April 28, 2012 - This is the story of a...

...great party!

Our friend Dave celebrated his birthday this weekend with a dinner at Stuzzi Ristorante in the Flatiron district. It was SO nice - we had a private room with this massive table and the food was absolutely delicious. Tom knows Dave from the blogging/tweeting world, so it was really fun to meet some of Dave's family and other friends. Happy Birthday, Dave!

April 27, 2012 - The.Train.Is.Crowded.

My thoughts around the time I was taking this picture - "Hooray!!! It's Friday! I'm done with work and ready to have fun! Wait a second - this train is REALLY crowded. This sucks. Boo."

April 26, 2012 - Ello Guv'nor!

Tom and I had another fun night and caught a performance of the show "One Man, Two Guvnors." It was cuh-razy funny. My face HURT at times from laughing. I give it two thumbs up for anyone who likes laughing - go see it!

The photo is of the pre-show entertainment from the house band called the Craze. The whole thing was just a lot of fun and clever.

FYI - the title of this post has an obvious connection to the title of the show... but it's also my go-to line whenever I want to impress people with my British accent. It's basically dead-on, and coincidentally reminiscent of Dick Van Dyke's character Bert from Mary Poppins. Folks love it!

April 25, 2012 - Dogs On A Stoop

So, I've posted pictures of the dogs in front of the house before, but here's another good one from our late afternoon walk!!

April 24, 2012 - The Sound of Carnegie Hall

Tom planned a special night for us - dinner at Quality Meats and tickets to a one-night-only performance of The Sound of Music at Carnegie Hall. Both the meal (QM is one of my all-time favorite NYC places) and the show were great! The biggest surprise for me was how fantastic I thought Laura Osnes was as Maria... she killed it. Other highlights were opera diva Stephanie Blythe as The Mother Abbess and the Women of the Mansfield University Concert Choir who played all the nuns. Tom really liked it too, but he may not have been prepared for the fallout - I predict I'll be singing the yodeling part of "The Lonely Goatherd" spontaneously for the next few days.

April 23, 2012 - The New DailyCandy

We celebrated the launch of our new website / logo / illustrations with cake... it was delicious! Of course, everyone assumed it was some fancy bakery because it was so yummy - but it turned out to be Food Emporium (ha ha ha!!)

April 22, 2012 - The Green Grass of Sheep Meadow

I was in Central Park for a morning race, and took this picture on my way to the starting line. I don't think I've ever seen Sheep Meadow completely empty and so green like this - I thought it was beautiful.

April 21, 2012 - Curbside Art

I noticed someone had set this "beautiful" art work against a neighbor's fence.

April 20, 2012 - LAX->JFK

I forgot to take a picture until I was getting on the plane to come home from LA. So... this is it for the day.

April 19, 2012 - Universal Studios

I did a very quick overnight trip to LA for a meeting with other marketing folk from the NBCUniversal family. After spending the afternoon listening to 42 5-minute presentations about the various businesses (I was presentation number 25,) we got to take a special Universal Studios backlot tour which included the King Kong 360 3-D attraction, dinner on the actual studio lot, AND the chance to try the new Transformers: The Ride 3D which opens next month.

Having dinner in the middle of a fake city (shown above) was cool. King Kong 360 3-D was VERY cool. The new Transformers ride... INCREDIBLE!! It really was one of the most exciting rides I've ever been on. It's like the best 3D you could want combined with completely realistic motion effects layered with crazy alien robots! I don't want to give anything away - it's just great and definitely worth a trip to Universal Studios once the ride is open to the public.

April 18, 2012 - Making the Best of Things

In a freak accident, Howard lost a toenail the other night. It just kind of fell out. The whole thing. We took him to the vet who said it wasn't a serious issue, but we should put a protective collar on him for awhile so he won't make it worse while it heals.

He doesn't seem to mind too much, here's a shot of how he manages to eat while wearing it.

April 17, 2012 - Voodoo Doughnuts

Colleen surprised us with a souvenir from her trip to Oregon... Voodoo Doughnuts!! And it wasn't just the box - she brought a few back for us to try too, including their signature doughnuts the Voodoo Doll, the Bacon Maple bar, and the Diablos Rex! If you haven't been to Portland, this place may just be reason enough!

April 16, 2012 - "Don't Touch Me!"

Scrappy was rolling around on his back having a great time, but Hucky was not so happy about how close the two of them were.

April 15, 2012 - Smile, Scrappy

Just Scrappy enjoying a sunny spot in the back yard. Yes, he's smiling.

April 14, 2012 - It's a Dog's Life

As I was getting ready to leave the house, I couldn't help but take a picture of these lazy dogs. What a rough life.

(Note: see the bar in the back of the living room? We had a party for a bunch of Tom's work people and moved it there to open up the dining room more. It worked out really well!)

April 13, 2012 - Pineapple Express

At some point in the past year, Howard developed the disgusting habit of eating poop. I've also seen Scrappy doing it too. It's completely gross & time in the backyard gets completely frustrating when it turns into a monitoring exercise. Anyway, one of the solutions to this problem is adding pineapple to dogs' food. Apparently it tastes delicious when eaten, but becomes extra disgusting on "round two," and deters the behavior. So now they all get pineapple in their bowls from time to time.

Oh, those gross dogs!

April 12, 2012 - Portrait of a Scrappy

I wanted to get in a little practice with my "real" camera since I haven't used it for awhile - Scrappy is a wonderful test subject!

April 11, 2012 - Two Volunteers

I wasn't actually asking if anyone could help me finish my breakfast, but Hucky & Howard were both ready to step up to the plate if I needed any assistance.

April 10, 2012 - Self Portrait

Me & Hucky... just snuggling.

April 9, 2012 - Once More With the Tulips

Ok, I know another picture of the front yard is a little repetitive, but I couldn't help it - the tulips are really incredible right now! (And the azalea is getting sooooo close to exploding, get ready...)

April 8, 2012 - Pretty Foxy

Just a cute picture of Foxy out in the backyard. It was a beautiful day, and she loves watching for something exciting (e.g., a cat, a squirrel, a bird) to catch her eye out there.

April 7, 2012 - The Front Yard

Our front yard is gorgeous right now with the crabapple tree and all the tulips blooming like crazy!

April 6, 2012 - Opera Something

You're not supposed to take pictures at the Met, but I couldn't resist a shot of Tom playing Draw Something while we waited for the 2nd Act of La Traviata to start.

April 5, 2012 - You Rock!

Baudville is a company that sells all kinds of office recognition crap. If you want to let your employees know they're "making a difference," but you don't want to use mouth words - Baudville's got a pin, or a mug, or a big acrylic trophy shaped like a star that says it for you. It's pretty crazy how many different ways you can tell someone "thanks for all you do" without actually saying anything.

So why is this my picture of the day? I saw this catalog sitting with a bunch of magazines at the office and it made me laugh because at my previous job, Baudville was one of my clients and they were some of the most UNappreciative people I ever worked with! It also reminds me how much nicer hearing "You Rock!" from someone is than getting it from them on a $9.95 plastic twist top tumbler.

April 4, 2012 - Scrappy in the Tulips

I set Scrappy in our front yard by some of the new tulips so he could enjoy a little sun

April 3, 2012 - Opera!

Tom and I went to see the new production of Manon... hooray!

April 2, 2012 - Flower Girl

This fellow passenger on the train was really cute with her little flower, so I snapped a photo!

April 1, 2012 - Central Park

It was a beautiful morning to volunteer for a race in Central Park (no foolin'!)

March 31, 2012 - Subway Platform Combo

At the end of a rare Saturday night in the city, I opted for an even rarer late night subway ride home. As I walked into the station a few minutes before midnight, I heard loud music coming from the uptown platform. So... I peaked over a railing to see this scene. FUN!

March 30, 2012 - Scrappy Says "POÄNG"

Scrappy + IKEA = C.U.T.E.