This week has been strange, to say the least. There were the highs, like the amazing dinner I had at Hearth (a very generous and thoughtful birthday present from my friend Rob); catching up with my friend Sara at Dos Caminos (she was also sweet enough to bring along a belated birthday present); and a few quiet nights at home to get organized and to relax. Then there were the lows — my Grandma Jane passed away. She died fairly quickly, peacefully, and without pain, and she had lived a very long life close to her friends and family. She loved to complain about George W. ("what a moron"), correspond with friends she made and kept over the years across the globe, talk about her travels, read the New York Times ("keeps me up on the hustle and bustle of New York"), and even managed to go online every day to read Le Monde in French. We’ll miss her very much. When I talked to my mom last night, she pointed out that I no longer have any living grandparents. For a brief moment, I felt very empty — at one point I had four grandmothers and one grandfather (the beauty of remarriage). She then added that I still have plenty of parents (two sets, in fact); the moment passed.
v. 2.0
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Show Me the Power of the Interweb
I know that people in law firms are reading this — now get out there, talk to your managing partners and pro bono folks, and tell them this:
Pro bono has a significant impact on a law firm’s bottom line – the most successful law firms in the country have strong pro bono programs, which give them a competitive edge in recruiting, retention, and even client development. Increasingly, large law firms are finding that one of the most effective ways to handle their pro bono programs is to hire a full-time pro bono coordinator, whose primary job responsibility is to run your firm’s program efficiently and smoothly. A pro bono coordinator can take administrative functions out of the hands of partners and other attorneys, freeing them to bill their valuable time to clients and pro bono matters. Such a coordinator can illustrate your commitment to pro bono to the community at large and can maximize your firm’s impact on clients who need pro bono legal help.
And then tell them that you know the perfect person for that job.
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Pork-o-riffic!
or, as others have said, sacrilicious! My pig roast class write-up, Facing Our Food Fears, is up on Gothamist Food. Enjoy, but be warned — the photo gallery is not for the faint-of-heart.
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A New Year, A New Beginning
Despite a bit of rockiness at the end of the year, 2004 ended well and is already off to a good beginning. My New Year’s Eve itself was great — John and Katie (from the beach house) cooked a fabulous and festive meal and pulled together a fun group of people and then we rang in the new year at a party in a gorgeous and palatial apartment on the Upper West Side. New Year’s Day was spent at Nic’s for a leisurely brunch, followed by a walk to Bed and Bath (for a new shower curtain) and dinner and movies at Augie and Lauren’s. All in all a lazy, relaxing day spent in good company eating gargantuan amounts of macaroni and cheese (resolutions do not start on New Year’s Day). You can see the pictures here.
And here’s a special calendar picture, just for the New Year! More to come.
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A Year Through My Lens, Part 2
I don’t know if I should chalk it up to getting older or being on vacation or what, but I spent all of yesterday until about 5pm thinking it was Thursday. Was very relieved to discover it was only Wednesday, and have been very productive today to make up for my own stupidity. Oy. And now, more pictures:
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A Year Through My Lens
As I mentioned, I made a few photo calendars (and photo note-cards) to give as gifts. Over the next few posts, I wanted to share some of the images I selected to highlight the year:
More to come tomorrow!
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So This . . .
is what 34 feels like. So far, so good (yes, it’s my birthday today)!
The best part about being in my 30’s? Being comfortable enough with myself to act like a moron and laugh about it (loudly), knowing more and more clearly what I want out of life, and having made enough mistakes in life to learn from them. I wouldn’t go back to my 20’s if you paid me. Rock on.
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Christmas Wrapping
So, for Christmas, I wanted to share with you my most favorite Christmas song ever. And I mean ever. Love this song. Okay, granted, I also like the Chipmunks hula hoop song, but this one’s much less annoying. Plus, it’s romantic, and I’m a sucker for romance. Not only does this song rock, but they did a piece on the guy who wrote it on NPR the other day. I got such a kick out of it. I can’t find the link anywhere though . . . damn. If anyone can find it for me, that would be fantastic!
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Nifty Gifts
Frantically pulling together some gifts. Made another batch of toffee (last one was for work people — this one’s for my stepfather and wine club folks, if I can find them) and a really cool photo calendar. Don’t want to spoil it for the recipient (and I’ll be making another for someone else as well), but it was fun to select out some of my favorite photos of the year. I’ll share them over the next few days — this one’s on the cover of one calendar I made today:
Lovely oysters from Bar Tonno. Well — it’s off to the gym before heading to Bolo for Xmas eve dinner tonight — have a Merry one, everyone! (Bad Jew!)
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The List
It’s funny — I’m on vacation, have tons of free time, yet I haven’t been blogging much. I think it’s my way of taking a bit of time off of my unpaid job as well as my paid one. I’m still amazed at my capacity to sleep; I really must have been quite run down. Aside from sleeping, I’m slowly working my way through my monster to-do list, finishing up holiday shopping and toffee-making, and have set aside all of the tips for the doormen and building staff. My apartment is still a big mess, for some reason. Maybe I’ll knock that and some laundry off the home-improvement section of the list today while I finish the toffee, wrap presents, and write a few thank-you notes from the gift section of the list. I have to say, it’s quite satisfying to check things off of the list. I’m one of those people who actually makes little checkboxes next to each item so I can check them off as I go. Do you make to-do lists? How anal are you about them?
