One portion of my commute

The A-Train

Rejuvenation

What was once called Crybaby Art Gallery has been reborn.
It will now be known as Parlor Gallery.
You may find Parlor Gallery at 717 Cookman Avenue - Asbury Park, NJ 07712.

In celebration of their regeneration and transformation there is an opening this Saturday, 7 February 2009, from 7 to 11pm for the show GLAMOUR BOMB.



The show features work by the following artists:
Alessandra Exposito
Adam Wallacavage
Suzanne Rader
Peter Mixzuk
Rebecka Sexton
Robert Melee
Matt Okpych
Andy Pawlan
Jeff Schaller
Brad Hoffer
Don Harger
Porkchop
Jeff Hand
Niagara
Jill Ricci
Please come out and support your local artists and art patrons.

Today at work...

...we had to shoot women's bikinis.

While I was making adjustments, Amy fired the camera. I wasn't paying attention.


In this shot, at least I got a chance to pose...

Not quite bikini weather

The beach & boardwalk, after a six inch snowfall.

Yourself in six words

Powell's Books, an independent book seller out of Portland, OR, has a link on their site to a contest that asks - "If you had to convey your entire existence in six words, what would you say?"

So? What would you say?

Casino

behind the scenes

Parts of the Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park you might never get to see...

snowy so far

Newark Airport - It's been a snowy winter so far...
Monday, 19 January 2009 - The day we returned from Las Vegas.

El Corte HOTEL

Actually, it's El Cortez - but the Z is burned out.
Las Vegas - 16 January 2009

Help the little person

Cake Wrecks has got to be one of my favorite sites out there - it's HILARIOUSLY funny - So when I came across this most serious of posts, I couldn't let it go by without notice.

As per the folks at Cake Wrecks:

In August the Congress passed the CPSIA, a law making it tougher to sell toys and other children's items that contain lead - so obviously that's a good thing. However, as a result of this law any crafter or stay-at-home artisan who makes items for kids under 12-- from clothing to toys to school supplies - must have their items tested to the tune of $400-$4000 per item. Since most crafters cannot afford those kinds of fees, this means tens of thousands of stay-at-home moms and small home-based businesses may be forced out of business come February 10, the official "mandatory compliance" date set by the law.

You can read the rest of this story by clicking here.
You can also read more about how you can help here.

Considering our country's current financial crisis, it doesn't seem fair to shutter these small businesses and put them out to pasture... In fact, I find it ridiculous.
Please do whatever you can to help. We only have until 10 February to make ourselves heard.

Thanks so much.

Our new era has begun

20 January 2009 - I'm hoping for the best...

FOR A GOOD CAUSE

Please head on over to Renovation Therapy OR click this link.
It's a benefit auction to help Katy Hughes and her mother.
Thanks to Shore(house) Chic for pointing me towards it.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Happy Holidays

I won!! I won!! I WON!!!!

I entered a contest at One Frugal Foodie (which I found by way of Go Dairy Free) to win some sweets from Divvies.
I never win anything!!!
YAY!!! SO COOL!!!

Why can't this be out now ????

It's the new BabyCakes cookbook.
It comes out in April, just in time for my b-i-r-t-h-d-a-y!!!
I guess I'll just have to be patient.

*sigh*

If you're sqeamish, you might want to skip this post

I shot this photo over the weekend - roughly 10 days after my surgery. This actually looks pretty good. Of course, I forgot to shoot photos of when my thigh, knee and calf were all swollen to the same width - being on pain killers will do that to a person's brain.

And yes, those yellowish spots are bruises.

Slow going...

Fake blood & Halloween kisses

It's actually Dia de los Muertos, but who's really keeping track?
MDM & Ms. Bovay

While I was recovering

I had a wee bit of knee surgery last week and while I was recovering I watched this show on PBS called Diary of a Foodie and the particular episode I saw was all about food bloggers.
(I can't embed the video, therefor I can only offer up a link & the screen grab above)
I LOVED THIS SHOW!!! And was SO happy I'd stumbled across it, since I'd been watching a LOT of TV and there are only so many times you can watch the same episode of Top Chef.

If you get a chance, please do check out this episode and any others that might catch your fancy. Also please don't forget to support your local PBS.

Simply because I like it

March, 2008 - Our dining room - shortly after renovations and before the rug.

I hadn't posted in a while, so I thought I'd toss this one out there.

UPDATE:
Here's a photo of the rug that lives under our dining room table. It's the actual color of the trim and we got it at Pottery Barn.

I will try to remember to snap a photo of the actual rug under the actual table soon.

and it wasn't just a dream

Our veterans deserve more

We should consider our Veterans at least once every day. Even if it's to merely read a headline about Iraq or Afghanistan and send a thought out their way. Today being Veteran's Day, it kind of reminds me Valentine's Day for the military.

What I mean by this is - once a year on a specific day we are rather expected to show love and affection for a significant other or partner - there is a lot of pressure and should be something done out of free will and generosity on ANY day rather than forced at a specific time.

I kind of consider Veteran's Day in the same manner.

So please send a kind thought out to universe in honor of our Veterans, if only for this one day.

Bob Geiger has more...

feel good story

I was reading Crooks and Liars this morning and came across this story.
It's about James Brett and his desire to make the world a better place.
He helped start POM354 - Which helps Afghan farmers turn their fields from producing Opium Poppies to Pomegranates.
It's quiet inspiring and I urge you to please check it out.

YES WE CAN.
YES WE DID.

my trip to vote

I voted. I voted. I voted.
I'm usually nervous, seeing how it's a big responsibility - but today I was giddy with excitement and anticipation.
I couldn't WAIT to get to there.
My husband and I got to our polling location some time around 7.30am.
Our district in our town has some of the lowest voter turn outs for any/all elections and I was happy to see that when we got there we were numbers 68 and 69. This is a big deal.
There are times when I get to my polling place at 7.30PM and I'm number 68 or 69 and that is pathetic.
This is an historic election and I hope everyone takes their opportunity to get out there and make themselves heard.
I direct you to my friend Shore House Chic - she hits the nail right on the head.

If you're (still) unsure of your polling place, please click here, here or here.

If you're concerned about voter's rights, please click here, here or here.

If you'd like to volunteer on election day, please click here or here.

Please don't forget to VOTE!!

Tomorrow, Tuesday 4 November 2008, is Election Day and probably one of the most important elections of our time.
Please make sure you get out and V-O-T-E, vote, vote, vote!
This is one of the few inalienable rights we have in this country and should NOT be squandered.

If you're (still) unsure of your polling place, please click here, here or here.

If you're concerned about voter's rights, please click here, here or here.

If you'd like to volunteer on election day, please click here or here.

Give a read to what seven US authors had to say about the last eight years. Tuesday marks the beginning of the end of our long, national nightmare.