visiting children are in their 20s and now live away from home, is it rude to remind them about slouching and slurping their coffee?

. Reading by the fire is one of life's blessings. We are grateful to the cavemen for passing on this tradition.

December 23, 2013

A Hot Pre-Selected Christmas Playlist


Come sit by the fire ... and listen to an hour of great Christmas music.  Click here, turn up the volume, go full screen and enjoy. (Watch out for sparks. And don't forget to close the flue when you're finished listening.)

December 19, 2013

Good Dish

                                                 New Canaan, Conn.

Christmas shopping under a sherbet sky.



December 17, 2013

Artist Frederico Ferrarini Brings Vision to the Canvas

Artist Frederico Ferrarini
     It was a snowy night in Pound Ridge, but I saw sunshine  … or at least paintings that could represent the sun, the universe … something omnipresent. At Abitare Designs  art opening, designer/owner Jacqueline Kornblau introduced Frederico Ferrarrini, who flew in from Valpolicello, Italy for the exhibition of his latest work.
     “When I discover new artists, I look for passion, the ability to connect materials and meanings that relay a sense of life and creation in its deepest form," Jacqueline said. "Frederico Ferarrini has a sensibility that is the secret to real art. He allows the viewer to connect with the source that brings the subconscious to life and creates visual impact.”
     With simple lines, Ferrarini’s paintings go from the micro-ism to the macro-ism.  The result is a vibrating ring of delicate lines that, from different angles, feels like one is also looking at an eye, an inverted globe or from atop a dome. 
     Seeking to create from a sense of purity, Ferrarini is both an artist and an alchemist. He makes his paints from raw materials. “By crushing the dolomites, I feel the very soul of my materials.”
     The work is illuminating … especially during these dark December days of winter.
Jacqueline Kornblau, designer/owner of Abitare Designs
Abitare Designs represents artists from around the world. The studio also offers full-service interior design, including custom made furniture, rugs and floor coverings, upholstery, window treatments, lighting plans and fixtures, tiles, painting and faux-painting, decorative accessories and architectural enhancement. Contact Jacqueline Kornblau at T: 914-764-3381/M:914-295-7210 or info@abitaredesigns.com.

December 14, 2013

POUND RIDGE PAST and the Christmas Spirit



Pound Ridge is blanketed in its first snowstorm of the season and Christmas festivities are in full swing. In my book, POUND RIDGE PAST: Remembrances of Our Townsfolk, Joseph D. Quillian, Jr., pastor of Pound Ridge Community Church from 1946-1950, shares the following glittering memories in a letter to  The Reverend T. Cecil Swackhamer:

"I always remember with great warmth, and a sense of lift of spirit, the Christmas Eve services at Pound Ridge Community Church. The white church was always decorated with two Christmas trees, decorated with blue lights, on either side in the front. Inside, there were numerous candles and beautiful crystal chandeliers. My wife Betty had (and has) a beautiful soprano voice, and Winston Sharples had a true and delicate tenor.
     "The service included Christmas scriptures intermingled with solos and duets by Betty and Winston, and a brief sermon by me. We always started at 11 o'clock and concluded on the stroke of midnight, at which time Carl Offen would go over to the Presbyterian Church [Conant Hall] (for it was the only one that had a bell) and ring the bells as people left the service.
     "Frequently, we would have had a beautiful snowfall on Christmas Eve. And many of the people would have come to church from formal parties, dressed in evening clothes."
                            -- Joseph D. Quillian, Jr.
                               Pound Ridge Community Church Pastor from 1946-5

To read more personal recollections about life in Pound Ridge from the 1920s to the 1970s, go to poundridgepast.com. Signed copies are available at Scotts Corner Market, Booksy GalorePound Ridge Historical Society and Plum Plums in Pound Ridge, Erica's Kitchen in Bedford Village, N.Y. and design solutions in New Canaan, Conn.

** POUND RIDGE PAST is a terrific gift for the holidays!

December 10, 2013

Holiday Gift Giving: "Underpants For Your Head"


Often times, my head feels naked. A friend picked up on the plight and at a recent party, gave me the near-perfect gift:  "Underpants For Your Head."

Not sure if she was kidding or not, I slipped the tighty-whitey accessory over my head. "The Look" was beyond a conversation stopper.

No one talked to me for the rest of the evening. (Was my ear showing??)

At the next holiday grab bag, guess what you might receive from me?  (I believe in Santa Claus and re-gifting.) Unless you staunchly prefer boxers, "Underpants For Your Head" gives new titillation to  holiday gift giving this year. (When you open the box, make me feel good and pretend this is something you've always wanted *<|:-)


 

December 5, 2013

Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lights up NYC

New York City is aglow with the holiday spirit!

To get a convo going at your next holiday party, here are the facts about the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree: it is a 76-foot high Norway Spruce, has 45,000 multi-colored LED lights, is 76-foot high, weighs 12 tons and features a 9 ½-foot-wide Swarovski star.

Share the brilliance:



December 4, 2013

Ugly Christmas Sweaters


I went to a party and this guy was wearing his wife's (ugly) Christmas sweater. (I love people who take risks.)

And while we're here ... how about a round of applause to CVS for the edgy gift idea?  (I bought five. Act like you're surprised when I give one to you.)

*  *  *

December 3, 2013

The "Pottery Barn Rule"

We live in a house that was built in 1790. To say that it gets chilly here on a cold wintery night is to put it mildly.  The outdoors comes indoors as the cold air seeps in and puts, what feels like, a 45-degree chill in our bedroom.

The other night while reading, I was too cold to get out of bed to turn off the lights.  My husband, who was already nestled in, told me that the last person to put their feet on the floor was the one who had to turn off the lights.

"Don't you know the 'Pottery Barn Rule'?" he asked.

"That's adorable," I said.  I imagined (and believe me it was my imagination running wild to think that) he had been shopping for gifts for me at one of my favorite home furnishings stores. 

Is there really a rule to shopping at Pottery Barn?  How do I not know this ... and does the rule apply to shopping on-line, too? Or was this just a seasonal term that had been coined by P.B., almost like Pringles is cornering the market with their limited-time only Pecan Pie Pringles and White Chocolate Mint Flavor Pringles. (The latter of which is supposed to taste like toothpaste on potato chips.)

"Is the 'Pottery Barn Rule' some quirky metaphor you're throwing around to get me to shut off the lights?" I asked. Admittedly, I was still in the dark on this one.

My beloved of 27-years went into the explanation.

In the summer of 2002, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell was quoted in "Plan of Attack" as cautioning President George Bush before the war that he would "own" Iraq and all its problems, after military victory. Privately, Powell and Armitage (the deputy secretary of state) called this the "Pottery Barn Rule": You break it, you own it.

I was beginning to the see the light. 

"You're the last one up, thus ..." husband said.

The "Pottery Barn Rule".

[Just so you know, in reality, Pottery Barn doesn't have a "you break it, you bought it" policy. Like most large American retailers, they write off broken merchandise as a loss.]

It was too late to talk politics and quibble about foreign policy and its application in my bedroom. I smiled at my husband, put down my book, got up from under the fluffy down comforter and turned out the lights.
 

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