Construction Gals 

Miss Manners

I've been musing over manners lately, or more accurately the lack of manners. I pride myself on being polite, I say please, thank you, excuse me, I wait my turn, I let people in when they want to change lanes, etc. But it seems to me like there is more rudeness around than ever. What causes this? I am exploring a theory I am calling the Mass Mentality. Let me explain. You're in your car, people are cutting others off, honking at each other, not allowing people in, etc. Take this group of people, meet them one on one in a social or business situation, where you are deemed "safe or acceptable to know" and these same people are probably very nice and polite. Why does the Mass Mentality take over when they don't know you?

The mass Mentality seems to turn regular nice people into animals. Are we packed in too close together? Are we too busy to be nice? Do people feel like if they are courteous to others that they are going to lose out, miss their turn, get left behind?

What does this mean, is it the way of the world these days, if you want to survive and get ahead, forego the manners? Is it a decline in society? Is it that protocol has changed and those of us who have been taught to be polite, are operating under obsolete standards? Is it ok to only be polite to those you know?

I really don't think it's ok.

The Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkin Patch

This weekend we went to the pumpkin patch festival in Germantown with our friends Erika, Tommy and Ben. It was a lot of fun. Especially for the kids.

There is a hayride that takes you out to field where you can "pick" your own pumpkins. This great in theory, but we found with two toddlers and one of us pregnant. It's hard to carry very many pumpkins back with you!


Friends



Hayride

There were also all kinds of animals to see: Bunnies, pigs, goats, turkeys, chickens. The turkey scared Gigi.


Piggies

And Pony rides! Not normally my thing but these ponies looked well cared for so I figured it was ok. Gigi and Ben both liked the ponies.


Pony Ride

It was chilly and windy and we had done a lot but we hadn't gone down the slide yet. So we waited in line and Gigi and I went down the slide. She wasn't so thrilled about the idea when it was our turn to go, but she liked it on the way down.


Slide

It was a good weekend. No work on the kitchen, which was a ncie break. I haven't posted the final pictures yet because, well it's not finished. Almost, just a little more paint. Then I will get them up here for everyone to see.

Budding Artist

Artist


Sidewalk Chalk

Miss Gigi is turning into a budding artist. She wants to paint, she wants to use the markers, the crayons, the chalk. She loves doing the projects at day care. it's really cute - but messy!

I Got Chocolate

Ok this is the second of two posts in a row talking about indulgences. No wonder I feel like I am up a pound or two! I want to talk about gourmet chocolate, there is nothing like it, you can't get this stuff at the grocery store.

Yesterday a box of fabulous chocolates arrived at my door. Who sent them? Me of course, I have been waiting all summer to place my order. They won't ship when it is hot enough to melt your chocolate.

Right now I am waiting for Paul to make me a cappucino to enjoy with my chocolates, but it sounds like he's putting away the dishes. Where are this man's priorities!? While I wait I'll tell you about the chocolates. They come from Jacques Torres and if you don't live in New York you can have them shipped to you (weather permitting). I love dark chocolate so I got a box filled with 4 flavors:

Love Potion #9 - pure dark chocolate ganache
Golden Expresso - self expanitory
Bin 27 Port - port infused in chocolate
Wicked Fun - chocolate ganache spiced up with ancho and chipotle chilis (Erica you would love this one!)

Ah my cappucino has arrived. I've gotta go enjoy...

For you chocolate lovers there are also recipes on the Jacques Torres site.

Cupcakes

Cupcakes

I got an email the other day talking about this local place that DELIVERS cupcakes. They looked really good.

Here is the info taken from DailyCandyDC- Baker Robyn Savage delivers her fresh-made confections straight to your home, providing a much-needed service to agoraphobic sweet tooths all over town.
Savage started her one-woman operation, Le Cupcake, with the idea that it’s best to do one thing really, really well. And she does: Her signature confection is a delicious fluff of vanilla cake with a turban of sweet almond-flavored icing decorated with pastel swirls and sprinkles. They arrive in white boxes tied with pink and brown ribbon (packages so cute, you may be tempted to eat them, too). She’ll even whip up custom flavors.
Available by the dozen (703-533-8989) or individually at Stacy’s Coffee Parlor, 709 West Broad Street, Falls Church (703-538-6266).

MMMN this sounds good.

Also I found this cupcake blog http://cupcakestakethecake.blogspot.com/

I have a real cupcake craving going on right now!

Monica's Thong

Yesterday a friend of mine made an interesting comment about this out of control conservative movement. She blamed it all on Monica's thong. That this was the catalyst for many on the fence type voters who were outraged and wanted more resepectability in the White House.

I have to admit this comment seemed to have some merit, so I wanted to share it here. Any thoughts?

Gigi's Birthday Party

This weekend we celebrated Gigi's 2nd birthday. She had a great time. First on Saturday, my parents came over and brought her this flexible flyer Horsey which she really loves.

On Sunday, we had a few friends over. She really enjoyed being the guest of honor. We had a talk before hand about sharing her toys and for the most part she did very well. Also everyone loved the horsey...

Here is Ms. Azalea



And Ms. Dominique...



And Ms. Tula...


Ben enjoyed Cake!


Gigi wasn't sure about blowing out the candles


But really dug the presents




Isabella dug the horsey also...

The other big hit was the bubbles!


And alas, I also posted and then deleted a picture of my friend Erica, so I will have to resend it tonight. It was nice party.


Here it is!

More on the kitchen renovations next time...

Latest Pics

Here a couple shots of Gigi from over the weekend. We had a nice time on the screen porch chasing bubbles...


Fun on the porch
Bubbles

Kitchen Progress

Well with Gigi's pneumonia, I haven't had time to focus on posting the kitchen progress, but now that everything is back to normal here is the update.

First, it took forever to do the floor - day after day they were working on the floor. But finally it is finished, here is a shot as Doug was wiping away the dust. It's so BEAUTIFUL!!!


First look at the floor

After that things moved fast, the countertops, dishwasher, sink, faucets and stovetop were installed. Wow what an improvement!

Here is ashot with the floor...

As you can see the doors of the cabinets are off. Now comes the yucky part, Paul is painting the ceiling trim and walls. I am painting the cabinets and putting on new hardware. When that's finished the kitchen will be complete.

Corner Floor

Corner view

Gigi is Feeling Better

Gigi

For those of you who have been concerned, I have good news, Gigi is feeling much better. She has been sick this past week, first with the croup and then she was diagnosed with pneumonia. Now we have her on medicine, she is doing much better.

Have you ever tried to give medicine to a toddler? Oh my goodness, what an ordeal. I thought it was hard to give medicine to a cat but, that was just the warm up exercise. This past week, Gigi refused to eat everything offered to her and barely drank anything (thank goodness for PediaLite and PediaSure), the thought of allowing us to give her a foreign tasting, gritty medicine was out of the question. Fortunately, we were able to reason with her (you laugh, it's true) and after holding her down she decided to go ahead and swallow the antibiotics. What do you do if they don't? You can't hold her mouth closed and blow on her nose like you do to a cat.

Well she hasn't had a fever all day, which is great. We all got sleep last night, although I kept waking up worrying about her. And today she started eating better and playing normally.

It's nice to get things back to normal.