Bonni Brodnick Blog

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  (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!!!

... nightmare in Connecticut?

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 mum...

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.)

                                                  New Canaan, Conn. Christmas shopping under a sherbet sky.

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 looki...

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...

Never under-estimate the impact of a simple thank you.

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 * <| :-)  

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:

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.) *  *  *

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 the...