Slice of Pink

November Love

Fifty People, One Question: New York, the Protein Salad at Urban Cafe, slices of pie, Gramma's Jell-o salad, wtf  broccoli?, going to the movies with my sister, peppermint tea, The Cherry Blossom Girl, Cig Harvey, The End.

Gratitude

She Better Be Hot

One of my classmates, Dave, found this list in a coffee shop and posted it on his Facebook page.

Let's judge and dissect.

The Gift Genie

New York Mag asked 182 New Yorkers what they wanted for the holidays, then handpicked a perfect present for each.

“A neat, old Cartier watch. I hope my husband is reading this.”
Pat Sullivan, 59, Gift-shop Manager
Cartier Tradition Tank Cintré watch, made in Paris circa 1966, in eighteen-karat yellow gold, price upon request at the Cartier, 653 Fifth Ave., at 52nd St.; 212-466-3459.

See also: the Exit Poll, Shop-o-matic, and 100 Items Under $100.

9 PM on a Friday Night

Finals are rapidly approaching. If this is any indication:

One week ago, at 9 PM on Friday night, Michelle and I were grabbing a snack at a local bistro after visiting several art galleries where we sipped on tiny glasses of wine and ate bits of peppermint bark.

Last night at 9 PM, we were sitting in the dreary law school basement, drinking coffee, and attempting to interpret 16 weeks of crappy note taking.

What a sad, sad state of affairs.

What I Don't Do

Some time ago, I read a post by Seth Godin that stuck with me. It's about the way people fall into a trap of trying to stand for something while also trying to please everyone or do everything.

You can't be the low-price, high-value, wide-selection, convenient, green, all-in-one corner market. Sorry.

You can't be the work-smart, life-in-balance, available-at-all-hours, high-output, do-what-you're-told employee.

To really stand for something, you must make difficult decisions, mostly about what you don't do...It's so hard to stand up, to not compromise, to give up an account or lose a vote or not tell a journalist what they want to hear.

But those are the only moments where standing for something actually counts, the only times that people will actually come to believe that you in fact actually stand for something.

He was speaking largely about brands and organizations, but this made me think about my own life, how difficult it is to do everything, please everyone.

So here it is.

As much as I'd like to, I'll never bake the best lemon meringue pie on the block. I'll never be the kind of wife that has dinner on the table at 6. I'll never tend to a garden. I'll never be the type of person who enjoys a long, leisurely bubble bath. I will probably never read War and Peace.

I'll never be a good shopper. I'll never know what the most fashionable purses are. I'll always put my dry-clean-only items in the wash, ruining some but finding out that the others? Totally machine washable. I'll always leave forgotten half-empty glasses of water around the house.

I'll never give up Coca-Cola. I'll never like tomatoes.

My children, if I have them, will probably go to daycare or have a nanny, at least for part of the day. I probably will never like Christmas shopping, but I will begrudgingly participate in it every year.

I'll never be top of my class.

I'll never respond to every email.

I'll probably never own a dog.

We can't be everything. And, you know? It feels good to finally admit it. It makes focusing on the things I truly want to do, the things I stand for, all the more possible.

Everything I Need

I'm currently loving browsing through the Your Message Here project photos from Something's Hiding in Here.

Code Pink

Benji: Hey Janet, when you worked at the white house did you have a secret service code name?

Me: Haha. No. I WISH!

Benji: They'd probably call you 'pink'. That'd be a fun game to play: "what would be your secret service code name?"

Although I've met several Secret Service, I was never issued a code name. I guess Gift Wrapper to the President does not require the sort of high security afforded to, say, the First Lady. On the other hand, I did place the perfectly wrapped cheap lapel pins and golf balls into a bullet proof case. Priorities.

So, let's play! What would your Secret Service code name be?

Be sure to stick to the rules: code names must be unambiguous and easily understood and you can't choose something that's already been taken (sorry, friends, Renegade, Renaissance, Rosebud, and Radiance have been swooped up by the soon-to-be first family).

Need ideas? View the list of current and past code names.

Note to My Darling Husband

This is the birthday party I've always dreamed of.

Imagine your next private party inside a candy store! We create magical children’s birthdays complete with ballerinas, pony rides, storytelling, magicians or whatever your little one may dream of. In the evening-time the adults can socialize with cupcakes, cotton candy and champagne.

Yes, the cupcakes, the cotton candy, and the champagne. And, definitely (definitely!) the ballerina.

Friday Night

After drinking several glasses of red wine at a Davis eatery, two educated adults definitely did not go home and play strip poker.

But they might have gone home and played strip Trivial Pursuit.

Yes We Did

The New Hope

Today, I am voting for progress. I am voting for peace. I am voting for hope, for change, for tomorrow. I am voting for equality. I am voting for love.

Today, I am going to vote for what matters in life, what really matters in life. I'm voting for a better world, for the greater good, for the less fortunate, for the best among us.  I'm voting for America. 

Today, I am voting for Barack Obama.

I hope you'll join me. 

Things that Really Snuck Up On Me

November

The Election

Saturday Night's Cosmopolitans