Most Traveling Wonderful Shoes!

My feet always hurt when I go on a trip that involves a lot of walking, no matter what kind of shoes I've worn. This time, for my recent trip to a conference in San Francisco, I wore these incognito crocs... And they were fabulous! Here they are  peeking out from underneath a lunch table...

Here they are on Alcatraz...

I wore them traipsing through vineyards, 

...and hopping on and off those famous San Francisco cable cars!

So here they are in closeup views-- marvelous, marvelous CROCS!

My daughter has even asked me to order a pair for her :). 

Scarborough New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc

This has been one of my favorite summer wines since I first discovered it in 2012. It's crisp and just a little fruity-- perfect on a warm summer day. I fell in love with this wine even before I knew it was from New Zealand (not that I know what difference that makes!).

However, wines seem more fun to me now because I like to look them up and learn more about where they come from and where and how the grapes are grown. This Starborough Sauvignon Blanc is from New Zealand, and I gladly admit that I love wines with caps that screw off so that I don't have to struggle with finding a cork screw, or when I'm out and about, hunting down something to pull out a cork! 

For instance, I didn't know, until I looked it up, that this winery is located on New Zealand's south island. The winery's website also has a special page dedicated to this wine. I love the winemaker notes which explain the specifics of the weather and how it affected the grape in any given year. 

It's rare that a wine sticks with me the way this one has... but it's clearly a winner!

My New Lowepro Camera Bag

Yesterday was a lot like Christmas! Several things I had ordered online arrived, and now I am a happy camper! I am so in love with this Lowepro camera bag! It's a sling which is perfect for street photography. I can fit several of my favorite cameras on here and when I'm in the mood, just grab it and go.

This is the Lowepro Passport sling. It must be an older model because I've also seen the Passport II online, but ever the cheap Dutchman (or woman) I opted for this model from Amazon because it was cheaper and suits my needs just fine. What I love about this bag is that it doesn't scream CAMERA BAG- COME GET ME! It's just such a nondescript bag and could pass for any generic bag worn by a man or a woman in urban settings.

I've situated 3 of my favorite cameras in here so that it's ready to go anytime I want to run out to shoot. I've got my larger Sony, a smallish Fujifilm in the area that's not really for cameras, but it fits nicely, and then my old workhorse Canon in the smaller slot. Plus, I have loaded chargers, batteries, and cables. This bag also has an outside zipper which allows the bag to expand, so I'm travelling I could put all of my purse things in there along with a wrap or sweater. 

This may seem to be a bit much for point and shoots, but I love my point-and-shoot cameras. Each one of them does something special and it's fun to play with them. These are my grown-up toys! Life is good :). 

New Red Wine

Love this new red wine! When the wine store Next to the UPS store didn't have my usual Bolla Bardolino, I opted for this one. The label says this is a dry red but it tastes very smooth! This is a Montepulciano from the Abruzzo region in Italy and I can't remember the last time I drank a Montepulciano! Years ago we used to buy Montepulciano wines by the case, but then we opted to explore other reds. I often go in and out of red wine modes-- and have been on a Sauvignon Blanc kick for quite a while. But now, I'm rediscovering some wonderful reds! This particular wine is called Cantina Zaccagnini, and while it isn't the cheapest at $16.99 a bottle, but it is well worth the price.

Postscript: This wine has received good reviews from others who have tried it. Both The Savvy Lush and Moms Who Need Wine have tried this one and liked it. However, I think I may have overpaid for mine because everyone else seems to quite prices between $12.99 and $14.99 per bottle. Oh well, I guess that's Greenville!

Engineering A Sewing Project

Feeling my domestic goddess mood that cannot be quenched unless I try my hand at sewing this camera cozy... Have seen them online but decided I wanted to make my own. I unearthed the Bernina from underneath piles if stuff in the corner of the bedroom, but found out it needed servicing as the lever was frozen in the up position. Off to Hayes Sewing Machine it went. The bad news is that it will take a week to fix, so in this age of instant gratification, what's a domestic goddess to do? Then I found this little Sunbeam for beginners- it's so cute!

It weighs 2.5 pounds. It's small, but larger than a child sized machine. It does all the basic stitches and comes pre-threaded! Oh joy of joys! Of course, it is nowhere in the league of my wonderful Bernina, but is helping me get my sewing "fix" under control! I've had my Bernina since 1983 and it has been a wonderful tool. It just is undergoing a major cleaning and adjustment since I haven't sewn much in the last ten years.

Actually, this little Sunbeam is perfect for apartment dwellers with little space to store things...

Postscript: Cute as it was, this little machine did skip a lot of stitches, so I returned it. Such a shame. 

2014 Summer Beach Reads

SPOILER ALERT!

Summertime is a time for some lazy reading... you know, those light romances that take place in or near wonderful beach places like Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, the Outer Banks, the low country (aka Tidewater region of Virginia, NC, Charleston, or along the coast of Maine. Summer 2014 was no different, and I returned to two of my favorite authors looking for some enjoyable beach reading. I've always enjoyed Dorothea Benton Frank's books because they're set around Charleston, one of my very favorite cities! Ditto with Elin Hildebrand who usually sets her stories on Nantucket. Alas, these two summer reads were mediocre at best.

Bulls Island is the story of yet another homecoming-- a local girl who leaves town and makes in big in the world on her own. At the beginning of the story she's found as a very successful executive in New York City with private planes at her disposal. her company decides to embark on a real estate development project on Bulls Island, South Carolina, and she's put in charge because of her knowledge from the area. Her anxiety rises as she knows this will force her to confront people from her past, including an old romantic love. In the meantime, she also messes around with a rough mafia gangster, and this is where I had trouble with the plausibility of the plot and Betts (the main character). As the plot comes to an end, I kept wondering how Benton Franks was going to resolve this issue with Vinnie (the gangster). Just as I thought she had forgotten about him, he surfaces but in an uncharacteristic way. Benton Franks resolves the Vinnie character, but it was somewhat lame, and just seemed out of place with the rest of the story. I give this book a 2 out of 5 stars (with 5 being the highest) because I don't think that Benton Franks developed her main character in accordance with the character's attributes as described earlier in the book, the unfolding plot seems to stall near the end, and the resolution of the Vinnie character is out of place.

A Summer Affair is just plain unsatisfying. This is the story of  red-haired and freckled Claire, a glassblowing artist, mother of four young children, and wife to Jason, a rugged, and somewhat sexist, kind of guy. She's asked to chair a local charity event, and begins an affair with the charity event's executive director. It was just hard for me to like, or feel sympathetic, to a character who is the mother of four small children who commits adultery. I know this sounds judgmental, but really? Where did she think this affair was going to go? The plot is complete with Claire facing her choices, dealing with a boorish husband, rebuilding connections with a high school sweetheart who has now become a rock star, and realizing that she needs to end her affair. I skimmed over many of the pages in this book because it just wasn't worth the time in reading in detail. I give this book a 2 out of 5 stars because it was dull. Hildebrand has done much better in other books.

Elizabeth and Sunday Afternoon Pedis

After a few beach trips our feet were looking pretty shabby, so off for relaxing pedis at Tulip Nails! They do great $20.00 pedis.

Elizabeth and Sunday Morning

It's Sunday morning and church time! We opted for 9:30 mass at St. Mary's... Then breakfast at The Perfect Cup...

DANSKO Outlet Store

This mermaid is a lovely reminder of Denmark. She welcomes all guests to the store!

My sprained ankle reminded me that I needed some new sandals with decent foot support so off to the Dansko outlet!

I love this place! They are dog friendly and so in the past, Fawnie has been to Dansko too ! Proceeds from this outlet store all go to support charities. 

Most of all, the inside is clean, spacious, and well organized. This makes shoe shopping a breeze! Oh , and by the way, this outlet is located in Jennersville, PA... Well worth the drive!

Brunch at Rue 57

As much as I enjoyed walking around the Central Park neighborhoods with my camera, I also needed to get back to the conference because there were a couple of interesting afternoon sessions I wanted to attend. But first, I needed food, and so I stopped at Rue 57 for a lovely brunch. The place was packed! 

Lots of family groups seem to gather here. I saw groups of grandparents and babies along with parents. Lots of tourists taking pictures. In some restaurants they don't like to seat single parties; it's an economics thing because they take up a table that could be occupied by 2 or 3 people, but at Rue 57 the staff was gracious in seating me in a good location. I loved the rich wood decor!

The place was bustling but soon enough I was able to order my lobster-shrimp omelet with a mimosa-- a rarity for me! It was delicious!

Although a bit pricey, this was a wonderful brunch and I felt refreshed and ready to walk back to the conference!

Rue 57 seems to be a mid-town staple-- and I'd love to go back again. 

Trying Out... White Shoulders by Evyan

Ok, so if you've read my previous post about losing Clinique's Happy To Be as my favorite, long-time fragrance, you know about my efforts to find a replacement. I've been doing some searching online, and discovered a fabulous website that knows all things about fragrances! I've learned more about fragrances here than I have known all my life!

So... I've also learned that just because a fragrance is available at a drugstore counter does NOT mean it is a "cheap" fragrance! As a matter of fact, some of the fragrances I wore in college are now available in drugstores, and that's how I wound up revisiting an old time favorite, White Shoulders by Evyan. It's definitely not like the fragrances I've worn over the last 10+ years, but it is nice to revisit and I'm wearing it today. It has a deeper note to it and I do love the gardenia presence. I wouldn't wear this in the middle of the summer, but I do like it now when spring is still gloomy and grey. It's a comforting, floral fragrance and I don't think I'd wear it everyday. However, it's nice for a now and then scent. At just past twenty plus dollars, it's one to have in your fragrance wardrobe. Glad to rediscover and old friend!

Lost Fragrance

In search of a replacement for my favorite fragrance... Clinique's Happy-To-Be (not to be confused with Happy or Happy Heart!). I've worn Happy-To-Be since it frst came out in 2005, and have always loved it! It is long wearing and has a fresh scent.

I've always loved this fragrance and was content to wear only this one and none other for years! That's all changed now as it has been discontinued. I did manage to find a bottle online, but I prefer to stick with a current, easily-available fragrance... so now I'm on the hunt for something new...guess I'll walk around smelling like a perfume counter until I've conquered my quest!!!

In Search of the Perfect Bag

I'm getting ready to go into the field to do research and will be travelling a lot to gather data... so I'm in search of the "perfect" bag. It has to be the perfect bag to carry on a plane when I fly, or to tote my laptop and notebooks when I'm on site, or to carry all through conferences this summer... in other words, this bag has to perform many functions, so it has to be perfect! I'm looking for form and function... and am not ready to "settle" for anything less. I want to look great carrying this bag, and the bag has to look great with me! My choices have narrowed between these two bags. The top bag is by Lo and Sons from NYC. Both bags are constructed with nylon fabric which will make them lighter weight than leather bags. The bag below is by Tumi. What appeals to me about this bag is the shape and also that it has various pockets and compartments. What I like about it is its shape and the inside compartments. Both are pricey, so this decision will not be made easily. Unfortunately, since both bags are only available online, I can't actually hold and touch it to check it out, so I read reviews, and more reviews. I watch videos, check out FB, and so forth. A lot of work for choosing abag, right? Which one would you suggest?

The Dilemma of Hair

Unlike most women, I hate having my hair done! However, mother nature and time have necessitated monthly visits to the hairdresser for "refreshing" the color of my dark tresses. For over 10 years I went to Michael Christopher's on Pennsylvania Avenue, and while I still have a soft spot for the salon and it feels like my hair "home," I've decided to expand my options and try another place. Hence, SILK. It's a tiny place, but Dani Wirt, my hairdresser is a BIG find!!! She's marvelous! Customer focused, always happy and cheerful, and willing to put up with my fickle changes of "long," "short," no "long again," etc. My naturally wavy hair isn't all that easy to maintain and if it isn't cut correctly, it flattens out and lays blah. The salon itself is faily new, not quite a year old, and small. It's tucked toward the back of a small strip shopping center. The shop is quite small, a negative, and the chairs are awful, another negative. However, I like the way Dani does my hair, so that's a positive.

New Faucet

Some Christmas present create new work projects... with the best of intentions, the kids gave us a new kitchen faucet. Love the design of the faucet! It's very 21st century but we have a very 1980's decrepit kitchen... the intention is to redo it...someday... when I have time to devote to a serious remodel. The old faucet was duct-taped together, so any new faucet would be a great improvement!

Somehow, under-the-sink kitchen cabinets wind up collecting a lot of stuff, which you don't really realize is there anymore until you have to work under there! Of course, it took many bosses to take out the old faucet...

...and with no lack of respect for my guys, it was Sophia who finally solved the problem of removing the old faucet, which, according to the guys, wouldn't be off for a couple of days because we needed a new wrench (or something strong enough to remove the old one). This new MOEN faucet is a beauty... and I have to say a welcome improvement over what was there before! Now if I could just finish my dissertation so we could move on to that kitchen remodel... For right now, the new faucet will will be a welcome change to the duct-taped older model that was starting to spritz water from the seams! Thanks kids!

Socks from Santa- Thoughts About the Holidays

The Nor'easter charged up the East Coast earlier this week and added insult to injury as North Jersey and NYC were blanketed with snow. Even my sister in Cape Cod had to rely on her generator to keep the lights on during those high winds. The irony of this is that I am teaching a new course in emergency management this semester! What timing! Those affected by the storms are in the process of cleaning up and salvaging what they can... Sophia was basically, as she likes to call it... "homeless" for 10 days while she crashed with friends in Harlem. Several of my Ripkanista friends have been without power for 12 days and trying to get back to some semblance of "normal." New York is an amazing place... the subways are running again! I never would have imagined that this 100+ year-old subway system could withstand the flooding. So now it occurred to me that we have just one weekend before Thanksgiving... which means a lot of getting ready to do. To put myself in the mood Santa began her socks-and-underwear shopping today!

My son said that he told his friends he has never bought socks or underwear ever in his life because Santa brings them every year! My girls are very picky about socks, and I have to have one of them with me to pick them out, or they write a detailed description about what to get and where to get it. In many ways the boys are so much easier! The socks are all stowed in the back of my closet... now let's hope that on Christmas Eve I will remember where I've put them.

The Perfect Cup in Hockessin

The Perfect Cup Cafe is a hometown gathering for Hockessinites. On Sunday mornings it is the place where church-goers gather after mass to have breakfast or just a cup of The Perfect Cup's sugnature coffee Snickerdoodle. During the week you will see business meetings held there, mothers with toddlers, and retirees having coffee with friends. It's the place where Hockessinites gather to meet other Hockessinites. I have a love-hate relationship with this place! Why?

Because this place serves food cooked on small little hot plates with no venting. After walking out the door, don't be surprised if your clothes smell like food! I've had to either toss what I had been wearing in the wash or send it to the dry cleaners because the place has no ventilation in the food prep area. This morning after church we went there for breakfast, and I ordered the breakfast burrito pictured below.

I've had their breakfast burritos before, but this was the first one I had had with sausage patties, in the burrito. Sausage patties? Really? Come on... and when I asked about the cheese in the burrito, I was told that they put in one slice of cheese, "It's not a whole bunch" the cook told me. I counted perhaps 2-3 little pieces of pepper, the 3-4 pieces of onion, and the salsa was miniscule. I did taste a whole lot of egg, no sour cream-- so what was breakfast burrito about this breakfast burrito??? Not a whole lot. So my relationship with The Perfect Cup? Let's just say it's on a downward slide for now and I will be looking for options for Sunday mornings...

Brief Review of Kosher Chinese

This is the story of a vegetarian Jewish man from the Upper West Side of Manhattan and his experience as a Peace Corps volunteer in the interior of China.

Michael Levy, author of Kosher Chinese, and whose story this is, had been a kosher vegetarian, and when he went to China to teach English and was confronted with a bowl of deep fried millipedes at his welcome dinner, broke the cultural training instilled by the Peace Corps and said, "I cannot eat this." The 30 or so people, including a Communist part official, who had gathered in his honor gasped and turned stone silent. After a long pause and deep silence, Levy again spoke and said "Because I'm Jewish." Finally, the silence was broken when someone said, "Comrade Marx was a Jew," and "Einstein too." This was how Levy became known as the Friendship Jew. What follows in this cleverly written book is Levy's account of living in the interior of China, the part of China not covered by the modern news media, and how he learns to live using squat toilets, adapting to foods, and even confronting his moral dilemma and eating dog. This book is entertaining, thought provoking, and well worth reading! I give this 5 stars out of 5.

Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero

I can't write a better summary and review of Chris Matthews' book Jack Kennedy Elusive Hero than this one http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/06/books/review/jack-kennedy-elusive-hero-by-chris-matthews-book-review.html

Much has been written, examined, and analyzed about the Kennedy family and the Kennedy Presidency. While I am not a political analyst and have nothing to add in that regard, I can simply add my own comments about this book-- and anyone who has ever loved Jack Kennedy or been interested in the Kennedy family would find this book a new and different perspective about Kennedy politics. This book provided a more factual account of several myths I had always heard about Jack kennedy-- such as that he was pushed by his father to enter politics after his older brother Joseph Junior was killed in a plane accident. In fact, Jack, because he was quite often ill as a child, developed his love for history and politics through his intense reading during those times he was ill. He developed a love of history, and studied Churchill intensely. He had the added advantage of actually meeting Churchill because his father, his Joseph Kennedy senior, had been ambassador to Great Britain just before WWII. The story of Jack Kennedy's rise in politics includes his strong relationship with his siblings. They rallied around him like a team honed in the skills of power politics. Jack Kennedy understood power politics and that sometimes unsavory back room deals had to be made in order to achieve something he wanted. Kennedy had ideals about democracy-- but he also knew what it took to get things done.

It is also the story of being very pragmatic in a political arena. Jack Kennedy came from privilege, and he sought political office through votes of the working class. His siblings each had positions in his political organization-- many of them were driven by ideals of their own, and sought to make a difference. The Kennedy tribe of siblings stood together as one -- something that continued into the Kennedy Presidency. The man, Jack Kennedy, was driven by living life at the edge-- he had already experienced the loss of his older brother in the war, and then his beloved sister Kathleen died in a plane crash as well. When he was in the Navy, Kennedy experienced near death during the war in the Pacific, and his stamina to endure came from having to deal with constant pain as a result of those injuries, in his body. The years since his death have uncovered the less savory aspects of his life-- the womanizing, the back deal making, and deception of hiding his true physical state which in today's Presidency may not have allowed him to continue. Perhaps the most interesting chapter of the book was about Jacqueline Kennedy. Although just a brief description, this chapter does provide a glimpse into the woman who loved the man. She knew her role in this relationship, both schooled indirectly by her mother and the kind of marriage she had, and the social world and context in which she lived, Jacqueline Kennedy was somewhat aware of her husband's indiscretions, and also hurt by them. She loved him intensely and tried to provide a calm and serene family life with children at the center of the marriage. She provided the grace to his presidency. As a widow, she immediately fell to creating the legacy of the man... the man who is still fascinating even after his death nearly 50 years ago.

American Klompen: CROCS!!!

I've made a GREAT discovery!!! CROCS are the American version of klompen!!!

Klompen are Dutch wooden shoes that are great for wearing out in the garden. They get wet and muddy and you simply just hose them off. I've often thought of buying them for my family, but travelling with carry-on luggage changes the way you do things. Plus, klompen aren't cheap!

Now I know that CROCS have been around for a while, but they are ugly, and I just didn't see the sense in them until recently.

I discovered CROCS down at the beach-- there's actually a CROCS outlet store. We now all wear our CROCS outside, and leave them at the door. Three cheers for the American version of klompen!!!