Organizational High

Isn't it wonderful when things just come together?

I am finally pulling together our little back room as my office. A real desk chair, filing, a place for everything. Places that actually make sense.

We went to Target this weekend in search of bins, baskets, containers, thing to put things in. We have a shelving unit from Crate and Barrel we got years ago that's affixed to the wall. We've got video game bits, stationery, photos/memorabilia that needs to be put into albums, books, albums, some of my son's craft/work books...all of which needs to be somewhere.

Cue the angels singing. There they were, staring at me on an endcap in Target. Orla Kiely flowered fabric-covered storage containers. Ooh la la! We were meant to be! Check them out.


We had only picked up three. I am now so in love that I am sending my husband to grab some more this week. (Mind you, can't find them online.)

Glamorous, no; but adorable. I like comfortable. Now a happier little nook.
Perhaps I am getting to the 2009 organization resolution a bit late...but better late than never.

Miss G Makes Milestones

Alliteration always makes things sound important, doesn't it?

Well our little lady has conquered a series of milestones...so before her upcoming big "1" birthday, let me tell you where she is in her adventures.

• Standing. On her own. But only when she's not paying attention that we've let go of her hands.
  
• We've got cruising, full speed ahead. Those little well-shod feet are working hard.
  
• Babbling. And some words. She mimics us quite a bit. "Bye-BUH" (bye-bye) and "eyees" (eyes) and mama and dada and a half-variant of our son's name which is insanely cute.
  "Hi" and "apple" and "cookie" and some version of "Cheerio" and...oh, it is so FUN. She's got this kind of raspy little voice.
  
• She loves, loves, loves books. Can sit and flip through board books for ages.
  

• She sleeps with her blankie, pink spotty puppy and the little pink bear that her brother picked out for her before she was born.
• She just busted her 8th tooth! The last few days have been tough with a lot of back-arching and scream-crying. But it has freed itself. The scary part is that we know that two more are close behind!

Not to mention, as you can see...I think she's getting some bad-ass hair. Must be her dad's.
Mmm...baby.

Supper Club, Baby

File this one under "well, did you take long enough?"

Prior to the end of the year, we got a lovely invite from friends up the street - those whom we share post-renovation stress disorder with - for a black tie potluck dinner. Really! Because that is how we roll in the Freshchester suburbs...during a recession.

The rules were:

• Dress up like you are going to a "fancy wedding".
• Bring a dish. And if you want, bring what's in your fridge...leftovers are totally legit.
• Kids welcome (of course). And yes, they dressed.
  

Now, as I alluded to above, E & J recently renovated their home and it came out positively gorgeous (check out the wild kitchen...fabulous). It created a courtyard of sorts right in the "middle" of the house - really in two parts - so unique and absolutely perfect for entertaining. I love it. (Once you've renovated you can really appreciate the thought and creativity that people put into their house renovations.)

Not to mention the adorable kitchen booth that the kids took over for dinner.

Well, we didn't go quite black tie but I think we pulled it off pretty well. (Yeah...there were no pictures of me. I'm ok with that.)

We had such a good time--let's hope they didn't think they were going to get rid of us earlier than they did--one of our other friends commented "I'm not sure if they knew that we're always the ones that close down the party." Which is totally true. Yes, even with the kids. God knows, after all that wine we stayed for hours playing Catchphrase.

That's C with little G right there. She partied like a rock star, falling asleep during our wild and highly competitive play of Catchphrase. (Wine makes you creative, people.)

We decided collectively that an official "supper club" is in order. We have a couple options:

• Seasonal: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
• Themed: for example, this was black-tie potluck

See, I needed to post this before we set the next one!
What's your vote? I knight myself (okay, I think I was nominated) official blogger for the club...most likely because I have the least-focused blog in the village anyhow. I find myself saying "club" like Fitty. What is up with that?

Cheers!

So Why, Exactly, Are My Posts Dwindling?

Nope, not comments. Not visits. My actual posts.

For those of you who take the time to check in, I'm sorry I've been so negligent. I do appreciate the visits, so to me...worth the effort to apologize for lame-ness.

What's been keeping me so busy? Well...

I've been working on a new music discovery site, GrokMusic. Check it out! When we officially launch, I'll tell you much more about it. Suffice it to say for now that you can lose yourself in the GPS applications for quite some time, and I can't say enough nice things about the two founders.

I've also gained another two new clients...a home improvement media brand and a great cause-based Committee. For both of them, and for GrokMusic, I'll be helping them to position themselves to secure marketing partners, business development efforts.

So this is all good news.

What else. We got a Wii for Christmas. I am moving around a bit more! So is C. I do better than he does in bowling, he kicks my butt in tennis. Kind of maddening, considering that I took years and years of tennis lessons. It's like virtual drop shot after virtual drop shot. Argh.

I'll get better and become a regular poster again...the resolution is 2x/week.
See you soon!

A Good Day

Today makes me look forward. Whether you were an Obama supporter or not, it should really make everyone look forward. It's a fresh start, one way or another.

Why? Some big reasons, some little ones.

• Our new president represents America as an intelligent individual, with poise and class.
  
• I don't feel like our country will be a bully anymore. I don't like bullies.
• I think that the first family will be a good example--an accessible one--to others in the country.
• 
• It's nice to have a First Lady that I can actually relate to.
• Feels like my family is going to be more important to everyone, not just to me, for some reason.
• I can't remember the last time this much of the country was excited about anything.
• I liked the fact I followed so much of real-people-chat on Twitter and online, in terms of how they felt, how the day impacted them.
  
• LOVE the new White House web site! http://www.whitehouse.gov/
  
• It felt good to have both the kids in the room with me during the oaths.
• What he says makes sense to me, as a person.
  

I hope everyone has good feelings in their heart today. It will not be easy, it will not be fast to fix all that is currently off-balance in the USA. But at least it seems like a good running start.

Great-full

I usually don't get very sappy or emotional in my posts, but you must forgive me on this one.

Everyone by now has heard about US Air Flight 1549 and how it had to make a necessary "ditch" landing in the Hudson River after both engines were taken out by a flock of geese. I now, officially, despise those Canadian geese.

A dear friend, a mentor of mine, was on the flight. I had a call with her that morning to discuss some business-related issues and she noted she was going to be flying home that afternoon around 2pm or so. When my husband called to tell me the news, I was picking my son up from preschool and it just didn't register immediately that the flight was heading to Charlotte. When it hit me, I freaked out.

Photo: J. Krums

Photo: AP

After getting home and seeing these visuals, and waiting for them to confirm that all we off the plane and there were no life-threatening injuries, I seemed to calm down. However, when I recognized her in the NY Post the next morning - I burst into tears.

I'm not going to expose her in a picture, because she deserves her privacy and to handle this event in the way that she needs to. She's gotten enough exposure from the general media at this point.

All I know is that I am eternally grateful to the pilot, the crew, everyone who rallied together both on and off the plane, and most of all, to her, for having the sense of knowing how important every life was on board.

I finally spoke with her this morning, and she sounded great - good perspective, her sense of humor was intact, and ready to head home on a flight soon. She loves travel and this "type of thing" is hardly going to stop her, or as she put it, "it's not going to make me live a type of life I don't want to lead." She is an inspiration.

I love her and I feel so lucky to still have her in my life.

Reveling in a Design Moment

Oh, I am SO happy. I must share this.

You may recall we've recently redone our house. Of course, there is decorating to do...which will undoubtedly last forever. For starters, this includes some relatively major kitchen decisions like cabinet hardware, backsplash and what to do with an entire blank wall across from the island. Oh, and stools for said island.

If you ever read this, you may have picked up that I am an Anthropologie junkie. I love their clothes, shoes, accessories...home stuff. Yes. Home stuff.

So...seeing as I get every catalog and email they generate, I clicked on the new email today and head through to the site. Well, whammo. I find our new kitchen cabinet hardware. ON SALE.

They are actually made of bone. Maybe that's a little crazy, but...whatever.

It fits all the criteria:

• Not boring.
• Not metal.
• Doesn't become the main focus of the kitchen.
• Haven't seen it before. I know...I have issues.

C bought in and we ordered 44 pieces. Score. Happy dance. No fingerprints on the cabinets anymore.