BABYSITTING IS NOT FOR SISSIES

Henry and I spent this past weekend babysitting while the kids went on the cruise to nowhere...yes, it did go somewhere but everywhere it went they could not get off the ship due to weather, hence the trip to NOWHERE.

Being a parent these days is not for the faint of heart...drop off, pick up, tennis, bar mitzvah, Hebrew school, basketball, symphony rehearsal, go to symphony.  I will be updating my LinkedIn account for chauffeur as well as time management.

At one point during the shuffling we were left with the youngest of the two who is having a love affair with chipotle chipotle.com.  Being the good CC I said you can go anywhere you want for lunch (knowing we were 200 yards from his fave, chipotle).  He said, I don't want to go to the chipotle by party city.  I said, no problem, which one do you want to go to.  There is one by a peiwei he says, I'll look up peiwei on Google map and away we went.

Henry begins grousing about how far it is, which I thought was funny. It was our two hour time frame between drop offs and pick ups and herewearedriving in the wrong direction.  LOL right.  The little one keeps saying it is much better att this one than the other...that is when we arrive and realize he gets A PLAIN BARBACOA TACO WITH CHEESE.  That's it. I thought Henry's head would explode.

On to the Spooky Symphony which was terrific.  During the intermission they had a costume parade. I am sitting, knitting in hand, thinking to myself, WOW it is so funny that so many kids in Miami dress as Fidel Castro. Then it hits me...DUCK DYNASTY. Am I the only person to notice the similarities?

Really, who knew??

SOUNDS OF SILENCE

I have a few vices....one of which is a total and complete love of Law & Order.  

I will watch any Law & Order, at any time, regardless of how many times I have seen it, or which one it is...Law & Order

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Law & Order: Criminal Intent

(My fave...I admit...the tilt of Vincent D'Onofrio's head, Jeff Goldblum's piano playing, sigh)

Law & Order: Trial by Jury

(Does anyone other than me think it is odd that a lot of this cast is now on Blue Bloods??)

Law & Order: LA

or

Law & Order: UK

I record many of the episodes so if I am disappointed with something on the tele I can have something to watch (ok Chopped is always a "winner, winner, chicken dinner")

As we sit, and you here the classic gavel drop (duh duh), Henry will say "I think that we have seen this?"  I say, "No, I don't think so." and there we sit, watching.  Halfway through, Henry will say--you are right, I don't remember this at all!!  There is something nice about routines.

We were having our usual dinner on Friday night at Italio (think Chipotle for Italian food), and Henry says, "The oddest thing today.  I kept hearing a sound.  It sounded like the gavel on Law and Order.  I looked everywhere.  I thought maybe it was outside...someone doing construction.  It is so annoying!"

I looked at him in astonishment.  "You really have no idea what it is??"  "No," he said,  "it really did sound like Law and Order, you know the duh duh at the beginning."

I started laughing.  Henry, it is my text sound.  Were you texting me?  I checked my phone--during the afternoon alone he had texted me 12 times, much less all of the other texts that I got.  Thank Heavens, it was not a phone, he would have listened to the Raymond Burr theme song every time it rang.

Perhaps that explains why my phone is always on vibrate!!

Flashback to flashback diner!

As a follow up to our hideous experience at Flashback Diner in Boca, there was an article in the paper from the health department that they had to stop sales due to food temperature violations.

This probably happened while people were waiting for their orders to be delivered to the table.

La de da

In 1978 I went to work for Estée Lauder and began the adventure of a lifetime.

The movie of the year was the always hysterical Annie Hall.

There are so many classic scenes in this movie, but the lobsters will always be a favorite.

...or the bumper cars...

or Marshall McLuhan ... Ahh, I digress.

The reason this is important is that everyone wanted to be Annie Hall...or at least dress like her.  Layering was the way to go. Shirts and vests, and floppy hats.  It was great.  If people could layer their clothes, why not their fragrances...enter the introduction of THE NEW ROMANTICS by Estée Lauder.

This was a new concept for the company and involved the introduction of three independent fragrances that were developed to work together when you layered them:  Pavilion, Celadon, and White Linen.  Only one remains, as the concept was ahead of it's time and still remains elusive today....the clear winner was White Linen.

My clear favorite was Pavilion.

Why did I go off on this tangent you ask??

Well, in sorting through stuff preparing for our move in February I found soap.  Not just any soap--that's right, Pavilion Soap.  It was so precious I did not want to use it and then have no more, so I saved it...for 35 years.  

I have to say that I think it has held up much better than I have. It was nestled nicely with a bar of Azuree (quite simply the best soap ever).

Still unable to tear open the cellophane--I regifted the 33 year old soap.  Won't someone be excited when they receive it!!

I was going to title this Saver or Hoarder, you be the judge!! but I did not really want to hear the answer.

Let's see what I find next.....

Happy New Year!!

PUT YOUR GAME FACE ON

At this time of year, everyone seems to be obsessed with shopping (although since I am in retail, I could be biased).  Gifts seem to get harder and harder, because, lets face it, most of the people we know have everything and want for nothing.

Finding something special is hard to find.

Surprising me with a gift is unheard of...that being said...

Henry gave me a nutcracker!

Isn't he the cutest?

I thought the "m" stood for Merry and then he opened his mouth...

Out of the mouth of this babe came...

HENRY and HENRY and HENRY and a few I LOVE YOU CATHI M&Ms

that's right--it is his little face on that M&M

What did Henry have to say about his culinary mastepiece?

You guessed it!!

 ...and, diet be damned...I did...

down the rabbit hole!

A TALE OF TWO DINNERS

Two dinners.
Two nights.
Two extremes.
Morton's and Flashback Diner (the name speaks for itself).
Two things that I never thought would be said in a restaurant.

First to the General Manager of the Ft. Lauderdale Morton's:

"Would it be possible for you to ask the gentleman at the next table to quit watching porn on their phone?"

Second to the General Manager of the Flashback Diner at 9:15 prior to receiving our food (we arrived at 7:15)--did I mention it was an omelet?

Henry said:  "You do know that I have no intention of paying for this meal, should it ever arrive."

I am sure Henry will be thrilled to know we are going to Flashback Diner for Christmas Dinner--hopefully, they have begun cooking it now!!

Sometimes simpler is better.

SMILE...YOU'RE ON CANDID CAMERA

Most of you reading this blog, remember Allen Funt and his show, Smile...you're on candid camera!

Before Ashton Kutcher's Punk'd, we would gather round the TV and belly laugh over some of the hysterical things done on the show...below is one of my favorites, for those of you a little younger the item in question was called a typewriter, you punched the keys and a key swung up and hit the ribbon which hit the paper.  It took alot of skill to hit all of the keys with the same force so that they all looked the same.  If you watch mystery shows from years gone by, you will see them look for a typewriter with a key that is a little off, or they will recreate a letter by looking at the ribbon (impossible).

http://www.yourememberthat.com/media/2316/Flying_Typewriter_on_Candid_Camera/ 

OK, this was one of my faves, then there was the bowling alley date...oh, the laughs.

I have not thought of this show in years...until tonight.

Henry and I went to visit a new Vitamin Store, one of his favorite places (although he does not believe in vitamins).

I am wandering around looking at everything, when I spotted the lotion section...and we know I love lotions of all types.  I check them all out and make the decision of which one I will try.  I put my hand under the pump and pressed down--as I watched the bottle projectile spew a giant stream of lotion directly into my crotch.

I did not move. I actually looked up at the ceiling for the camera and Allen's voice saying

SMILE...YOU'RE ON CANDID CAMERA

http://www.hark.com/clips/nwsrtkqwgc-candid-camera-theme-song 

I'm baaaaaccck!