A golden retriever's kryptonite

Holly has loved the water as long as I've owned her. Even though her voice recall off leash has improved over time, she just can't resist the call of the water.



When Brett and I got married, we took her with us to Rochester. While packing up the car for the drive back we realized she was gone. We called for her and she was nowhere to be found. Starting to panic I yelled out one more "HOLLY!" and we saw a head pop up in the pond behind my parents' house. We smelled wet dog for the entire trip back to DC.

When we lived in Amsterdam our teenage dog walker asked if he could take her off leash at the park to throw a tennis ball for her. We told him he could, but that he had to keep her on leash on the way to the park, and whenever water was in sight. He proudly told us that he had already tried her off leash and "she listens." We shrugged and said ok and then laughed when he brought her back dripping in mud an hour later. "She doesn't listen when she sees water" he said. We didn't have to say "I told you so."

Yesterday I was cleaning the house and heard splashing out back. I saw a golden retriever playing in the marsh and realized it was Holly. She was having such a blast that I decided to let her play - but I've learned my lesson to keep the deck door shut.

Cupcakes cupcakes cupcakes

Last weekend I flew to Rochester to spend some time with my niece and nephew. One of our activities was to make cupcakes. I brought my cupcake book with me and they each chose a design. My niece wanted to make banana split cupcakes, while my nephew went for the ghost angle.
Although the cupcakes didn't look quite like the ones in the book, everyone agreed that eating them was fun.

My own personal "Cake Wrecks"

I'm a sucker for cute cupcakes, and last week I saw an adorable book called "What's New Cupcake" which proclaims that making adorable cupcakes is easy for even the average person. I'm heading to Rochester to see my family so I bought the book, thinking it would be the perfect afternoon activity for me and my niece.

After getting home and browsing the adorable pictures, I went to their facebook fan page to look at user submitted photos. While the user photos were all cute, many were far short of the beautifully styled cakes in the book. Could the average person REALLY do this?

Since I manage a Canadian team, and it's Canadian Thanksgiving today, I thought I'd try to make their turkey cupcakes. Armed with about $30 in ingredients, I set to work, melting caramels and rolling them out to make turkey skins and drumsticks, and to make "lettuce" out of corn flakes, food coloring and frosting.


How did it turn out? Let's just say, I'm not a pro and don't have the patience to make 12 cupcakes all by myself. I gave up after the 1st one. My own personal Cake Wrecks.

Santa Fe - Not a bad place to spend the weekend

When Brett and I started dating, he spoke fondly of the 2 years that he had lived in Santa Fe. We've gone a few times over the years, and I have to say it's a great little town.
Lots of nice hikes, galleries, spas, restaurants. I enjoyed browsing the numerous shops, though I'm not sure I want a mirror in my house with "lo feo" on it...

Not sure I need an inflatable fruitcake either :-)

A nature movie in our back yard

One of the things I love about our rental is the waterfront location. Growing up with a mom who was a wildlife rehabilitator and animal lover was bound to leave its mark.

With the tide changes we see a never ending mix of shore birds and wildlife - like the flock of pelicans, or the seagull that poops on our dock, running towards us when he sees us, hoping for a handout. We've also seen seals, sand pipers, and the usual ducks and geese. Every now and then a heron will wander the marsh grasses behind our house. I love watching it all.

"Good Things"

Martha Stewart always talks about "Good Things." Somehow I don't think the "good things" in this vintage Kent cigarette ad would make her short list. Lots of change in 30 years.

Subtle Butt, Meet Flatuscents

Back in the 80s I used to watch "In Living Color" and I never forgot the comedy skit they did on an invented product called Flatuscents, which was a suppository that enhanced the scent of, well, errr...."personal scent emissions." They had scents like fresh herb, lavender and my personal favorite - new car smell. I thought it was just a comedy skit, but a similar product has hit the market (for real this time), called "Subtle Butt."

It's a charcoal insert you put in your underwear to mask the odor of embarrassing gas. Although it sounds funny, I can think of very real situations where this product would be useful. I almost died due to poor air quality on a recent flight to Orlando, and would have loved standing up and yelling "If you have to fart, fine - but could you stop assaulting your fellow passengers? Depressurizing doesn't have to impact those around you. Try wearing an underwear filter!" Maybe the flight attendants could have some for sale onboard.

For your viewing pleasure, see the original Flatuscents skit below, and a new one I found for subtle butt. The beauty of social media first hand.