Another Ghetto Yard Update

Just to make me feel good about our slow but sure progress in the backyard, I thought I'd post another update. Here is the graveyard cleaned out. Looks so painless, but I assure you it was not. You can even see a bit of the "tunnel" behind Katie that we didn't get rid of yet. We need to give this area a major pep-up, but the verdict is out on what to do with it.

Here's the next project. Tearing off the rotted addition to the garage and either rebuilding it or just putting a new wall on the back of the garage. You can see all the damage the ivy and creeper did to it. I'm DREADING this. Maybe we'll put it off until next Spring.





Oh, but the craziness continues. John chopped down a tree and a month or so, cut down the stump. Almost overnight, this nasty a-- fungus has grown all over the stump.





It's DISGUSTING! I tried to get Katie to go over to it and take a picture, but this is as close as she got. She's been freaking out about it all weekend saying she feels like the fungus is crawling all over her. So today, I'm going to figure out the best way to get rid of it permanently. Gotta love it!

On Second Thought

This morning I posted a long vent about work and my boss. I doubt anyone saw it, but after some thought, I figured I better take it down. Not that I think my boss would ever read my blog, but there is a line I don't want to cross. Plus, I'm still crossing my fingers that my problem is being/has been resolved and I don't want that negative energy. So, in the spirit of trying to stay positive, here's how the cute cover turned out:

Jude's Thursday Dish

This is the 11th edition of the Dish! Truthfully, I didn't think I'd keep it up. I never finish anything! Well, hopefully after 11 entries, it's really becomes a habit.

1. Today is a GREAT day! "The Office" premieres tonight! I'm beyond excited. My expectations are MUCH too high, so I hope I won't be disappointed. I'm a spoiler hound, but this year I've decided to not read anything. I know the title and I've accidentally heard a few things, but it'll be a surprise. Same goes for my other shows. Tonight, I'm also going to be recording "Grey's Anatomy" to decide if I want to get back in. I'd probably be better off if I didn't get into it again. One last show to juggle.

To get you excited for tonight's episode, check out Serenity by Jan's Scented Candles. My favorite flavor is New Milk. "From the bosom of the vanilla bean comes this silky white scent that nourishes the soul. Sweet and rich, this candle says move over soy, I am the 'New Milk'."

2. Wow were the Emmys painful. The 5 hosts were AWFUL and their bits so awkward. Especially Tom Bergeron and William Shatner (who I HATE!) ripping off Heidi Klum's suit. How smarmy was that?! The "Laugh In" sketch was the worst -- a good idea, but SO out of touch. I was disappointed by a lot of the winners. Jeremy Piven? AGAIN? Come on, Benry from "Lost" deserved that award in spades. A bunch of other winners I didn't know at all, so it was hard to get excited about it. Well, I don't have cable, so I'm sure that's 1/2 the problem. I was thrilled that "30 Rock" won so much -- yeah for Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin. His acceptance speech was the most gracious. And I loved how Tina told everyone the ways to watch it since it's always on the verge of cancellation. MY PLEA TO YOU -- watch this show! It may take a few times to really get into it, but once you do, it'll be a favorite! Anyway, loved the bit between Ricky Gervais and Steve Carrell. That was the highlight. Well, that... and this part. Who knew he was so funny?




3. I watched the "Sex and the City" movie Clearplayed. I think I only missed some Samantha scenes and Steve/Miranda and some language. LOVE CLEARPLAY! I loved the beginning, it got slow in the middle, but ended well. It was really fun revisiting the show. I love the fashions and the friendships and since we're going to NYC, I got really excited about the location shots. The movie had its flaws, but it just felt like a really good long episode. The tone was more serious than the show, but in a good way. These women are in their 40's now; you'd hope they'd evolve. I think it was a good ending with closure, but I REALLY hope they don't keep making them. Leave it on a high note.




4. Finally, a movie I want to see in the theater! That "Nights in Rodanthe" looks pretty good. I'm intrigued, of course, because it's a romance and based on a Nicholas Sparks novel. I've never read his books, but I liked "The Notebook" and "Message in a Bottle" so this movie seems promising. That, and I'd like to see Richard Gere and Diane Lane TOGETHER, not breaking apart like in "Unfaithful." The reviews aren't great, but they never are for movies like these. Maybe I'll reward myself when deadline is over and see it Monday while Katie's at school! Hey, I'll go to a movie theater by myself. I'm not scared.


5. I watched this week's "America's Next Top Model" and felt really bad Isis got voted off. She's the transgender contestant and without getting into any morality debate, it pained me to see her trying so hard but definitely not fitting in. On the flip side, SO happy to see that Hannah go. Not only did she have a terrible runway, but her personality drove me crazy. The wide eyed baby voiced innocent Alaskan thing was definitely too much. Next week, I hope the Angelina Jolie wannabe who hates her mom gets voted off. Yeah for Guilty Pleasures!

That's it for this week!

Buh-Bye Bailey!

Everytime we leave the house, even if I just go out to get the mail, Bailey will jump up and peek out our front window. My favorite is when I'm pulling out to take Katie to school. He'll wait until the car is out of sight before he leaves the door. My blinds are thrashed (as you can tell), but I think it's too funny to really care.

Frenemies

Everyone has a frenemy. The Urban Dictionary defines it as: "a blurred friendship; a friend and a rival or enemy." Another definition is a little more mean-spirited, but gets the point across. A "toxic" person who poses as a friend but subconsciously or consciously wishes you harm. But, I like the "Mean Girls" definition best:

Regina: We do not have a clique problem at this school.
Gretchen: But you do have to watch out for "frenemies".
Regina: What are "frenemies"?
Gretchen: Frenemies are enemies who act like friends. We call them "frenemies".
Karen: Or "enemends".
Gretchen: Or friends who secretly hate you, we call them "fraitors".
Regina: [rolls eyes] That is so gay.
Karen: [gasps] What if we called them "mean-em-aitors"?
Regina: [scoffs]
Gretchen: No, honey, it has to have the word "friend" in it.
Karen: Oh...

I love this term. I use it all the time. I first heard it on "Sex and The City" describing Charlotte and Samantha's relationship. The origin came from the author Jessica Mitford who's sister made up the word when she was little.

As adults, I think frenemies are most prevalent at work. And I think we probably have more frenemies than we'd want to know about. But what if you have a longtime friend who's a frenemy? Without going into details, I'm dealing with this. This person is very dear to me and I don't want to lose the friendship. When it's good, it's very good. There's just some aspects that bring me down. Do you continue the friendship or cut it out?

This isn't some secret message to anyone who reads my blog. I wouldn't bring it up if it was someone I was worried about offending or calling out. Just curious what others think.

Makeover Mission Complete!

Okay, I'm happy. I have experimented with all the different kinds of templates: Cutest Blog on the Block, Pyzam, a bunch of other free ones. I've tried the built-in blogger templates and the crazy XML ones. But this is finally me. Hooray!

Crisis!

I was trying upload this cool XML template and I accidentally deleted all my widgety gadgety things or whatever you call them! I didn't back up my old template like is recommended. Yes, I'm an idiot. So, I'm now in the process of trying to put everything back together. I'm trying to recreate my blog roll, so if I forgot you (or if you weren't on there and want to be included), just let me know. Damn.

Jude's Thursday Dish

It was a good week. Got a lot of stuff done, but had a good balance between real life and my pop culture obsession. But my stupid blog makeover drama has put me in a blog hatin' mood (read post below). Still, as Paula (my mom) always says... "on with the show!"

1. Okay, I know this is making the rounds on the Internet and most people have already seen it. But in case you haven't, you MUST! This is a hilarious sketch and Tina Fey is dead on. The rest of the show was...pathetic. Sorry Michael Phelps. You are very hot, but you have ZERO charisma. There have been a lot of non-actors on before who have done much better and can at least deliver a line or a joke. Derek Jeter and John McCain stand out. But Phelps was awful. This sketch was the highlight of the night. SNL was hurting without Tina Fey and now, they're losing Amy Poehler. At least I can catch them both on their superior TV shows (Poehler's isn't coming out until 2009). Here's a part of it...



2 & 3 (since this one's lengthy). I finished "Twilight" last Friday. First, I'm going to do my friend Marcy's way of giving criticism, sandwich the negative between too positives. The positive: I ended up really liking it. Okay, now the negative, which is much more fun! It took me forever to get into it and it's a SERIOUSLY flawed book. I wouldn't be me if I didn't take this opportunity to point out the things that didn't work. We started talking about it at Young Women's - our Pres, Camille, told me that you can't think about it too much and just enjoy it for what it is. Our Secretary, Katie, pointed out some of the problems, but agreed it was enjoyable. I tend to be more in Katie's camp. MILD SPOILER ALERT, but I really think most everyone has read it since I'm WAY behind on the craze. Or, skip forward if you don't like to hear any negative feedback about the book.

My main problem was that I had major issues with the writing style. The author wasn't very original with her descriptions. Please Ms. Meyer, get a thesauraus to come up with different adjectives than cold and clumsy. I get it, Edward's skin is like marble and Bella stumbles around like an oaf. And some of the dialogue was so heavy handed like Bella describing being disappointed that Edward wasn't in school "The desperation that crippled me..." Yeah, she's a teenager, but that would've been ripped apart in my Freshman writing class. I was SO bored until she got to Port Angeles, but I started reading Edward's POV "Midnight Sun" and I wish she could've incorporated both in "Twilight." Much better. Bella drove me crazy, but I did warm up to her. My other issues are probably because I'm 36 and out of touch. Why did the vampires enroll in highschool exactly? Couldn't Bella have been 19 or 20 and starting college up by Forks? Bella's life wasn't so bad, what did she have to be so moody about? Why was she so mean to Charlie? And the question that kept coming back to me... didn't Bella have a period? Wouldn't that be...um, trying to put this delicately... a problem? I know, that's totally random, but I'm trying to be more honest and I did keep thinking that. Clear throat.

Okay, so on to the last positive, Stephenie Meyer is an EXCELLENT storyteller. I got very wrapped up into the world she created, the conflict of the characters and definitely, the romance. What girl, of any age, wouldn't love herself an Edward? I was just as mooney (spelling?) as everybody else. The whole introduction to James and the showdown was great. It totally ended on a high note for me. It was kind of like when you eat a dinner that you're not sure you like while your having it, but afterwards, you can't wait to go back to that restaurant. My memories are more fond than the actually reading experience was, but I'm cool with that. I'm taking it as a good one and look forward to the next books. I'm reading the "Midnight Sun" draft posted on Meyer's website now, then I'll take a break before reading the next in the series.


4. I watched "Then She Found Me" this week Clearplayed. I missed very little, so I'm thinking it's R for the language only. This is the kind of movie that has me written all over it. MILD SPOILER ALERT (don't keep reading if you don't want to know plot details). It's about a grown woman finding her bio mom. She's struggled with infertility and has a miscarriage (not that I have the infertility issue, but the feelings of loss and disappointment are very similar to women like me who have lost pregnancies and I can totally relate). She struggles whether or not she should adopt. Oh, and we have the same birthday. And even more oh... the divine Colin Firth is in it. You'd think I would've loved it. But, it was really --- meh. Helen Hunt should get props for not having any work done and growing older naturally, but she's WAY too skinny. She needs to eat a cheeseburger. She looked so severe and uncomfortable; it was hard to warm up to her. The movie itself was kind of boring and I just didn't feel any real connection to the characters. I was disappointed, because I went in completely thinking I'd love it. But, I know a lot of my friends feel the Colin love too, so it's worth seeing it just for him.


5. Enjoying my fall shows like "Gossip Girl", "America's Next Top Model" and I'm still hanging in there with "90210" (ooooh, Kelly's baby daddy revealed... big surprise!). I think it's going to get the boot, because I'm trying to get "Biggest Loser", "Dancing with the Stars" &/or "Fringe" in the mix. Thank heaven for Tivo, but still, it (and my couch potato ways) has its limits. Yet, these are all 2nd and 3rd tier shows for me right now. The really good stuff starts next week and the casual dating will have to stop. Fortunately, I hate "House", so that was one less premiere to juggle this week. Cannot WAIT for next Thursday!!!!!

That's it for this week!

Sneak Peek

Last night, we had a photo shoot with the FABULOUS Chauntelle Janzer (Opie) from Opie Foto. She took some family photos and she is doing our Utah Family October cover with Katie. We tried all different kinds of things, but here's just a sample. Isn't she great? Check out her work!!!

Hookin' Up Through the Decades

Props to my niece, Liz, for introducing me to Yearbook Yourself. It's been fun playing with this program. John's pix turned out MUCH better than mine... a.) I had a great straight on picture of him; all mine have bangs or layers in my face, and b.) I have a very large head -- not so easy to work with, thanks a lot Yearbook Yourself!

The 50's. I love this picture of John. This is exactly what he would have looked like back then. Well, he looks like this now except with less hair. It kind of has a Jimmy Stewart vibe and he looks like his late Grandpa Rees. I, on the other hand, don't understand how the girls in highschool were okay with looking age 80 with those hairdo's. But, I SO would've rocked those cat eye glasses!



The 60's. John would have probably been going for that JFK look, especially with the bow tie. Scary thing, this is exactly my hair now -- just bigger. Tracy Turnblad would be proud!

The 70's. I actually like John's hair in this! It makes me think of him being the intellectual, hipster type. And here's another house frau shot of me, even though my face is all uneven in the shot.



The 80's. Okay, this is what John's hair basically looked like back then. Just a little more mullet-y though. I wasn't brave enough for this kind of hairdo, but I really dig the "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" look which I would totally do over if I could hop in my Delorean and go back in time.




The 90's. John's a little hottie in this picture. I had this hair in the 90's, more dirty blonde than bleached, but it was the same hair. Too bad I couldn't find a photo of the "Rachel" which is the epitome of the mid-90's for me. And I wouldn't have been caught dead wearing a sleeveless denim shirt (or is that a vest?).

Anyway, you should check it out! It's great "look like you're working when you're really not" Internet fun.

Jude's Thursday Dish

I haven't been feeling well this week, so it's been great catching up on my pile of Pop Culture to do's. Oh, and we booked our NYC tickets -- thanks for all 5 of you who voted for what 2nd Broadway show we should see, but we're going to wait until day of and try to buy 1/2 price tickets once we're there. But, I appreciate the input!


1. "Flight of the Conchords" -- 'nuff said! HILARIOUS! But, here's a question to consider. Should HBO shows be included in my new Off-The-R's resolution? I'm obviously not talking about shows like "The Sopranos" or "Sex and the City", but the more tame ones that might be PG-13 or 80's R-ish like "Conchords"? I put these in my Okay To Watch bubble. Well, I'm still at risk for falling off the Off-The-R wagon, so I've gotta have something. Baby steps.


2. What's with all this promise ring flap after the VMA's? Quick background, the host, comic Russell Brand, made fun of the Jonas Brothers for wearing chastity rings. Then, Jordin Sparks got up and defended them. Now, there's a lot of hot Internet debate with celebrities siding one way or the other. Paris Hilton, surprisingly, in support of the rings! Personally, I think you're just shooting yourself in the foot if you're announcing your chastity to the world. Especially if you're a celebrity. If you mess up, then everyone knows. Hello, Brittany Spears? But, I don't see why there's so much criticism surrounding it. If celebs want to try and be good role models by wearing a symbol that reminds them of a commitment they made, let them. True, they may regret it later if they can't keep their end of the bargain, but at least they are trying.

3. Yeah Tivo and being sick! I decided to give "Gossip Girl" a try, on my sister's recommendation, and I have to admit, it's got addiction potential. The guys are lame -- you definitely watch it for the girl drama, and I wish they weren't in highschool because it creeps me out a little, but there was some smart, campy parts that made it fun. Guilty pleasure, definitely. On the flip side, I barely made it through a taping of the new "90210." GAG! The older cast has a little appeal, but the teens are beyond annoying. Especially the new "Kelly" chick. And it's got the cheese factor from the original series, but that doesn't really fly well in 2008. Maybe I'll tune in if Dylan makes a guest appearance!


4. I also started "Twilight" finally. Not to outrage any devotees, but I'm not seeing it yet. I can tell Stephanie Meyers is great with plot and this world she's created, but I'm not yet a fan of her writing style. And Bella is too non-descript for me. But, I'm only on chapter 6, so I realize I have a lot to go. One nice thing is that I am picturing Cedric Diggory as Edward in the movie. I won't have to worry about being disappointed that the actor (Robert Pattison) isn't how I pictured him, like happens to me all the time when they turn books into movies.

5. I am officially saying that I hate Eva Longoria. I was watching Leno and she told him that she wasn't pregnant, just fat. She was b----ing about going from a size 0 to a size 1. Give me a break. I guess it's because Gabriella on DH has "let herself go" because Carlos is blind and she has two little kids. That's considered letting herself go? Now, I get it that going from that little to a bigger size is a lot when you're that tiny, but from a 0 to a 1? My leg wouldn't fit in a size 1.

That's it for this week!

Celeb Crushes Part II: The List

So, you know about The List right? It came from "Friends" -- the 5 people you could be with if you had the opportunity, even if you were with someone else. So, keeping it PG, being with will be kissing (and don't get too uptight, like this would ever happen!). Some people don't subscribe to The List and have a Free Pass, meaning you could ...um... kiss, this person no matter what your relationship status for one day.

I've had a revolving List for about 12 years now. As always, John is a good sport about things like this and has a List of his own, even though his used to piss me off with people like Michelle Pfeifer, Helen Hunt and Celine Dion. All skinny girls with no butts. Hello? Could he BE married to anyone more opposite? Fortunately, now his list consists of more curvy ladies like Catherine Zeta Jones.

If you read my Celeb Crushes post, you'll know that many of those crushes lasted into the adult years until they did something dumb or lost appeal and got booted off. These include: Cary Elwes, Val Kilmer, Mel Gibson and Harrison Ford. I have to say that Mel and Harrison must be Emeritus Listers though, because even though they are weird now, aaahhh... they gave me a lot of good years.

The revolving list included popular peeps like Pierce Brosnan, Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Robert Downey Jr., Patrick Dempsey, Ewan McGregor and a dozen TV hunks of the day. Now, as I'm older, my list is getting more particular. I've totally got a thing for Brits (and Scots). So (drumroll) here we go. My current List:



5. George Clooney just gets better with age. He's really my only mainstream choice and being #5, he's always hanging on a thread towards eviction because sometimes he's too smug, too captain-of-the-football-team popular or says stupid political things. But really... he's our generation's Cary Grant. Sigh.



4. I am not usually a fan of blondes, but Daniel Craig? Wow... he promptly booted Pierce of the List (well that, and that unfortunate "The Matador" incident where I was turned off of Pierce forever). The new Bond is HOT!



3. Clive Owen has something over me. I've only seen 2 of his films -- and he's always in these movies I don't want/won't see. But everytime I see his picture or see him doing publicity, I get weak in the knees. Please Clive, do a movie that's not smarmy or rated R?


2. Aaah, Gerard Butler. If you haven't seen this obscure little movie "Dear Frankie", go get it NOW! It will make you fall for him.


1. Colin has been #1 on my list ever since BBC's "Pride and Prejudice." That version is the BEST. And the wet shirt in the lake scene? That was the equivalent to regency porn! I watch that mini-series once a year. I haven't seen everything else he's been in, but he just gets better. Mwah!



There are some oldy, but goodies I could include too, but that will have to wait for another post. Happy Listing!

Would you kindly shut up?

One of my pet peeves is loud people in public places. Now, I'm loud. Katie is REALLY loud. John needs to be louder. But, I know when to keep the volume down and I'm trying to teach Katie the same. Yesterday, must of been Loud White Trash Day, because "these people" seemed to be out in droves.

I went shopping to find Katie new Sunday shoes and after finding a pitiful selection everywhere I went, I ended up at Shopko. Next to me in the kids aisle was a woman and her two kids, both under the age of 5. She sounded like she was talking in a freakin' megaphone! And to top it off, she was ragging on her kid. Here's a few highlights:

"Hayden, those are ballet slippers. They're for girls!"

"Get back over here, Hayden, or I'm going to smack your butt!"

"Hayden, if you don't put those down, you're gonna get it!"

Poor Hayden! I scold Katie in public all the time, but I do the angry mom hiss. You know, when your mouth barely moves and you threaten in low Voldemort-like voice. That way, your kid knows you mean business, but the rest of the world thinks you're a great mom. Anyway, I walked over to the ladies shoes just to get away from this lady, but I could still hear her! When she followed me over to my aisle, I couldn't take it and left empty handed. (Happy note, I did find some cute shoes for Katie today at Mervyn's!).

Later after school, I picked up Katie and we went on a Mommy/Katie date. This one consisted of parking at the Jamba Juice in Sugarhouse Commons, having our drinks outside and going to Old Navy, Famous Footwear, Barnes & Noble and the library. In that two hour block, there was another crazy loud lady at Jamba Juice screaming at her kid, "You come here! You come here! Get your butt back here!" There were two really loud ladies yakking about work in Old Navy. And don't get me started on the library! You do NOT answer your cell phone at the library, and you DEFINITELY DO NOT talk LOUD on your cell phone... ever!

Maybe I'm just easily aggravated, but this drives me crazy. I wish I had the nerve to ask them to keep it down, but at least venting on my blog helps!

Jude's Thursday Dish

It's been a slow pop culture week for me. I'm working on a slideshow for my bro-in-law Steve's sister's wedding that's this weekend. I was really ambitious last week saying I was going to watch all that Tivo. Fortunately, the really good stuff isn't on yet, because I haven't even touched the TV in the last 4 days. So, here's a "light" version of Thursday Dish.

1. I've been obsessing about what musical(s) to see when we go to NYC. Actually, only obsessing about one: "South Pacific." I am DYING to go. It's a classic; it's Rodgers and Hammerstein and it's the first Broadway revival of the show and it's supposed to be, as my friend Matt said, "stunnnnnnnnnnnnnnning!" And it's sold out until January 09. So, I've been trying to find a suitable 2nd option, but I'm being way too picky. We're going to "Wicked" which is a must(hooray!), but I don't want to see any shows I've seen before, that I can see in a touring company, that I can watch in a movie or was made from a movie and so on. But, I am realizing that I need to open my mind. I'm taking more suggestions... what shows should I go to?

2. Fabulous "30 Rock" guest spots news! Jennifer Aniston will be appearing as Jack's stalker on the October 30th premiere. Welcome back, Rachel! And yes, even though I'm a hater, Oprah is going to appear as a guest too on a different episode. This is GREAT news, because the ratings for "30 Rock" are terrible, even though it's very critically acclaimed (and acclaimed by me, more importantly!). If Oprah and her cronies can't boost the ratings, then no one can.

3. Hey, Campaigning Ladies... no more updo's! They age you and make you look dowdy!

Sarah Palin is a pretty woman and she looks MUCH better with her hair down. And I wish I could take credit for this observation, but I read somewhere from a reporter that Sarah Palin looks like the Tina Fey's hot older sister. Maybe older sister, but Tina is much hotter!


Cindy McCain always has the craziest hairdo's. Her updo's are the worst. This one is way too severe. I like it when it's down and more soft.

But at least neither of them have the Hilary mini-mullet. Michelle Obama hands-down has the best hair. I know, so important for your vote -- I mean, where would democracy be without the right to criticize these poor women? I have ZERO room to talk, because my hair is a mess 90% of the time. But then again, I don't put myself in the public eye either.

4. You know it's a slow pop culture week when your sole entertainment intake is watching an old 70's movie. John and I Netflix-ed "Murder By Death" a while back, mainly because we were reminiscing about funny movies we loved growing up. It's completely politically incorrect and a little dated, but the humor holds up. Neil Simon wrote the script and it's very clever. We still laughed out loud. The ending falls apart, but we both agreed they should remake this movie. If you've never seen it, it would be fun to watch for Halloween.


5. Do you know this man? Oh, but you do! He's the movie trailer voiceover guy! His name is Don LaFontaine and he passed away on Monday. He created the "In a world where..." catchphrase and made about $30 million a year! That's my dream job! Anyway, it makes me sad! To honor him, here's the Geico commercial he appeared in. I don't know which is more funny: him or that painfully awkward lady. Thanks, Don! The trailers you worked on were better than most the movies turned out to be!



That's it for this week!

New York New York, A Wonderful Town!

GAH! John and I are going to NYC for our 10 year anniversary in October. I'm beside myself with excitement! This trip has been a long time coming. When we were "not-dating" as I called it (even though we really were, but I just wouldn't admit it), we started planning a NYC trip with a bunch of our singles ward friends. But almost a week into it is when we fell in love...then a week later got engaged. Yeah for Mormon love! Needless to say, the trip went out the window and we've been trying to get there ever since.

So, my OCD does me wonders in times like this. The entire itinerary (with times of the day, thank you very much) was planned in a couple of sleepless nights. What I need help with is places to eat. So, for all you hundreds (I mean, 6) people who read my blog, will you post me your dining suggestions if you've been to the Big Apple?

Oh, and speaking of NYC, I want to wish my sister-in-law, Libby, a happy Birthday today. Jimmy surprised her with a trip to NYC in a couple of weeks and I don't know anyone who gets more excited about that...and Wicked...as Libby. Have a great birthday; we love you!