listening only

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED

Today I am going to listen to excerpts from what NPR/NPR listeners deems the 50 most important recordings of the decade (gosh, it is almost over?). Pretty interesting list and hoping to discover some things that I may have missed. I am a little disappointed the Decemberists (either The Crane Wife or Hazards of Love) didn't make the list - I mean - come on!

On a related note: Erik gave my for my birthday an awesome indian gift (can we still say that?) - the book Stuff White People Like. And I like about 92% of the book. Including NPR. And I am drinking a Starbucks too.

ended up in the 80s

listening: Inspired by the music that was playing at The Violet Hour I have recently revisited Lou Reed/Velvet Underground. I started listening to Lou Reed because my older sister did. I distinctly remember dubbing the Best Of Album on the boom box I had gotten for Christmas that year (which at first thought was while she was in college, 1982-1986) that had double tape deck for dubbing capabilities. Now that I think more on it, it was the same year Duran Duran's Seven and the Ragged Tiger came out - because the was the first tape I owned and the powers on the internets have told me that was 1983. I was 9. And a pretty hip 9 year old at that, listening to Lou Reed and all.

reading: I am NOT reading ANYTHING right now. I have a table full of fantastic books but I seem to have lost what was once an addiction to reading (see: watching). BUT I do read PLENTY of kids books - Caleb has a nightly three book minimum. So there's lots of Seuss. But yesterday I was reminded not once, but twice of Beverly Cleary - who when I was a little girl I wanted to be when I grew up. Her or any of her characters - but of course none more than Ramona because we were basically the same person. I am really hoping that Caleb will like the Henry books because I would really like to read Beverly Cleary again.

watching: Too much television! In to the very beginning of Season 4 of the Wire which really IS fantastic. That's all I'm gonna say about tv because I am ashamed at how much I have been watching as of late.

as for eating & drinking: We had this dinner at our house last weekend where one of Erik's work cohorts came to do an "interactive" dinner which was all well and good - food was pretty good though nothing besides the homemade mozzerella (and even that was just using curds - I am such a snob!) was anything we couldn't or haven't done before ourselves. We sort of failed at the interactive portion except that Erik cooked the steak on the rotisserie and Bill fried the quail eggs. ANYWAY I pulled a few random things out of the wine fridge to drink. One was an 04 Saintsbury Brown Ranch and that wine really put me in my place. First of all, I have to say that Dick Ward from Saintsbury is one of the REAL good guys - incredibly nice, generous, just a GOOD guy. And while I have always thought Saintsbury made good wines it was always with the caveat "for what they are" - they were nothing I ever really got excited about. But for some reason, the Brown Ranch spoke to me last Saturday. And it said, "Aren't you glad you have another bottle?"

CAP: I need to start using this blog to write down some milestone moments - because I don't remember them. A friend with a 10-month old asked me last night, "When did Caleb start to wave?" And I'm like, "I don't know, when are they supposed to? Because I am going to say that minus a few months because he is advanced, naturally." So. That being said - Caleb is starting to write his name. The B is a bit problematic. He draws pod people - and has a particular penchant for portraits of Shelby. He asks why questions INCESSANTLY. At first I am all excited because I have an inquisitive kid with an obvious passion for learning but that has evolved into general exhaustion trying to muster up a decent answer. He thinks it is hilarious to use our own phrases against us (i.e. 'Mom, you are being difficult' or 'You are killing me' or 'Get out of here'). He knows the alphabet - both to recite (he was doing that from like birth) but know to recognize letter is words ('that's a C like Caleb! That's an H like Haly! That's an E like you!) Obviously I should commence MENSA training very soon.

korks for kids II

Yesterday's post is something I am going to get kicked off in the next week or so - call it my personal service project for the year.

I really need to update and compile a good contact list of folks to reach out to - enough to make it effective and impactful (really? not a word?) but not so many that it becomes too cumbersome and unmanageable.

Also I am thinking I should get this all organized on a spread sheet. Despite the general lack of organization in my personal life and my sole proprietor small business life - my real professional life is incredibly streamlined in a sea of Excel spreadsheets. And even an Access database or two thrown in for good measure.

korks for kids

Support children and help reduce environmental waste

WHAT you can do: save your corks. that’s it – find a bag/box, a little space and start saving.

WHERE the money goes: children with autism – i am organizing this in honor of my good friends dawn & kylie. kylie has been caleb’s buddy since they were about 6 months old and she was diagnosed with autism about a year and a half ago. she has made remarkable strides but there is so much more to be learned about autism and how we can help these kids thrive.

Korks for Kids recycles the corks and sells them as material for composite corks and flooring – proceeds from that sale go to the Autism Foundation.

WHO can participate: you and anyone you know. But bear in mind that it would be fantastic if you could collect in a central location (store, restaurant) for the big pick up day.

WHEN I will pick up the corks: if they become unruly, I will arrange to have them picked up when you ask, otherwise I plan on doing a BIG pickup to pull it all together and ship (I will cover this expense).

WHY should you do this: support the cause and reduce waste with very little effort and no cost to you – why not?

HOW to get involved: just shoot me [emily peterson] a quick email to emanderik@gmail.com and let me know you are going to participate.

thank you for your support

chicago

what ridiculous fun can be had in this city. and by ridiculous i do not necessarily mean in a childish or frat boy way - though that was covered too. some highlights from just the first day because i don't have time for a complete post:

Arriving at 8:30am - sure, it was no fun waking up as early as we did to catch the plane, but I wouldn't do it any other way. It meant we had plenty of time to drop our bags and

Be at Frontera Grill when they open at 11:30. There was a significant line, but thankfully we snagged a table on the first seating. Oysters, ceviche two ways, carne asada, pork tacos - all delicious - as were the margaritas which set the tone for the remainder of the day. We were desperate to find another cocktail at 1pm. In a town like Chicago, it shouldn't have been an issue but we had only been there a few hours and were already a bit in our cups. So we took this LONG walk around only to stumble in to the lamest bar at 1pm ever. I won't even name the name because maybe it would have been fun at night. So we quickly finished up those drinks and

Headed to the Blue Frog for more drinks which was recommended on Yelp and nearby.

Quick side note: To the iPhone apps Yelp and HopStop: thank you.

So the Blue Frog reviews talked primarily about their karaoke at night, but also of all the old school board games they had. Since it wasn't night and we don't sing anyway, we tried to play a few but was sort of not as much fun as it could have been (we should have played All My Children!) so instead we bellied up to the bar to meet all our new Blue Frog friends and watch Jeopardy! and drink what ended up being too much. These friends included but were not limited to Cliff (the bartender who bled later in the evening) and then Julie and Larissa (there are some people who will find that hilarious - we did). After far too many drinks, food was in order so we settled for a recommendation by the nice frog folks for

Deep dish pizza at Pizano's right down the street from our hotel on State Street. It is sort of a good & bad thing that our only Chicago pizza experience was while we were hammered. I don't think i am a real fan of this style pizza - i really do like my crust doughy and bubbly and wood fired. Still, it was tasty and one slice sure did help with all the alcohol swimming around. But only one slice - man, that was filling. So we arrived in Chicago at 8:30am and we

Passed out in Chicago at 8:30pm. Yep, FAST asleep. 2/3 of us threw up - I was the lone wolf - which means Day One was a TOTAL SUCCESS.

a rainy day edition

Today is one of those days that i want to make a bed in the living room and watch movies all day. Rainy, nasty, cold.

listening: or rather, what I may listen to later - Richard Louv, the author of a book (The Last Child In the Woods) that i have been trying to read for oh, 9 months, was on Charlotte Talks this morning talking about kids with 'Nature Deficit Disorder.' I love the hypothesis of the book but not really a page turner if you know what i mean.

reading: well, NOT The Last Child In the Woods. BUT as a marketing director with nary a marketing class under her belt I often question if I am doing what Marketing Director are supposed to be doing. But what I have been reading this morning are several mags featuring some of our wines and I like to think I played a role in making that happen. Check out some of the highlights:

Bon Appetit - November 2009

Wine Enthusiast - November 2009

Wine Spectator - Insiders

and also HERE

Also, in tomorrow's Wine & Spirits mag we have 2 producers featured on the Top 100 Wineries list!

watching: the days count down until it is time to go to Chicago!

eating: a real home cooked dinner every night this week - following an article from last month's Real Simple. Didn't like the Week 1 recipes, but Week 2 pretty good so far. Also, I spent only about $70 at the store for the week.

drinking: in moderation. because i have a feeling that chicago will pretty much be a binge.

CAP: woke up with his manners this morning

now format idea

maybe instead of the listening, eating, drinking blah blah blah format that has been done to death and is completely unoriginal yet i still like it -

For the month of October I could post on "What I Want to be for Halloween" by Caleb Peterson. It would be updated almost daily. Today? Spiderman. Because "he has webs in him" - even the best craftiest websites don't tell me how to get the webs inside. Also, I loathe those websites and the self induced pressure to be THAT mom that makes his Halloween costume.

But I have to admit...last year's robot was RIGHT ON.