It's December and it is raining

Wow, tomorrow is December 1st and it is 80 degrees outside right now, raining and thundering. Hmm... Global warming?

Rosie's Variety Show

We watched Rosie's variety show the other day. I didn't know what to expect, but it wasn't very good, which is why it was cancelled, I would imagine. I liked the idea of stars stopping by to visit and all the singing and dancing, but the whole thing seemed forced. Rosie looked good and I do think it was a good idea to put it on the night before Thanksgiving, where a lot of families would be watching TV, but it seemed too scripted. I'm not sure what I would have dine to change it, so I guess I should shut up and not have an opinion.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy turkey day! Even if you're not having turkey (which we aren't - I think we are having ribs or some other red meat), the whole point of this day is to take a moment to pause and give thanks for all the things that we have in our lives. I know I am thankful every day for how lucky I am to have such wonderful family and friends. So, I say thank you to you all.

Now, get to work! There is food to be had! And don't forget to watch the Westminster Kennel Dog Show, the highlight of my turkey day every year.

Palm Beach is nice

On Saturday we went up to Palm Beach. Steven wanted to check out a store called Z Gallerie and we decided to make a day of it. Palm Beach isn't too far from us. It is about 40 miles north of Fort Lauderdale, a straight shot up 95 and is a really nice town. We both agreed that we could live there. The area we were in is called Clematis and is the night-life hub of Pam Beach. Unfortunately for us, we were there at lunchtime, so it was a little quiet. But we had a fun time and had lunch at a neat Mexican restaurant, Rocco's Tacos. It was pricey for lunch, but they had outdoor seating and the people watching was fun.

If you're in the area, check out Palm Beach. Not only is there the famous Worth Avenue (the Rodeo Drive of Florida), Okeechobee Boulevard, Clematis, but the drive along A1A is out of this world (you can drive by Donald Trump's house, which he recently sold for $100 million dollars!).

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

On Friday night a group of us went to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at The Broward Center. Someone on Broadway thought it would be a good idea to turn the movie into a musical. Well, it wasn't a great idea. The show was kind of a dud. The songs were cute and the set was neat, but the story was very hard to follow and seemed like it was just thrown together.

During intermission I noticed some people were leaving. Oh, how I wanted to leave with them, but the rest of my crew wanted to stay, so I shut up and watched the second half of the show. Ugh.

The Broward Center is beautiful, so, if anything, I got to see a nice theater. It is right on the water and there is a great walkway to it that takes you along the river. That was certainly the highlight.

Something is pooping in our yard

We finally broke down and had someone help us fix up our yard. It looks great, but I noticed some mysterious poop in the yard this morning. I wish Millie would poop in the yard, but it wasn't her. I fear it might be a raccoon.

More on Smoking Everywhere E-Cigarette

Hmm, maybe this is something to consider...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTrO-doyQBQ

Smoking Everywhere E-Cigarette

My mom saw a woman smoking in the mall the other day. She wan't smoking a real cigarette, she was smoking a Smoking Everywhere E-Cigarette. Expensive, but pretty cool!

Check out the video. I love the English accent!

Ummm, I don't understand the mechanics of this....

From Soleilisme: http://soleilisme.com/2008/11/viva-la-diva-cup/

Umm, Hmm...wow.

Rocking out to Rock Band!

How to avoid a hangover

This is from The London Times, a good read.

The older - and wiser - you get, the more you worry about what you drink.
Or that's the theory, and one which a new bar, Terroirs, is banking on as the
first natural wine bar in Central London. Opening this week, it promises the
biggest selection of natural wine in the country - and no hangovers.

OK, so that last bit is not based on any scientific fact - just lots of
research undertaken by myself (hic) and an increasing number of others. Run by
Vincent Wallard, Ed Wilson and Richard Martinez, just off The Strand, Terroirs
offers up to 200 wines, half of which will be natural, the rest a mix of
organic, biodynamic and conventional - but all made with minimal intervention.
Natural wine is made in small quantities, on low-yielding vineyards, with
handpicked organic grapes by a band of dedicated winemakers. The wine is then
made without added sugars or foreign yeasts, and often without any sulphur
dioxide added either. Even organic wines made by organic winemakers use a
variety of sulphur dioxides. Yup, natural winemaking flies in the face of modern
day viticulture.

Sulphur dioxide, also known as sulphites, are used by more than 99 per
cent of winemakers mainly as a preservative and a disinfectant. It's often added
to freshly picked grapes and during the winemaking process to kill off any
bacteria or wild yeasts. The disadvantage is that it can sometimes whiff a bit;
and it's blamed for causing many a hangover headache, possibly because the
sulphites destroy thiamine (vitamin B1) and are thought to destroy folic acid.
It can, claim some, even trigger an asthma attack.

Now I don't have asthma, but like many people I do get a thumping head
after drinking wine sometimes. And I do (usually) stay within my weekly limit.
There's no rhyme or reason to it - the post-wine headache can appear after just
a glass or two, be it red, white or bubbly.
Wine hangovers are hotly
debated

It would be great to be able to blame sulphites for my self-inflicted
woes - your natural winemaker certainly does. Philippe Pinoteau, one of the
foremost natural wines experts, spreads the word about natural wines from the
Parisian restaurant Le Baratin (3 Rue Jouye Rouve) he opened 20 years ago. “Why
do I sell these wines? Because I drink a lot and want to be clean in the
morning,” he laughs.

To prepare for the opening of Terroirs, the boys (and me) have come to
Paris for a final bit of research, to check out the vibe, and see how much we
can drink without getting a hangover. But the scientific evidence to support the
argument that sulphites are responsible for hangovers is flimsy, to say the
least.

Dr Jamie Goode, the author of Wine Science, agrees: “The standard
message is that some asthmatics are sensitive to sulphites, but the evidence
indicates that adverse reactions to sulphites are rare and at the levels used in
wine it's unlikely that people will be affected. The strongest argument for not
using sulphites during winemaking, and just a little at bottling, seems to be
that the natural wines thus produced seem to show greater aromatic purity,
better texture and are just a bit different. I've liked many that I've tried,
even though as a scientist I know that it's risky from a microbiological point
of view, as there's nothing to keep the bugs out or maintain the wine's
stability.”

Paris is natural wine central. At the last count there were more than
30 natural wine bars, and many more restaurants listing some natural wines. The
smelly, fizzy Cabernet Franc I'm drinking is certainly different. So is where
I'm drinking it, in Racines, a natural wine bar (8 Passage des Panoramas). The
pong coming off the redwine is overpowering. “You don't like it?” asks Pierre
Jancou, Racines's owner, seeing my nose wrinkle. Racines also attracts many
Japanese visitors; natural wines work well with their food, where modern,
over-concentrated blockbusters wouldn't. “It's huge in Japan; they buy 70 per
cent of these wines,” Jancou says.
This news sits oddly with the reality of
your regular natural winemaker. There's no money in it for starters; these are
independent growers producing tiny quantities and charging modest prices. Wines
generally start at about £7 a bottle and go up to £40 for the top stuff.

I'm still not really getting it, though. I've just tried an odd rosé
bubbly - at least the fizz is supposed to be there this time. But the next one
does excite, a 2007 L'Anglore Comeyre, made by Eric Pfifferling in the Rhône -
spicy, fruity, earthy, and it sets the bar for the rest of the wines we taste. A
fizz - or prickle - is often present in these wines, and often mistaken for
being a fault. Some recommend chilling the bottle first, then decanting it to
rid the wine of its more volatile, reductive aromas.

And in case you are thinking that natural wine is a French thing, it's
not. The Stellar winery in South Africa launched a Cabernet Sauvignon in
Sainsbury's this spring. Italy is also producing a fair number, many of which
will be on the list at Terroirs alongside the French wines, supplied by
Guildford-based Les Caves de Pyrene.

You can expect much of the magic of the Parisian bars at Terroirs, too,
from the zinc bar top, to the gravelly crooning of the Alsace singer Alain
Baschung. And to eat? Dishes include hearty plates of charcuterie and the best
fish soup, devised with a similar respect to produce.
And I know what you're
wondering; did she get drunk in Paris and, more importantly, did she have a
hangover? Yes I did, and, incredibly, no hangover. But I found some natural
wines a challenge and I did question whether they are really more natural
because all wines contain some sulphites as a by-product of fermentation. So my
advice is to approach natural wines with an open mind - a whole new
hangover-free world may open up for you. It has for me.

IKEA in Sunrise

We went to IKEA this past weekend. Steven's sister was in town for the NKOTB concert and we spent Sunday afternoon poking around the IKEA store that is near our house in Sunrise. IKEA is always fun, albeit a little too busy for my taste. We checked out all the furniture and stuff (it was Melissa's first time there) and we had lunch at the IKEA cafeteria. If you've never been to IKEA, let's take a moment to talk about their food. It is pretty damn good. And cheap. They have meatballs, mac & cheese, chicken, awesome desserts, salad, soup, pasta, and the best sauces you can get for $3.99. We stuffed ourselves and then continued back on our path through the store.



We didn't buy much, but we did pick up this cool napkin holder. How cute is this, and it was $4.99!

New Kids on the block!

Seriously, click on the picture above. Steven's sister took it and it came out great. It totally shows how cool this show was. It was definitely one of the better concerts I've seen. Natasha Beddingfield opened for the boy from Beantown and she has a great voice. There wasn't a lot of time between her and when the New Kids went on, which made me happy. Once NKOTB came on 25,000 30-year old women LOST THEIR SHIT. I had never seen anything like it, it was amazing. And the screaming didn't stop for 90 minutes. The "kids" did all our favorites, including Step by Step, Hanging Tough, Games, Girlfriend...the list goes on. And they looked good. The only one who looked older, in my opinion, was Joey Mac, and that was simply because he was sporting some sort of Afro hairstyle that wasn't flattering and made him look like he needed a haircut.

If the New Kids are coming to your town, think about going to see them. It is a great show and you won't be disappointed!

For now I am just hanging tough with the memories of this wonderful show.

Grey's Anatomy

I love Grey's Anatomy. I think I am the last person to know about this wonderful show. Last night I caught up on a couple of Tivo'd episodes. Boy, they are good. I'm still not sure who is my favorite character, but I think it might be Sandra Oh. She is so funny and cute. I love her. And I love the lesbians. Dr. McDreamy, the verdict is still out on him. Stay tuned...

Haloween in Wilton Manors

Wow, Halloween in Wilton Manors is a lot of fun! The close off the street and here is a giant block party where many people dressed up to celebrate All Hallows Eve. We didn't dress up, but we did attend the event to see all the costumes. It was a blast! We estimate there were around 10,000 revelers in attendance, with many in costumes.

Our favorite "costume" was a group of folks who dressed up as a New Orleans funeral, complete with someone in a casket. The paraded their way down Wilton Drive with music and around 35 people in attendance for the "funeral". It was very clever.

If you're in the area for Halloween, be sure to check out Wilton Manors. It won't disappoint!