hbd to 2 of my v. fav. ppl.

today is Jeanne Hoffman's birthday. I won't betray her age, but suffice it to say that she is almost as old as I, which means that she will not be in her 20's for much longer. She is a nurse practicioner - with lots of letters after her name - in SF and I am v. proud of her and still amazed that anyone with such a creative, liberal arts background could sail though (easy for me to say) all those yukky science classes in nursing school ... well done, my dear friend - Happy Birthday, beautiful!


Gale Giacobbe's birthday was the 6th. I won't betray her age either, but will say that she is older than I, so now you know she is in her early 30's. Gale started teaching yoga a few months ago after practing for many years and I am so proud and happy for her. She tries to make me do yoga when I visit her in Charlestown, but usually I have more fun drinkning wine, watching her and saying, "wow ... how long did it take you to learn how to do that one?" I'll be celebrating a belated birthday with Gale on Saturday night in Boston (on my way yo meet Mark in NYC for a week!) with 2 of my other v.v.v.v. best girlfriends, Juli and Maureen - and maybe Kristine and Heather too -(no pix of them - I'll post on their birthdays .... you'll just have to wait. As my mama always said, 'always leave 'em wanting more ...' - yes, I realize the context was likely different then, but hey, if the shoe fits ...)

long distance move

Last weekend we helped our fabulous friends, Shannon and Dave move. They have a fabulous baby boy named Niko who sometimes likes to dress up like Elivs.

He is such a trooper what with all the hiking, traveling, dressing up, partying, moving, etc... really. great. kid. And he really digs me.

His dad, Dave and Mark carried most of the big/heavy stuff the looooonnnggg way from the top of the street where they were living in an apartment building that is scheduled to be demolished this Spring, to just below the top of the street where they now live in a fabulous house with only one set of neighbors who also happen to be their fabulous, San Francisco-throwback-hippie- type landlords.

There is a good sized yard where there were chickens until, sadly, the fox got them a few weeks before the move. Perhaps again in the future. They have a fabulous wood stove that has the cutest little warming drawer for the bread Shannon will be baking. And light! Lots of windows and lots of light!

Mark, ever the Eagle Scout, made a fabulous fire that we enjoyed for most of the evening while we drank v. difficult-to-open Prosecco, (thankfully no one lost an eye, though the men did complain of sore palms and biceps - note to self: buy them one of those sissy flappy-wing-type openers so this does not happen again when I am v. thirsty...) and lots of red wine along with a fabulous 'thrown together' meal of wheat pasta with black olives and sundried tomatoes, fresh parmesan cheese and olive oil. (This is after hours of snacking on cheese, nuts and dried fruits).

I had to laugh and ran and got the camera as Dave and Mark carried Niko's fully made and ready-to-nap-in crib from point A to point B. I don't think anyone counted the steps from point A to point B, but I'd venture to guess that is less than 50.

The only thing cuter than the boys and the crib was what I failed to get a photo of or even witness personally (as I was not there to help then): Shannon, with Niko strapped to her front, loaded down with bags and boxes, trying not to smash the baby going from point A to point B. I think Niko will appreciate his new digs even more as he helped move.

Here's to lots more fabulous times by the fire at Niko's place.

p.s. I know I said (wrote) fabulous 8 (9) times.

drum roll please ...

The film I (not alone, I assure you ...) produced and starred in, Straight Forward was picked up for distribution by Echelon Studios and the trailer can now be seen at several sites including YouTube.com, Spike.com and IMDB.com, MySpace, BullitFilm and photobucket.

Please go to one or all sites and watch and vote/rate/comment if you would ... the more traffic we get, the more interest from other sales outlets and the faster we will be able to pay the people who worked on the film for free and the few brave souls that invested (thank you mom and thank you dad!)

I'll be sure to let everyone know when they can add it to their Netflix cue!

Thank you for your support!

A v. Zurich Thanksgiving

We had the most fabulous Thanksgiving here in Zurich. Upstairs neighbors and friends, Sarah and Lukas co-hosted an 'upstairs/downstairs' party with us on Thursday night.

Our friends (below) Shannon and Dave and baby Niko (sleeping) and James (right) sans his fabulous bride, Lorna - who was working - were our guests and Sarah and Lukas had Gregory (a dance teacher) and Suzie (singer/teacher) from the school where Sarah teaches as well as Elizabeth (conductor/singer/music teacher) and a lovely guy from PEI who works at the University with Lukas. (There goes that memory again ... )

It didn't take long for the men to all realize they have a common love/thread/vocation/job/knowledge - science and math .... (I stayed far away) They are all now planning on having a boys night out and we women are thrilled as they all work too much and need it. Gregory stayed with the women during this time as he is well-versed in musical theatre and we needed someone to sing the male parts of all the songs we kept thinking of ...

We had appetizers at our place downstairs - leek and celeriac soup, cheese, fruits, nuts and bread with Prosecco and wine - then headed upstairs to their place for the main meal at their giant dining room table where we proceeded to stuff ourselves all the traditional American goodness, the we rolled ourselves back downstairs for homemade pumpkin pie and apple tart, coffee, tea and for some, more wine!

Sarah and I had a blast decorating and cooking all day. I was v. thankful that Sarah wanted to use my Grandmother's cherished Currier and Ives dishes as well as the napkins and runners I had made for our wedding. It's great to pull that stuff out and spend a few moments with the great memories they evoke. I made evergreen boughs and bought some fresh Mistletoe, which I don't know that I have ever seen in this pure, beautiful form.

Mark has been dubbed 'supreme turkey carver and gravy maker', a talent I had already witnessed in the states, but one which I was still impressed with this time around and was even more proud as he garnered an audience as he carved.

Sarah ordered 2 6kg organic, fresh turkeys and while that sounded like a good idea at the time, I think next time we may go smaller or fewer ... though they were delicious and it was actually quite fun creating our own new way of stuffing, seasoning and sewing them up.

We had my favorite meal of Thanksgiving sandwiches (soft bread, full-fat mayo, white meat turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing and salt and pepper - Mark actually asked as I was making mine if I wanted lettuce!!@#$%^%$ silly boy .... lettuce?) * Friday and the next day (I caught Mark making a sneaky sandwich of ham and cheese ... he pleaded that he needed a turkey break) and we still had a giant pile of meat in the fridge so I found a great recipe for turkey frame soup with wheat pasta and made that yesterday.

*which leads me to the fact that Sarah asked about making a salad for Thanksgiving and while I would never begrudge anyone their salad and I even have been known to love the stuff myself, I have a rule about no salad on Thanksgiving .... I mean where would you put it? Both on the table and on one's plate and even in one's belly for that matter ... Why waste that prime stuffing belly space with healthy lettuce? I guess because we never had it growing up on Thanksgiving it's become a tradition that I now espouse and one which I can't see myself straying from anytime soon ....

Sarah came down and ate said soup with us last night and we also polished off the remnants of the pie and tart. But there was still soup left ... so guess what I just ate for lunch.?! ... yup. But that is IT - I am officially turkey-ed out.

(Suzie (L) Elizabeth (C) and Gregory (R)