One morning while frantically running around outside trying to capture Chloe (this is while she was in heat!) I ran up the driveway to the neighbor’s house and saw this wheelbarrow. I was struck at how beautiful it looked in the sunlight surrounded by Nasturtians (which I later repurposed to my garden – there are hundreds!).

Sometimes beauty is right in front of our noses we just have to look!

I LOVE JON STEWART EVEN MORE NOW THAT HE DESTROYED JIM CRAMER ON THE DAILY SHOW. AND – IT WAS EASY!

When Spring approaches I look at my garden and dream of all the plants I want to go out and buy. I must have spent at this point thousands of dollars on plants that have just plain died. This year, being unemployed, I still have the bug to plant but I must be creative! So I thought why not try seeds (good luck sister!).

Anyhow I remember seeing seeds for sale at the Recession Mothership – The 99Cent Store! And sure enough, there they were! I was actually having a hard time deciding which ones to buy, before you know it you’ve spent $20 so I took a couple packets up to the counter. When I asked the girl how much they were she said 9 for .99cents!!!!!!!

As I’m sure you can imagine, I told her to charge me for 9 and back I went to gather Zinnias, Dill, Mint, and even radish (which has already popped up even after Parker sat and rolled all over the plot!)

I’m not holding my breath that I’m going to get beautiful robust plants out of this, but come on, for that price who can resist!

Weird, huh? And he did this 2X.

Just goes to show that COZY is all in the eye/nose of the beholder!

Waldorf Salad anyone???

Chloe came to us last Saturday.
She just appeared out of nowhere. Hopped inside the front door and decided this was her new home.

I know we have a say in this, well we did until Parker fell in love with her. They are BFF’s!!!

First of all, her name.
We’ve been watching the new season of “24″ lately and if anybody knows this show then they will know of Jack Bauer’s sidekick – the computer/internet genius Chloe. That girl can hack through anything! But as Marc put it, Chloe is a little cranky, a little ugly, but somehow you just can’t resist her. And so that was that, Chloe became Chloe. Funny thing is, she answered to this name almost immediately. It took Parker over a year to react to his name and often he still practices “selective hearing”!!!!

Giovanni doing his best to act aloof mid stretch. He and Al are doing pretty well with their new siblings. I told Giovanni if Maddox can do it, so can he. He looked at me like I was an idiot….

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Thank you Ruth Reichl for running this article about Alice Waters from Chez Panisse and the Obamas. Just the thought of having not only foodies but enlightened foodies in the White House is really exciting!
Gourmet Magazine speaks about Alice Waters:

“We all know her philosophy: Food should be local, seasonal, and organic; in homes and in schools, people should come together at the table; the act of eating is an everyday expression of our most deeply held values. But for the past decade, the legendary Chez Panisse founder has been promoting her agenda in ways that go well beyond her celebrated restaurant and educational initiatives. Inserting herself into the political process—fund-raising for Barack Obama; introducing Michelle Obama at campaign rallies; petitioning for a White House garden and a new chef—here is the story of the political education of Alice Waters.”
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No longer do I have to go combing Flea Markets in search of great bargains! My good friend Marissa has introduced me to the Pasadena Antique Annex on Fair Oaks (between Del Mar and California Ave.) in Pasadena where she has assembled a showcase full of really great and super reasonable collection of goodies to buy! Have fun wandering all round the Annex and be sure to check out Marissa’s showcase #0477 towards the back of the store. She’s got me hooked!

The silver canister with the price tag on it had my name all over it! It was already priced to sell, but thanks buddy for the great deal!!

Recession or not, it’s so much fun to shop for bargains – reminds me of all of the Thrift shopping we used to do in the 80′s!!! I found the most amazing brown suede jacket up in Ventura which I wore into the ground, loved it! Someone even asked me once if it was Armani! Ha!!!!!

Marissa performs her merchandising magic – I mean, this girl is good!

Down the street, on our way to get a coffee we stopped at a more upscale store with tons of stuff including a great outdoor gardening/patio area.

The owner told us about the estate sales he would go to and sometimes spend up to half a million bucks – wow! This lounge chair or fainting couch? is from an estate in Arizona, price tag a cool $10,000! Enough to make me faint!!!

Without a doubt, I’m going back to Marissa’s General Store!!!!