The perfect day off…..from toes to Zoe… October 27, 2011

Ok, I had a couple of days off this week…in the middle of the week…with nothing really planned for those days. Unusual for me. And lovely. And for at least one of those days, I think I put together the perfect  schedule….Step one: start the day nice and slow…

A little iPad, Today Show, and green tea....bliss!

Step 2: a little tv….got to watch Regis and Kelly….can I say I will miss Regis? They have this odd, cranky chemistry that is gonna be hard to replace with someone younger and cooler.

Oh Regis...waxing poetic over something....

Step 3: Take daughter to lunch….always good to catch up with my girl. She had the gumbo…I had the grilled salmon salad(and a glass of wine-at lunch!)

Good eats in Canton...love Langerman's...

Step 4: Pedi at About Faces in Canton.

How decadent is a mid-week, mid-day pedi??

My toes really needed some attention, and I had a gift certificate to pay for it. How fabulous is that?

the color: "You Don't Know Jacques"

Step 5: Make another cup of tea at home, and catch up on magazines and catalogues. They’ve been waiting patiently… for a look-see, or the recycling bin.

Neiman Marcus gift book.....oooh, lovely.

Step 6: Lazy girl’s dinner…carrryout!Went to the new Manchurian Rice in Harbor East….they were pretty fast. Chicken and mushrooms, and Mongolian Beef…both delish(served on real dishes of course…all the better to fool you with).

Wow.....it's good they have a powerful fan system.....

Step 7: Glass of wine and catch up on Rachel Zoe Project…..

Oh, Rachel...you're a Mommy(with a baby in Chanel!)

This show is my guilty pleasure that I can only watch alone, or with my daughter…who understands me. I mean, it’s so MAJ…..obvie.

Step 8: Go to bed a little early and read my other guilty pleasure….The Faefever Series by Karen Moning. Seriously, I’m a little ashamed of liking these books so much, so don’t tell anyone. Please.

Happy Birthday to Me….. June 10, 2010

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me....

Yes, it’s true…I’m a whole year older now. Darn it. No matter what I do, they just keep rolling on. What you may ask,  did I do for my birthday? Started the day off with doctor’s appointments…I’ve found that if I think ahead and get the appointments all clumped together, you can get a lot accomplished in a relatively short period of time, maybe half a day. And your birthday is a reminder to do those checkups and stuff that otherwise might slip right by you(as I have also done). So in a way….kind of…a gift  to yourself and your family.

My other gift to me was a couple of hours at the spa. I had a lovely gift certificate somone had given me for About Faces….my sweet daughter and I met up and did the mani-pedi thing….a little bit of bliss right there, and my nails look great, though I somehow smudged one of my toes…that needs to be fixed.

Salt's pretty bar.....love the lights...

We met up for dinner at Salt Tavern on Pratt Street in East Baltimore….wow, the food there is great. Duck Fat French Fries? Crazy good…served in a cute little paper cone with a trio of various flavors of aioli(garlic mayo). Three of us shared an order….though I was kinda sorry I didn’t get my own, just a little.

Braised pork shank....ridiculously delicious...

Cuban braised pork shank with  sweet plantains, andouille sausage, roasted poblano peppers, soffrito sauce…and it was as good as it sounds. And it was good to see that even on a Wednesday night, the place was pretty full….lots of people enjoying some delicious grub and a drink at the bar. The Baltimore restaurant scene looks alive and well…

Gin Blossom by Love and Toast...love the name

And I received some new cologne that I had asked for…called Gin Blossom by a company called Love and Toast, so now I smell kind of like a gin and tonic. Not really….but it does have  a limey fresh smell…I really like it.  You can get it online but South Moon Under also carries the brand. 

It was a lovely day really….birthdays don’t always turn out that way, as you know. Sometimes they can be a bit depressing, if you think about life going by so quickly, and all the things you haven’t accomplished this last year that you meant to or if someone you love forgot your birthday. Hey it happens. But it’s also a chance to start fresh, take a do-better pill as my Mother was fond of saying.  I miss her calling me on my birthday as she always did early in the morning, and she would always tell me the story of  our first meeting. That was back in the days of women being put to sleep for the birth of a baby….so after Mom was awake, she heard the nurse coming down the hall with a baby that was really letting off steam…yelling their lungs out. She smiled to herself thinking, that little fellow is really unhappy….I wonder who gets him? And the nurse turned into her room….with her daughter, still raising a ruckus.  She laughed, “The joke was on me…but you were the sweetest baby…just a mad one“.

batting my eyelash extensions April 26, 2007

For those of you who might not have read it, and since the story aired tonight…I’m redoing my entry from that date….
batting my eyelash extensions redux
OK, I’m not used to having eyelashes in the morning. When I get up, with no eye makeup, because unlike one of my sisters, I DO wash my face at night, so no eye makeup. Just eyeballs…you know what I mean. But this morning, I had long luxuriant dark lashes, and I’m not used to that look of already having mascara on. It’ll take a little getting used to….
I hadn’t been to the About Faces Salon in Canton Crossing until yesterday. WOW, it is a knockout, very very swanky, New York spa look, with gorgeous views across the bay. Gleaming marble, beautiful flowers…it has the look.
And for the men, there is also a gentlemen’s lounge, which I am told by Gerry Sandusky (who clearly does the spa thing from time to time), that it is awkward for guys sitting and waiting for a treatment among usually several women in robes. I assured him that the women don’t like it any better if guys are there, so there. Anyway, now they won’t have to mix it up, at least at this spa. I’d love to write more, but I have to go stare at my lashes. Mirror, mirror on the wall, who has the longest lashes of all???? I do@!