Reality check

In case you've been wondering, August has been a little crazy, but things are settling down. To wit, I've changed jobs, moving from this, after 6 years, to this. Changing jobs and organizations means a steep learning curve, but I'm doing my homework, and I'm really excited.

I worked my last three days, and was duly feted by friends and colleagues at Fresh Salt, and Asia de Cuba. Then got on an airplane for a quick trip home to celebrate dad's 70th with 26 of his closest friends. The party was delightful. Also, I am better at cutting round cakes than square. I visited the usual suspects, which was a lot of fun. They have beautiful children, delightful husbands, and great homes, and they always find or make time to see me. It's incredibly grounding, which I needed this month.

Flew back and went to work at the new place the next day. I'm going to like it, and I promise you're going to hear all about it. Let's start by saying that "the places you'll go," and "requisite celebrity sightings" segments are going to get a lot more interesting.

Fruits of my labor

It's not that I haven't been treating myself lately, but aren't we all sure I need this also?

I mean, I'm sure the women in Geneva and Brussels all have them ...

Shuesday: Pushing the envelope

I'm sure I shouldn't be blogging two pretty-in-pink shoes in a row, but forgive me?

When men were men

I'm not saying they were /good/ men, I'm just saying.

Avedon portfolio, New Yorker

Shuesday: Roses are red

Except when they're pink. Laaave you, Manolo. What a way to (almost) end the summer.

The Olympics

As you'll know if you've been reading this blog for more than 5 minutes, the FG loves the Olympics. That said, she prefers Winter to Summer (there's just too much going on in the Summer), and CBC coverage to anyone else's.

Yes, they are happening. Yes, the opening ceremony uniforms were mostly awful, but how fun was it to see the countries in the order of the number of brush strokes in Chinese calligraphy? Yes, the US team is well ahead, depending on whether you rank by total number of medals, or weight the golds over the total, but how fun is it that the two fastest people in the world are two 21 year olds from Jamaica? Yes, Michael Phelps won more medals than anyone else, ever, and yes, it has been amazing to watch him win and win and win.

I had a lovely, and much needed, shore weekend again, featuring a healthy debate: Be it resolved that the Opening Ceremonies were frightening. As in, "1984" frightening. Discuss.

Frankly, in part, I'm distracted by events in my own life. Not to mention war in Georgia. Hello, Olympic truce, anyone? How disturbing was it to watch the Leader of the Free World blithely sitting next to Putin at the opening ceremonies? Oh, wait, that's right. America doesn't have problems ...

I have seen the fall

and it has couch potato written all over it. Although apparently not just for me:

During February's Fashion Week, we couldn't walk five feet at a party without bumping into celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe filming for her new Bravo show, The Rachel Zoe Project, premiering September 9.

Last night Bravo aired a half-hour sneak preview of the series. And after watching the last half of it (we deferred to that little thing called "life" for the first half — so sue us), we decided if our ears can tolerate the shrill, piercing voices of the cast, we might fit it in to our busy fall-TV-watching schedule that already includes Gossip Girl, America's Next Top Model, and Project Runway (because really, who needs "lives" in the fall?).

At least I'll have company ...

NY Mag

Shuesday: Steel yourself

I so hope I can find a pair of boots in this style later this year.

One thousand posts

It came to my attention in the last week that my thousandth post was immiment.

Begun Wednesday, July 28th (with a ridiculous six posts on Day 1), the FGB was instigated by a colleague and friend, in the run up to the 2004 elections. It featured fashion commentary, cocktail recipes, Olympics coverage, thoughts on the election, and so on.

Since that time, I've significantly altered my personal life, moved twice (downsizing dramatically), given my cat to foster parents in British Columbia, changed jobs twice, visited nine states in the union, embraced the role of road warrior, and almost entirely replaced my wardrobe. (I'm just saying.) And I think the posts have reflected these changes, along with my evolving taste and perspective.

In that time, we've lost Ann Bancroft, Julia Child, Nan Kempner, John Spencer, Betty Friedan, Brooke Astor, Madeline L'Engle, Pavarotti, Oscar Peterson, Benazir Bhutto, Dith Pran, Anthony Minghella, Robert Mondavi, Sydney Pollack, Yves Saint Laurent, and Tim Russert, and many others.

There have been multi-part pre-Valentine's Day postings, a post-2004 election absence, Places You'll Go (and we expect that one to get /really/ good in the next 6-8 months), Requisite Celebrity Sightings, and, of course, Shuesday.

I hope you're having as much fun as I am. Thanks for dropping by.

Now that's just silly

For most everyone over the age of 5, it’s unfathomable to use a bandage purely as body art. But since the adhesive strip has been upgraded by designers like Mr. Herchcovitch or studded with Swarovski crystals, some adults have begun to view it as they would a bracelet or spray tan, as adornment.

“Even if you don’t have a cut, bandages are a great way to make a statement that doesn’t break the bank,” said Chris Bick, an owner of FredFlare.com, which sells lip-shaped bandages. “It’s kind of like a temporary tattoo that gets you sympathy.”

It's No Boo-Boo

Shuesday: Fringe factor

These are for Wendy B. Fall is on its way, and what better way to welcome fall than boots that are made for walking ... walking out the door.

Guest blogger: Little Shoe

It was The Pastry Chef's birthday on Saturday, and she treated herself to a delightful birthday week. Conveniently, it coincided with Restaurant Week in NYC, so we went to Artisanal on Tuesday, and she went to Scarpetta Wednesday, coincidentally the same day Bruni reviewed it in the Times. Her's her take:

"It was very good. I had an amazing cold pea soup with crab meat. Ilene had this amazing polenta with truffled mushrooms poured over the top. She let me sop up the rest of the mushroom juice with bread, and I literally swooned a little.

Then we shared a dish of tomato basil spaghetti, which was very good. Then, Amy had the veal, Ilene had the chicken, and I had the goat. They were all good, but I liked mine the best.

The desserts were alright. Amy had a chocolate parfait, with a very good hazlenut milkshake. Ilene had a apple tart with polenta crust which was very good. And I had this key lime cheesecake thing, which was just okay.

It was a very good meal. I highly recommend the polenta and the pasta dishes. I want to go back to try more of those."

Thanks PC!

Icons we mourn: Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Russian writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who exposed Stalin's prison system in his novels and spent 20 years in exile, has died near Moscow at the age of 89. The author of The Gulag Archipelago and One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich, who returned to Russia in 1994, died of either a stroke or heart failure. The Nobel laureate had suffered from high blood pressure in recent years.

BBC

Got a secret. Can you keep it?

Swear this one you'll save
Better lock it, in your pocket
Taking this one to the grave

There's a lot going on, and I'm not going to tell you about it (those of you who don't already know, mwahaha!), at least, not yet. That's just the way it is.