Asbury Park

Rutherford is about 1 hour from Asbury Park. It is not the closest NJ shore point, but we chose it for our first fall beach outing. I LOVE the beach in autumn - it's almost deserted, its beautiful, the waves are high, the sand pristine and I can walk along the shore in a sweater and barely worry about a sunburn. As a bonus, most of the NJ shore beaches allow dogs after Oct 1. How could we not?

(Brutus' first foray into the waves)

The Casino is a gorgeous fixture on the boardwalk between Asbury Park and Ocean Grove. It was designed by noted architect Warren Whitney. Even in ruins it is both imposing and beautiful. It is being renovated now, and I can't wait to see the results.

You can also see some really nice photos on Bridge and Tunnel Club, for example:

Foster Puppy, Cash

I've never thought of myself as a "crazy pet person" but we've just agreed to foster a puppy and, because of his age, my life has to revolve around him for a while. Since puppies are all I seem to be able to discuss right now, here's some info about our little guest:

Cash is a 13 week old Greyhound-mix puppy. He has an amazingly sweet disposition. He is both playful and gentle. There doesn't seem to be an aggressive bone in his little body and he's not food or toy possessive, ever with our puppy around. He plays nicely and energetically with our Lab/Shepherd mix and is fascinated by the cats but does not chase them. He is obviously smart and whatever he sees another dog do, he knows how to do too. He's learning to "Make" on command. Best of all, he's a little love. His favorite things to do seem to be following me around the house like a mini-shadow and cuddling up on my lap.

Its obviously been a hard 13 weeks for this little tyke - he was rescued from a kill shelter in NC just hours before he was to be euthanized. He has a scar on his head and a fore-leg must have been broken at some point and healed oddly. It doesn't keep him from tearing through the house or prancing like a Clydesdale. Before he came to us, we think he'd never touched grass, been outside, or walked on a leash. He's taking to it all famously.

He's available for adoption through B.A.R.K. and is attending the adoption days at the Paramus, NJ PetSmart on Saturdays (3:30 - 7) and Wayne, NJ PetSmart on Sundays (1:30 - 5). In case you find him as cute and lovable as I do, here's the adoption form.

What would you call this, other than wonderful?

This photo makes me want to redesign my house.

Photos from Laurent Laborie prop-styling.

I could sleep in this room

In honor of baby Caton, here's a great looking nursery (thanks to Desire To Inspire)

I'm An Honorary Auntie Again!

My fake-sister (friend who is like my sister) just gave birth to a beautiful big (8lbs, 14oz) baby boy. I'm told he has a gorgeous full red pucker of a mouth, a high forehead like his daddy and huge feet.

Welcome to the world, kid! Seeing as you are 2 full weeks late, its about time and let's not make a habit of it.

I can't wait to hold him and give the new mom and dad a big kiss. I can already tell you that he'll be getting The Lion and The Mouse as a gift from me at some point, because every kid should own it.

DC Trip

My amazing college friend, Beth, invited me to join her for a weekend in DC and a staged reading of the Tempest with Derek Jacobi at The Strathmore. As if seeing Derek Jacobi live weren't enough, she told me the Folger Consort was set to perform Matthew Locke's baroque score for the play and counter-tenor David Daniels would sing. My sweetie thinks counter-tenors are super creepy, but I was in like flynn!

Seeing Beth was the best part of the trip, of course, but the reading was wonderful and there were a few very funny moment, such as..

Random teen zombies massing across from the Mall:

This huge tourism poster (and its variants) spotted throughout the metro. Yes, the tag line reads, "Where is your West Virginia." Gosh, I hope it is still right there between PA, OH, KY, and VA! I would think a US state going walk about would make the news but not if it is West Virginia, I guess.


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Tweeting with Frank Delaney

(Frank Delaney channeling Mark Twain)

I don't make a lot of recommendations on this blog, I'm picky and I just don't think that many things are worthwhile, but... I'm addicted to Irish author, Frank Delaney's podcasts on James Joyce's Ulysses. He's podcasting 5 minute commentary going through the novel line-by-line and sometimes word-by-word. I told him he's insane, but he just smiled and did it any way. Frank's insight is astute and humorous and his voice is just wonderful.

Earlier in the summer I attended a tweet-fest Frank hosted at a bar in NYC. Ever the gracious host, Frank made the hanging out with him, his marvelous wife, Diane Meier, and some of his Twitter followers a blast. (Oh, if you want to follow Frank on Twitter, his handle is FDbytheword.)

(Bennett, Frank, and a lovely Twitterista)

Frank let me tweet for him! Don't worry, he wrote the tweets, I just typed them.

(Leah and me)

Basement Powder Room - Before

We finally redid the basement powder room - YAY! Soon after we moved in, we cleaned and painted it blue then, earlier this year, we put in a new floor. By "we" I mean that my sweetie pulled up the old floor and put in the new oak plywood one. All I had to do was stain it black and add gloss poly.

This is the "before", except that you can see the new black floor and I've already painted the ceiling gloss white. Sorry the pictures aren't better, but the room is soooo tiny, I can barely get a shot of it.

Isn't our Japanese apartment sink (back of the toilet) awesome!?! Clean water for hand washing when you don't have the space for a free-standing sink.

Memorial Day in P-Town

We spent Memorial Day in Provincetown, MA with some good friends. It was a little chilly but completely beautiful. The first night we drove up and stayed at the Lands End Inn.
That's me, overlooking the Atlantic ocean. The Inn is at the far end of Cape Cod and has an amazing view.

I suppose you'd actually like to see the view...
and...

They serve a generous breakfast on the terrace (you see I can't pass up my NY Times).
Then we moved on to our rental house (this is the garden).

There were a lot of parties, dancing and yummy food.

Martinis on the Porch

We did a lot of work on the house, and when you work hard, you've got to play hard.