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Archive for the ‘Amuse-bouche du jour’ Category

FIVE Years Just Flew By!

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour, Finley Ray, Frankie on September 3, 2013| Leave a Comment »

How is it possible that Finley Ray is going to kindergarten?  AND Francesca is in pre-school?  So this is yet another noted event.  I wanted to say benchmark, hallmark or landmark but none of them were appropriate.  We divide our children’s and grandchildren’s child hood by the passing of and noting certain events.

When did Francesca get her first tooth? When did Finley lose her first tooth?  Who crawled when?  Remember the day Finley Ray walked?  How excited we all were when Francesca decided to speak?  The first scooter ride, the first two-wheeler bike ride…

The first day of ballet class, the first time Finley dove and Frankie swam all by herself!  The first haircut and in Finley’s case, the first mani-pedi (and she is still having them!!).  

We remember these special events and note that each accomplishment takes our little babies one step further away from that mewling, little, ever hungry swaddled bundle of joy.  It’s wonderful to see each and every one of these events take place but of course that means another milestone passed and the little girls keep growing up.  I asked Finley a long time ago not to grow up but clearly she didn’t listen.  Perhaps Francesca will accommodate that wish and we will always have that unbelievable smile that lights her face and the whole room.

I Just Had To Post This!

I Just Had To Post This!

Today was the first day of kindergarten for Finley and Francesca’s days of all play and naps are over as she is now officially in pre-school, nursery school as it was known when their mother was three!

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Wish I Was There! Cape Town South Africa

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour, Friends, tagged , , , , , , , on August 21, 2013| 2 Comments »

My friend Barbara is in South Africa and oh do I wish I was there!  She and I went to South Africa several years ago and the memories of that experience reside in the forefront of my memory bank.  I can remember everything we did and all that we saw.  It was an amazing experience for me and I would love to go back again.  Truth be known, I did go back after that first trip and did re-visit many of the wonderful places I had shared with Chris and Barbara.  

I think they are going further north and perhaps into Botswana to go on safari and I really wish I was going with them.  She just sent me a photo of one of our favorite South Africa must-see places.  If you love penguins and I certainly do then Boulders Beach is for you.

These adorable little penguins scurry around and all over the beach area.  You can see their nests, the babies and best of all frolicking penguins in the ocean.

Boulders Beach Cape Town, South Africa

Boulders Beach
Cape Town, South Africa

 

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Diva Or Drama Queen – She’s Just So Damn Cute!

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour, Finley Ray, tagged , , , , , , , on August 15, 2013| 2 Comments »

The Rising Star

The Rising Star

Finley Ray and Francesca are spending the month of August in the Hamptons along with the Clavin family.  Harper Clavin is co-starring in this short video.  Not sure if there is an audience besides the film maker but then again, I think Finley is capable of performing with or without the fans!    It starts out a little loud and boisterous but stick with it because soon Finny is in the zone and steals the show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6S2DrEUD5sc

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Oh Dear, Oh My, Oh Goodness Gracious

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour on June 23, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Let Me Think About This

Let Me Think About This

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Alive and Well

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour, BY THE WAY, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged , , , , , , , on June 7, 2013| Leave a Comment »

English: Albert Einstein, official 1921 Nobel ...

Albert Einstein

Seriously, yes I am! I know I have been MIA for a couple of weeks and one might think the worst;  like “oh dear, she must be really sick” or “oh my things must be going badly for her right now”…

Well I’m here to say NOT SO!  I have been busy, busy, busy.  And of course I am over-committed so unlike Einstein, for some reason I don’t have enough hours in the day to do all that I want to do and I have pushed off writing a blog.  On the other hand since I am a staunch believer in the fact that people do what they want to do all the time, I may have to try to be more honest with myself and my readers.  

It’s true I have been working and the fruits of those labors came true when I was able to list a property for sale in my building.  It took a few visits and a lot of time spent staging it but it was well worth it.  I put it on the market on Friday and the first showings and Open House were on Sunday and on Monday we had one offer, on Tuesday we two offers, on Wednesday we had three offers. On Thursday I l left town to fulfill my other business obligation.  It’s not very easy to serve two masters in two different states even if they are adjacent.

Someone will surely suffer or both and neither will be happy and then I’ll be out on both accounts.  So this weekend I have to settle the issue and am dreading the conversation.  I don’t want to let anyone down, I commit and I stay with it, I take responsibility to a degree that actually is self-destructive by putting other people’s needs above my own.  This time my own level of stress has been so great that I am going to push through my anxiety and confront the issue.  So many factors to consider.

So busy with two jobs, running between two states and all the rest of life’s miseries still in place, although I haven’t written any blogs in two weeks, I have found time to play Scrabble, I did get a pedicure, I did have breakfast with a friend, I did play one game of Mah Jongg and I did go out one night to dinner and a show with friends and I did go to the doctor’s one day.   Well that’s the truth dear readers and I did all that rather than try to write a blog.  

Did I have writer’s block? No, my friend Gail has sent me several articles I have saved because I want to use the material.  There was one reason I postponed and postponed and it began on Mother’s Day.  I wanted to write a loving blog in memory of my mother but instead we were out and then back in the car to NYC and then back into a grinding routine.  My birthday followed shortly after and I wanted to write about this particular birthday and my mother.  I started many times to formulate it in my head.  I knew it was going to be heavy and so I kept procrastinating.  Memorial Day came and went and we had company and we went to a barbeque and we went out to dinner and then we worked here in NJ and then home again-still the blog haunts me.  

I may have to try to write it soon, I think it will be cathartic.

This weekend is for seeing a first cousin who I haven’t seen since she was little and I have no idea of how many years have passed. She and another first cousin who I have never met – And this is on my mother’s side….the unwritten blog is sending me a message. But doesn’t it know I have to work tonight, tomorrow, tomorrow night and Sunday and then drive back to NYC really early Monday so I can go to work there?  Have mercy!

It happens to be pouring rain outside this morning which is making the whole yard a deep bright green.  I glanced out the window and am wondering where the newspaper is, perhaps it floated away.  

Have a delightful day, I’ll be back.

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RADICALIZED? EMBEDDED?

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 22, 2013| 1 Comment »

Flag of the United States on American astronau...

Flag of the United States on American astronaut Neil Armstrong’s space suit (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Having spent a good part of last week and this weekend listening to the news channels practically all day, the word radicalization kept popping up.  This is not a word we use in our everyday conversation and so its use stood out in broadcast.  Of course its use and application in this instance made it all the more prominent.

It got me thinking about another word that is used again and again in news broadcasts: Embedded.  You hear this word whenever the news is about a war or war zone.  It refers to a journalist or reporter who is traveling along with a platoon or regiment and he or she are embedded with the troops.

Interesting that these two words stand out to me and I am trying to think of some more words that have been co-opted into a use other than perhaps their original meaning and intent.  Sadly, these two words apply to our state of the world where terrorism, unrest, war and strife are often front page news.

I grew up in the 50’s and other than listening to war stories from my Dad, I don’t remember any new words creeping into our vernacular.  Well let me amend that by adding astronaut, cosmonaut, sputnik and muttnik were certainly words I had not encountered up to the point when the USSR and the USA  began to race to space.  

The next influx of terms and words that I remember coming into everyday use, came as a result of the Vietnam War.  Napalm, Agent Orange, guerilla warfare are just a few that come to mind (it was a long time ago).  Again the language of war!  So sad that it is under severe circumstances that the new words appear or the old ones take on a nuance, we’ve not acknowledged before.

Of course the technology of the late 70’s and 80’s and 90’s has brought us not only words but a whole new language.  Gigabytes, megabytes, micro chips, HTML, beta, VCR, CD, DVD, Tivo, hard drive, software, hardware, firewall, spam, and on and on.  I know a whole blog post could be created just with the language of technology – I could start with Hi-Fi !!

Other than the slang of youth, their own mis-use and/or decision to re-invent a meaning of a word (i.e. like, random, down, sick) and so on, I wonder what other words have come into our daily vernacular?  What words do you know or remember as taking on a new meaning or were or are being used on a much more regular basis?  PLEASE let us all know.  I just dashed this blog post off this morning without much aforethought and no research so would greatly appreciate reader input!!

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The Friday Finale – Au Revoir Quebec – A Bientôt

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour, Friends, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 21, 2013| Leave a Comment »

The Friday Finale – Farewell Quebec – See You Soon

The last day of your vacation always comes too soon, whether you’ve been gone two weeks or 4 days!  We planned this trip with that i mind so we booked return flights just after 5:00pm with the thought that we would have a good part of the day to continue our exploration of the charming village of Vieux Quebec.  

After a breakfast of crèpes and the usual assortment of toasts, bread, ham, cheese, a pork breakfast paté, and about 100 jams, jellies and spreads – whew! We went back to our rooms and packed. Marjorie graciously allowed us to store all of our belongings for the rest of the day and so out and off we went!  

The day was significantly warmer than it had been all week but there were some clouds so it was hard to decide what to wear now and on the way home because everything else would be packed.  By now you must know what our first stop was – Yes we went to the Starbucks in the Frontenac.  The Chateau is clearly the focal point of the town, if not by its sheer size then certainly by its magnificent facade.  Each side of this historic structure is different and impressive in its own right.

Looking Up, Up, Up

Looking Up, Up, Up

The Morning Fix

The Morning Fix

We took a different route to Starbucks this morning and passed by a beautiful Art Deco building.  Known as the Price building, we discovered it was the very building that we had admired for the past several nights.  In the evening, it was lit up and bore a striking resemblance to the Woolworth Building in New York City.  The Price family was in paper and in the dazzling lobby were some plaques depicting the industry.

Logging is the backbone of the paper industry

Logging is the backbone of the paper industry

Matt and Stacey wanted to walk up to The Plains of Abraham and I had had it with walking up any more hills so we accompanied them part of the way and then we meandered through some of the more residential streets of Old Quebec.  From the top of the hill on the Plains, Matt captured some beautiful photos of the city below and beyond.

View from the Plains of Abraham. The south side of the Frontenac is in the distance.

View from the Plains of Abraham. The south side of the Frontenac is in the distance.

A closer view:

A bust of Samuel Champlain in the forefront

A bust of Samuel Champlain in the forefront

All good things must come to an end and so we joined each other for lunch at a restaurant we had discovered the first day we were in Quebec but had not frequented.  Restaurant 1640 proved to be a great place to have our farewell meal.  The cream of vegetable soup was delicious and my quiche was just the right size.

Farewell lunch at Restaurant 1640

Farewell lunch at Restaurant 1640

So it’s au revoir Quebec, à bientôt!

All photos courtesy of Matthew Weinstein

THIS IS MATTHEW!

THIS IS MATTHEW!

 

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THURSDAY- Mais évidemment, il pleut de nouveau!

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour, BY THE WAY, Friends, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on April 20, 2013| Leave a Comment »

THURSDAY – But of course, it’s raining again

The weather did a 360 and went from sunshine to clouds with the threat of rain and the temperature dropped a bit.  Already totally acclimated as true Québécquois, we didn’t let a few clouds and raindrops deter us from our mission.  Today’s sojourn was to be a walking tour of the Upper City;  Quebec City consists of an Upper City and a Lower City.  Hardly surprising as I’ve tried to relate to you the many ups and downs of the town.  Armed with umbrellas we set off;

"Neither snow nor rain nor dark of night..."

“Neither snow nor rain nor dark of night…”

We headed straight to the Starbucks located on the Grande Allee for a shot of caffeine and warmth.  Note the girls are wearing gloves today!  The Upper City is outside the walls of Old Quebec and the size and magnitude of  the buildings was a far cry from the stone houses in Vieux Quebec.  Below is a photo of the street and doorway of our B & B.

Chez Marie-Claire 64 Rue Sainte Ursule

Chez Marie-Claire
64 Rue Sainte Ursule

The Ursuline nuns are a real presence in our neighborhood.  There is a museum devoted to their order, they run a school and there are several plaques in the area with historical information regarding their historical contribution to the town.

As I said, the Grande Allee is home to several government buildings, the largest being The Parliament (pictured below).

The Parliament of Quebec

The Parliament of Quebec

The ediface is adorned with multiple life-size bronze statues depicting the heroes, statesmen and other historic figures.  We went inside just to see the lobby and went through a security check just a shade less than an airport.  Built in the late 1800’s it’s 8 stories high and quite elegant inside.

From there we took a quick look at The Plains of Abraham which on this day looked rather dismal and empty and certainly it was windier there than on the streets where the large buildings buffered us from some of the wind gusts.  We passed a very large castle-like building which was the Mènage Militaire.  

Time to eat again (quell surprise)!  This afternoon we seem unable to make a unified decision as to where and what to eat!  Everyday, I say I don’t care because I don’t usually eat lunch, however in the end I try to find something on the lighter side.  Since we couldn’t agree on a restaurant or an ethnicity, we opted to go to Epicerie Europeenne, which was essentially a small market with a superb cheese and olive selection as well as pre-prepared sandwiches.  Good choice for all!  We decided to pick up some local cheese, a baguette, some olives and some gin and Bloody Ceasars for a pre-dinner at home cocktail hour. Another good choice!

Au Revoir!

All photos courtesy of Matt Weinstein

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We Gotta Eat – Et Encore Il Pleut Toujours!

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour, Friends, Smooth or Crunchy on April 18, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Gite Chez Marie-Claire has a delightful second floor living room with a huge TV and a wall of bookcases and big comfy furniture;  It was a cosy comforty refuge from the cold wind and rain.  I tucked myself into a huge armchair, legs propped up on an equally large  ottoman, computer on lap and happily playing Scrabble online.  I DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE!  But we gotta eat….

And it’s still raining, yuk!  Well Stacey and I have umbrellas but our coats are still wet from this afternoon.  Being typical New Yorkers we wonder out loud if we can order in Chinese food.  Apparently not.   Having already read about and experienced first hand the not-so-reasonable price of dining out in Old Quebec, we searched online for someplace nearby and not outrageously expensive.  That’s pretty much an oxymoron since if it’s nearby it would be in the heart of the Old City (where we are) and therefore in the heart of tourist center of Quebec.  So it was to the Canadian YELP we turned.

Les parapluies de Vieux Québec

Les parapluies de Vieux Québec

Reading the reviews was a bit disheartening since the majority of them noted the overpriced and only average food and often slow service.  There was one place we considered but when we read the reviews we were shocked that they were still in business.  Don’t the restaurant owners in Old Quebec ever check YELP?  Maybe they’re not looking for repeat business because there’s such a steady influx of tourists.  We finally settled on a restaurant named Parmesan restaurant which was close enough and we headed out delighted that it wasn’t raining.  We didn’t even get to the corner when the drops came down 😦

Restaurant Parmesan graciously welcomed us and we stepped out of the rain into  a warm and lively and busy restaurant.  We had a great corner table affording us a view of what was going on and the intimacy that comes from sitting at a table just a ways apart from the others.  There  were wine bottles with candles stuck in them, strings of red peppers  and garlic cloves hanging everywhere, red walls and even an accordian  player!

Bella Musica

Bella Musica

Needless to say the combination of music and martinis made us forget the rain and we had a great time and ate a lot.

Martinis Make Everything Nice

Martinis Make Everything Nice

Bon Soir!

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What Came First? The Egg, the Frog or The Human?

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged , , , , , , on April 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Harking back to my blog of a few days ago when I shared the wonderful news of the impending birth of my third grandchild, I was sent something I thought you all might get a kick out of.  For those of you who are mothers and grandmothers, I think you will be laughing till tears come to your eyes.  I know I was.  My friend, Sarajane sent this to me and I’m reposting it here for all to have a good laugh on this not-so-sunny Saturday.  It is about 10 minutes long and hilarious so sit yourself down and enjoy!  For all you new moms out there – watch, listen and learn – YOUR DAY WILL COME!

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