January 30, 2012 - Farm Souvenirs

As if we don't have enough animals in the house already (ha ha,) we somehow still accumulate more plastic ones every once in awhile from our visits to The Farm. I'm not sure who encouraged them to congregate like this on the mantle, but it's where they seem to be hanging out for now.

January 29, 2012 - Da Boyz

They really are an endless source of photo inspiration (and note Foxy peeking from behind... far away from her brothers.)

January 28, 2012 - Brooklyn's Shake Shack

It may not have been the healthiest choice for lunch... BUT WHO CARES??? LOOK AT THAT CRAZY BURGER!!! (Now go get a napkin to wipe the drool off your keyboard.)

January 27, 2012 - Family Portrait Fail

I was trying to get all four dogs to pose for a picture... the shoot was not a success.

January 26, 2012 - Could It Be Magic?

Colleen's "Hail Barry: For The Love of Manilow" was a lot of fun. She, as always, was wonderful, but for the 2nd year in a row, the highlight for me was watching Tom sing backup for her!

January 25, 2012 - Hucky!

Fill in the blank: "Huckleberry wants his _____ ___ back!"

January 24, 2012 - A Calm(ish) Times Square

Tom and I met our friend Rob at Blue Fin for dinner last night. I must have arrived in the area just as shows were starting because Times Square seemed incredibly calm to me (for Times Square,) and actually... kind of... pretty?

January 23, 2012 - Lots of Keys!

I had a work dinner at a hotel called The James in Soho. One wall of the lobby was covered in what looked like a cool 3D mosaic, but when I got closer, I could see the "tiles" were actually old keyboard/typewriter keys. It was pretty awesome!

January 22, 2012 - RIP Kevin

I got some sad news that a dear friend passed away recently. It has been many years since Kevin lived in Brooklyn, but we spent a lot of time together when he was here and we kept in touch every once in awhile over the past decade. I thought it fitting to have a drink (or several) in his memory at Excelsior where he had a regular seat at the end of the bar, and where we always had so much fun talking music, politics, and life.

Rest in peace friend.

January 21, 2012 - View from the Bar

Tom and I had our first Saturday night together in 2012, so for dinner we went to (where else?)... The Farm!

(Exciting news: The Farm on Adderley was recently named one of the Top 10 Best Sustainable Restaurants in the U.S. by The Huffington Post - read about it here!)

January 20, 2012 - Ugg Convention

I was riding the train on my way home from work and a group of high school girls all got on together. They were all... wearing... the... exact... same... uniform.

January 19, 2012 - Birthday Dessert!

Yee-haw, another birthday successfully celebrated!! Tom surprised me with dinner at Gramercy Tavern and all I can say is OMG. I'm not a good enough blogger to describe how fantastic everything was about the meal... it really was perfect. We did the seasonal tasting menu, and every course was wonderful, but my favorite might have been this special extra birthday dessert they brought me - a peanut butter semifreddo/chocolate macaroon masterpiece with MY NAME ON THE PLATE!

January 18, 2012 - Have A Sweet Day!

The walls in our office are covered with whiteboard paint and a visitor took the opportunity to leave a little drawing behind... AWWW!

January 17, 2012 - Beautiful Scrappy

At some point over the last week, I realized I start hearing/humming the song "Beautiful Dreamer" whenever I see Scrappy resting or sleeping. I'm hoping that living with us has made his dreams happy 'cuz he sure is a wonderful little guy!

January 16, 2012 - Welcome Home, Tom!

Tom had been away for about 10 days, so I made him chocolate chip cookies to welcome him home. That one on the far right started to break apart when I took it off the cookie sheet, but I ate it right away so he wouldn't see the mistake!!

January 15, 2012 - Soup's On!

I made barley soup with homemade chicken stock... yum!

January 14, 2012 - Oh, Howard

"Welcome to my living room."

January 13, 2012 - Sweet & Vicious

Goodbye drinks for a co-worker's last day basically became the first office-wide social event in 2012. Although the reason for the gathering was a little sad, it was a lot fun to kick off a 3-day holiday weekend with other folk at this neighborhood bar.

Yes, I realize you can't really see any people in this photo, but look at the the lights! Aren't they cool?!

January 12, 2012 - Li'l Foxy!

As anyone who has met our Foxy knows, she is a sweet, sweet girl... and she puts up with a lot of aggravation from her brothers (with all their barking and jumping and licking.) Good girl Foxy!

January 11, 2012 - (Daily)Candy Girl

Last year, an artist created this candy covered mannequin for an event - and she has been standing in our office for a few months now. I don't think she comes to life at night (like some kind of sugar-coated Kim Cattrall, but I've kept my eye on her just the same. (And if you look closely, you can see she's got her eye on me too!)

January 10, 2012 - Who All See Balloons Say "Yay"

I spotted some balloons in a tree on my walk home from the train. Kind of sad to think somebody might have let go of them by accident, but they really stood out in contrast to the usual darkness of the corner, so I've decided whoever had them thought they would look nice decorating Ocean Parkway and stuck them there on purpose!

Or maybe... a leprechaun was having a party.

January 9, 2012 - "Treats Please!"

Three impatient pugs, one bored spitz-chow...

January 8, 2012 - Hypnotic Roast Chicken

I meant to take a picture of my beautiful roast chicken BEFORE I carved it and BEFORE I ate a breast & a leg... but I got mesmerized by how yummy it looked and couldn't help myself.
Duh-lish-us!

January 7, 2012 - Ikea Am Crazee

Ikea on a Saturday afternoon? What was I thinking?

January 6, 2012 - Working is Fun!

Aside from the great group of people I work with, one of the things I enjoy most about my office is the occasional product demonstration that happens when someone comes by to let our team sample their wares. Today's special guest in the office was Glenlivet.

Pause to let that sink in a bit

Now, I was not actually in the meeting when this particular demo took place, BUT... remember what I said about the people at the very beginning of this post? Well, a few of my dear co-workers kindly shared the leftovers with me and some other lucky folk. Not a bad way to celebrate the end of the first 2012 work week!!!

January 5, 2012 - Scrappy the Subway Rider

Scrappy and I had to visit the vet in Park Slope to get a couple sutures out (we had him neutered last week.) Instead of driving, we took the train so I wouldn't have to have a breakdown about not being able to find a parking place in that neighborhood before 8am.

Scrappy's a really good subway rider. I carry him in a big messenger bag and he's pretty content to just keep an eye on things from a higher vantage point than he's used to. This photo is obviously our reflection - it's from the window in the subway door that he was watching very closely for awhile.

January 4, 2012 - Waiting For the Car

Daddy Tom was heading out of town again, so Foxy sat with him and watched for his car to arrive as we all waited on the porch early this morning.

January 3, 2012 - Back to Work

Aww - the subway ride today was especially bittersweet with folk going back to work after the holiday weekend.

January 2, 2012 - Airport Pickup

This morning I picked up Tom from LaGuardia (he was returning from a last minute trip to visit his Mom in Ohio.) She unfortunately ended up in the hospital the morning of New Year's Eve, but is happily doing better now. Fingers (and everything) crossed that she continues to improve!!

January 1, 2012 - Scrappy New Year!

I couldn't resist...Happy New Year! Here's to another try at a year in photos (3rd time's the charm??), and more importantly, to a wonderful year ahead for everyone!!

The hat was a souvenir from last night's dinner at the Farm - it was a little small for me, but perfect for Scrappy.