4 March 2006

Had a fabulous dinner with friends at one our favorite restaurants last night. Thai at Silver Spring. Consistently great food and great service --AND healthy, to boot. Our friends had just come back from Mardi Gras and gave a very sobering account of what its like in NOLA these days. (They both used to live there, so they had a lot of good information about life OUTSIDE the French Quarter.) It reminded me that we need to book our travel there soon to see our other friends.

We then got home and watched the Food Channel for a little while (our fave.) Roker on the Road did a bit on Ben's Chili Bowl in DC (awesome food...don't believe I've ever been in there sober, though.) As part of the piece they did interviews with some of the customers who happened to be in the restaurant -- one of whom was a girl I used to date. It was good, though, because she didn't look very good. Ha!

3 March 2006

We're going to Arizona in a few weeks for five glorious days. And we're considering options for Ellie, our glorious furry daughter. It's too long of a time for our friends to come over and feed her, so we're considering taking her to "kitty camp" --i.e. the vet or some other overnight facility. (Which she hates.) But then we got a postcard in the mail about a Pet HOTEL run by PetSmart. There's a brand new one in Bethesda, so we're going on a tour Sunday (upon which we will receive a free night's day for Ellie.) I just went to the website to see what it was all about.

Sounds nice: "Pets have access to amenities such as televisions (tuned to pet-themed shows), poochy cots, and hypoallergenic lambskin blankets. Our feline guests stay in a section of PetSmart PetsHotel called kitty cottages, complete with kitty condos that include a wide view of the hotel so pets can "watch the world." To reduce stress on both cats and dogs, kitty cottages is separate from the dog rooms - there are even separate air systems to prevent dogs and cats from picking up each other's scent. Air is circulated at least three times an hour for guests' breathing pleasure."

Oh, and there's more: "During your pet's stay, we understand that you may want to check in on your little one to see how she's doing. That's why we offer pets and parents the ability to chat on the phone in our Bone Booth during lobby hours and at no charge. We'll bring your pet to the phone so you can hear her bark or meow, and she can hear your voice. It's nice to know you're just a phone call away.

Want to know how your pet behaved while at PetSmart PetsHotel? Each pet's daily activities are continuously monitored on activity sheets by Pet Care Specialists - providing you with a detailed record of your pet's stay."

Now THAT will be real page turner:

9:00am Ellie wakes. Meows wildly looking for food.
9:10am Ellie goes back to sleep.
10:25am Ellie licks herself.
1:00pm Ellie looks around, sees no food, goes back to sleep.
And on and on and on....

Hilarious.

2 March 2006

Just found out the hosts of my show are going to be part of the cast for an upcoming play -- a political "whodunit" to be exact. The performance is part of a benefit for Arena Stage, one of DC's best theatre companies. Crazy.

2 March 2006

I love it. I just saw a promo for O'Reilly tonight. He's having a born-again stripper on the show. The announcer says she'll talk about how she and her "holy hotties" are cleaning up their act. Fabulous.

2 March 2006

It's hard to believe, but cherry blossom season is coming soon. 3 weeks to be exact. Mayor Williams just announced the festival dates a little while ago -- March 25 through April 9. The official website is HERE. The National Park Service will announce next week when we'll start seeing the pink and white beauties. What's REALLY nice is the magnolia tree in our back yard blooms about a week before the cherry blossoms -- our very own harbinger of spring. I'll be sure to post a picture.

1 March 2006

Back from a few days with my mom and gram in South Florida. Nothing like Palm Beach County in late February. It's my reward for going to Syracuse in December. The highlight of the trip: my first golf outing. On a real golf course. I did okay. Maybe "okay" is overstating it a bit. I was marginal. At best. For every good shot, I had maybe 3 REALLY bad ones. As in hitting a house off the fairway kind of bad. (The people weren't home, thank God AND no damage was done. They MUST have shatterproof windows, being that close to the fairway.) My mom was patient and really helped me through the whole thing, including the "etiquette." It was in the low 70s and beautiful and I had a blast.

All over the course, and most everywhere we went, were remnants of Hurricane Wilma. Lots of uprooted trees and brush. I also saw lots of blown out signs on businesses and the tell-tale blue tarps on the roofs of several houses. My aunt -- and several of her neighbors -- also lost their screened in porches, too. It's NOTHING like the devastation from Katrina, but an interesting reminder.

News on that front: our good friends are officially moving back to New Orleans. Our friend Todd was already there fulfulling a teaching obligation at Tulane, but his wife Andrea has now found a law job in NOLA and can move back from Dallas. They've been there since late summer, figuring out what to do next. We are so thrilled for them, and can't wait to visit later this spring. What a great Mardi Gras present!

P.S. The picture above is from a marina on the intercoastal, just south of Palm Beach. I waited 10 minutes for this pelican to stop grooming himself so I could snap a shot of him!