I Dreamed A Dream That Came True

Just in the nick of time, Susan Boyle shows up to remind us to never give up on our dreams. No matter what. Mick Jagger's gotta love her version of this Rolling Stones song. She makes everything pretty. You go, girl!

Happiness is a Warm Puppy

Bo Obama is livin' the life. Hanging out on the front porch of the White House with his people, waiting for Dad to come home from work in Marine One so he can maybe steal a few tablescraps from dinner. Isn't that just what all dogs do? Maybe it's just because he always looks like he's dressed for a formal affair that I think he's so damn cute.

The Time Of My Life

Dirty dancing final Patrick Swayze
by laetitoumi
Is there a woman alive who didn't dream of dancing with Patrick Swayze after seeing "Dirty Dancing" (Insert me swooning here.) If there is, I'd like to meet her. He's just too cool for words.

Someone's In The Kitchen With Dinah

That would be Roxy. I think I should've named her Julia. She spent her weekend supervising my kitchen slavery. Actually, it wasn't slavery, so much. I was thrilled to be there. I downloaded Julia Child's recipe for boeuf bourguignon in her book Mastering The Art of French Cooking last week. After a thrilling visit to the butcher shop to purchase the meat, I spent the rest of Saturday shopping for a casserole to cook it in. I have always dreamed of owning a Le Creuset casserole dish, but judging the current prices, I don't think that's a dream that's going to come true in this lifetime. I'll get over it.

The Handsomest Man Alive and I went to a number of different stores and finally came home with a very suitable navy blue enamel casserole dish by Emeril. I began to brown the meat at 9:30p.m. Roxy spent most of her evening on the pass-through monitoring my progress. The Handsomest Man Alive could also be seen in and out of the kitchen throughout the evening. Things were finally coming together around 1:00am when we were running the gravy through a sieve and browning mushrooms and onions in two separate pans.

We were exhausted, but looking forward to a wonderful Sunday dinner -- when we suddenly realized we had double-booked Sunday dinner. We never even have plans for Sunday dinner -- and now here we were with two meals planned. Crazy! Fortunately, the lovely people we had been planning to break bread with were willing to drive out to the countryside and be human guinea pigs for my very first Julia Child-inspired creation. They even brought an expensive and tasy bottle of Central Coast wine to go with it. Yum! A good time was had by this cook. I'm going to assume everyone else had a good time too because there were no leftovers.

Make Way For Ducklings

A reminder today that being a hero means paying attention to the small things in life. I always hate it when people say, "don't sweat the small stuff." Don't they know that it's the small stuff that really matters? And by the way, if you've never read the book, you really should.

A World of Chocolate & Strawberries

My world changed after I saw Meryl Streep portray Julia Child in Julie & Julia. Streep is brilliant, but it is Child's joie de vrie that pops off the screen and has captured my imagination. I walked into Borders immediately following the movie and bought Child's book, "My Life in France," and haven't been able to put it down since. It is an incredible and enduring love story. And the period of the 1950s seems to reflect the current political climate. Bravo! Here's a little something I found about her Knopf editor Judith Jones. And here's a little something about another incredible woman who will soon have her life portrayed up on the silver screen.

Fasten your chinstraps, we're in for a bumpy night

Los Angeles is on fire. At least 122,000 acres of it is up in flames. Having lived in Los Angeles this long, it isn't wilderness --- trees and shrubs -- that come to mind when I picture the city in my mind. I think of cement. Miles and miles of pavement. It wasn't until I started living on the fringes of Los Angeles -- the very tippy tip top of the county -- that I realized that there are a lot of open spaces and greenery around L.A. The mountain areas can't be tamed, and they prove that every fire season. The acrid air of the city is choked with smoke and ash. And it's hot. Damn hot.

I'm working the late shift today. I'm not really cut out for it. I don't know what to do with morning free-time, and I'm ready to go home mentally at my regular quitting time, but instead I'll be here for six more hours. Yikes! This morning, I spent my free time playing fetch with Roxy. She loves fetch. And there is nothing more entertaining than watching her. She runs, and falls and trips, and flies through the air with the greatest of ease. She slams on the breaks, and tips ass-over-teakettle in the most amazing summersaults you've ever seen. Her efforts are all in order to get that little spongy ball and bring it back to you as fast as possible. She struts like a coyote on the way back -- bringing you her 'kill.' She's very proud. Roxy has a little black line of fur that runs under her chin from ear-to-ear. The Handsomest Man Alive says it's the chin strap that keeps her ears on. It does look like it. It reminds me of the string on a birthday hat. Or a bathing cap. I looked all over the internet for a photo of a vintage bathing cap with a chin strap. There were but a few. I think that's because those of us who wore them made sure not to get caught in Kodak Moment. It's not a good look. I doubt even Heidi Klum could pull it off.

Back in the days of yore I had a date with a guy who I wanted to introduce to the game of hockey. While he was watching his first NHL game ever -- a fight broke out. It was a doozy. The guys dropped their gloves and pushed off their helmets in order to knock each other's blocks off. Woo hoo! I love hockey fights! He remarked that if he was a hockey player and a fight broke out -- he'd be tightening up his chin strap and making sure his gloves were securely fastened in order to prevent inury. I don't think there was a third date...