It’s Friday, people…. October 8, 2010

Ok, this is the real name of the gel...love it!

Ok, first an update on the poison ivy breakout…saw dermatologist Dr. Ciro Martin yesterday as I told you. After I asked him about prescribing some  prednisone pills….he said, “Let’s try a gel first…and if that doesn’t make it better by tomorrow, I’ll call in the prednisone“. I accepted that…I know prednisone has its own considerable side effects, and why take it, if you don’t need to…right? Soooooo, after using Clobiicantsayit Propefolroerieolsieru yesterday, all spots on my eye, jaw, neck are all better. Itching gone, swelling down…seriously, that is a magic medication. Major props to the doc…if you get poison ivy sometimes, you should keep some on hand. Love it.

Let’s see, I’ve finished writing a story for air Monday…I’m listening to past selections from Roadhouse Blues (WTMD’s Friday night blues show-you can listen here) and writing this post. My daughter just emailed to ask if we were having dinner together tonight…I told her we had unfortunately accepted an invitation to a tapas-wine party some time ago(which I’m looking forward to-didn’t tell her that). She emailed back…”Worst parents ever!” She was kidding…I think?

Fried chicken and gumbo, here I come.....

But we’ll see her tomorrow night for a birthday celebration(not mine btw), and we’re trying something new(you know how hard that is for me)…going to Darker Than Blue Cafe in Waverly-here’s a link. They specialize in southern cuisine(you know I love that), AND they have jazz on Saturday nights! Fun…..I’ll let you know how it goes. Oh, and it’s BYOB…(you also know how I love that!).

Olive oil cake.....with cornmeal too...

Sunday some friends are coming over for lunch….not sure what I’m making yet…but I want to try an olive oil cake I read about on Chow…here’s a link. It looks pretty easy…I love olive oil, and with a little crunch from the cornmeal and a hint of orange…it sounds divine.

And it should be such a gorgeous day, we can sit on the back porch and chat in the sunshine, eat cake and drink some wine, (and keep an eye on the Ravens game)…doesn’t that sound nice? I hope all of you make it a nice weekend(sometimes it takes some designing), don’t throw rocks, make plans to see some friends that you haven’t seen in a while, make a cake and come home safe…’cause we miss you. ♥

Poison Ivy…..in a most unfortunate place! October 7, 2010

Wow, this is not a good look for me....

Ok, here’s the deal….I have poison ivy…in an unfortunate place. No, not there…actually that might be better. It’s on my face, which in my line of work, is…ummmm…bad.

I did clip some ivy this weekend….but I did so very, very very very carefully. But even as I did that, I was thinking, “You better watch out girl, or you gonna end up with a bad ole rash...”. And… here I am.

Last evening makeup covered it fine, but it was new then. Today? We’ll see how things unfold….I’m going to see my dermie Dr. Martins early afternoon. So I hope he gives me somthing, a shot, pills…anything to nip this in the bud. Or relative bud. Right now I’m sitting here writing this with a vinegar baking soda paste on it….I look soooooo hot, I can’t even tell you. My daughter called and said, “You should really just go home, it must be embarassing for everyone.” So sweet!

Lipton enters the upscale tea market…. September 11, 2008

Lipton goes for the upscale market!

Whahhhhh? Lipton with a silken tea bag? Yup…it’s true. I blogged last December I think about Tea Forte…they don’t even call their stuff tea bags…they’re “silken-tea-infusers”…”Pour boiling water in and exquisite tea starts to brew, the infuser maintains its elegant form, and the upward lifted leaf and cotton stem creates a handle. A feast for all the senses, Tea Forte is quite possibly the finest, most elegant cup of tea of all time.” Oooh-la-la. A small tin of two tea bags, I’m sorry…silken infusers… is 5 bucks. (FIVE BUCKS!)

So, I’m thinking someone at good old Lipton tea…my Mom and Grandmom used it…so did yours probably…and said, “why can’t we have some fancy tea bags and call them infusers. Oh, yeah, and make ’em silky, and put some fancy tea inside…pyramid shaped, natch, oh…and charge more but not more than Forte. Got it ?”

It's still a box...

Lipton calls theirs Premium Pyramid tea and I am assured that the pyramid shape will enable much better brewing. Maybe it does. I tried a box of the White Tea with Island Mango(couldn’t have that when my daughter is around with her weird poison ivy/mango allergy)….the box says its made with real orange leaves and lemongrass…Sweet. Now, let’s get real…it is good. Very good, but even with the silky tea bag/infuser, it still wouldn’t do as a gift  like the elegant Tea Forte will. Hey, here’s box of Lipton Tea…happy birthday! But for regular tea drinking with a little upscale twist..not bad, Lipton…not bad. And it’s not five bucks.

A Matter of Mangoes….. June 27, 2008

My daughter called me from school the end of last week, complaining of a virulent itchy rash on her arm. Knowing that she is extremely allergic to poison ivy, (one time after a camping trip with her elementary grade class, her face was all puffed up and one eye was swollen shut…people stared in the most awful fashion as we filled her prescription)  it made sense to me that she had unknowingly brushed by some…somehow. She said that wasn’t possible, but finally went to a clinic there to have a doc look at it. They weren’t sure what it was either, but suggested antihistamines,  antibiotics, and some prednisone. Hmmmmm. A week goes by, and she isn’t significantly better…and those of you who have a girl at college will probably know this…when something isn’t going well, especially healthwise….THEY WILL CALL YOU. A LOT. Why haven’t you fixed this??

“Please, Mom, I want to come home and have an appointment with a real doctor.”

“You did see a real doctor”

“I mean a dermatologist. A specialist!”

Ahhhhh….now I get it. So I call the lovely Dr. Eva Simmons-O’Brien in Towson…we’ve done a couple of stories with her on WBAL and I liked her so much that when I have a skin issue( and who on tv doesn’t have skin issues), that’s who I see.  After all, she graduated from the Yale school of Medicine…not bad. She very kindly  agreed to squeeze my baby girl in for a consult, and her conclusions really surprised us both….

She took a look and asked if my itchy girl if she had eaten mango recently. Mango?  Why, yes indeed she had…a whole container of chopped mango from Wegman’s. Delicious!  “There’s your culprit“, said Dr. O’Brien. She explained that mango and poison ivy are actually cross allergens….and eating the mango had really activated the allergic system…so much so, that after writing a couple of prescriptions, she advised using fragrance-free, hypoallergenic products (detergent, shampoo, face wash, lotion, you name it) for a long, long time to come. And don’t even look at a mango. Don’t be in the same room with one. Seriously. No more mango salsa.

On the plus side, at least in my daughter’s view, was that she could go out and buy all new product lines. Wheeeeeeee! So she is loaded up with new prescription creams and pills…feeling much better already….and she has her own dermatologist now…that is big, for some reason. I, on the the other hand, am a couple of hundred bucks poorer. At least. But the dilemna did get her home for a couple of days. And that I always love.